THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, April 30, 1996 TAG: 9604300445
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 78 lines
When your team gorges on hits and runs, as the Norfolk Tides did in Monday afternoon's 10-1 swamping of Pawtucket, a measly single in five at-bats can leave a guy a little hungry.
Virginia Beach's Trey McCoy can handle that temporary letdown - he popped up with the bases loaded in the first inning and again with men on first and third in the eighth - because as baseball players know, a fresh place-setting is always just a day away.
Besides, McCoy enjoys a new comfort level, one that's increased markedly in a year.
This is home, after all, for the former First Colonial High School and Virginia Tech star. His parents, wife and two young sons are regulars in the Harbor Park seats.
And he has the peace of good health, which, after last season's nightmare - his July and August with the Tides were wrecked by a chain of internal medical problems - cannot be lightly regarded.
McCoy was disabled twice and limited to 67 at-bats because of a hiatal hernia and ulcers in his esophagus, but about the only lingering effect is a better diet.
McCoy's liter-lover's cola intake has been cut drastically, his chip ingestion is nil and burgers and fries don't pass his lips nearly as often. Two pills do, though, on a daily basis.
They're part of an experimental treatment program that McCoy volunteered for, where he keeps a day-to-day chart of how he feels. And so far, he's felt fine, he says, not counting his disappointment that his hot spring training hasn't carried over into his first 3 1/2 weeks.
``I'm just missing a lot of pitches,'' says McCoy, who is batting .258 with one home run and six RBIs in 31 at-bats. ``There's a few minor adjustments I need to make. It's something I need to find.''
If only there was a pill that gave comfort at the plate in the face of inconsistent activity. Tides manager Bobby Valentine is using McCoy, who can play first base and be an emergency catcher, almost exclusively as a designated and pinch-hitter, just as Toby Harrah did last year.
It's the hardest way to find an offensive groove, especially so because McCoy won't even be the regular DH when injured outfielder Jay Payton returns. Then again, it's the only role McCoy has, and realistically probably all he can look forward to anymore.
At 29, in his ninth minor league season, McCoy has seemingly reached a twilight phase that might be irreversible despite the rejuvenation he underwent over the winter.
McCoy dropped about 25 pounds to 215 by restricting his diet and pumping weights under the eye of a personal trainer. He got his internal situation under control.
And at 6-foot-3, he again sports the strapping look of the guy who hit 32 home runs and knocked in 106 in Double- and Triple-A in 1993, and who batted Oklahoma City in '94.
It's unlikely that version of Trey McCoy will ever be seen again, though, or that he will ever again see that kind of playing opportunity.
That's something that can turn the pleasure of being just the third Hampton Roads' resident to play for the Tides - Billy Scripture and D.J. Dozier were the others - into undue pressure.
His time with the Tides increased McCoy's local profile and helped boost the clinics he ran in Virginia Beach last winter. But McCoy admits that trying to make the locals proud has weighed on him, particularly last year.
``That's something that's in the back of my mind,'' McCoy says. ``Sometimes it's a burden, because everybody knows who you are.''
Tanner McCoy, 10 months old, and 4-year-old Tyler know who Trey McCoy is. He's the guy who kissed them through the screen behind home plate after Monday's game.
The guy who they, unlike many children of ballplayers, get to see at home most days - to make any big hit sweeter or 1 for 5 lighter. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo by MOTOYA NAKAMURA, The Virginian-Pilot
Va. Beach native Trey McCoy is coming back from a chain of internal
medical problems.
by CNB