THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, January 10, 1995 TAG: 9501100426
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TOM ROBINSON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 73 lines
Toby Harrah's last name is a palindrome - something that reads the same forward and backwards - so it's only right the new Norfolk Tides' manager will wear No. 11 this season.
But when it came to making heads or tails out of his sport Monday at Harbor Park, where Harrah was introduced at a luncheon, the veteran baseball man was like everybody else. He had few answers.
``It's tough because I'm in management now,'' Harrah, 46, said when asked his take on the labor impasse. ``My true belief is I think management has to make concessions and I feel like the players have to make concessions. What, I'm not qualified to say.''
For the second time in the last two years, Harrah has been judged qualified to succeed Bobby Valentine. He was a coach for Valentine in 1992 when Valentine was fired by the Texas Rangers halfway through the season. As interim manager, he compiled a 32-44 record the rest of the way.
With Valentine gone from the Tides to manage in Japan, Harrah, who managed Triple-A Oklahoma City in '87 and '88, emerged as the man to take over.
Despite the pall over baseball, Harrah made it an optimistic day. He and New York Mets assistant vice president Gerry Hunsicker all but promised Norfolk an International League contender, for the first time since the late '80s.
They mostly ignored the strike - Hunsicker rattled off much of the Mets' planned lineup and Harrah gushed over the touted prospects due to arrive at Harbor Park as if all were well in their world.
Yet no one is sure how baseball's plan to use replacement players in the majors will unfold, and how it might affect the Tides.
However, the Mets have indicated they won't force their best prospects to play ``replacement ball'' if the strike carries into the season.
So Harrah chose to focus on the likes of pitchers Bill Pulsipher, Jason Isringhausen and Chris Roberts toeing the rubber at Harbor Park as planned, with infielders Rey Ordonez and Edgardo Alfonzo backing them up, in front of Ricky Otero in centerfield.
It stands to be the type of pitching and defense that makes managers drool. For Harrah, a bib was nearly in order.
``I've played on teams that had power, but when they didn't hit home runs, they didn't win,'' he said. ``That's not fun. ... That's why I'm excited about this team.''
In a game bubbling over with ill humor, Harrah stands out for his effervescence. Born in Sissonville, W.Va., and raised in Elgin, Ohio, Harrah broke into the big leagues with the Washington Senators at age 20 in 1969.
For most of his career, which ended after the '86 season, Harrah said no agent negotiated his contracts. A .264 career hitter with 195 home runs, the four-time American League all-star retired before even journeymen could command obscene salaries.
He never made a million a year, but he wasn't sure he deserved all he did make.
``I always felt like I was overpaid,'' Harrah said. ``I always felt like, if they're gonna pay me, I'm gonna take this money, but I am not worthy.
``I'd go in and talk contract ... and I'd always leave and say to myself I could've got more, I know. Because I just told them what I wanted and they said, `Yes.'
``I just wanted to keep that personal-type touch. I'm kind of a dinosaur in that respect - too idealistic, I know. Things have changed, probably for the better.''
Probably. Baseball's malaise even has an optimist like Harrah hedging his bets. ILLUSTRATION: GARY C. KNAPP
Norfolk Tides manager Tobby Harrah is excited about the type of
pitching and defense he will have at Harbor Park this summer.
by CNB