THANKS TO INJURIES, HMO ALL-STARS ARE THRIVING.

Byline: KEVIN MODESTI

A week into the rough and tumble of the new baseball season, the best team in the land has already been identified.

You can see it now, if only in your imagination, not rolling around a diamond as it should be, but idling in some doctor's waiting room, drumming its fingers or fighting over old People magazines.

It is the All-Injured Team, and as much as it hurts to say this, show me a finer collection of All-Stars than this one.

Catcher: Mike Piazza (whose swollen knee.

First baseman: Andres Galarraga (out for the year, battling back from lymphoma).

Second baseman: Delino DeShields (on the disabled list with a broken thumb).

Third baseman: Cal Ripken Jr. (missed games Wednesday and Thursday with a stiff back).

Shortstop: Alex Rodriguez (DL, knee).

Outfielders: Moises Alou (DL, knee), Larry Walker (DL, ribcage strain) and Jim Edmonds (DL, strained groin, ``irritated'' shoulder).

Designated hitter: Mo Vaughn (DL, sprained ankle).

I know he's a first baseman, but on a club this talented, guys are willing to sacrifice to win.

Starting ace: Kerry Wood (out for the year after elbow surgery).

Bullpen ace: Kerry Ligtenberg (out for the year after elbow reconstruction).

Our club even has a skipper.

Manager: Joe Torre (recovering from prostate surgery).

Who can beat that lineup?

Torre's own New York Yankees? No. The Yankees' 1999 opening-day lineup had 140 homers, 634 RBI and 109 steals last season; the All-Injured team had 274 homers (better), 910 RBI (better), 114 steals (better).

The winning American League All-Star team of '98? Maybe. Its eight position players had 234 homers last year (exactly the same as the All-Injured team), 784 RBI (slight edge) and 149 steals (edge).

So that's what we've got, a full-fledged major-league All-Star team languishing now in some doctor's examination room, trying to keep the paper gown closed in back and the thermometer under the tongue.

Among them, they own three home-run titles, two batting titles, four Most Valuable Player awards and one unbreakable record.

If only we could see them all on one field at the same time. Or any one of them on one field at the same time.

When Cal Ripken Jr. sits out back-to-back games - his back unstiffened in time for him to return to the Baltimore Orioles' lineup Friday - you know something's going around.

Sports medicine can take pride in any number of advances that have made life better for athletes. The replacement of ligaments and tendons with unbreakable rubber bands is not among those advances, unfortunately.

``(People) wonder why, because of the advances, they still get hurt,'' said Charlie Strasser, the Dodgers' head trainer and an executive in the Professional Baseball Athletic Trainers Society. ``It's because they're still human.

``It's the old thing: God didn't put us on Earth to throw a baseball.''

Or to run on a treadmill (which Alou was doing when he fell) or to hop side to side over a small obstacle to build leg strength (which is how Rodriguez got hurt).

``You still have the overuse syndrome in young kids,'' Strasser said.

In this enlightened age, youth leagues are better about limiting pitchers' workloads. The trouble being, the serious kids play in more than one league now.

Another reason injuries don't seem to be generally declining is that we hear about more of them than we did in olden economic days, when a player had to grit his teeth and play with ``a sore elbow.''

Strasser offered another explanation for the seeming epidemic: With expansion, there's simply a lot more major-league skin for the illness-and-injury bug to bite.

So why is that blasted little insect picking on the stars?

How about a major-league slogan for the new season? ``Baseball Fever - Catch It, or Your Favorite Player is Bound To.''

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3 Photos

Photo: (1--3) Among the All-Stars bitten by the early-season injury bug: Alex Rodriguez (left), Cal Ripken Jr. (center) and Mo Vaughn.

Elaine Thompson/Associated Press

Nick Wass/Associated Press

Eric Risberg/Associated Press