The Game Will Not Be Made Up: Page 26

1:41 p.m.

Right-handed batters usually hit lefties better than righties while left-handed hitters do better against righties. I'm not exactly sure why. I think it's because the spin of the ball looks different. For instance, if you're right-handed, my pitches tend to start away from you and then curve toward from you. That's what you want. It's easier to hit a ball that's not right on top of you. If you're left-handed, my pitches tend to start at your hands then break away from you. You have to lunge a bit more. You have less time to react, complete your bat swing and make contact with the ball.

Both pitchers and throwers want batters to hit their pitches. No one wants to surrender and throw easy tosses down the middle. The difference is that throwers believe they can overpower batters even if everyone knows what's coming. Pitchers try to confuse batters because they know they can't dominate through sheer force.

I know most people think throwers are raw carbon as compared to pitchers who are polished diamonds. I contend good staffs have a few throwers and a few pitchers. Keep lineups off-balance.

Speaking of off-balance, the Tigers aren't in sync. Roberto grounds out to short. Roman flies out to center. Kevin smokes a line drive that Robinson spears. If Robinson's glove hadn't gotten in the way, an ambulance probably would have been necessary. That ball was going straight to his head.

I never like seeing something like that. I'm lucky I've never been in that position on the mound. Like I said earlier, my closest call came while sitting in the dugout. I have seen pitchers hit by line drives and get badly hurt. That's why I worked hard to become a good fielder. I wanted to help the team any way I could. The bottom line though was I didn't want to die. By the time I release the ball and follow-through, I'm well inside the 60-feet, six-inch distance from rubber to plate. So I had to learn how to play defense against balls hit 50 feet from me. It took a lot of work but I won my first Gold Glove last year. I'm very proud of the award, particularly because it came from other players. It's good to know they respect me. At least, that's how I choose to look at it.

Speaking of ambulances, I don't like to throw at opposing hitters. It's unnecessary. Besides, there are better ways to retaliate. Sometimes, it doesn't take long to get even. One time, I was playing with Montreal and batting against New York at Shea Stadium. I disagreed with a called strike that was really six inches outside. I yelled at the umpire before my manager at the time, Jimmy Kopeckne, intervened. I'm sure Jimmy didn't want me to be ejected but he shouldn't have interrupted me. I can handle myself when dealing with umpires.