Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, September 20, 1993 TAG: 9309200154
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Jack Bogaczyk
DATELINE: ATLANTA LENGTH: Medium
In the Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium clubhouse, there is nothing gruff about Fred McGriff, the so-called "Crime Dog."
Then, he didn't have a bat in his hands, and an interviewer wasn't trying to sneak something past him from 60 feet, 6 inches.
Since McGriff was made part of the San Diego Padres' fire sale in a July 20 steal - er, deal - it is the Atlanta Braves who have really warmed up. The last one-time Yankee draftee to make Atlanta this hot was Gen. Sherman.
Since McGriff's arrival in the cleanup spot and at first base, the Braves are 42-13.
He truly is a Pound Puppy. Going into Sunday night's game, McGriff's late-inning numbers - in the seventh and beyond - included a .340 batting average, 14 homers and 31 RBI, in less than nine weeks.
The Braves were 12-1 when McGriff homered - which he had done 34 times this season, becoming only the 12th player in the game's history to have at least 30 home runs in six consecutive seasons.
The day McGriff joined the Braves, they were 9 1/2 games behind the first-place Giants in the National League West Division. Now, San Francisco is in Atlanta's rear-view mirror.
So, McGriff's impact on what should become the Braves' third consecutive NL pennant club is obvious, right? He's about to eclipse Francisco Cabrera as a local hero, right?
"It's nice to be playing at this time of year for a club with this kind of pitching and hitting," McGriff said. "It's just great to win.
"I'm just another bat that can drive in runs in a good lineup. The pitching staff is unbelieveable. As for me, I'm just happy to play."
No, that wasn't Sid Bream talking. In a clubhouse Deion Sanders calls home, McGriff's humility does provide a refreshing balance. While "Prime Time" lately has had mostly pine time, McGriff has been promoting himself as a Most Valuable Player candidate with his bat.
Don't expect McGriff to tear any pages out of Jose Canseco's phone book, either, with a 1-900-Crime-Line. His answers to questions are short, choppy, unlike his long uppercut, a swing that looks something like a tomahawk chop in reverse.
"Fred just came in, took center stage and relaxed everybody," said third baseman Terry Pendleton, whose free-agent arrival in Atlanta two years ago was credited with giving a young club the leadership it needed to win a pennant. "He's quiet and goes about his business. He's helped us all.
"The way he swings the bat, he not only produces himself, but he also takes the pressure off the rest of us. I think some of us were trying to do it all before Fred got here."
And the Braves were going nowhere, despite having the game's best starting rotation. With McGriff in the lineup, the Braves went into Sunday's game averaging 5.6 runs.
Pendleton was hitting 45 points higher. McGriff's presence has had even more of an impact on the production of outfielders Ron Gant and David Justice, who sandwich McGriff in manager Bobby Cox's order.
Justice's average was up 60 points, Gant's 40. Together, they had driven in just about as many runs in less than nine weeks as they did in the first 3 1/2 months of the season, when McGriff still was in San Diego.
"With Freddie in the lineup, I didn't feel like I had to be the guy to drive in all of the runs," Justice said. "He really took the pressure off Ronnie and me, because Freddie gave us another player with that kind of power."
And, using a deep farm system, they got him by dealing little more than some Durham Bulls merchandise. Outfielder Melvin Nieves was the only prominent prospect in the McGriff trade. As other clubs saw it, the real crime was Atlanta acquiring just the player it wanted and needed without ripping apart a future promised by youngsters such as Chipper Jones, Javy Lopez and Ryan Klesko.
McGriff, 29, could be part of that future. He's making $4.25 million this season and because he was traded before the last year of a multiyear contract (through 1994), he could demand a trade.
Or, he could demand a piece of CNN from Braves owner Ted Turner. Thanks to McGriff, the Braves weathered baseball's dog days better than anyone.
Keywords:
BASEBALL
by CNB