RMJ 23 March 9

SUNDAY, MARCH 9 ● Winter Haven, vs Cleveland

I can’t tell one day from the other down here. Every day starts at 6:30 or 7:00 a.m. for me. That, in itself, is a body blow. I have no time for a leisurely reading of the newspaper. I have no time for the pleasure of ruminating while eliminating. In other words, this schedule has me constipated.

I’ll be glad when we start playing night games.

In recent years, I have found that my body clock is slowing down. Frequently, we have a day game on the last day of a road trip. We call this getaway day. This is when I find myself rushing around to get packed and checked out of the hotel. I get to the ballpark and have many things to do. Before I can get really comfortable, it’s showtime. Sometimes I don’t get around to my daily duty until after we get back to Houston that night.

This spring, every day is like getaway day. I suppose I could get up an hour earlier, but that is not my style.

So tonight at 10 p.m. I am writing, and still waiting for nature’s call. In another hour I have to go down to the lobby to tape an interview for Channel 2 in Houston. Tommorow I will pick Cubby up at 8:00 for a trip to St. Petersburg.

I suppose I’ll get around to it sometime. At least it’s not critical to the team’s success.

           

What is critical is our preparation for the opening of the season. And in that regard, I am unhappy tonight.

Earlier, I was just plain pissed. I jogged four miles when we got back from Winter Haven instead of my normal two or three. 

The source of my discontent is the effort of our athletes. I realize that it has been hot, and we have not had any “rain days” to let the bodies recover. But I still can’t condone laziness.

The disturbing thing is that today it was Bagwell and Biggio again. And Listach.

Pat has been having a little trouble catching ground balls lately. Today he had a tough time, and instead of taking more work, he took less. The other guys were having some difficulty on the hard infield at Chain O’Lakes Park too, but they stayed in there and got their work done.

Pat has been a disappointment so far. He is not as fast as was advertised. And he is not hitting or bunting very well.

           

Still, I thought it would be a good day. I wore one of my Hawaiian shirts to lift my spirits — and our

record above the .500 mark. And I asked José “Cheo” Cruz to take the lineup card out, for good luck.

At first, it seemed a good move. Biggio opened the game with what should have been an easy double, but he stopped at first. That didn’t bother me too much.

Listach got a bunt down, then Bagwell singled Biggio home. The throw went through to the plate, and Jeff should have gone to second, but he stopped at first. Gonzalez doubled down the leftfield line, and Bagwell stopped at third and was stranded there. If he had moved up on the throw home, we would have scored two runs instead of one.

I know Biggio and Bagwell will make those plays during the season, but what does their lack of hustle say to the other players?

Rookie Bobby Abreu was sullen when he didn’t get in the game until the seventh inning. When it came time to run sprints after the game, some of the players — including Abreu — went through the motions.

Oscar Henriquez, a supremely talented 21-year-old pitcher, had some problems, loading the bases, but was saved by Russ Johnson’s spectacular play. Henriquez never even acknowledged Johnson. He acted like he was mad that he didn’t strike everyone out.

Later, when it was time to run, Oscar was signing autographs. When I confronted him, he said he had to change his shoes. Then why was he signing autographs?

Bill Virdon made the team run extra laps until everyone ran hard. This created a rift between the guys who were running hard all along and those, including Abreu, who were loafing.

I was talking with reporters at the time, and when I heard about it, I was really fried.

When I was taking a shower, Johnson, a rookie who has played his ass off this spring, asked if he could ride home with his wife. Tommy Gregg and Mike Gardiner came up with the same request. I let them all go, but that’s about all I can let go for now. When the whole squad is together again, day after tomorrow, I’ll have my say.

I hate to do this so early in the spring, because I know that you can’t play the “mad card” too often. It loses impact. But I believe the players need to know what the staff is seeing. And the staff needs to know that I will take a stand.

I have been preparing my speech all night long, and I will probably write it in these pages tomorrow. So far, the hours have taken the hard edge off what I plan to say. I hope that the one-day interlude will soften it a little more. But I can’t keep watching this and not say anything.

If I were a veteran manager, I might let it slide. But the credibility of our staff is at stake this spring. And the message we send the minor-leaguers who will disperse to other clubs next week is also important.