The swing voters  —  Gwynn will get in, but it won't be unanimous; it never has been  —  Tony Gwynn has as many batting titles as an octopus has arms.  He owns eight Silver Bats, five Gold Gloves and, come July 29, a bronze bas-relief likeness in Cooperstown, N.Y.

Williams would like to hear from Uribe  —  White Sox GM still unsure of shortstop's spring availability  —  Kenny Williams had nothing new to report on the troublesome legal situation involving Juan Uribe in the Dominican Republic.  —  He would have liked to explain how Uribe's comments Friday concerning …

Hot Stove: LaRoche remains hot topic with Pirates ... including players  —  By Dejan Kovacevic, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette  —  Yesterday marked the one-month anniversary of the Atlanta Braves pulling the plug on the trade that would have sent slugger Adam LaRoche to the Pirates for closer Mike Gonzalez.

Blalock rehabilitating his shoulder and attitude  —  DEL MAR, Calif. - The sun-splashed deck of The Brigantine restaurant encourages people to linger.  A wall of windows overlooks sculpted gardens and the backstretch of Del Mar Race Track.  More windows peek out at Del Mar Beach …

The 500 Club  —  For one scintillating season, he was the talk of baseball, the rousing, larger-than-life, muscle-bound superstar whom children wanted to be and fans wanted to see.  He was about to do what no one had ever done in the history of baseball, and do it with such panache.

Mets, Yankees wise to save their money  —  In contrast to the mind-boggling signings by so many other teams, one would have to admit it's been a rather frugal and prudent winter for our local nines.  —  While Omar Minaya has seen to it that the Mets will be AARP's team of the year …

'1' is now a lonely number  —  True pitching aces seem to get scarcer  —  Baltimore scout Deacon Jones, who has seen major league baseball up close and personal for more than 50 years, recently raised the question, "Where have all the aces gone?  How many guys now can you actually identify as No. 1 pitchers?"

Gonzalez out, Lawrence on waiting list  —  Former Rockies starting second baseman Luis Gonzalez is heading to Japan, pending a physical, and starting pitcher Brian Lawrence is awaiting a Rockies' contract offer to pursue a second chance to play in the National League West.

Erstad appears to have options, though Angels may not be one of them  —  Free agent continues to recover from ankle injury and hopes to play in the outfield again.  —  Though his 10 1/2-year run with the Angels might be over, it appears Darin Erstad's baseball career …

Johnson, D-Backs coming to contract terms  —  Randy Johnson and the Diamondbacks will officially come to terms Sunday on a contract extension for 2008, and then Johnson must simply pass a physical examination to complete his trade away from the Yankees.  The 72-hour window to negotiate that extension …

Bayliss dominates hitters in Venezuela  —  Right-hander finishes season on eight-game scoreless streak  —  Spring, summer, fall or winter — the season doesn't matter to Jonah Bayliss, who has been stellar at every level of the Minor Leagues.  —  Bayliss concluded his campaign …