As Leading Man, He Is Miscast

A leadoff man is this kind of ballplayer: He goes to the plate looking to get a walk. He looks at the first two or three pitches, no matter where they are. He wants to check the pitcher’s stuff. He’s not aggressive. His goal is first base, no matter how he can get there.

His stock-in-trade is mistakes. The pitcher might make one in walking him, hitting him. A fielder might misplay his ground ball because leadoff men are fast and don’t give you much time to throw them out. A fielder might be out of position so a leadoff man can slap a ball where he ain’t, as Willie Keeler used to say.

A leadoff man seldom hits the ball farther than 100 feet in any direction. He doesn’t drive in runs, he scores them.

That’s your typical leadoff man. Brett Butler. Eddie Stanky. A leadoff man is the kind of guy who could sell you a waterfront lot that’s all water and no front.

But, now, there’s Brady Anderson. He’s the leadoff man for the Baltimore Orioles and he hit 50 home runs last year.

You know how many times someone has hit 50 home runs in a year in the history of the American League? I’ll tell you--14. That’s one-four. And that’s in the league that had Babe Ruth, Jimmie Foxx, Hank Greenberg, Roger Maris, Mickey Mantle and Ted Williams, to name only a few.

Only five guys hit 50 or more home runs a season in the National League--two of them twice. Henry Aaron hit more home runs than any man in history. But he never hit 50 in a season. Neither did “the Iron Horse,” Lou Gehrig. Babe Ruth did it four times.

You think we’re talking of any leadoff men there? I mean, you going to bat Babe Ruth first, are you? You bat Babe Ruth where there are ducks on the pond, as they say. Men in scoring position. RBI candidates.

Know how many times Brady Anderson led off a game with a home run last season? Twelve. Know how many times he has led off a game with a home run in his career? Twenty-five.

Know how many runs he batted in last year? It was 110. And that’s for a guy who comes to bat at least once a game with nobody on base.

You might say he has loused up the position for all time--except Rickey Henderson and Bobby Bonds already had done that.

Anderson led the league in extra-base hits last year with 92. He was third in slugging percentage with .637, and fourth in total bases.

Sound like a leadoff hitter to you? He got a home run every 11.6 times at bat. On my team, a guy like that bats cleanup. Or no higher than third or lower than fifth.

On the other hand, Anderson stole 21 bases. One year, 1992, he stole 53. Mark McGwire has stolen only seven in his entire career.

Anderson also led the league in getting hit by pitches last year with 22. His on-base percentage is a whopping .475 at this writing.

Still, I doubt anyone with that kind of down-at-the-end-of-the-bat power should be batting first. Hitting 25 dingers leading off a game would seem a waste.

Is he miscast as a leadoff hitter? Shouldn’t they find some banjo artist, some bat manipulator who can hunt and peck his way through the opposition lineup, start rallies, rattle the pitcher, shake up the place?

The other night at Anaheim Stadium, Anderson shook up the place by leading off the game with a home run for the 25th time. You imagined John McGraw someplace groaning, “No, no, kid! Not that! A bunt down the third base line that you could beat out! A walk! You’re the leadoff, not the Babe!”

I braced Anderson with the anomaly at Anaheim Stadium the other night. Shouldn’t he move down in the lineup? Wouldn’t those 12 game-leadoff home runs last season have done a lot more damage if a real leadoff had gotten on base in front of him? After all, didn’t he set a major league record last year by leading off four consecutive games with a homer?

Anderson shakes his head. “I love batting leadoff,” he says. “I think we have to rethink our traditional attitude. I mean, where does it say you can’t bring another dimension to leading off--power? What’s wrong with getting a run without having to bunt, steal and all those traditional things?

“You see,” he adds, “I view myself as a run scorer. I mean, isn’t that the point of the game?”

He scored 117 runs last year.

“It’s an overlooked stat,” he says. “But, what’s more important?

“I think some people have a misconception of the leadoff role. I think the more talents you can bring to the role, the harder it is on the other pitcher and the better it is for your team.

“The game is subtly different today anyway, and one of the ways it is different is in part power plays. I don’t have to be farther down the lineup. We have [Rafael] Palmeiro and [Cal] Ripken and Robbie Alomar and Eric Davis to take care of that.”

What about the traditional function of a leadoff man, i.e. starting a rally? A home run is better at climaxing a rally than starting one.

“I can do that too,” Anderson says. “I don’t lead off with a home run every time.”

He admits to being more aggressive than your average leadoff. He struck out 106 times last year. Those are home run hitters’ totals. Traditional leadoff men are supposed to strike out only every eclipse of the moon.

McGraw would need smelling salts. But even the mighty McGraw could read. At the close of business Friday, the Orioles had the best record in the league. Last year, they came within a home run of getting into the World Series.

It’s difficult to improve on first place. Even in McGraw’s time, the object of the game was to win. Doesn’t matter how. Even with leadoff home runs.