THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, June 5, 1995 TAG: 9506050112
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TOM ROBINSON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Long : 108 lines
Phil Niekro had to call 911 last year, and that doesn't mean he dialed up the bullpen. The ex-knuckleballer and manager of the Colorado Silver Bullets women's professional baseball team made a roster cut, as all managers do, before the Bullets' inaugural season. But this time the cut-ee refused to take no for an answer.
She threatened suicide enough times that Niekro beckoned professional crisis people to help him out.
In a way, Niekro understands what it was all about. In 24 major league seasons, he saw releases all the time, and even had to do it himself as a Triple-A manager. This spring he had to cut six of last season's Bullets. At least the men still had other baseball opportunities.
``The women have nowhere to go,'' said Niekro, whose team visits Harbor Park on Tuesday night to play a Navy all-star team. ``They go back to work. It's like shaking them and waking them up and saying, `Hey, wake up. Dream's over.'
``That's exactly how I felt. They all think they should make the ballclub. They just think, `What am I gonna do now?' They gotta go back to work, drive the car and fight that traffic. No more hotels and plane rides. And they were getting paid pretty good.''
For $25,000 - rookies get $20,000 - for 50 games, two dozen Silver Bullets embarked on their second barnstorming season May 7 in Memphis. The brainchild of Bob Hope, the former vice president for promotions with the Atlanta Braves, the Bullets are the only women's pro baseball team to compete against men in the country.
They are more than a decade in the making. Hope tried in 1984 to form a women's team to compete in a Class A minor league, but the idea never took flight. In 1993, Hope shared his vision with the Coors Brewing Company, and it kicked in $3 million in beer money to get the Bullets off the ground.
After just one season, in which they were 6-38, the Bullets are back stronger, with Hope talking as optimistically as ever about the future of women in baseball.
``We're not a novelty as much anymore,'' Hope said before the Silver Bullets' game in Richmond on Saturday. ``It's not outrageous to see women playing baseball now. Now the question that pops up is will a woman play in the major leagues? That's a positive. What I want to do is get into a Class A or rookie league, two or three years from now, when we're ready.''
That's not idle chatter. Discussions have already taken place with the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues, which governs the minor leagues. Mike Moore, the National Association's president, is on the Bullets' advisory board.
It could happen. Especially when you consider the caliber of athlete the Bullets attract, and their level of play.
``I was in Denver and I had two of the top women's professional beach volleyball players tell me they want to play for the Silver Bullets,'' Hope said. ``I said, `Can you play baseball?' The quality athletes all want to come.''
Despite playing on regulation fields whose vast dimensions were foreign to most of them until recently, the Bullets catch it and throw it with adroitness and fundamental precision. Physical strength, obviously, is their major failing, particularly at the plate.
As technically pretty as some of their swings are, they are relatively slow. The ball does not leap off their bats, so outfielders can play shallow and rob them of hits.
``I think it's a combination of getting stronger and just seeing more pitches,'' said hitting coach Johnny Grubb, who joined the Bullets this year. ``We've played some tough games, we've hung right in there. It's taught me a whole lot. They'll get stronger. If you've got enough will and heart, you've always heard that, but they want it bad and it comes across that way.''
The Silver Bullets, batting .133, are 2-8 following Saturday's 6-5 loss in Richmond to an over-30 amateur team. After failing miserably to compete with independent minor league teams at the start of last season, more over-30 and military teams were mixed into the schedule.
That slate includes 20 games to be televised on the Prime Sports Network this year and 13 played in major league stadiums.
The team that emerged from spring training in Fort Myers, Fla., said Niekro, is different from last season's, in that confidence and expectations are higher. Just one year of experience has already meant better baseball, the Bullets say.
``Phil's expectations are definitely higher, and they should be,'' said pitcher Lee Anne Ketcham, a second-year Bullet who played in a league for Class A and Double-A prospects last winter in Hawaii. ``But you look at it objectively. We realize we have a lot of obstacles to overcome, not because we're female or the size difference, but from the standpoint of we don't have a home field. We travel every other day. The wear and tear itself is a factor.
``There are moral victories. When we do things well it certainly feels better than not playing well. We're still taking kind of baby steps. Anything we do well is a plus for us. We concentrate on fundamentals and doing things right.''
It's the very least Niekro, whose brother Joe and son John are coaches, expected when he accepted the job.
``I told Bob (Hope) and the Coors people I'll take the job if you play baseball,'' Niekro said. ``This is not a sideshow, no circus, no April Fools Day, because as soon as it becomes that I'm walking away from the field. And it's been as professional as it could be run.'' ILLUSTRATION: TOM COPELAND/Landmark News Service
Michele McAnany of the Silver Bullets holds up her glove and waits
for the umpire's call at second base. Brian Summey was called out.
THE SILVER BULLETS
Roster
[For a copy of the graphic, see microfilm for this date.]
by CNB