|
 |   |
|
EVENTS Fantasy Central Inside Game Multimedia Central Statitudes Your Turn Message Boards Email Newsletters Golf Guide Cities Work in Sports
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE |  |
Good-hitting pitchers Pitchers at the plate helping their own cause
Posted: Wednesday May 17, 2000 09:58 AM
Pitchers who can hit are a National League manager's dream. They allow a manager to do so many more things within an inning because he doesn't have to worry about working around an automatic out. Exhibit A: Last month Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa had Mike Matheny bunt a runner over so pitcher Rick Ankiel could drive him in. Ankiel homered, becoming just the second pitcher to hit two home runs as a rookie since 1983. Ankiel told me he perfected his swing in a personal batting cage his parents had built for him when he was a kid. Since all minor leagues use the DH, it's an advantage for Ankiel to be only a couple years removed from batting cleanup for his high school team. Tom Glavine has won four Silver Slugger awards, given annually the best offensive players at each position. But he's just part of a Braves staff that racks up wins partly because they're also piling up hits. Glavine told me the Braves pitchers' success at the plate comes from spending more time working on hitting than most other team's pitchers.
The friendly competition among Braves starters to see who will finish with the highest batting average is usually a real battle. A look at the career hit list among active pitchers shows why they spend all that extra time in the cage. The benefits are also reflected in a guy like Terry Mulholland. He had hit better than .200 just once in 11 and a half seasons before coming to Atlanta late last year. Last Friday he racked up two hits against Curt Schilling, and he's tied for second in the NL among pitchers with a .357 average. The Braves pitchers remind me of a great hitting Pirates staff of the mid-80's. Don Robinson hit 13 career home runs, and Rick Rhoden won three silver slugger awards. The Pirates came up with all around athletes because their scouts looked for the whole package. It's like Tom Glavine told me -- if you can handle the bat, you give the manager one less reason to take you out. You also give yourself aother way to win ballgames, and every pitcher should want that.
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
