Castilla in the Spotlight for Opener

Opening day will be more like Vinny Castilla day.

Although the trailblazing and defending National League champion San Diego Padres are the “home” team for tonight’s game against the Colorado Rockies at Monterrey, Mexico, Castilla can expect a hero’s welcome when major league baseball returns to Mexico for what’s being billed as the International Opener.

And the pressure will be on, because everyone in the baseball-mad industrial city wants to see the Rocky slugger hit home runs.

“Castilla has brought a lot of Mexicans into baseball,” Carlos Chavez, 30, said Saturday while waiting in line for an attraction at the Baseball Festival at a park next to 26,000-seat Estadio Monterrey. “He’s the star here.”

In August 1996, former Dodger Fernando Valenzuela provided Monterrey fans with a memorable evening when he started and won the first regular-season major league game in Mexico, a 15-10 Padre victory over the New York Mets.

Now it’s Castilla who’s the national hero.

Born in the southern state of Oaxaca, he is the greatest power hitter Mexico has produced. He’s coming off a season in which he hit 46 home runs, pushing his career total to 170, and drove in 144 runs.

“It will be a big day for me, a huge day for me,” he said. “To be a part of this game, I’m very excited . . . because I’m going to play in my country. I just can’t wait to get down there and do some damage.”

He ought to love the bandbox Estadio Monterrey, which plays shorter than its listed dimensions of 325 feet down the lines and 400 feet to center field. In three games in 1996, the Padres hit eight homers and the Mets one.

After the game, the teams will fly to San Diego, where they’ll finish the series with games Tuesday and Wednesday.

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Acting New York Yankee Manager Don Zimmer reacted angrily Saturday night to remarks earlier in the day by owner George Steinbrenner concerning pitcher Hideki Irabu.

Speaking before the Yankees’ exhibition game against the Dodgers, Zimmer said his mind “isn’t going to be changed by anybody.”

The reference was to Zimmer’s announcement Friday that Ramiro Mendoza, not Irabu, will pitch Wednesday at Oakland in the third game of the season. Earlier Saturday, Steinbrenner said it was his hope Irabu would pitch Wednesday, but added, “His role will be determined by the manager.”

When asked if what Steinbrenner said was a slap at his authority, Zimmer replied, “We’ll find out. I’m ready for anything, and don’t give a damn about it, either. I’m the manager, I try to do what’s right for the ballclub. My mind is not going to be changed by anybody.”

Irabu remained in Tampa, Fla., when the Yankees left for California and their two-game series against the Dodgers, and was expected to remain there for at least a few more days.

However, he departed Saturday after several meetings and a one-hour workout at the Yankees’ minor-league facility. It’s believed he’ll rejoin the team for today’s exhibition finale at Dodger Stadium.

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Bobby Witt showed why he won a spot in the Tampa Bay Devil Rays’ starting rotation, pitching five strong innings in an 8-4 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates at St. Petersburg, Fla.

The right-hander, coming off a season in which he went 9-9 with a 6.57 earned-run average for the Texas Rangers and St. Louis Cardinals, gave up two runs and seven hits, struck out six and walked two.

Witt (3-1) showed steady improvement in six spring appearances and is scheduled to make his first start of the regular season Thursday night against the Baltimore Orioles at Baltimore.

In a surprise move, the Devil Rays announced that Witt will not be on the opening-day roster. He was reassigned to triple-A Durham, but will be activated before facing the Orioles in the finale of a three-game series.

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After pitching a perfect ninth for his second save this spring, Mark Wohlers said he was satisfied with his comeback.

“I achieved my spring goal to start making my way back to where I was before and to be a part of the 25-man roster,” Wohlers said after the Atlanta Braves defeated the Cleveland Indians, 4-2, at Atlanta.

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Washington Mayor Anthony Williams threw out the ceremonial first pitch and spent the game in the St. Louis Cardinals’ dugout as the Cardinals defeated the Montreal Expos, 2-1, before 30,112 at RFK Stadium, completing a two-game exhibition series in a city trying to lure a major league team.

“You never want to wish ill will of another city,” said Williams. “Montreal’s a beautiful city, a great city, so I wish it the best. But this is a great baseball city too. We’ve got the market here.”

The Expos say they must move unless they obtain government funding for a new ballpark in Montreal.

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The Cincinnati Reds’ limited partners, led by financier Carl Lindner, have offered to match Cleveland lawyer Larry Dolan’s $65-million offer to buy control of the team from Marge Schott, the Cincinnati Post and Enquirer reported. . . . Looking for bullpen insurance, the Yankees signed left-hander Tony Fossas, 41, to a triple-A contract.