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August 13, 2004 3:55 pm

World Series rings give way to Olympic rings

By ELLIOTT DENMAN

Gannett News Service

ATHENS, Greece - Call him Ambassador Bellinger now.

Three years since his last appearance in the fabled pinstripes of the New York Yankees, Clay Bellinger now plays in the white-and-blue of Greece, dreaming of collecting an Olympic medal to match the two World Series rings he earned as a Bronx Bomber in 1999 and 2000.

But his mission to Athens involves a lot more than playing some solid third base. He's here to promote baseball in the land of his maternal ancestors. And to bring some baseball respectability to a nation that's in the very early innings of being able to produce its own international-level talent.

``Obviously, playing in New York, playing in the World Series, that's the pinnacle of sports, but if it's going to be anything better than that, I'm looking forward to it right here in the Olympic Games, that's for sure,'' Bellinger said Friday outside the Olympic Village.

The United States isn't here to defend the Olympic baseball crown it earned at Sydney in 2000 - the result of a shock loss to Mexico in its regional qualifying tournament - but a heap of other Americans are here to play for the host country.

Greece gladly opened its doors to Bellinger and others, offering the ``passports of convenience'' that enabled them to meet minimal Olympic eligibility requirements.

In Bellinger's case, it's because his mother's parents were born here, and then brought a strong sense of Greek identity to their new American home.

``All this is just wonderful,'' said Bellinger, a well-traveled 35-year-old who was born in Oneonta, N.Y., attended Florida's Rollins College, now calls Chandler, Ariz., home and is under contract to the Ottawa Lynx, the Baltimore Orioles' triple-A affiliate.

``We've had a couple of scrimmage games against Australia, we're getting used to life in the Olympic Village, now we're all excited about Opening Ceremonies,'' he said.

``Walking out through that tunnel, just seeing all those people there; when you think of the Olympics, when you think of being an Olympic athlete, that's what the Olympics are all about.

``Once we get to that gate, I'm pretty sure I'm going to get some goosebumps, along with everybody else.''

Erik Pappas, who caught for the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals; former Seattle Mariners pitcher Clinton Zavaras; and former Mariners and Montreal Expos pitcher Sean Spencer are among the other Greek Olympians with major league experience.

Bellinger played eight years in the minor leagues before finally making his major league debut with the 1999 Yankees. He's since played for the Anaheim, San Francisco and Baltimore organizations and is officially on leave from Ottawa, which is fine with Orioles owner Peter Angelos, who has been a major backer of Greek baseball.

Greece will be tested from the start, opening against perennial power Cuba next Monday, followed by Chinese Taipei and Canada. The top four finishers in the eight-team round robin tournament advance to the Aug. 24 semifinals, with the medal games on the 25th.

Bellinger realizes the odds are stacked against Greece.

``Our starting pitching's real short, and that could kill us,'' he said. ``They'll just have to battle through it, that's all there is to it. Hopefully, we'll get five innings out of these guys I know our bullpen's going to be used a lot. We do have some good hitting, guys who can hit it out of the yard.''

Without its American imports, the Greek team would have been in deep.

``If they were to field a (native-born) Greek team out here, it would have been very uncompetitive,'' he said.

``They've only been playing baseball here a couple of years, maybe. So it would have been sticking, say, not even a high school team, against all these strong Olympic teams.

``But who knows what's going to happen? As they tell us, it's like a one-game series seven times.''

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