|
|
|
|
|
|
Little Big Pain: Compact, Pesky Fernando Vina Sets The Table For Cardinals' Big Men
May 29, 2000
FERNANDO VINA Carries a chiseled 174 pounds on his frame, but at 5' 9" he still resembles a stump in the Cardinals' clubhouse, a forest of sizable sluggers. "I call him Mini-Me; says utilityman Shawon Dunston, comparing Vina, St Louis's second baseman and leadoff hitter, to the kneehigh Austin Powers villain. "He's tiny, and he's got that little-man Complex"
National League pitchers are developing a Vina complex since joining the Cardinals in an off season trade with the Brewers, Vina, 31, has been setting the table for the home run hitters-through Sunday, St. Louis had hit 89 homers and was on pace to smash the major league single-season record of 264 by 71-that have become the team's trademark.
Consider a 7-2 win over the Phillies last Thursday a Cliffs Notes version of St. Louis's season. The Cardinals scored all their runs on three homers by Mark McGwire, who, of course, was the object of postgame attention at Veterans Stadium. Virtually ignored was Vina's night: He went 2 for 4, was hit by a pitch, scored two runs and reached base to lead off each inning in which McGwire homered. "He's definitely been our spark plug;' says St. Louis righthander Andy Benes.
St. Louis had scored in 122 innings of the 39 games Vina had started through Sunday; he had reached base or sacrificed in 43 of those innings, scored and/or driven in a run in 42 and gotten on base to lead off an inning 24 times. He was second on the team in runs, with 36 (Jim Edmonds, in the midst of a career year, had 43), was tied for the lead in hits (53, with Edmonds) and was third in on-base percentage (.424). "When I played against him, I used to think he was a pest;' says McGwire. "He's always getting on base by a walk or hit or whatever. He just causes havoc."
Says Phillies righthander Paul Byrd, `That's the right word: pest. Those are my least favorite guys to face." The characterization doesn't bother Vina, who was hitting .325 through Sunday. "If that's the way people view me, fine; he says. "As a leadoff guy, I have to be that way."
Vina's shoring up of the Cardinals' leadoff spot-their .349 on-base percentage in that position was tied for ninth in the league in 1999-was hardly guaranteed when the trade was made in December. An All-Star in '98, Vina had been bugged by a knee injury most of last season and played in only 37 games, hitting .266 with an on-base percentage of .339. He spent the off-season in his hometown of Sacramento, working out under the guidance of five-time Olympic speed skating champion Eric Heiden, raw one of the NBA Kings' team doctors, to strengthen his hamstrings and take pressure off his knees. "I'd never really worked on my legs in the off season before; says Vina, for whom the workout program was a successful last-ditch effort at avoiding knee surgery. "For my kind of game, I need my legs to be strong."
Vina was also energized by his escape from Milwaukee. "Anytime you can come to a place like this, with great history and a great chance to win, you have to be happy;' he says. "In Milwaukee we never had a chance."
He also upgraded St. Louis's infield defense. Through Sunday, Vina was the only starting second baseman in the National League without an error this season, and his new mates are amazed at how quickly he turns the double play. "He's money in the bank," says Dunston. With two outs in the bottom of the ninth in a World Series game, I want the ball hit to him."
More important, Viva has instilled a sense of patience and discipline at the top of the lineup, so much so that opposing pitchers are often worn out or distracted by Vina's presence on base when the sluggers come to the plate.
"He affects the whole game; says McGwire. "Pitch counts go up, and that affects the pitcher. I played with probably the best leadoff hitter ever, in Rickey Henderson. Vina is following in those footsteps"
Time Incorporated
|
| |
