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player ready...The most popular question here Tuesday night before the All-Star Game was: Who is the best player, Frank Thomas of the White Sox or Ken Griffey Jr. of the Seattle Mariners? Or, to put it another way: If you were building a team, who would be your first selection?
“It’s not an answerable question,” insisted Jim Kaat, a longtime major-league pitcher who won 284 games and now a baseball analyst for ESPN.
But Kaat couldn’t resist.
“I might be in the minority, but my No. 1 choice would be an ace starting pitcher,” he said. “I’d go with Greg Maddux. A couple of years ago I would have said Roger Clemens, but today Maddux is the most dominant pitcher.
“I know you’re going to say, `He’s picking a pitcher because he was a pitcher.’ But the outstanding starting pitcher-and I’m talking about a genuine ace-he’s the most important man on a club.”
Cito Gaston of Toronto, who managed the American League stars, did his best to dodge the question.
“I’d take either one,” said Gaston, who immediately plunged into high praise from Thomas’ power.
“This kid,” Gaston observed, “hits the ball a long way. For pure power, I’d put him up there with Richie Allen, Willie McCovey and Willie Stargell.”
Gaston paused. He arose from his seat in the third-base dugout and pointed to the right-field upper deck in Three Rivers Stadium.
“See those seats?” Gaston asked. “Those are Stargell seats. He’s been up there a few times.” Gaston also mentioned Stargell’s unmatched feat of crashing two balls out of Dodger Stadium.
“I’m putting the kid in pretty good company,” Gaston said. “This is his fourth year in the league, and we still don’t know how to pitch to him. Nobody does. The only time he doesn’t do well is when he’s swinging at bad pitches. And he doesn’t do that-not very often.”
The next encounter was with Jose Rijo, the enormously talented pitcher with the Cincinnati Reds.
“Frank Thomas is a better hitter than anybody,” Rijo insisted. “And every year he’s getting better.”
A 10-year major leaguer, Rijo expressed surprise at Thomas’ stats-a .383 average, 32 home runs and 78 runs batted in.
“With nobody on base, I’d pitch to him,” said Rijo. “If there’s one man on, I’d be very careful.”
What if there are two on?
“I’d never give him anything to hit. I’d try to make him swing at a bad pitch. And if I can’t get him to do that, I’d pitch to the next guy. That’s why I’m surprised he has such big numbers. I’m surprised they pitch to him.”
Joe Black, the onetime pitching star with the Brooklyn Dodgers, was on the AL bench touching up old times with White Sox manager Gene Lamont.
“Frank Thomas is more than a home run hitter,” Black declared. “A power hitter who hits .380 comes along once in a generation. He’s like Mickey Mantle, except Mickey was quicker. I used to love watching Mantle in batting practice to see how far he hit the ball.
“Until I saw `the Hurt,’ Mantle was the strongest hitter I had seen. But after yesterday (when Thomas crashed a 519-foot homer in a home run contest), I’ve got to go with Thomas.”
Toronto coach Gene Tenace, a former World Series hero, refused to make a comparison.
“Who is the best player, Thomas or Griffey?” Tenace asked, repeating the question. “You can’t go wrong with either one. They’re both franchise players.”
Jim Leyland, the Pittsburgh manager, excused himself on the grounds that as a National Leaguer, he doesn’t see enough of Thomas or Griffey to judge.
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“I assume some people would say Griffey because of his position,” said Leyland. “Center field is more important than first base. I’m not picking Griffey, but if Thomas was a center-fielder, no question he would be the best all-around player. Offensively, Thomas is the best player in the game. He’s hitting .380, and there’s no telling how many home runs he’ll hit.”
I reminded Leyland that Thomas has a 51 reach percentage, better than Babe Ruth’s.
Leyland shook his head in wonderment.
“Unbelievable,” he said.
Thomas and Griffey virtually fought to a draw in the 8-7 National League victory. Both knocked out two hits, Thomas a pair of singles and Griffey a double and a single. But whereas Griffey was retired on infield tap in his second at-bat, the Big Hurt drew a walk and hence reached safely in all three of his plate appearances.
Thomas drove in a run in the first inning and in the fifth hoofed it home all the way from first on Matt Williams’ throwing error. In this same inning, Griffey also picked up an RBI, but on the play ran into an out at second when the throw from center was cut off.
Before the game, Thomas, more or less, predicted he wasn’t likely to hit a home run.
“This time I won’t be in a home run contest,” Thomas said. “I’ll be trying to get a hit. With a man on second, I’d even settle for a bloop single.”