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Vina Leads Majors In Being Hit By Pitch
R.B. Fallstrom
Aug 29, 2000
It's safe to say Fernando Vina doesn't mind taking one for the team.
The St. Louis Cardinals' leadoff batter has been hit by a pitch a major league-leading 23 times this season. That's only two bruises short of his career high set in 1998 with the Brewers, and he'll likely challenge the team record of 31 by Steve Evans in 1910.
"He has no give, and sometimes he gets drilled," manager Tony La Russa said. "When your game is getting on base, it's a good way to do it."
Vina, acquired in an offseason deal from Milwaukee, fills a longtime need of the Cardinals and at second base, where he's contending for a Gold Glove, and at the plate. He was batting .300 and had a 17-game hitting streak that ended Saturday.
He'll do anything to get on base. Vina has perfected the art of leaning into offspeed pitches and taking the ball off muscle and not bone.
None of the balls have produced anything more than a bruise. Not only is he skillful at avoiding injury, he's also been lucky.
"When it's coming, your instincts take over and it's going to hit you wherever it's going to hit you," Vina said. "You don't have much time to think or say, 'I'm going to get hit here or there."'
Last week he was hit twice in the same game, and one of the balls barely scratched his sleeve.
"I don't mind getting hit," Vina said. "I don't go up there trying to get hit, but sometimes when the ball is in my instincts are to roll back instead of jump out of the way."
Unlike some players, Vina doesn't protect himself before the fact.
"A lot of guys wear armor and get it done that way," Vina said. "You look at (Craig) Biggio. The way I look at it is if they're going to come inside, I'm not going to jump out of the way.
"I'm going to stand my ground. I've got to stay with my approach."
Vina said he's not looking to be a body contact hitter at the plate. It's just part of being a complete player.
Before committing three errors last week, Vina had enjoyed a remarkable run in the field. In the previous 121 games, he had committed only three errors.
La Russa believes this could be Vina's year for a Gold Glove. Not only is he playing well, Biggio, a perennial Gold Glove winner, is out for the season with a knee injury.
"I don't know who could play better than he has played," La Russa said of Vina. "He turns the double play better than anybody and plays very consistently. What more does a guy have to do?"
Vina hopes his manager is correct.
"I think my numbers are there and I've proven what I can do," Vina said. "I have range to my left, range to my right, and I can turn the double play. I'm just doing the best I can to make a good case for it."
Vina said he was the same player with the Brewers, but never got the attention for it.
"My defense has been my bread and butter for a long time," he said.
Vina gives a lot of credit for his career-best hitting streak to his former junior college coach. He often leans on Paul Carmazzi of Sacramento City College in California for advice.
"To this day I call him every now and then for tips when things are going wrong," Vina said. "I tell him how I feel and he's so good, he can tell me what to do without watching me."
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
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