RMJ 130 June 25

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 25 ● Pittsburgh, vs Pirates

I said hello to Biggio this morning. He did not acknowledge the greeting.

Nice start. 

At least we have Darryl “The Dependable” Kile going for us. Their pitcher, Steve Cooke, is a soft-tossing lefty — the kind of pitcher who drives us crazy. Still, I felt good about my lineup. It always looks better with Bidge leading off.

 

Chuck Carr came in with Gerry, and we spelled out what we expected from him. I told him that he would start most of the time for the next two weeks, and then we would evaluate his performance and the team’s needs.

“I want you to know going in that you may end up as a part-time player,” I said. “I can’t guarantee that you will be the regular centerfielder. I know this has been a problem elsewhere, but we can’t have that problem here. Is that understood?”

He said it was.

Gerry explained that Bobby Abreu was going out for a rehab assignment, and that he would be playing some center field when he came back.

Everything was hunky-dory with Chucky. What could he say?

 

Lance Berkman’s father, Larry, came in with Gerry a few minutes later. We had a nice visit. His father is a big, strong, rawboned man, which suggests that Lance might get a little stronger still. He hit 41 home runs at Rice this year, so he is pretty strong already.

Larry Berkman expressed his happiness with the way we handled the negotiations. He is excited about coming to see his son play major-league baseball. The family lives in New Braunfels, Texas, near San Antonio, only a couple of hours away. With our power shortage this year, I am hoping he progresses speedily through the system. We have only one problem if he does: his best position is first base, and we happen to have a pretty good first-baseman by the name of Bagwell.

Lance will start in the Florida State League. He will be a left-fielder.

 

The game today ran true to form. Cooke was only throwing 83 MPH, throwing even slower pitches, curves, and changeups, quite a bit. We were barely getting the ball out of the infield, and we were down 1-0 on an RBI double by Jose Guillen as we came up to hit in the seventh inning.

At this point, I made an unusual move: I used Ricky Gutierrez to pinch-hit for Tim Bogar leading off the inning. Ricky grounded out. With one out, the next move would be to hit for Kile. But I didn’t want him out of the game. He struck out.

Biggio reached second on Dale Sveum’s throwing error, and went to third on a wild pitch. I signaled for Cubby to alert James Mouton to the possibility of a bunt hit. James took the initiative, and he dropped it down perfectly; Biggio scored to tie the game.

When Biggio came into the dugout, I reached out my hand to congratulate him, and he ignored me while slapping hands with everybody else. Bill looked at me and smiled.

“I guess he’s not over it yet,” he said. “Don’t worry about it. He’ll be all right.”

I was worried, though. My stomach was still in knots, and my neck was still stiff.

Kile survived a two-out scare, and in the top of the eighth, the Pirates had pinch-hit for Cooke. Derek Bell greeted the new pitcher, Clint Sodowsky, with a long home run in the bottom of the inning.

With one out, Tony Eusebio walked. Now I had a decision to make.

We had already talked about whether we should pinch-run with Ausmus. If we did that, I was inclined to bring Billy Wagner into the game, because I didn’t want to change catchers on Kile.

Bill made the decision for me; he sent Ausmus in to run. I didn’t think we had come to a conclusion on this subject, but Bill apparently did. Maybe he just wanted Wagner in there anyway. I didn’t mind, myself, and probably would have come to that conclusion on my own.

Ausmus moved up on a slow ground ball. I pinch-hit Bill Spiers for Kile, and Gene Lamont switched to a lefthanded pitcher, Matt Reubel. I asked Bill if he thought I should hit with Listach, and he was noncommittal.

“It would probably be better from an offensive standpoint, but who do you want to play defense?” he asked.

That confirmed my instinct. We already had the lead.

I let Spiers hit, knowing that if we did not score or they tied the game, I would still have Listach available, and I would still have a better defensive infield in the game.

Spiers made me look good, as he has so often this year. He doubled down the first-base line, and we led 3-1.

Pirates manager Gene Lamont walked Biggio and brought hard-throwing Rich Loiselle into the game. Now I had to make another decision: I could hit with switch-hitter Chucky Carr and improve my outfield defense, or let Mouton swing. James is a good fastball hitter. I let him hit, and I was rewarded with a two-run double.

Biggio ignored me again as he passed through the welcoming line.

I was still pretty upset, but at least I didn’t have to worry about losing the game anymore. Wagner came in and struck out the side.

 

After the game and the postgame press conference, I talked with the coaches again. They reassured me that I had done the right thing. The consensus was that he would get over it, and we would be better off for my having done it.

           

We are heading out on a four-day trip to Chicago, and it is our family trip. We will have more than 30 children with us, including Ryan Dierker. He has been wanting to go to Chicago for several years.

When we got to the hotel, Uncle Rick and Aunt Susan were there to greet us. They want to see Wrigley Field, and I don’t blame them. It’s a great ballpark. Ryan wanted to go up to the top of the Hancock Building, which is right across the street from the hotel. The view, with all the twinkling lights, was impressive, but I think it would be better in the daytime.

We had a bite to eat in the coffee shop and called it a day.