Cal Ripken and Bobby Cox won postseason awards Thursday, and their response was the same.
”It`s a big honor and I feel very good about it,” Ripken said after his landslide victory in the Associated Press player of the year balloting conducted by writers and broadcasters.
The Orioles shortstop achieved career highs with a .323 batting average, 34 homers and 114 RBIs.
Ripken, 31, received 80 votes from a panel of sportswriters and broadcasters. Cecil Fielder of the Detroit Tigers was second with 37 and Pittsburgh`s Barry Bonds finished a distant third with 14. Atlanta`s Terry Pendleton had 12, two more than Frank Thomas of the White Sox.
”It`s an honor,” Cox said after being named AP manager of the year.
Cox, whose Braves went from last to first in the NL West, received 91 votes, outdistancing Minnesota`s Tom Kelly, who had 49. Pittsburgh`s Jim Leyland got 15 votes, followed by St. Louis` Joe Torre with 13.
Situation wanted: Ron Schueler`s phone has been busy.
”I`ve got 61 applicants for coaching and managing, that have just called me,” the White Sox general manager said Thursday from Sarasota, where he`s watching Sox kids in the Instructional League. Naturally, he declined to talk about who was calling or whom he might call.
”I`m still just putting together a list in my mind, and I want to go over it with Jerry (Reinsdorf). Then we`re going to eliminate a bunch and go from there.”
He said he hasn`t asked any clubs for permission to interview their personnel, but that will come soon.
” I would like to begin interviewing after the World Series,” Schueler said.
Drees goes free: Left-hander Tom Drees, who threw three no-hitters for Sox Triple-A teams two years ago but couldn`t translate that success to the big-league level, has become a free agent after refusing assignment back to Vancouver. Drees, 8-8, 3.52 last season at Vancouver, was 0-0, 12.27 in four September games with the big-league club.
Comings and goings: Pitcher Bob McClure and the St. Louis Cardinals agreed Thursday on a one-year contract worth $250,000, with another $250,000 in possible performance bonuses. McClure, 38, was 1-1 with a 3.13 ERA in 23 relief appearances with the Cardinals. . . . The San Francisco Giants said they will not exercise their $1.3 million contract option on pitcher Don Robinson, 34, and will pay him a $300,000 buyout instead. He was 5-9, 4.38 in 34 games with 16 starts in 1991.
