M’S, Rangers Ride Collision Course

The Seattle Mariners have every reason to believe their preseason press clippings, but somebody forgot to inform the defending A.L. West-champion Texas Rangers they were supposed to get out of the way.

The Rangers were so banged up during the early weeks of the season that the Mariners were expected to cruise to a comfortable lead and ride their exciting offense and solid rotation all the way to the World Series.

The M’s may eventually get there - what with Ken Griffey on a 72-homer pace and Randy Johnson looking fearsome again - but the Rangers have proved to be far more resilient than anyone could have expected.

They slipped into first place last week and should be nose-to-nose with the Mariners in the standings when the two clubs meet for the first time this week at the Kingdome.

Go figure. The Rangers are in much the same position the Mariners were in a year ago. Texas lost MVP Juan Gonzalez for the first month of the season and also played without first baseman Will Clark the first couple of weeks. Now both are back, and the Rangers look no worse for their previous whereabouts.

Gonzalez picked right up where he left off last season, when he hit 47 homers and had 144 RBIs in 134 games. In his first 15 games after coming back from hand surgery, he hit .286 with four home runs and 18 RBIs. If that doesn’t sound all that impressive, project those numbers over the next 120 games and he’s right back where he was in 1996.

The Mariners remain the most talented team in the division, but the Rangers stood up to a very difficult early schedule and are still standing. Both teams played nearly half of their games (17 each) against the New York Yankees, Baltimore Orioles and Cleveland Indians - the three teams that likely will join one of them in the postseason.

The worst is past. The schedule softens this week, and both clubs have a chance to get fat on several of the lesser teams in the league. The brief head-to-head series next week will be a taste of things to come. The Rangers and Mariners play each other in a four-game series right after interleague play in June and then lock up in another four-game set after the All-Star break.

Signing on, or off

So much for speculation that Mike Hargrove had worn out his welcome in Cleveland. Grover signed a two-year extension recently that will keep him with the Indians until the turn of the century.

Or will it?

Rumors persist the extension was granted against the wishes of G.M. John Hart, who did not attend the news conference announcing the extension.

There was no real mystery there. Hart left that morning on a pre-arranged minor-league scouting trip. If there is tension between him and his manager, it likely will dissipate as soon as the Indians regain control of the A.L. Central - which should happen in the next couple of weeks.