Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, June 12, 1993 TAG: 9306120068
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: CLEVELAND LENGTH: Medium
The Cleveland outfielder has other things on his mind - hitting the cutoff man, bunting the runner over, throwing to the proper base, all the little things he spent 10 years learning in the minor leagues.
Kirby, a native of Tabb, Va., is a 29-year-old rookie who at last seems to be succeeding in the big leagues.
"I don't regret working down there so long, but this is my time," Kirby said. "I'm relaxed. I'm confident."
He also was hitting .333 and was tied for third in the American League with five outfield assists heading into Friday's action. Those numbers have forced the Indians to find room for him in the starting lineup more and more often. Most often, Kirby plays right field, although he filled in brilliantly in left a week ago while Albert Belle served a three-game suspension for charging the mound.
Wayne Kirby, whose younger brother Terry was a standout running back at the University of Virginia, has become the type of player a manager loves, at least partly because he spent so much time mastering the fundamentals in the minors.
"Wayne's a fully seasoned baseball player," manager Mike Hargrove said. "He knows how to play the game. You very rarely see him throw to the wrong base. You rarely see him caught out of position. He has good speed. He's a good bunter."
Kirby, who appeared in 21 games for the Indians each of the past two years but still qualifies as a rookie, wasn't called up this season until the end of April. As had been the case for him countless times before, he was squeezed out during spring training because the Indians decided to carry 12 pitchers.
"The only reason he hasn't been here longer is numbers," Hargrove said. "That's happened to him before."
Kirby spent most of his career in the Los Angeles Dodgers' organization, but never made it to the majors there. Cleveland signed him as a free agent in 1991. Unfortunately for Kirby, the Indians were knee-deep in outfielders.
"He doesn't have anything that jumps out at you except his speed," Hargrove said.
With a .285 career batting average in the minors, Kirby began looking inward, trying to determine exactly what he was doing wrong.
"You stay in the minor leagues that long, it's got to be something wrong with your game - not hitting the cutoff man or some other small thing," Kirby said. "You start to analyze your game and to look at all the little things."
Now that he's in the majors, the biggest difference he's noticed is the quality of the pitching.
"I'm starting to see why they're in the big leagues: their pitch selection, not always throwing a 3-2 fastball," Kirby said. "Even facing Roger Clemens the other night - with a fastball like that, you'd think that's all he'd have to throw. I was impressed with the way he worked the hitters."
Memo: shorter version ran in the Metro edition.