ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, June 9, 1996 TAG: 9606100073
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-5 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: BASEBALL
SOURCE: RALPH BERRIER JR.
Earl Cunningham's professional baseball career began so long ago, the park where he began it no longer exists.
The team he played for moved to West Virginia.
The Chicago Cubs have appeared in the playoffs since then.
A former teammate is now his manager.
It was 1989 when Cunningham was Chicago's first-round pick and began his career with the Wytheville Cubs in the Appalachian League. Seven years later, Withers Field in Wytheville is a city park and Cunningham still toils in the minors with the Salem Avalanche, his sixth club.
Cunningham, who celebrated his 26th birthday last Monday, said he still has dreams of moving up the ladder, even though he never has risen above Class A ball in eight minor-league seasons.
``I've never thought about packing it in,'' Cunningham said. ``I love the game. If God gives me the ability, maybe I can do the rest and get a chance.
``There was never any doubt [about making the big leagues]. It's just a matter of doing the little things right to get there.''
It was the big things Cunningham did at Lancaster (S.C.) High School that prompted the Cubs to take him with their first pick. A teen-age power-hitting prodigy, Cunningham hit seven home runs in 49 games at Wytheville, then he and the team moved on. The Cubs relocated to Huntington, W.Va., Cunningham to Peoria of the Midwest League.
A succession of injuries hampered his progress. He broke an ankle trying to hold up while rounding third, broke his right wrist twice - once when he was hit by a pitch, again when he crashed into a fence - and strained a knee.
His 19 homers in Peoria in 1991 were the second-most in the Midwest League. He struck out 145 times that season in a career-high 381 at bats. He spent part of '92 in Peoria, where Avalanche manager Bill McGuire was a teammate.
Since then, he never has batted higher than .239 or hit more than 15 homers.
Branded as a guy who didn't homer enough to compensate for his strikeouts, the Cubs gave up on him.
``I was a first-round pick and the most at bats I ever got was 381,'' he said. ``I'm the kind of guy who needs to play every day. I get my share of strikeouts, but everybody projected me as a major impact with the bat. When I stopped hitting, I got caught up in what everybody was saying and not playing the game for myself.''
Last winter, Cunningham called Colorado Rockies vice president Dick Balderson, who was Chicago's scouting director when Cunningham was in the Cubs' organization, and asked to attend the Rockies camp.
``He said I had to be better than the other guys they had in camp for them to keep me,'' Cunningham said.
He was good enough to make the roster of the Asheville Tourists, the Rockies' South Atlantic League affiliate. He was hitting .256 with nine homers and 30 RBI when he was called up to Salem after Pookie Jones went on the disabled list.
``I just keep going out there and doing the best I can,'' he said. ``I've learned to accept failure. I've grown up a lot.''
WE KNEW 'EM WHEN: Former Avalanche slugger Forry Wells went 0-for-21 in seven games with Class AA New Haven (Conn.) from May 20-28. ... After hitting eight homers in his first 13 games for New Haven, Edgard Velasquez went yard just twice in his next 26 games. He was batting .205 in the month of May and went through a 4-for-30 stretch. ... John Burke, who made two appearances in Salem this season, pitched 61/3 scoreless innings (four hits, two walks, three strikeouts) in a 3-0 Colorado Springs (AAA) win at Tucson on May 25.
AROUND THE LEAGUE: Lynchburg center fielder Adrian Brown was voted the Carolina League's player of the month for May in a poll of managers. Brown batted .361 with one home run, 13 RBI, 11 stolen bases and 21 runs scored in 27 games. ... Prince William right-hander Erik Derosiers, who gave up four home runs to the Avalanche on May 23, fanned the side in each of his first three innings against Winston-Salem five nights later but didn't get a decision in a 6-4 13-inning win. ... Durham first baseman Ron Wright homered in three straight games and was tied for the minor-league lead with 17 homers.
LENGTH: Medium: 79 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: DON PETERSEN/Staff. In eight professional seasons,by CNBSalem's Earl Cunningham never has risen above Class A ball.