Baseball Guru
03-26-2002, 02:42 PM
By George Diaz | Sentinel Staff Writer
Posted March 26, 2002
WINTER HAVEN -- Others have been down this road before, judged by a standard beyond reasonable means. Nobody wants to be a follow-up act to greatness.
Can anybody name the guys who replaced Bruce Springsteen's E-Street Band when the Boss went solo? Do we care who stepped into Cal Ripken's lineup slot at third base for the Baltimore Orioles?
Perhaps Ricky Gutierrez is one of the bravest men in baseball, or one of the most naïve. He will replace one of the greatest second baseman of our generation in the Cleveland Indians lineup this season, playing a position he hasn't played regularly in a decade.
Which begs the question: What were you thinking?
"I don't worry about that," Gutierrez said in the Indians dugout recently while waiting for batting and infield practice. "I respect his game. I've always watched him play, but I'm not going to go out and try to be like Robbie Alomar. He's going to be a Hall of Famer one day. I just have to go out there and play my baseball. Be Ricky Gutierrez, worry about myself and not worry about how I have to do this or that."
Rest assured that there will be plenty of folks who will pick up the worrywart slack. Alomar and shortstop Omar Vizquel danced with the artistry of Astaire-Rogers around second base. Balls were flicked behind backs, or with gloves in tow when the ball got stuck in the webbing of the glove. There were one-handed lunges and no-look tosses that became must-see TV for any baseball fan tuning into ESPN's Baseball Tonight at midnight.
"Now it's going to be much more of a practical double play instead of seeing a lot of improvisation," Vizquel said.
Despite the Alomar albatross, Gutierrez isn't coming to Cleveland from the Chicago Cubs with a reputation as a pedestrian hack. Gutierrez, 31, hit .290 (153 for 528) in 2001 with 23 doubles, three triples, 10 homers, 66 RBIs and 76 runs scored in 147 games.
Defensively, he led National League shortstops in 2000 with a fielding percentage of .986.
With the Indians set with Vizquel at shortstop, they made their recruiting pitch to Gutierrez -- a free agent -- asking him about the possibility of switching to second base despite playing just 27 games at second in his career and none since Sept. 16, 1997. The Indians, in a significant makeover, traded Alomar to the New York Mets in the off-season.
After come-on-down calls from Cleveland General Manager Mark Shapiro and Vizquel, Gutierrez thought things over for a few days before signing a three-year contract worth $11 million.
Emotionally, the Tribe wasn't Gutierrez's first option. A native of Miami and graduate of Miami American High, he wanted to sign with the Florida Marlins until the team became entwined in the off-season contraction quagmire. Gutierrez figured he'd best dash off to somewhere else.
There were a few pangs of disappointment from wife Lisa Gutierrez, a former scholarship basketball player at the University of Miami, and the family's four kids before Gutierrez and his agent moved on to a more realistic negotiating forum with the Indians and Detroit Tigers.
"Ricky Gutierrez will provide our club with exceptional defense and he, along with Omar Vizquel, gives us a strong defensive presence up the middle that will certainly benefit our young pitching staff," Shapiro said.
Shapiro, in his first year as general manager, had best be careful with campaign promises. Looking to restructure the payroll and to set a foundation for their pitching rotation, the Indians dumped Alomar, Kenny Lofton, Juan Gonzalez and Marty Cordova in the off-season.
With a payroll that was reduced by about $10 million (to $82 million), some mediocre offense and less-than-overpowering pitching, these guys don't have the dominating feel of a team that has won the AL Central six of the last seven years.
Much of that success was predicated on the brilliance of Alomar-Vizquel. With the dance card changed to Gutierrez-Vizquel this season, it remains iffy how well these two will tango in the night.
The Indians are trying to expedite the transition process with extra fielding practice and have given Gutierrez a locker adjacent to Vizquel in hopes the two will bond.
"Sometimes we try to showboat a bit during practice because I don't want to surprise him during games and get him off balance," Vizquel said. "Sometimes I will throw the ball with my glove in it, behind my back, things that could happen during the game.
"The difference is that now he has another angle to field the ball, but he tells me that he feels comfortable because he has played second base before. That should make the transition quicker for him."
