Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, July 23, 1995 TAG: 9507240026
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-11 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RAY COX
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
``To survive the inevitable downsizings that are going to sweep our industry in coming years, you must make yourself indispensable to this company,'' the man will say in a voice, hard and cold. ``You must know not only your job, but other jobs. Your value will be in your versatility.''
People hear it all over. Everywhere except in baseball.
``If you play a lot of positions, then you get labeled a backup player,'' Salem Avalanche outfielder Brian Culp said.
Culp ought to know. After playing catcher, third base, first base, left field and right field (and hitting .300 in 65 games at Class A Asheville, .341 in 23 games at advanced A Central Valley, and .417 in five games at AA New Haven) last year, his first in pro ball, Culp was told he had to settle down.
``My best chance of getting to the big leagues, they told me before spring training, was to find an everyday position, and that meant staying in left field,'' he said.
That he has done, acquitting himself respectably with his glove (two errors in 83 games) and his bat (.278, 21 doubles, seven homers, 49 runs batted in, 85 hits). The doubles lead the team, the RBI are a tie for the team lead and the hits are tied for second.
A 13-game hitting streak earlier in the season was the team's longest.
That sort of good work landed him a spot in last week's Carolina League All-Star game, where he played the entire game in left for the Southern Division luminaries, going 1-for-4 with a run scored and stolen base.
Still, uneasy is the sandy-haired head under the purple cap.
``I'm the kind of player that they say, `Nice at bat, but he could have done a better job defensively.'''
Sensitive subject, that, as you might gather. Especially when you play next to Edgard Velasquez in center and across from John Giudice in right, owners of what many consider two of the top five arms in the league. Thus, Culp works extra hard on his defense, ignoring a shoulder that he dragged into spring training with a slight tear in the rotator cuff.
``I think I got it making the transition from catcher to outfield last year,'' the 6-foot, 190-pound 24-year-old said. ``You have to make two different types of throws and it put a strain on my arm.''
Culp dodged the surgeon's gleaming blade by taking a cortisone shot prior to this campaign.
``Not much pain so far,'' he said.
Culp developed his versatility in high school in Overland Park, Kan., and at Kansas State University. He arrived at Kansas State as a second baseman but spent most of his first three years in college in left field. After a splendid junior year in which he was told by scouts he was likely to be drafted, the call never came.
``I was disappointed, but I guess I didn't have the tools they were looking for in an outfielder,'' he said.
That's when he went to Plan B. The catcher position was opening up, and he decided to audition for it in fall ball, reasoning that donning the tools of ignorance would be a brilliant strategy to secure a professional contract. He got the job.
He was also right. He did get drafted. In the 42nd round.
``I priced myself out of the first 41 rounds,'' he said. ``I told them I'd sign for a cup of coffee and a pair of shoes. Apparently, that was too much.''
Culp has been a bargain, no doubt about that. Even if he isn't as versatile as he used to be.
THE WRIGHT STUFF: Lynchburg Hillcats shortstop prospect Lou Collier watched and shook his head at the whip-like motion of Salem right-hander Jamey Wright as he hurled his way smoothly through a 1-2-3 inning at the All-Star game.
``That's the best pitcher in the league,'' Collier, a former Salem Buccaneer, said.
Never mind Wright's predecessor, All-Star starter Bartolo Colon (12-3, 1.84 ERA, 141 strikeouts in 117 innings) of Kinston, who had just yielded one hit and no runs in the previous three innings.
``Wright's tougher,'' Collier said. ``That two-seamer that he throws comes in real hard on you. It's a lot tougher to hit than a fastball on the outside part of the plate.''
ALL-STAR LEFTOVERS: Gretna native and Radford University product Stuart Robertson was chosen as the home-plate umpire. ... Prince William's Harold Williams (.256, 10 HR, 45 RBI) won the home run contest, besting Kinston slugger Bruce Aven (.255, 15 HR, 54 RBI) with one dinger in a playoff after both had slammed three in regulation. ... By all accounts, the festivities in Lynchburg City Stadium were among the best in memory, despite the long lines for concessions and the pedestrian gridlock in the concourse. Fans being allowed on the darkened field for the postgame fireworks extravaganza was a particularly nice touch. And where in the name of (Hillcats owner) Calvin Falwell did all those people come from? The announced gate of 5,390 seemed suspiciously low. This in an ungracefully aging park that plays host to an average 1,793 customers (second only to last-place Salem in the league) and routinely is among the most lightly attended on the circuit.
by CNB