Baseball

PLAYER	AB	HR	ABS/HR
Rick Ankiel, Cardinals	22	2	11.0
Kerry Wood, Cuts	54	2	27.0
Alex Fernandez, Marlins	123	3	41.0
Sean Bergman, Twins	131	3	43.7
Rick Aguilera, Cuts	139	3	46.3
Jason Isringhausen, A's	97	2	43.5
Russ Ortiz, Ciants	106	2	53.0
Omar Olivares, A's	214	4	53.5
Carlos Perez, Dodgers	214	4	53.5
Dennis Cook, Mets	109	2	54.5

April Fools
For a number of stars, the season's first month was a cruel one

Even though Tigers first baseman Tony Clark is a notoriously slow starter, this April was especially cruel to him. Clark, a career .249 April hitter before this year, batted .115, knocked in only four runs and struck out 19 times in 61 at bats. Things got so bad that manager Phil Garner benched Clark last Saturday, saying that he would sit—and not even pinch-hit—for a few days so he could clear his head. "Tony's been working very hard, getting here early to hit every day," said Gamer. "Mentally, he's suffering. He needs some mental time off right now."

Before he took a seat, Clark had slid from the fifth spot in Detroit's lineup to eighth and already had heard boos at Comerica Park, but he and Tigers fans can at least cling to this hope: He has experience extricating himself from prolonged early-season slumps. Clark rebounded from a sluggish start last year (.212 through May 31) to hit 317 with 23 homers and 61 RBIs after the All-Star break. "My approach isn't any different than it was the second half of last year," says Clark, "but I'm taking a lot of pitches I shouldn't take and fouling off a lot of balls. I know what I have to do; I just haven't been able to get my body in a position to do it."

Clark wasn't alone in the April doldrums. Here are five other players who had stellar seasons a year ago but were still attempting to regain their 1999 form:

? Ken Griffey Jr., Reds. A slow start from Junior isn't what the Reds expected, particularly because Griffey owns the major league record for home runs in April (13, in 1997) and usually thrives early in the season. He was leading Cincinnati in home runs (seven) and RBIs (24) through Sunday but was hitting only .217 and was pressing at the plate. "I've been swinging at bad pitches and not being very selective," Griffey said.

? Mike Hampton, Mets. The four losses Hampton had in the opening month, as many as he had during all of last season, when he won 22 games, weren't the most disturbing entry on his stat sheet. More troubling was his lack of control—30 walks in 33th innings—and the fact that he was at a loss to explain his poor performance. "I had the best stuff and the best location I've had all year, and I still gave up too many runs," Hampton, a southpaw, said after surrendering eight hits, three walks and six earned runs in New York's 12-5 loss to the Rockies last Friday. "I'm not doing anything differently than I was last year." The loss left Hampton, acquired from the Astros over the winter for righthander Octavio Dotel and outfielder Roger Cede�o, with a 2-4 record and a 6.48 ERA.

? Jose Lima, Astros. Lima probably wishes he'd been the pitcher that Houston traded last winter: No one has suffered more from the Astros' move to Enron Field. The righthanded Lima was 0-3 with an 11.65 ERA in his first three starts at the game's newest shooting gallery; on the road he was 1-1 and had an ERA of 4.50. After giving up a fairly high total of 30 home runs last season, he'd already served up eight at Enron and 10 overall this year. "It's worse than Coors Field," Lima said of Enron—and that was before his disastrous start last Thursday, when the Cubs raked him for four homers in the first inning and 12 runs in five innings. The Astros only hope that Lima can keep his head amid the onslaught. "Jose is dropping to a more sidearm delivery, and rather than drive everything down hard to the knees, he's leaving almost everything up," says Houston manager Larry Dierker. "He's an emotional player, and when he's in trouble, he starts flailing away. Instead of using his head, his emotions get the best of him."

? Jose Offerman, Red Sox. For the season's opening two weeks he could take solace in the fact mat despite struggling to hit .200, he was getting on base. As Boston's leadoff hitter he walked 13 times in his first eight games. From April 13 through 30, however, he got only two free passes, and he finished the month with a .175 average and mired in a 4-for-37 slide.

? Richie Sexson, Indians. After breaking out with 31 home runs and 116 RBIs last season, Sex-son batted .215, hit just one homer and drove in only two runs in the season's first month. He'd also struck out in 14 of the 18 games he'd started. "Richie is a worrier," Indians manager Charlie Manuel says, "and when he worries, he starts to press."

After a month of underperforming, it's probable that none of these players are ready to panic, but it may not be too early to worry.