Syd Thrift, who has seen it all, done it all and, to prove it, authored the wonderful instructional “Baseball, According to Syd Thrift,” insists the grand old game has completed its comeback.
Because such generalizations never persuade this department, Thrift, the Orioles’ director of player development, was asked what made him so sure.
“The customer tells you,” he said. “I was raised in the country. My father had a country store. I was trained as a kid that the customer is always right.”
The Orioles were taking batting practice before Wednesday night’s Game 1 against Cleveland in the American League pennant playoffs. Thrift, who was behind the cage watching the Orioles hit, pointed toward the left-field stands, which were almost full.
“You can tell by the tenor of the crowd, the atmosphere,” he said. “The fans are happy. They love this arena. And the players who play here.”
No dispute there. The Orioles have played to 99 percent of capacity since Camden Yards opened six years ago. The same for the Cleveland Indians, who also have a new downtown ballpark. In Denver, it’s standing room only.
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“I’ve been in baseball 50 years,” Thrift said. “I’d never heard of a club selling every seat.”
He was reminded all the big-league franchises haven’t been nearly as successful. The White Sox, for example, don’t fill up and always are complaining about it. They seem convinced many of their players aren’t “fan friendly.”
Who really knows, though it appeared Albert Belle was the only stiff during the long, six-month season, and even he had two or three days of good cheer.
Thrift conceded some clubs are hurting at the gate but nonetheless continued to insist baseball has recovered from the players’ strike that forced cancellation of the 1994 World Series.
Thrift also acknowledged all is not well.
“Too many strikeouts,” he observed. “People don’t talk about bat control anymore, about two-strike hitting, about making contact. There is no science in hitting. It’s gone. Everybody tries to hit home runs. And when you talk to them they say, `We’re getting paid to hit home runs.’ “
The encyclopedic Thrift began rattling off numbers. He opened with Joe DiMaggio, the legendary Yankee Clipper.
“In his whole career he hit 361 home runs. Do you know how many times he struck out?”
The answer is illuminating.
“This is going to surprise a lot of people,” he said. “He struck out 369 times. Only eight more strikeouts than home runs.”
Thrift also advised that in ’41, when the great DiMaggio compiled his heroic record 56-game batting streak, he hit 31 home runs and struck out only 13 times. No question about it. DiMaggio was one of a kind.
“No, he wasn’t,” Thrift said. “Ted Williams only once struck out as many as 64 times. And that was in ’39, his rookie year.”
As Thrift said, times have changed. Sammy Sosa of the Cubs struck out 174 times this year and batted .251 with 36 home runs. Jay Buhner was the leader, 175 strikeouts, .243 average, and 40 home runs. Also at the top of the list are Ron Gant of St. Louis, 162 whiffs, .229 average; and Melvin Nieves, Detroit, 157, .228.
“If you hit a lot of home runs, everything is acceptable,” Thrift insisted. “If you hit .250, or even .220, it’s considered good enough.”
He seemed amused.
“It means that might must be right,” he concluded.
Might was right again Wednesday night. The Orioles won 3-0. All of their runs were scored on home runs. Brady Anderson hit one in the first and Roberto Alomar connected with one on in the third.