Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, May 16, 1993 TAG: 9305160028
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: E6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RAY COX
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
"You going to write anything bad?" the Salem Buccaneers' infielder wanted to know as he was concluding a recent pregame conversation.
Well, Bonifay was asked, had he any confessions to make, dark secrets to reveal? The reply was no.
So, then, what's bad to write? How much negative material can be churned out about a product of one of the nation's finest institutions of higher learning? About a fellow with impeccable baseball bloodlines? A gentleman who's spent a substantial portion of the season as the Carolina League's leading hitter?
Still, Bonifay's skeptical. Adjusting to Class A stardom wasn't quite at the top of his agenda before he arrived this spring for his second tour of duty in Salem. In his two previous professional campaigns (he was the Pittsburgh Pirates' 50th-round choice out of Georgia Tech in 1991) he had never been a tear-the-cover-off-the-ball kind of guy.
To be sure, he showed signs of having a way with a bat by hitting .344 when he was at Bradenton two years ago. But that, after all, was the rookie Gulf Coast League and Bonifay played in only 20 games. In tours of Welland, Augusta and Salem, his longest stint was last year at Salem where he batted .201 in 71 games.
"Basically, I had a lot of nagging things wrong," he said. "I wasn't swinging aggressively. I was feeling for the ball."
Consider those at-bat ailments in remission. Bonifay led the league in hitting for close to two weeks and has compiled some impressive statistics. Bonifay was hitting .356 with 32 hits and team-leading totals of nine doubles and 21 runs batted in in 26 games. He'd struck out only 11 times in 90 at-bats.
"It's fun while it continues, although you can't expect to hit near .400 for a whole season," he said.
The reason it is continuing is that a lot of the nagging stuff from a year ago has been corrected.
"Basically, I'm feeling real confident at the plate," he said. "I'm a lot more aggressive and I'm seeing good pitches. Also, this is my third year in pro ball. The more you play, the better you get."
Bonifay has batted anywhere from second to eighth in the lineup this season although he appears to have settled in the 3-4-5 slots for now. That suits him because of the run producing potential there.
"I don't hit a lot of home runs [three so far], but I do get a lot of gap shots so I can hit for a higher average," he said.
Bonifay is the nephew of Pittsburgh Pirates assistant general manager Cam Bonifay and the grandson of Bob Bonifay, who was a business manager and general manager in the organizations of the Cincinnati Reds and Detroit Tigers for more than 25 years.
In Ken Bonifay's case, it isn't a case of who he knows. It's what he seems to know about hitting that will influence his future.
\ SNAKE OIL SALESMAN: Jose Rijo, the Cincinnati Reds pitcher, has been spreading the true religion of the curative powers of snake oil. The fluid squeezed from Dominican Republic-native serpents was sent to him by his mother when he had a sore arm last year. He did as Mama said and testifies that the stuff works. Now he uses it every day.
Among those who are said to be devotees are teammates Kevin Mitchell, Greg Swindell and Roberto Kelly. Norm Charlton reportedly has asked that some be shipped to him in Seattle.
Dave Martinez of the Giants also slathers the goop on, albeit in an unconventional way. He puts it on his bat.
\ THE PRODIGAL SON: Dennis Bastien, the former kingpin of the Martinsville Phillies, appeared at the Appalachian League meetings in Huntington, W.Va., last month to propose Parkersburg, W.Va., as a possible site for an expansion or relocation site.
Bastien, who owns the Charleston Wheelers of the South Atlantic League, must be getting homesick for the rookie leagues. . . . Also at the Appy meetings, officials of the Kingsport Mets were the only ones who seemed to show much concern about being able to upgrade their facilities to the standards of the Professional Baseball Agreement by the 1994 deadline. . . . If Kingsport doesn't work things out, then that could set the stage for a Mets relocation. Parkersburg is waiting in the wings. And, lest you need reminding, there's a nice little ballpark down in Pulaski that has played host to many a happy night of Appy entertainment now lying fallow.
\ CRANK UP THE MOVING VANS: In case you have some spare change and haven't had a lot to do lately, Bowie Kuhn, the former Major League Commissioner, is the point man in efforts to relocate the Class AA Nashville Express for the 1994 season.
The Express, formerly the Charlotte Knights, are in the intolerable situation of sharing stadium space with the AAA Nashville Sounds. Don't ask why. The reasons are only slightly less complicated than a doctoral thesis on quantum mechanics.
So if you see yourself as a potential bush league czar, you have a nice ballpark in mind and you have several million dollars to throw around, Bowie and the boys at Sports Franchises, Inc. of Norwalk, Conn., are waiting with the mailbox open, telephones plugged in and the fax machines in good operating order.
\ FIELD OF SCREAMS: A quick visit was paid to William Fleming the other day to see a piece of the Colonels' Roanoke Valley District thumping of Cave Spring. To the horror of many, the game - one of the biggest upsets in Timesland this year - was played on one of the most dog-eared, low-down, forlorn weed patches ever seen in these parts.
An artillery range is the only reasonable purpose for such a miserable corner of real estate in its present condition.
Don't misunderstand. Fleming can't be blamed for avoiding Maher Field, its occasional home rock garden and a half-million dollar affront to the taxpayers and menace to baseball players. But neither can the City of Roanoke be expected to ride to the groundskeeping rescue at Fleming. That's about as likely as a UFO landing at lunchtime on the roof of the Colonels' gym.
The solution? The same one employed at Northside, William Byrd, Cave Spring and other schools where baseball is important. Coaches, players, parents and other volunteers get grass stains on their britches and dirt under their fingernails.
Fleming fellows such as Al Holland, Jr. and Eddie Jones are good-looking ballplayers. They'd look even better on a respectable field.
\ JUST WHAT ROD HAD IN MIND: Jerry Burkot, the flack for the Greensboro Hornets, defied the edict of Sally League umpire Jim Reynolds this week and faced the consequences.
Ordered to desist from playing the theme music from "The Twilight Zone" in the event of a called third strike, Burkot boldly rolled the tape one more time.
Reynolds had sheriff's deputies escort Burkot from the premises.
In handcuffs.
"I don't know what his problem is," Burkot said. "We've been playing it for years."
Burkot anticipates no further difficulties aside from the obvious.
"Every newspaper, TV station and radio in the country has called," he said. "I'm on the front page."
by CNB