Posted March 26, 2002
WINTER HAVEN -- Others have been down this road before, judged by a standard beyond reasonable means. Nobody wants to be a follow-up act to greatness.
Can anybody name the guys who replaced Bruce Springsteen's E-Street Band when the Boss went solo? Do we care who stepped into Cal Ripken's lineup slot at third base for the Baltimore Orioles?
Perhaps Ricky Gutierrez is one of the bravest men in baseball, or one of the most naïve. He will replace one of the greatest second baseman of our generation in the Cleveland Indians lineup this season, playing a position he hasn't played regularly in a decade.
Which begs the question: What were you thinking?
"I don't worry about that," Gutierrez said in the Indians dugout recently while waiting for batting and infield practice. "I respect his game. I've always watched him play, but I'm not going to go out and try to be like Robbie Alomar. He's going to be a Hall of Famer one day. I just have to go out there and play my baseball. Be Ricky Gutierrez, worry about myself and not worry about how I have to do this or that."
Rest assured that there will be plenty of folks who will pick up the worrywart slack. Alomar and shortstop Omar Vizquel danced with the artistry of Astaire-Rogers around second base. Balls were flicked behind backs, or with gloves in tow when the ball got stuck in the webbing of the glove. There were one-handed lunges and no-look tosses that became must-see TV for any baseball fan tuning into ESPN's Baseball Tonight at midnight.
"Now it's going to be much more of a practical double play instead of seeing a lot of improvisation," Vizquel said.
Despite the Alomar albatross, Gutierrez isn't coming to Cleveland from the Chicago Cubs with a reputation as a pedestrian hack. Gutierrez, 31, hit .290 (153 for 528) in 2001 with 23 doubles, three triples, 10 homers, 66 RBIs and 76 runs scored in 147 games.
Defensively, he led National League shortstops in 2000 with a fielding percentage of .986.
With the Indians set with Vizquel at shortstop, they made their recruiting pitch to Gutierrez -- a free agent -- asking him about the possibility of switching to second base despite playing just 27 games at second in his career and none since Sept. 16, 1997. The Indians, in a significant makeover, traded Alomar to the New York Mets in the off-season.
After come-on-down calls from Cleveland General Manager Mark Shapiro and Vizquel, Gutierrez thought things over for a few days before signing a three-year contract worth $11 million.
Emotionally, the Tribe wasn't Gutierrez's first option. A native of Miami and graduate of Miami American High, he wanted to sign with the Florida Marlins until the team became entwined in the off-season contraction quagmire. Gutierrez figured he'd best dash off to somewhere else.
There were a few pangs of disappointment from wife Lisa Gutierrez, a former scholarship basketball player at the University of Miami, and the family's four kids before Gutierrez and his agent moved on to a more realistic negotiating forum with the Indians and Detroit Tigers.
"Ricky Gutierrez will provide our club with exceptional defense and he, along with Omar Vizquel, gives us a strong defensive presence up the middle that will certainly benefit our young pitching staff," Shapiro said.
Shapiro, in his first year as general manager, had best be careful with campaign promises. Looking to restructure the payroll and to set a foundation for their pitching rotation, the Indians dumped Alomar, Kenny Lofton, Juan Gonzalez and Marty Cordova in the off-season.
With a payroll that was reduced by about $10 million (to $82 million), some mediocre offense and less-than-overpowering pitching, these guys don't have the dominating feel of a team that has won the AL Central six of the last seven years.
Much of that success was predicated on the brilliance of Alomar-Vizquel. With the dance card changed to Gutierrez-Vizquel this season, it remains iffy how well these two will tango in the night.
The Indians are trying to expedite the transition process with extra fielding practice and have given Gutierrez a locker adjacent to Vizquel in hopes the two will bond.
"Sometimes we try to showboat a bit during practice because I don't want to surprise him during games and get him off balance," Vizquel said. "Sometimes I will throw the ball with my glove in it, behind my back, things that could happen during the game.
"The difference is that now he has another angle to field the ball, but he tells me that he feels comfortable because he has played second base before. That should make the transition quicker for him."