THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, July 12, 1995 TAG: 9507120501
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TOM ROBINSON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 72 lines
To the Norfolk Tides, he is Omar the Hitmaker, though he remains an anachronism at his position.
An All-Star, yes, but out of place in that Omar Garcia is a stocky first baseman who hits like a man of lesser physical stature.
This is not all bad. Fact is, Tides manager Toby Harrah suggests that anybody who thinks Garcia's non-power stroke is a negative should reconsider the first-base, home-run-hitter paradigm.
``If you've got a guy who can hit .300, you've got something,'' Harrah said. ``You've just got to get your power someplace else. If you've got the right kind of club, it really makes no difference if your first baseman doesn't hit with a lot of power. I hit him fourth, not so much to hit home runs, but with guys on base he hits doubles. That drives in runs, too.''
Garcia, 23, will put his bat and .326 average on display tonight in the Triple-A All-Star Game (8 p.m., ESPN2) in Moosic, Pa., where he is scheduled to start at first base for the National League.
He and righthander Jason Isringhausen, the National League's starting pitcher, are the Tides' representatives. Only Garcia will return to the Tides on Thursday, though, as Isringhausen will join the New York Mets.
Garcia won't be on Isringhausen's heels, but the Mets consider the 6-foot, 190-pound righthanded hitter enough of a prospect to include him on their 40-man roster. That he has just one home run this season - his only one in 482 Triple-A at-bats the past two years - is bothersome to him only because he must answer for it to outsiders.
``It's nothing that I'm going crazy over, like `Oh, I don't hit home runs, I'm not going to make it,' '' said Garcia, the Mets' 18th pick in the 1989 draft out of Carolina, Puerto Rico. ``I think about it, but at the same time, I don't try to change my approach at the plate. I've got to do it the same way I've done it.''
Essentially, Garcia always has been a singles hitter known for spraying the ball to center and rightfield, rarely pulling a pitch, never hitting more than 18 doubles or six home runs in a season. He has 14 doubles this year but is tied for the team lead with four triples.
However, he carried a .287 career average into this season, which is now up to .291. That tells Harrah, when he dons his hitting instructor's hat, to clam up.
``To me, he wouldn't be a prospect if he's hitting .260 with eight or 10 home runs,'' Harrah said. ``He's a prospect hitting .330, though. Hitting's the hardest thing to do. This guy can do it and do it well. Why mess with it?
``He hits the good pitchers probably better than anybody on our team. It tells me he can hit in the big leagues. . . . The Mets have never asked him to hit with more power. If they did, I'd disagree with them. This kid doesn't have that type of swing. He may in time, but as far as changing your swing just to hit with more power, I'd never encourage that.''
It is a stroke perfected through years of play in Puerto Rico, where Garcia received the familial backing he required to indulge his passion. The youngest of three children, Garcia said he owes his parents everything as his source of strength, if not power.
``They're my biggest fans,'' he said. ``They always supported me, they'd take me wherever I needed to go to play. I feel lucky, not everybody has that love. They were all the time there for me. I'm real proud of them and they know it.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Christopher Reddick/Staff
Omar Garcia looks like a slugger and even bats cleanup. But he
cleans up by spraying the ball, not pulling it. ``I hit him fourth,
not so much to hit home runs, but with guys on base he hits doubles.
That drives in runs, too,'' Tides manager Toby Harrah says.
by CNB