|
On the Diamond
Olerud won't remain anonymous if he stays hot
Posted: Sunday October 17, 1999 06:24 PM
By Aimee Crawford, CNN/SI
NEW YORK -- Mets' first baseman John Olerud is a typical New Yorker. He takes the subway to work, makes routine stops at his favorite pizza parlor on the way home, scans the tabloids during his commute.
Of course, Olerud also won a batting title at age 25 with the Blue Jays in 1993, posted the Mets' highest single-season batting average ever (.354) last season and owns two World Series rings, something nobody else on the eastbound No. 7 train can claim.
But he's still a soft-spoken, unassuming fellow who, according to his manager, "goes unnoticed" most of the time and might even be best known to most fans as the goofy-looking guy who wears his batting helmet on the field. (He started doing so as a protective measure after suffering an aneurysm in college at Washington State).
If he keeps coming through when it counts like he did in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series Saturday night, and again in the first inning of today's Game 5, Olerud might not be able to maintain that low profile.
Olerud helped the Mets stave off elimination with two clutch hits last night -- he put New York ahead in the sixth inning with a solo homer off Atlanta starter John Smoltz, and followed up with a seeing-eye single up the middle in the eighth off Braves closer John Rocker that drove in what proved to be the game-winning run. He took Atlanta ace Greg Maddux deep on a 2-1 pitch in the first inning.
Mets skipper Bobby Valentine shook up his lineup in Game 3 Friday night and moved Olerud into the No. 2 spot in the order for the first time this postseason. Olerud moved back into his customary spot in the No. 3 hole for today's game.
In typical self-effacing style, Olerud deflected some of the credit for his clutch hit after Game 4. When asked if Rocker may have been concentrating more on the two runners on base, since to that point Olerud had gone 0-for-9 with five strikeouts against him dating back the to regular season, Olerud paused and then nodded in agreement.
"Well, he hasn't had a whole lot of trouble getting me out," he said. "I'm sure his main focus was getting me out because he's been very successful [doing that]."
But, as Rocker and Maddux have learned, nobody gets every man out every time.
Rickey's rules
The buzz on the field at batting practice was all about Rickey Henderson. Would he or wouldn't he? Did he or didn't he?
As in would Henderson get the start in Game 5? And did he leave the clubhouse -- and shortly thereafter the stadium -- in a huff Saturday night after being pulled in the eighth inning of from Game 4?
The answer to both questions was yes. Henderson assumed his customary spot in the Mets lineup and a laced a leadoff single. And he did indeed exit the dugout, shower and dress in the clubhouse and exit the stadium within minutes of the Mets' victory last night -- a practice that's apparently commonplace for the veteran superstar.
Valentine acknowledged the timing of his defensive switch -- Henderson had already taken the field in the eight inning when the manager called him back in and sent Melvin Mora in as a rightfield replacement -- was bad.
"The timing of that was very bad, and in particular for a player of Ricky's stature," Valentine said before the start of Game 5. "I expressed those concerns to him yesterday."
Valentine also said Henderson's reaction didn't surprise, or upset him.
"When we played the one-game playoff in Cincinnati, he came out for defense," Valentine said in his pre-game press conference, "and he was dressed at the end of the game in the clubhouse. He came out and did the same thing. One of the games against Pittsburgh [the final weekend of the regular season], he came out and did the same thing."
"I didn't see it as a problem."
Cedeno out
Mets outfielder Roger Cedeno, who is hitting .471 (8-of-17) with three RBIs and three stolen bases in seven postseason games, is out of the starting lineup - and possibly the game -- with back spasms. Melvin Mora (.500, ) made his second career start (his first was in Game 3 of the NLCS Friday night).
"[Cedeno] has been bothered with recurring stiffness for about the last week," said Mets manager Bobby Valentine before the game. "Today he came in with a pretty severe spasms."
| 
