Section A·Page 10
The University Daily Kansan
Wednesday, May 2, 2001
Journalists applauding Crystal film
The Associated Press
NEW YORK - Sportswriters, often viewed as cantankerous and annoying, come off as the bad guys in 61*, Billy Crystal's celebration of the Roger Maris-Mickey Mantle 1961 pursuit of Babe Ruth's home run record.
At least three journalists who were there that summer object to that characterization.
Phil Pepe covered the home run chase for the New York W Or l D Telegram & Sun and watched the film at last week's preview.
Crystalh his film has impressed various sportswriters
impressed with it, he said. "The actors (Barry Pepper as Maris and Thomas Jane as Mantle) exactly captured their personalities, their gestures, their swings. It was scary."
Individual writers are not identified in the film. Milton Gross, Dick Young and others who covered the chase, are recognizable.
"Gross and Young supported Maris," Pepe said.
Not in the HBO account.
Steve Jacobson of *Newsday* was on the Yankees beat in 1961.
"I thought the movie was engrossing," he said. "The characters of Maris and Mantle were terrific. The newspapermen played as villains — that's inaccurate. And so was the booing."
That, Pepe said, could be traced to Hall of Famer Rogers Hornsby. Hired as a coach for the expansion New York Mets in 1962, Hornsby was critical of Maris being mentioned in the same breath with a baseball icon like Ruth.
The movie portrays Maris as being reclusive, unhappy with all the attention generated by the chase. Jacobson said that was accurate.
"What Maris didn't understand was that he was the story," he said. "It was inescapable and there were so many writers around, they never saw those kind of numbers before. One of the curses were people who never covered sports."
Series could pit perennial losers
If history repeats itself Minnesota will face the Cubs in October
The Associated Press
It's early to start planning for that Cubs-Twins World Series, but some of baseball's surprising starts this season might mean something.
April success has translated very well to October baseball recently. Fifteen of the past 18 teams that held a share of first place entering May went on to make the playoffs.
That's good news for AL East co-leaders Boston and Toronto, as well as the other division leaders: Minnesota, Seattle, Philadelphia, Los Angeles and the Chicago Cubs.
But they aren't buying into the history vet.
"A good start means nothing without a good finish." said Corey Koskie, one of the keys to the Twins' surprising start.
it's been a wild opening month in the
majors. Three last-place teams from 2000 — the Twins, Phillies and Cubs — are in first place, while none of last year's NL division winners — Atlanta, St. Louis and San Francisco — are playing above .500.
"We started the season very well and we're in first place right now, so we don't have any complaints," Philadelphia's Bobby Abreu said. "We just have to keep pushing."
It's even worse for the NL champion Mets, as well as Oakland and the White Sox — the two teams with the best records in the AL last season. All three of those teams entered May in last place.
"I know everything's going to change," Jose Valentin of the White Sox said. "I think we've got a better team than last year. We've just got to put it together."
They better start soon.
The White Sox were nine games behind Minnesota before the Twins' game Monday night against the Yankees. Oakland ended the month 12 games behind the surprising Mariners.
No team since Detroit in 1987 has finished April more than five games out of first place and ended up in the postseason.
"As far as we're concerned, we're not
"A good start means nothing without a good finish."
Corey Koskie Twins third baseman
enjoying it," A's manager Art Howe said. "I know we have a long way to go. If we don't start winning it could be even longer."
if the season ended today, the playoffs would be filled with misfits.
The Twins had the worst record in the AL last year and haven't finished with a winning record since 1992. The Mariners set an April record with 20 wins despite losing Alex Rodriguez, Ken Griffey Jr. and Randy Johnson in less than three years.
"We just don't feel like we're going to lose," said Mike Cameron, who replaced Griffey in center field before last season. "The way we've been playing, it seems like we can't lose a game. We've had some luck, but luck comes from being good and we've been good."
The Blue Jays haven't been to the postseason since 1993 and traded 20-game winner David Wells to the White Sox for Mike
surotta, who won't pitch this year because of a shoulder injury. The Red Sox, behind a patchwork pitching staff, are thriving despite missing Nomar Garciaparra.
The National League might be even stranger.
