Absence of DH contributes to Game Four Drama / Oct 24

[Sports Ticker]

SPORTSTICKER BASEBALL NOTE

By Doug Mittler
Senior Editor

ATLANTA -- Claim you want to do away with the designated hitter
and you are branded a baseball dinosaur, hopelessly out of touch
with the times. The logic says fans want to see legitimate
hitters at the plate instead of an almost automatic out.

Traditionalists of the world rejoice. Wednesday night's epic
World Series game between the Yankees and Braves would not have
been possible if it had been played at an American League park
with the designated hitter.

Playing nine men to a side as they do for all Series games at
National League parks, managers Joe Torre of the Yankees and
Bobby Cox of the Braves played a gripping game of baseball
chess. Without the extra bat in the lineup, a truer measue of a
team's overall depth came to the surface and the series is now
tied at two wins each heading into tonight's game at Fulton
County Stadium.

"I hope we abolish the designated hitter once and for all," Cox
said earlier this week, but it was his team that could have used
it more on Wednesday night.

Jim Leyritz took his place in Yankee World Series history by
hitting a three-run homer in the eighth inning, tying the game
at 6-6. But Leyritz was only in the game because starting
catcher Joe Girardi was lifted for pinch-hitter Paul O'Neill in
the sixth inning, one of the myriad of tactical moves that need
to be made in a National League ballpark.

"I never thought I would get a chance to hit another big homer
like that," said Leyritz, who hit a game-winning homer against
Seattle in the 1995 Division Series. That opportunity came
courtesy of a pinch-hitter.

The lost art of the double switch, a distant memory at American
League parks, gave the Yankees an important insurance run in the
10th. The Braves' Ryan Klesko entered the game for Fred McGriff
at first base as part of a double switch, and promptly dropped a
pop up hit by Charlie Hayes.

New York used seven pitchers, tying the record for most pitchers
by a winning club in an extra-inning game. The Braves used six
and the combined 13 pitchers tied the record for most in a World
Series game set by Atlanta and Minnesota in Game Three of the
1991 Series.

It was Torre that was more willing to go to his bench, and with
good reason. How many teams could send up a pair of former
league batting champions, O'Neill and Wade Boggs, and another
hitter who drove in 117 runs, Tino Martinez, in a single game?
Without a designated hitter, teams must clear their benches and
bullpens sooner.

"I think there is more strategy without the DH," said Torre, who
did without the extra hitter when he managed the Braves from
1982 through 1984. "The managing part of the game is based on
strategy. I would agree (that we could do without it)."

Cox is more reluctant to go to his bench, and rightfully so.
Atlanta pinch hitters are 0-18 this post-season and hitless in
their last 21 since Mike Devereaux singled in Game Three of the
1995 World Series.

Another intriguing sidenote to Wednesday's game was the lifting
of Cecil Fielder for a pinch-runner in the ninth inning, but not
until after he reached second base following a single by Charlie
Hayes.

"I would have had a tough time sleeping if a run didn't score on
a base hit," Torre said.

The Yanks did not get the extra run, but were then forced to use
Hayes, normally a third baseman, at first base for the ninth and
10th innings. Unlike Klesko, Hayes had an uneventful time there
as the Braves failed to score.

Late-inning positional switches are an important and interesting
part of the game, but far less of them take place in the
American League, simply because the need arises with less
frequency.

Even a squeeze bunt by Jeff Blauser that gave the Braves a run
in the second might not have happened if the game was at Yankee
Stadium. With a runner on third and one out and pitcher Denny
Neagle up next, Blauser layed down a beautiful bunt to bring
home Javy Lopez. Had a non-pitcher been scheduled up next,
chances are Cox would have had Blauser swing away.

"What a Game" is the new marketing slogan for baseball. A game
made much better without the designated hitter.