Sunday, May 23, 1999
BASEBALL INSIDER
A few grand slams a day keep pitchers at bay
BY CHRIS HAFT
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Grand slams used to be the shooting stars of baseball. You didn't see them all that often, and when you did, they were a thrill.
Now, they're just not a big deal.
Entering the weekend, 45 grand slams already had been hit in the majors, or one approximately every 13.2 games. This exceeded the record pace set in 1996, when 141 slams were struck, a rate of one every 16 games.
“I think the ball's livelier and (wound) tighter,” Reds manager Jack McKeon said. “As the season wears on, pitching becomes sharper. I think you'll see that (home run frequency) decrease.”
Until then, we may witness more feats such as:
• Robin Ventura of the New York Mets becoming the first player to blast grand slams in each game of a doubleheader, as he did Thursday;
• St.Louis' Fernando Tatis belting two grand slams in one inning April 23;
• Boston's Nomar Garciaparra hitting two slams in one game, the 11th player to do so;
• Boston's Creighton Gubanich notching a slam as his first major-league hit and becoming just the fourth player in history to do so.
Here's a little consolation for Reds shortstop Barry Larkin, whose 5,854 at-bats without a grand slam (through Friday) was the majors' longest active streak: Richie Ashburn, Frankie Frisch and Nellie Fox never hit one, either. They're all in the Hall of Fame.
OLD FRIEND: A little more than four months remain in the season. There's still time to make that drive north on I-75 to see one last game at Detroit's Tiger Stadium before it yields to another of those imitation retro ballparks.
Cleveland Indians third baseman Travis Fryman, a former Tiger, heartily recommended a visit.
“The thing I like about Tiger Stadium is, you can peel off the layers of paint and see what color the ballpark was in 1912,” Fryman said. “They never sandblasted the old paint off. They just covered it with another layer.”
It's as unique as it is ancient.
“Everyone knows it's antiquated, but when you walk down all the tiny hallways and sit in the tiny dugouts, you know all the great players have been there before you,” Fryman said.
(Sudden thought: Does that mean Cobb, Gehrig, etc. were little shrimpy guys?)
PUT ON A HAPPY FACE: This week's issue of Sports Illustrated revealed that in a random poll of 85 players, managers and coaches, New York Yankees right fielder Paul O'Neill was named the majors' top complainer, whiner and tantrum thrower.
Even before the survey was released, O'Neill admitted that he needed an attitude readjustment. The former Red was a little sobered after ESPN cameras caught him smashing a water cooler in disgust after he was called out on strikes a couple of weeks ago in the ninth inning of a 1-0 loss to Anaheim.
“You think I like being on SportsCenter all the time? I hate it,” O'Neill said. “My wife says it's embarrassing to the family and our kids. She's right. But sometimes I can't help it. It's just a part of my personality that comes out in a game.”
O'Neill's teammates accept his act — to a point.
“There's a lot of John McEnroe in Paul,” right-hander David Cone said. “We've come to accept his personality. These are the things he does to motivate himself.”
Said third baseman Scott Brosius: “Sometimes, when Paul goes off, we sort of smile and ask ourselves, "What's he going to do next?' It's funny, in a way, but we are role models. It's not something you'd want your kids to copy.”
SIBLING SLIP-UPS: Montreal's Guerrero brothers, superb right fielder Vladimir and capable second baseman Wilton, share one problem: They can't catch the ball.
Vladimir's 10 errors were a team high. “He's looking at the runner before he catches the ball,” Expos manager Felipe Alou said. “I don't know of any drills you can do to correct that.”
Committing seven errors in 19 starts caused Wilton to lose his spot in the lineup to Jose Vidro. Lack of concentration, said the sage Alou, hampers Wilton's fielding.
HIT OF THE WEEK: Nothing was ordinary about the three-run double Chicago Cubs right-hander Kevin Tapani socked Monday night in Florida. Not because he's a pitcher, but because he has been playing with a broken bone in his left hand since Reds catcher Eddie Taubensee's line drive struck him May 7.
Tapani downplayed the feat. “I don't think it's anything different than anything anyone else plays with on a daily basis,” he said.
FOOL'S GOLD: Maybe the Tampa Bay/St.Petersburg baseball market isn't such a treasure trove after all. Attendance, which was good but not great in last year's inaugural season, is down by about one-third at Tropicana Field, though the Devil Rays have a half-decent team with recognizable stars (Jose Canseco, Wade Boggs).
A brief fuss arose when rumors flew that owner Vince Naimoli had contemplated moving the team. “There's no truth to that whatsoever,” Naimoli said, though he planned to meet with the mayors of St.Petersburg and Tampa to discuss means of generating support.
DONE WITH DOME: Generations of San Francisco Giants have been united in their loathing for the Astrodome, which is in its final year before a retractable-roofed palace opens in downtown Houston next season. San Francisco played its final game there last week, finishing with a 117-169 all-time record.
“It's a hell hole,” former Giant and current broadcaster Mike Krukow said of the Dome. “Anything that could possibly go wrong usually did. It's a sensual stripping. You don't see right, you don't hear right, and it doesn't smell right. The effect of the lights is astronomical. Guys' eyes don't adjust to it.”
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