MLB NOTEBOOK: LUCKY 13 FOR MADDUX.

Byline: Daily News Staff and Wire Services

Greg Maddux won his 13th consecutive Gold Glove, and St. Louis Cardinals players won four of the nine National League awards Thursday.

Maddux, who extended his own NL record for pitchers, moved within three of the overall record, held by Jim Kaat. Maddux, who has won 10 of his Gold Gloves with the Atlanta Braves, became a free agent after the World Series.

Cardinals second baseman Fernando Vina, shortstop Edgar Renteria, third baseman Scott Rolen and outfielder Jim Edmonds all were winners.

Houston's Brad Ausmus repeated at catcher, and Colorado's Todd Helton repeated at first base.

Edmonds was joined in the outfield by Colorado's Larry Walker, who won his seventh Gold Glove, and Atlanta's Andruw Jones, who won his fifth in a row.

--Home away from home: Baseball owners are close to approving a plan to have the Montreal Expos play 20 home games in Puerto Rico next year.

``I'm optimistic the deal will work,'' commissioner Bud Selig said after addressing the annual meeting of major-league general managers. ``I'm hopeful. I'm reluctant to say anything until the deal is done.''

Selig also said he expects Hall of Famer Frank Robinson to return as Montreal's manager.

--Teen sentenced: A 15-year-old boy who attacked Kansas City Royals coach Tom Gamboa during a baseball game at Comiskey Park was sentenced to five years of probation.

Cook County Judge Paul Stralka also ordered the teen to undergo mandatory counseling and perform 30 hours of community service.

The boy was arrested along with his father, William Ligue Jr., after the Sept. 19 attack on Gamboa, who attended Notre Dame High in Sherman Oaks. The boy's father has pleaded not guilty to charges of aggravated battery and mob action.

--Long process: Texas Rangers outfielder Rusty Greer will undergo the first of at least four offseason operations next week that likely will force him to miss the 2003 season and could end his career.

Greer will have surgery on his rotator cuff Wednesday. He also faces surgery on his right knee, right hip and needs a ligament transplant in his left elbow that requires at least a year of recovery.

--Option picked up: Pitcher Andy Pettitte's $11.5 million option was exercised by the New York Yankees in the team's first big decision of the offseason.

--Konerko deal: Former Dodgers first baseman Paul Konerko, who had his first 100-RBI season and made the AL All-Star team for the first time, agreed to a $23 million, three-year contract with the Chicago White Sox.

--Bonds keeps going: Barry Bonds keeps supplying the power, just like he did all year.

Bonds hit a go-ahead grand slam in the sixth inning, his fifth homer in the first five games of the tour, to lead major-league all-stars to a 6-5 victory over their Japanese counterparts.

With the major leagues trailing 4-2, Bonds connected off reliever Hirotoshi Ishii. The major leaguers, who beat the Yomiuri Giants in the opener of the eight-game tour, are 1-3 against the Japanese all-stars.

--All-Star issue: One thing baseball needs to sort out is who will manager the National League All-Star team when the midsummer classic is played at Chicago's Comiskey Park in July.

Normally, the manager from the National League pennant winner is the manager for the All-Star game. However, after leading San Francisco to the World Series, Dusty Baker and the Giants parted ways. Felipe Alou is now the manager of the Giants. Meanwhile, Baker could become manager of the Chicago Cubs by the end of the weekend.

A spokesperson for baseball said the issue was unresolved, but a decision would be forthcoming.

Precedent suggests Baker, as long as he remains in the NL, would manage the team. Dick Williams skippered Oakland to the World Series in 1973 and managed the Angels in 1974. He served as the American League manager for the All-Star team that year.