I am a sportswriter, not a debater, but some things shouldn’t go unchallenged. For example, Cleveland’s Mike Hargrove, manager of the American League All-Stars, has been insisting Omar Vizquel of the Indians is the best fielding shortstop in major-league history.
More than likely, Hargrove was swept up in the All-Star hype and took advantage of the occasion to puff up his own player. And there is some measure of truth to Hargrove’s assertion because Vizquel appears to be the best shortstop of the current generation.
In the clubhouse, Hargrove was asked if he ever had seen Luis Aparicio play.
“Not much,” Hargrove replied.
Hargrove was advised this correspondent had seen Aparicio, from beginning to end, and was of the opinion he may have been the best of all time.
“We’ll have to talk about that later,” Hargrove said. “Right now I have a meeting with my coaches.”
So he wriggled off the hook.
Later it occurred to me this needn’t be a private debate. For example, there was the recollection of a conversation of about 40 years ago with the late Donie Bush. A celebrated shortstop of long ago, Bush had been among Ty Cobb’s teammates.
By the time I caught up with him, in the middle 1950s, Bush was the owner and general manager of Indianapolis in the American Association. Indianapolis had a working agreement with the White Sox and every spring Bush was a regular at the White Sox camp in Sarasota, watching the games and waiting to see which players would be optioned to his club.
One day after Aparicio had had an outstanding game, which was not unusual, Bush announced Aparicio was the best shortstop he ever had seen.
Better even than the legendary Honus Wagner, who was in the first wave elected to the Hall of Fame?
“Better,” Bush insisted. “Covers more ground, stronger arm.”
There have been dozens of brilliant shortstops who since have come and gone. Before Tuesday night’s Midsummer Classic, some old-time baseball insiders were questioned on the best shortstops they have seen.
“Depends of what you’re looking for,” said Ken Singleton, a onetime Baltimore outfielder who now is a broadcaster for the major leagues’ international network.
The best shortstop, all-around, he was informed.
Singleton chose Mark Belanger, his former Baltimore teammate.
“He was the best fielder,” he said. “I never saw `the Blade’ make a bad play.”
And Aparicio?
“I didn’t get to see him play, except on television,” he admitted.
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Joe Torre, manager of the front-running Yankees, also voted for an associate.
“Defensively, Ozzie Smith,” said Torre, who managed Smith in St. Louis. “I didn’t see much of Aparicio.”
This partisanship extended to Johnny Goryl and Mark Wiley, Cleveland coaches whom Hargrove elevated for the All-Star Game. Both cast their votes for Vizquel.
“We see him every day,” said Goryl, whose 40 years in the game began as a player with the Cubs. “If you saw him day in and day out, you would be very impressed.”
Vizquel is impressive and it’s possible he makes as many plays as Aparicio, but Aparicio was much more picturesque, a diamond Baryshnikov.
These disputes between the ancients and moderns are almost always generational. Jim Brosnan, the pitcher-author, for instance, is convinced Roy McMillan, his former Cincinnati teammate, was among the best shortstops of their time and that McMillan was underrated because he played in a small market. Had he performed in New York he would have had a “legendary” career, said Brosnan.
Whatever, of this there is unanimous agreement. The position of shortstop is changing. No longer is defensive wizardry the first requirement. It has evolved to the point where the best-known practitioners also hit with considerable power. This group includes Alex Rodriguez of Seattle, Derek Jeter of the Yankees and Nomar Garciaparra of Boston, and all are capable of 30-plus homers.
And if you didn’t notice, the first home run in Tuesday night’s All-Star frolic was hit by Rodriguez.