Problems of Indians Are Plain, Simple

Neither the trade-deadline additions of pitchers Jeff Juden and John Smiley nor the surrender of the Central Division rival Chicago White Sox has appeased John Hart, the Cleveland Indian general manager.

Hart continues to vent over the Indians’ frequent breakdowns in fundamentals and the failure to put together a winning streak.

“The one thing I find most unacceptable is that we do very few of the little things we need to do to win,” he said. “We make mistakes we shouldn’t make. This team just hasn’t played up to its ability.

“People in our division are waiting for us to take off, and we haven’t done it.”

The Indians have three pitchers--Orel Hershiser, Jack McDowell and Chad Ogea--on the disabled list after previously having five, but Hart seemed to come down on Manager Mike Hargrove, whose two consecutive titles in the AL Central got him a two-year extension in April but who could be in trouble if this year’s playoff run doesn’t cover all of October.

“I’m not laying blame or looking to point fingers,” Hart said. “But this club needs to start doing what it takes to get this thing fixed.

“Each player has to bring more intensity to the park each day. The [coaching] staff is accountable for each of their areas, and the manager is ultimately accountable for it all.”

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White Sox General Manager Ron Schueler expressed similar sentiments, saying an ongoing lack of intensity from his players contributed to the decision to trade Harold Baines to Baltimore and pitchers Wilson Alvarez, Roberto Hernandez and Danny Darwin to San Francisco for prospects.

“There are certain days when it appears we’re not ready to take the field,” Schueler said. “I guess you could say [owner Jerry Reinsdorf] and I had seen enough. We knew we had to do something.”

Capitulating, however, when only 3 1/2 games out with two months to go seemed to be a suspect something. Reinsdorf has been hammered by the media, and Alvarez and Hernandez took shots at their former club when they returned to Chicago with the Giants this week, saying they had been treated like garbage in their final days with the White Sox.

Schueler called those remarks “the most ungrateful I’ve ever heard.”

“I guess Wilson forgot that we let him return to Venezuela when his wife miscarried and we consistently helped him with his diet,” Schueler said. “I guess Roberto forgot that we took care of him through his operation [for blood clots in 1991]. Players are amazing. They get paid a lot of money, but they only think in terms of what’s good for them.”

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Frank Thomas might bring the White Sox some solace by winning the AL batting title, but there is a stealth candidate. At .364, Reggie Jefferson would be neck and neck with Thomas for the lead but doesn’t have enough plate appearances yet to qualify. The Boston Red Sox designated hitter/outfielder needs to average about 3.5 plate appearances a game over the rest of the season to have a chance.

The Red Sox haven’t had a batting champion since Wade Boggs hit .366 in 1988. Jefferson, a part-time player for most of his six major-league seasons, showed what he can do playing semi-regularly last year, batting .347 in 386 at-bats, but he remains a surprising candidate.

“I’m trying not to think about it,” he said of the possibility.