Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, June 7, 1990                   TAG: 9006070499
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: C1   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: CLEVELAND                                LENGTH: Medium

SEASON HAS SEEN THE FIELDER OF DREAMS

"That's not really on my mind, and it won't be on my mind because I won't let it get to me," Fielder said after he hit three home runs - one of them a monster 470-footer - as the Detroit Tigers beat the Cleveland Indians 6-4 Wednesday night.

Fielder has a major league-leading 22 home runs in 54 games, a pace that would give him 66 at season's end. Ruth hit 60 in 154 games in 1927, and Maris hit 61 in 162 games in 1961.

Fielder also leads the majors with 53 RBI.

"You know that soon people are going to be projecting 60 home runs for him and all that," teammate Alan Trammell said. "That pressure - I don't know how anybody can handle that. We just need to ride him as long as we can, then hopefully somebody else can pick it up."

Fielder, however, is showing no signs of letting up. He muscled a solo home run into the right-field stands off Greg Swindell (2-5) in the second inning, then lined one over the 400-foot sign in center in the fourth.

With two runners on and Detroit trailing 4-3 in the fifth, Fielder drove a 1-2 pitch into the netting just short of the bleachers in left center. No one has hit a ball into the bleachers since Cleveland Stadium opened in 1932.

Fielder also hit three home runs at Toronto on May 6. He's the first Tiger with three home runs twice in the same season; nine players in major-league history have done it.

Swindell gave up six runs on six hits, four home runs, in five innings. He has not won a game since April 29.

Before serving up the fastball that cost him the game, Swindell had a meeting on the mound with pitching coach Mark Wiley. Runners were on first and third, so the option of walking Fielder was discussed, then dismissed.

"It's kind of tough to do that [walk the bases full] in the fifth inning with second base open," manager John McNamara said. "Mark just said, `Don't give him anything he can hurt you with.' "

When Fielder came to the plate for his fourth at-bat in the eighth inning, reliever Cecilio Guante walked him on four straight pitches, none of them close to the plate. Two of them bounced to the screen.

Keywords:
BASEBALL