The Cubs and Phillies were tied with the worst records in baseball last year. The Reds, who are leading the wild card race, haven't gotten a single hit from Griffey. Then there's the dysfunctional Dodgers, who endured Gary Sheffield's spring holdout and general manager Kevin Malone's forced resignation.
"It's only a distraction when you're off the field," closer Shaw said of Malone's resignation. "The only things these 25 guys in this room and the coaching staff are concerning ourselves with is what we do when we take the field. Then all that 'distraction' stuff goes out the window."
Maybe all of these surprises are fitting considering that it's the 10-year anniversary of the worst-to-first World Series, when Minnesota beat Atlanta in seven games.
"Shhh. Don't even talk about that," said closer LaTroy Hawkins. "Cleveland gets hot, Chicago gets hot. It's way too early."
New strike zone blamed for offensive decline
Could there be another worst-to-first story for the Twins?
One month after baseball started to enforce its new strike zone,
Larger zone forcing hitters' numbers down
The Associated Press
NEW YORK — David Justice kept flailing away at the plate, striking out four times against Boston before hitting a game-winning home run.
After 11 years in the major leagues, he was trying to adjust to a new strike zone.
"That's not easy," said the New York Yankees designated hitter, who had struck out four times in a game only once before in his career. "As soon as you see a ball's high, you swing. If you don't approach it right, you pop up."
strikeouts are up, while walks, home runs, batting average and ERA are all down.
This is what commissioner Bud Selig envisioned when he told his aides to demand that umpires move the strike zone up and narrow it. For 20 years, it had gotten lower and wider, umpires ignoring the definition that had been in the Official Baseball Rules for more than a century.
"I think the strike zone is a little higher, generally." Houston Astros manager Larry Dierker said. "We have a couple of guys calling it the way it used to be, but I think they're trying to follow the rule."
There was an average of 2.34 home runs per game in April, down 8.6 percent from the record average of 2.54 in the first month of last season, according to the Elias Sports Bureau, baseball's statistician.
dramatic, with the 2001 average remaining 5.4 percent above the 1999 average of 2.22.
Walks decreased 13.3 percent,
from 7.82 per game to 6.78, and
strikeouts increased 5.4 percent,
from 12.91 to 13.61.
Still, the decrease wasn't that
That shows the strike zone really is getting larger.
"I've been happy with the consistency in the five games I pitched," Arizona's Curt Schilling said. "I didn't think it would be that easy for them to make that adjustment, but I think so far they've done a good job."
As new ballparks have opened, year-to-year statistical comparisons have become more difficult to evaluate because the new ballparks have different — and usually smaller — dimensions.
Three new ballparks opened last year — hitter-friendly Enron Field in Houston, pitcher friendly Comerica Park in Detroit and Pacific Bell Park in
San Francisco. Two ballparks opened this season, with no dramatic changes evident yet: Miller Park in Milwaukee and PNC Park in Pittsburgh.
Whatever the factors, offense is down this year, with batting average dropping 3.7 percent (.270 to .260), runs falling 10.6 percent (10.75 per game to 9.61) and hits decreasing 4.4 percent (18.56 to 1.774).
Among power categories, doubles dropped 9.1 percent (3.81 per game to 3.46) and triples fell 7.3 percent (0.41 to 0.38).
Pitchers have been the beneficiaries, with the major league ERA falling 9.5 percent, from 4.93 to 4.46.
"Last year, my strike zone was wide," Houston shortstop Julio Lugo said. "I wasn't getting that outside pitch at all. Now there are more high strikes."
While the stats have changed, they aren't affecting styles on the field.
HIT SHORTAGE
Offensive production is down this season, because of a new strike zone and new, pitcher-friendly ballparks.
This year's new parks: Milli Park, Milwaukee; PNC Park, Pittsburgh
Last year’s new parks: Enron Field, Houston; Camerica Park, Detroit; Pacific Bell Park, San Francisco
"There are only a few pitchers who can take advantage of pitching up there, and we don't have that type of pitcher," New York Mets manager Bobby Valentine said. "For a lot of pitchers, it's a disadvantage to pitch up there."
While management hoped a bigger strike zone would speed the pace of games, speed has changed only minimally. Through Sunday, the average time of a nine-inning game was 2 hours, 54 minutes, a decrease of only three minutes from last season.
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