Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, August 1, 1993 TAG: 9308010060
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RAY COX
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
LaPlante, a right-handed pitcher for the Salem Buccaneers, comes from a remote burg in the province of Quebec called Val d'Or. Translated from the French, that means "Valley of Gold."
"There is gold all through the region," LaPlante said.
The only problem with all that loot: A lot of folks dig it to deposit it in the pockets of the few.
LaPlante's father has the relatively cushy job of selling equipment to the mine operators. Other relatives go underground and get dirty using that same gear.
Young Michel had himself pegged for a life where, in the words of an old-timey songwriter, it's "dark as a dungeon and damp as the dew, where the dangers are many and the pleasures are few."
That had about as much appeal to him as a bucket full of fool's gold.
Sports was the ticket out of the mines and the cold north woods. You could guess what his first choice was, but he was a small youngster - 5-foot-9, 145 pounds at age 17 - and when it came time to fill out rosters for the junior teams that feed the National Hockey League, nobody wanted him.
Then he turned his attentions to tennis, which was a decent move despite the fact that he started playing at the elderly age - for that sport - of 11. But after ascending to a ranking of No. 4 in the province, he played poorly in a big tournament that could have meant a lucrative sponsorship and a chance to play for pay.
"I choked," he said.
But LaPlante did not despair. He had been playing baseball for kicks around town and somebody suggested that he might be good enough to take the six-hour trip to Montreal and join a league for 17- to 21-year-olds.
LaPlante must have been a sight when he showed up for the tryout that day, resplendent in soccer cleats and a billed cap with a fish embroidered on it. But scouts are the same no matter where you are, be it Montreal or Montgomery, Ala. It's how you look on the field that counts, not how you look in a uniform, or whatever serves for the same.
LaPlante passed his audition and, in time, progressed to the point that he was chosen for an all-star team that represented the eastern portion of Canada. It helped that somewhere along the line somebody figured it would be a smooth move to convert him from an outfielder to a pitcher. Ultimately, LaPlante made the Canadian national team.
It was on a trip with that ballclub to Florida that Pittsburgh Pirates scouts saw him. Next came his selection in the 26th round of the 1992 draft. Signing was a no-brainer for LaPlante. Better to be playing in the dirt than digging it.
Things have gone well for him since. He struck out 75 in 69 innings at Welland of the New York-Penn League and earned a promotion to Augusta of the South Atlantic League last year. After starting in Augusta this year, he moved up to Salem, where he has gone 1-1 with a 4.15 ERA.
Other benefits include learning English, after being the only French-speaking guy on every professional team for which he has played. He has gotten a Florida suntan. He has been a tourist in Batavia, N.Y., and Fayetteville and Kinston, N.C. And he stands a chance of being only the third French-Canadian to play in the big leagues in the past 20 years.
Nobody needs to tell him that's where the real gold is.
"I've always taken it that even if things don't work out, I'll still learn something," LaPlante said.
\ MAN IN DEMAND: The Danville Braves are just getting to know right-hander Jamie Howard, but soon he'll be only a fond memory.
Howard, the latest Atlanta Braves experiment with two-sport athletes, departs Aug. 10 to assume the quarterbacking duties at Louisiana State University.
With the D-Braves contending for the Appalachian League's Northern Division crown, losing a reliable pitcher is substantial.
But Atlanta Braves officials knew what they were getting into when they chose him in the second round of the 1992 amateur draft. Howard told them, just like he told everybody else.
"I wanted to play football, and if the baseball team wasn't going to let me play football, then I wasn't going to sign," he said.
Atlanta, which has been through this before with players such as Deion Sanders, was willing to take a chance. Plenty of others weren't.
The Braves told Howard what he wanted to hear - that they would not stand in his way when he played football for LSU. Furthermore, since he was losing his scholarship because he'd signed a pro contract, the Braves told him they would foot the bill for his college education, too.
Nice deal for LSU, too.
"Sure is," Howard said. "Now they have an extra scholarship."
Howard received a six-figure signing bonus from the Braves and made seven starts at quarterback for the Tigers as a true freshman in 1992.
"We thought when we recruited him that he was one of the top five quarterbacks in the country," LSU coach Curley Hallman said. "He's got a chance to be as good as he wants to be as a football player."
Howard, a 6-foot-1, 195-pounder, completed 101 of 200 passes for 1,349 yards and five touchdowns in '92. The Tigers have installed a new multi-formation, pro-style passing offense, the kind that tends to display a quarterback in a favorable light.
"From what I saw this spring, I think Jamie's going to like [the new set]," Hallman said.
Too bad for the Braves that Howard is just beginning to enjoy baseball.
"My last three starts, I started pitching like I expected to pitch," he said.
Howard has gone 2-1 with a 2.49 earned run average and 25 strikeouts in 21 1/3 innings. He has had five starts.
"The only problem Jamie has had is that he hasn't pitched enough," Danville manager Bruce Benedict said. "But the more he plays, the more he understands the game and the mechanics of pitching. He has an awfully good arm. We wish he was going to be here until the end of the season."
After helping St. Thomas More Catholic High School of Lafayette win a Louisiana state championship in 1992, Howard didn't play any baseball until he reported to the Braves. It showed.
"I was very rusty," he said.
Howard has enjoyed himself - to a point.
"It was a shock at first," he said. "The bus rides were a little strange. In college, you fly everywhere."
Howard harbors no aspirations of playing both sports professionally.
"There's no way you can play quarterback in the NFL and be a big-league pitcher without the one taking away from the other," he said.
So when can we expect a decision from him on this matter?
"I hope I don't have to make one any time soon," he said. "I'm really enjoying playing both right now."
by CNB