ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, May 10, 1996 TAG: 9605100029
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RAY COX STAFF WRITER
WHEN COLORADO CALLED, the Salem Avalanche third baseman listened.
Steve Bernhardt had been trying to sell a little insurance and hawk mutual funds but was doing so in no great volume. Thus he was receptive when a man called and asked him if he wanted to play baseball.
The year was 1993 and the caller was Dick Balderson, the newly-hired Colorado Rockies minor-league chief and a man known to Bernhardt when Balderson worked in the Chicago Cubs chain. Bernhardt had been a four-year player at the University of Richmond and had assembled enough of a portfolio to have entertained thoughts of being a late choice in the free-agent draft.
``I sat right by the phone all three days'' of the draft, said Bernhardt, now the third baseman for the Salem Avalanche. ``Actually, I sat by the phone the last two days.''
The last two days are when the lower rounds of the draft are conducted. That's when teams take some chances, fill out their low minor-league rosters.
Nobody took a chance on Bernhardt, a steady if unspectacular middle infielder (shortstop mostly) for coach Ronnie Atkins' Spiders. Bernhardt's phone never rang (with regard to baseball), until Balderson called later that summer while Bernhardt was making sales calls in the humid city of Richmond.
Balderson got right down to business and asked Bernhardt if he wanted to play some pro ball. Balderson added that if Bernhardt had a good job or another agenda aside from baseball he'd rather pursue, he'd understand.
If Bernhardt hadn't been a well-bred young man from Baltimore, he might have been inclined to laugh out loud at the preposterous suggestion that he'd have something more urgent than baseball to attend to.
``I didn't have to think about it hard at all; cold calling gets old fast,'' said Bernhardt, who at the time was a month or so out of the University of Richmond with one foot on the bottom rung of the mighty financial services industry.
Bernhardt, who walked on to his college baseball team, who never got drafted, signed a free-agent contract and was sent to extended spring training in Arizona and subsequently dispatched to short-season Bend of the Northwest League.
Bernhardt had a tough year in the Pacific Northwest, hitting .194 in 54 games, but the way he saw it, he was lucky to be there.
``I had some very good connections,'' he said.
As in his Baltimore next door neighbor, a fellow by the name of Jim Frey, lifelong baseball guy and last employed in the front office of the Chicago Cubs. Frey one day called his old buddy Dick Balderson, who was the chief scout and minor-league boss for the Cubs, telling him if he ever needed somebody who wanted to play baseball, there was this kid named Bernhardt he might be interested in.
Balderson filed that away and took it with him when he moved from the Cubs to the new organization in Denver.
Bernhardt didn't recall Balderson mentioning until later the happy coincidence that he'd done some pitching for the University of Richmond himself.
``You have to look out for these Richmond guys,'' Balderson said with a laugh.
Bernhardt had a pretty good campaign in 1994, hitting .255 for Central Valley, the franchise that moved from the California League to the Carolina League to become the Avalanche in 1995. Bernhardt came to Virginia along with them as a utility infielder. He saw spot duty at third, second, first, and a couple of stints in the outfield, hitting .216 with four home runs and 16 runs batted in.
Regardless of what he was doing with the bat, Bernhardt's value to the organization has been his versatility. Utility infielders have more employment options than certain other types of players.
``Bernie is highly thought of because he is an organizational guy who will do anything and do it well for the good of the organization,'' Salem manager Bill McGuire said. ``You could ask him to go to Kingdom Come and he'd say fine. Plus, he can play all three positions [third, second, and shortstop]. A guy like that is valuable.''
These days, Bernhardt is having a solid year at third and hitting .259. Many of his hits have been of the two-strike variety. That doesn't make him immune from the sort of needling found in every clubhouse in the land.
``All Bernie does is sleep, eat and play baseball,'' said pitcher Scott LaRock, one of his apartment mates.
Life is good for Bernhardt, but the big leagues may be a little farther away for him than they are for some of his teammates.
``I'll be a long shot,'' he said. ``I've had a great time anyway. The Rockies have been great to me, giving me a chance to play. I love to play.''
LENGTH: Medium: 86 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: (headshot) Bernhardt. color.by CNB