RMJ 36 March 22

SATURDAY, MARCH 22 ● Kissimmee, vs Cincinnati

Shortly after I arrived this morning, Gerry came in to talk about Derek. I could tell he had been considering various strategies.

“Clearly, we have to do something,” he said. “We can’t let this thing fester.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Bill said. “I’ll talk to him and see if I can do some fence-mending.”

A few minutes later, I was talking to Gerry in my office.

“You know, Bill may be part of the problem,” Gerry said. “We all like Bill. He’s a great guy. But he is old-school. A different approach may be what we need.”

“I was thinking the same thing,” I said. “In fact, my instinct yesterday was to talk to him myself. But Bill has so much more experience. And with the work he did with Barry Bonds, I just thought I should defer to him.”

“I understand,” Gerry said. “But I think your instinct was right. I have a good relationship with Derek, and I don’t think he’s a bad guy. But you have to try to understand him.”

“He’s like my daughter, Julia,” I said. “I was telling Mac about that yesterday. It seems like every day, she wakes up in a new world. And whatever she has said she planned to do goes out the window. Everything is predicated on the impulse of the moment. There is no plan as you and I know it.”

“Well, what do you do with Julia?” he asked.

“We’ve tried a lot of things,” I said. “And even though we love each other, I can’t say we’ve been able to get her motivated to be productive. It’s hard to see things though her eyes.”

“Well, I think I can see things through Derek’s eyes sometimes,” he said. “I think the whole thing comes down to Bagwell and Biggio. He wants to be treated the same as them.”

“He has been,” I said, perhaps a bit defensively.

“Think about that,” he said. “The other day, Bidge and Baggy came out after seven innings. Derek played nine, and then had to run afterward. That was one problem.”

“Yeah, but the day before in Lakeland, he told me if I gave him the rest of the game off, he would play nine the next day. So he played nine.”

“Yes, but remember what you said about Julia? If she told you she was going to do something tomorrow, would you bet on it?”

“Good point,” I said.

“Here’s another one,” he said. “Yesterday in the meeting, you were talking about stepping it up for the last week. You said something about Bagwell, Biggio, and Reynolds just getting ready at their own pace, and that you knew they would be there for you, playing hard all year long. But you questioned whether anyone could just step it up on opening day, and you said ‘maybe we need to step it up now.’ You didn’t mention Derek’s name.”

“For crying out loud, Gerry,” I said. “I just happened to see those three guys sitting up front. I could have used any names, including Derek’s.”

“But you didn’t,” he said. “I think he is watching everything that is done and listening to everything that is said. I’m not getting on you, because I know these are trivial things. I’m just saying, maybe you need to be aware of his feelings at all times. Not that you can do this for every player. But every player may not be as sensitive or important as Derek.

“And another thing. Yesterday, when he didn’t start and had to sit on the bench: Has Bagwell or Biggio ever sat on the bench this spring?”

“No,” I said. “But they could. Do you think that they would put on their street clothes and leave without asking, if they weren’t in the lineup? Do you want me to test them out? Because I’ll tell you: They may ask if they can go, but they won’t just get dressed to leave.”

“I hear you,” he said. “I agree with you. But it’s just a way of looking at things through his eyes. I don’t want a test case; I just want to put a lid on this particular situation.”

Feeling that Gerry’s points were well-taken, but also feeling somewhat inadequate to put his suggestions to practice, I suggested we have a meeting.

“Maybe you and Mac and I could meet with him — apart from Bill, so it isn’t so threatening — and try to get this ironed out.”

“I think this is something you have to do yourself,” he said. “You can’t always go to Mac, because he’ll be caught in-between. And I won’t always be around.”

I knew he was right. But I wasn’t looking forward to the challenge.

During stretching, I talked with Mac. I explained my dilemma, and I asked for guidance.

“Look, this ain’t no big deal,” he said. “You mentioned your daughter, and I have a son the same way. Fortunately, he’s grown out of it. Derek is like that too. But he’s not a bad guy.

“The only thing you have to understand is that you can’t take what he says one day and apply it to the next day. Like when he said he would play nine; I bet he doesn’t even remember saying that. He just wants to get treated like Bagwell and Biggio. If you do that, you don’t have a problem.”

I looked for an opportunity to talk to Derek, but I didn’t want the rest of the guys on the team to see me pulling him aside. I didn’t want them to think I was treating him like a special case. And I didn’t want him to feel like I was singling him out in front of everyone.

I told Bill what I was thinking, and he laughed. “He’s in about the best mood I’ve seen him in all spring,” he said. “I wouldn’t worry about it too much. The only ones who are shook up about this are us.”

After that, I didn’t worry. The opportunity to talk never presented itself.

           

We lost to the Reds 6-3. John Smiley pitched a gem. Shane Reynolds battled and lost, without his best stuff. I walked back to the locker room with Gerry. He asked if I had talked to Derek. “No,” I said. “But he seems okay. I’ll try to catch up with him tomorrow at Vero.”

Gerry pushes hard sometimes, but he is pretty reasonable overall. He asked if we could meet to discuss final cuts by Monday, and I said we could. I’ve already asked each member of the coaching staff to pick the team they would like to break with, and to write it down for me.

“No consulting,” I said. “I want your own opinions.”

 

I picked up Judy and we met my former broadcast partner Dewayne Staats and his family for Mexican food. Dewayne got his big break from Tal Smith, and he has since become one of the top broadcasters in the country.

We are all hoping that with the new ballpark, and with the spirit of Cruz, Virdon, Ruhle, Ashby et al, Dewayne will return to his roots with the rest of us. He is currently working baseball for ESPN with another ex-Astro, Joe Morgan.

It would be great to get him back. With so many good vibrations, I can’t help but feel that a pennant is in the offing soon.