LASORDA AN INSPIRATION HIS MOTIVATIONAL SKILLS AT HELM COULD PLAY VITAL ROLE IN SYDNEY.

Byline: Heather Gripp Staff Writer

When Tom Lasorda was selected manager of the USA Olympic baseball team, his motivational skills and ability to spark public interest were said to be as valuable as his knowledge of the game.

Those skills will come in handy now that Lasorda knows who he will have playing for him next month in Sydney. The 28-man Olympic roster was announced Wednesday with the 24-man active roster to be determined before the team departs in September.

If the U.S. is to bring home its first official gold in the sport, it will have to overcome perennial power Cuba and professional all-stars from Japan and Korea while using a group of minor-league veterans and raw prospects.

Lasorda was already practicing how to sell the team without speaking about its talent.

``I feel that we're gonna take a team over there that's going to be exciting,'' he said. ``A team that's going to be representing our country in the highest degree of class, dignity and character.

``A team that's gonna put forth all the effort and all the drive that they have within `em. I believe it's going to be an exciting Olympics for the United States baseball team.''

The selection committee opted not to use any of the recently retired major-leaguers such as Tim Raines, who had shown interest in playing. However, the team has its share of veterans.

Catcher Pat Border, who was the MVP of the 1992 World Series with the Toronto Blue Jays, is the team's oldest player at 37. He has spent this season with Tampa Bay's Triple-A affiliate Durham and is batting .276 with 12 home runs.

Dodgers outfielder Shawn Gilbert, 35, is another of the 12 players who have major-league experience, although he has spent most of this season at Triple-A Albuqurque.

Infielder Travis Dawkins of the Reds organization, catcher Marcus Jensen (Twins), outfielder Mike Neill (Mariners), Bobby Seay (Devil Rays) and right-handed reliever Todd Williams (Reds) join Gilbert as returning members from the 1999 Pan Am Games team that finished second to Cuba.

Much like the Pan Am team, the first U.S. baseball team to use professionals, this team isn't expected to have much power hitting. Outfielder Ernie Young, who is with Memphis of the St. Louis Cardinals organization, has 30 home runs each of the past two years at the Triple-A level, but the USA is looking for other ways to win.

The pitching staff features six pitchers who consistently throw in the 90s, led by left-hander C.C. Sabathina, who is playing with Akron of the Indians' organization, and right-handed reliever Shane Heams from Toledo of the Tigers' organization.

Being limited to players who wouldn't be called up to the majors when rosters are expanded in September left top minor-leaguers off the roster.

Corey Patterson, a 21-year-old center fielder who was the third pick overall in the 1998 draft, was one such player. The Cubs declined Patterson's invitation with the intention of promoting him after his season ends at Double-A West Tennessee.

Instead, the U.S. will count on rising stars such as Sean Burroughs, the 20-year-old former Little League world champion from Long Beach who is with the Padres Double-A affiliate Mobile.

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Photo: TOM LASORDA

His leadership helped the Dodgers upset Oakland in the 1988 World Series.