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player ready...There is no desire here to rain on Kerry Wood’s parade. He appears certain to be a big help to the Cubs, but he had a crucial advantage in his first head-to-head duel Thursday night against Mark McGwire, the Cardinals’ super slugger.
Wood retired him in his three at-bats, the first two times on strikes and then on a routine flyball.
The pitcher always has the edge the first time around, because even the best hitters don’t know what to expect. With time, hitters adjust. They begin to gauge the speed of even a 98-m.p.h. heater. They also will have a better idea of how his breaking pitches break.
Ted Williams, the last of the .400 hitters, always made it a point to watch the break of the ball. When an opposing club changed pitchers and Williams was in the on-deck circle, he would saunter to the plate for the single purpose of seeing the reliever throw his eight warmup pitches.
Most of the time there was no objection. He was allowed the extra look. So far as I know, the only pitcher who disapproved was Gerry Staley of the White Sox. To push him back, Staley threw at Williams’ legs. It was a simple message. Staley was telling him to get back in the on-deck circle where he belonged.
The Wood-McGwire matchup reminded Hall-of-Famer Billy Williams, the Cubs coach who was among the best hitters of his time, of what happens in September when pitchers are called up from the minors.
“You have to hit against guys you’ve never seen before,” Williams said. “You don’t know what to expect. That’s why you see a lot of funny swings in September. But eventually, the good hitters catch up.”
What about scouting reports?
“There has been a lot of talk about how hard Kerry throws,” he acknowledged. “It’s not a secret. All the big-league clubs know that. McGwire knew that. But I could tell McGwire was surprised. Until you hit against him, the hitter doesn’t know how hard.”
Still, the pitcher always has the edge. Most pitchers have three or four options, and only he and his catcher know what he’s going to throw. The hitters have to guess. If they don’t guess, they have to wait until the pitch is more than halfway to the plate before they can determine what’s coming and launch their swing.
“Good pitching stops good hitting,” Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said. “That’s one of the real truths in baseball.”
Rene Lachemann, a former big-league manager who is now among La Russa’s coaches, agreed:
“Good hitters are going to make seven outs in every 10 at-bats. It’s been that way since Abner Doubleday.”
Lachemann elaborated: “Good pitchers make fewer mistakes, and the good hitters hit mistakes. They don’t foul them off. They get the fat part of the bat on them, and when they hit the ball, they hit it hard. And sometimes they hit good pitches, too.”
Dave Parker, another Cardinals coach and a strong Hall-of-Fame candidate (339 homers, 1,493 RBIs), insists the best pitchers are usually beaten by the pesky hitters. “The little guys do the big damage,” he said. “Guys like Lou Brock and Rickey Henderson. They get on base with a bunt or a walk. Then they steal second, and before you know it they’re at third base.”
Parker is one of many baseball insiders who believe someone, perhaps McGwire, will break Roger Maris’ single-season record of 61 home runs set in 1961.
La Russa thinks so, too, but offers the disclaimer that he isn’t sure there are more home run hitters today than there were 25 years ago. “Sometimes you get a little carried away with what’s happening today,” he said, “and you forget what happened before.”
But he does acknowledge that McGwire could have a big season, even bigger than last, when he led both leagues with 58 home runs. That’s because the Cardinals have a balanced attack and McGwire benefits by the presence in lineup of such established hitters as Ray Lankford, Brian Jordan, Gary Gaetti and Ron Gant.
“If McGwire was our only dangerous hitter,” La Russa said, “the other side could take him away from you. They wouldn’t pitch to him. And when that happens, he would become so frustrated he would start chasing bad pitches.”
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Whatever, you can be certain McGwire is waiting for his next matchup with Kerry Wood.