AzRep: White gets unexpected night off

[Steven Chan, quoting Mark Armijo of The Arizona Republic]

White gets unexpected night off
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By Mark Armijo
The Arizona Republic
Saturday April 4, 1998

Nine minutes after the game's first pitch, Diamondbacks center fielder
Devon White was back in the clubhouse.

White, who was batting leadoff, took a third strike from San Francisco
pitcher Mark Gardner.

White took it, but he didn't like it. After returning to the dugout,
he apparently uttered something that home plate umpire Angel Hernandez
didn't find amusing.

A second later, White was ejected.

"Devo said something to the umpire he thought constituted throwing him
out of the game," Diamondbacks Manager Buck Showalter said.

Did Showalter agree with the call?

"I think that's the third time he's (Hernandez) thrown him out,"
Showalter said.

Hmmmm.

It happened so fast that starting pitcher Jeff Suppan didn't realize
what was going on.

"I just saw (White) in the dugout with his back to the umpire," Suppan
said. "Then, he's gone. I was a little surprised."

White left the clubhouse early and wasn't available for comment.

Up and down --

Except for an opposite-field home run in the bottom of the ninth
inning in the season opener, outfielder Karim Garcia has been
punchless at the plate.

Garcia, who is batting .062, is 1 for 16 and was benched Friday for
the first time this season.

Garcia, however, didn't sit long. He was summoned in the second inning
to replace White.

Garcia went 0 for 4.

"I'm swinging the bat," Garcia said. "I'm just getting no hits. But I
have to keep swinging."

Showalter isn't overly concerned.

"(Garcia) is like a young colt trying to play under control,"
Showalter said. "But he's got some special skills."

Home cookin' --

San Francisco Manager Dusty Baker surveyed the ballpark from the top
step of the dugout before the game and was immediately impressed.

"It's pretty awesome," Baker said. "I just saw the roof close in five
minutes. That's awesome."

In time, Baker said the Diamondbacks will become accustomed to the
ballpark's idiosyncrasies and use them to their advantage.

Ho-hum --

So what if third baseman Matt Williams played nearly 10 seasons for
San Francisco?

"It's just another game," Williams said. "There's 162 of them. I take
the same approach every day. You do what you can, regardless of who
you're playing."

Yeah, right.

Williams had two doubles and made a couple of outstanding defensive
stops.

Batter up --

Catcher Kelly Stinnett hit .344 in spring training but was in the
regular season lineup for the first time against the Giants.

Stinnett was hitless in four at-bats, striking out three times. But he
did nail Darryl Hamilton trying to steal second in the fourth inning.

"It's nice to get the first (start) out of the way," Stinnett said.
"There's always some nerves every time you catch. You just do the best
you can because you never know when your number is going to be
called."

Around the bases --

• Mark this down in your journal, Mr. Suppan. Your first major league
hit came at 7:39 p.m. Entering the game, Suppan was 0 for 2 in his
career.

• Reliever Clint Sodowsky again was ineffective, surrendering four
hits and three runs in two-thirds of an inning. He also hit pitcher
Mark Gardner with a pitch. Sodowsky's earned-run average, believe it
or not, rose from 40.50 to 40.60.

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This article has been posted, independent of The Arizona Republic and
Arizona Central, operated by Phoenix Newspapers, Inc., © Copyright
1998. All rights reserved.

Online: http://www.azcentral.com

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