Enquirer news services

LAKELAND, Fla. - When he left Detroit after the 1995 season, Sparky Anderson figured he'd never wear a Tigers uniform again. Kirk Gibson thought otherwise.

Anderson, who won World Series championships with both the Reds and the Tigers, was an unhappy man after his 17 years in Detroit. He was at odds with owner Mike Ilitch and didn't like the direction the organization was heading.

So it was no surprise that he was inducted in the Baseball Hall of Fame five years later wearing a Reds cap.

But there he was Friday night, wearing his old Detroit uniform again.

What changed?

The 69-year-old Anderson got a phone call. Alan Trammell, Sparky's old shortstop and the team's new manager, needed help. That was all it took for Anderson to forget about the past and get on an airplane.

"I'm asking him to critique me and the whole organization," Trammell said Saturday. "I just love to sit and talk baseball with him."

When he heard Anderson didn't want to wear a uniform, coach Kirk Gibson, another of Anderson's stars, did what Sparky had so often done to him: Took him in the coaches' room and closed the door. When the door opened, Anderson had the uniform on. And he was headed for the dugout, not the press box.

"I just thought it was the right thing to do," Gibson said.

STRUGGLING ARMS: High expectations have been placed on Jose Contreras (Yankees), Tom Glavine (Mets), and Mike Hampton (Braves) as they join new teams this season.

So far this spring, all three have struggled.

Contreras, the Cuban defector who landed a four-year, $32 million deal, had been brutal before turning in five shutout innings against the Devil Rays on Friday. Entering that game, he had allowed 14 hits and 15 earned runs in eight innings.

The Yankees have said that Contreras is not in danger of opening the season in the minors, but it now seems likely he will be in the bullpen.

In the Mets camp, Glavine entered the weekend having allowed 17 hits and eight earned runs in 8 2/3 innings.

And in the Braves camp, Hampton entered the weekend having allowed eight earned runs and 16 hits in nine innings.

SHORT HOPS: Braves right-hander Paul Byrd (sore right elbow) has pitched just one inning this spring and will probably open the season on the disabled list.

• Kenny Lofton signed with Pittsburgh and will play center field and bat leadoff. If the Pirates are not in contention in July, he could be traded to a team looking for a leadoff man. That's exactly what happened last year, when Lofton signed a one-year deal with the White Sox and was dealt to the Giants in July.

• The Yankees may yet unload Raul Mondesi or Rondell White. With Phil Nevin (separated shoulder) out for the season, the Padres are looking for outfield help and have interest in Mondesi and White.

• Baltimore is still looking for a big-name bat. The Orioles are looking at Carlos Beltran, a free-agent-to-be who is likely to be dealt by Kansas City. The only hitch is that the Orioles do not have enough talent in their system to entice the Royals.

• Tampa Bay manager Lou Piniella has announced that two 21-year-olds, Carl Crawford and Rocco Baldelli, will be in his starting outfield. This is a risky rush job, particularly with Baldelli, a golden prospect who has just 166 at-bats above the single-A level. "They're green in certain areas; we recognize that," Piniella said. "But you know what - so what? You live with that and you encourage them and you teach them."

• Rob Bell, the right-hander whom the Braves dealt to Cincinnati four years ago in the Bret Boone-Mike Remlinger trade, just washed out of the pitching-poor Texas organization. Just 26, Bell has lost all touch with his curveball, his best pitch.

• ESPN analyst Rick Sutcliffe, a former Cy Young winner, predicts a huge season for Preston Wilson in Colorado, and not just because of the light air. With Wilson expected to hit between lefty sluggers Todd Helton and Larry Walker in the middle of the lineup, he should get plenty of fastballs, Sutcliffe reasons. "He's going to get a fastball in the strike zone every at-bat," Sutcliffe said. Of course, Wilson will still have to make contact with those fastballs. You don't build a career rate of 3.46 at-bats per strikeout just missing breaking balls. ...

• There might be better broadcasters in the Hall of Fame than Bob Uecker, elected to Cooperstown last week, but none could match his acting chops. The man was dead-on in Major League and all those Miller Lite ads, to say nothing of his work opposite Christopher Hewitt in Mr. Belvedere.

Mark your baseball calendar

March 25-26: Opening series, Oakland vs. Seattle, Tokyo.

March 26: Last day to place players with nonguaranteed contracts on unconditional release waivers without paying their entire 2003 salaries.

March 30: Opening day for other teams. Active rosters reduced to 25 players.

March 31: Reds' Opening Day at Great American Ball Park.

July 15: All-Star game, Chicago.

July 27: Hall of Fame inductions, Cooperstown, N.Y.