ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, April 11, 1996 TAG: 9604110032
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RAY COX STAFF WRITER
PATIENCE IS KEY for the Salem slugger, who says he feels more comfortable since working on his stance during the off-season.
Being a slugger means having pressure bear down like an inside curve you can't avoid.
Nate Holdren has had the squeeze ever since he whacked 28 home runs - including 12 in the month of July alone - and drove in 74 runs during the 1994 season while playing for the Asheville (N.C.) Tourists.
Folks took one look at the 6-foot-5, 245-pound build and the capsule biography in the Colorado Rockies press guide. They read of his two Rose Bowls and three years at linebacker for the University of Michigan. Then they arrived at an inevitable conclusion: With his mighty blasts, Holdren was going to threaten every window of every building anywhere near old Salem Municipal Field.
It didn't quite work out that way. The blast totals came in at a modest 15 to go with 69 runs batted in for the Salem Avalanche. After the August move to spacious Memorial Stadium, Holdren hammered but two homers.
Holdren greeted the switch to pitcher-loving Memorial with relief.
``The distances of the fences cut out your typical fly ball-type home runs that you used to get at Municipal Field,'' he said. ``Then those 20-foot fences cut out the line drive homers. So all that leaves you with is those long homers that have to be leaving the park on a 45-degree angle.
``So you don't expect to hit home runs here, and that's good. When you're not trying to hit them, that's when you do.''
It's been cold and the conditions this year have been the murderer of more than one batting average, but Holdren has been untroubled. The big first baseman has hit .417 (5-for-12) with one home run, seven walks, and a 2-for-3 success rate in stolen bases entering Wednesday's doubleheader with Wilmington.
``I'm more comfortable. The biggest thing is I'm trying to be more patient,'' Holdren said.
Another factor is his stance. He's gone to more of a closed, upright stance.
``Hitting 101,'' he said. ``Going back to the basics.''
Clint Hurdle, the Rockies' roving hitting instructor, says he has not altered anything in Holdren's swing.
``We've talked to Nate about his strike zone awareness,'' Hurdle said. ``He struck out 126 times last year. If you're hitting 30 home runs, that may be all right. Not when you hit 15. He was going back to the dugout too many times.''
Too much of that from the guy slotted fourth in the batting order can really interfere with a team's game plan. High expectations have a way of tracking players such as Holdren down every time.
Such has been the case again this year. The possibility was raised this winter that two Rockies phenoms who had torched the South Atlantic League last year, outfielder Derrick Gibson and first baseman Todd Helton, might be spending their summer in Salem. When spring arrived, though, the Rockies had other plans for the youngsters with the big bats.
That put Salem's power-hitting load right back on Holdren. Again.
``That doesn't bother me,'' he said. ``Pressure just goes with it.''
Holdren got it from the start.
``After I signed, they moved me to first base,'' he said. ``My first game as a pro was also my first game ever at first.''
Playing the position may turn out to be a hindrance with Andres Galarraga standing on the bag at the big-league level and Helton having sidestepped advanced A ball for AA. Holdren may find his path to the show blocked for the time being.
``There's no law that says he has to go to the big leagues with the Colorado Rockies,'' Hurdle said.
That's the approach Holdren is taking.
``I look at it like any minor-leaguer does - you get to the big leagues any way you can,'' he said.
Meanwhile, the former Michigan linebacker isn't sweating the small stuff. There are more important things to worry about.
Such as dinner.
Avalanche manager Bill McGuire, who coached Holdren at both Bend, Ore., and Asheville, recalled a party the Bend owners threw for the newly-arrived short season ballclub in 1993.
``It was at a nice restaurant and I remember Nate ate two dinners,'' McGuire said. ``Steak, lobster - big time dinners. He probably ate a couple of appetizers and was eating off other guys' plates after they finished, too.
``We used to have a little guy on the team, he went maybe 5-10, 150 pounds soaking wet. Nate could not comprehend for the life of him how it was he got the same amount of meal money as the other guy did.''
The big fellow has a point there. Most sluggers don't get that way by skimping at supper time.
LENGTH: Medium: 92 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ERIC BRADY/Staff. Salem Avalanche first baseman Nateby CNBHoldren hopes things are looking up for him this season. Holdren hit
15 home runs and drove in 69 runs last year. color.