|
|
|
|
|
|
Don't Even Think Of Trading Vina
March 19, 1998
Phoenix -- Rumors have been making the rounds about how the Milwaukee Brewers might trade Fernando Vina for pitching help.
If they do that, the pitching help had better resemble Randy Johnson. Fernando Vina is at the heart of this baseball team.
He is the consummate scrapper. If you can't catch his enthusiasm, you must be under sedation.
At second base, he is simply very good. He has fine range. He is fearless in turning the double play. On the bases, he is typically aggressive. At the plate, he is a constant contact hitter, striking out an average of once in every 15 at-bats over the last two seasons.
And off the field, Vina exudes a kind of pure joy just being around the ballpark. He is a one-man parade of handshakes and back-pats. You don't want to trade someone like this. You want to clone him.
Vina's value to the team comes up in even a discussion of his one shortcoming. Hitting at the top of the order, the Brewers would like to see him be more patient, take more pitches, draw more walks. His approach at the plate has reflected his overall approach: The baseball comes, he swings at it. After all, he is going to hit it somewhere.
So when manager Phil Garner talks about Vina's approach, he doesn't talk about demolishing it. He talks about tidying it up a bit.
"I don't want to change it drastically, I just want to tweak it a little bit," Garner says. "The biggest thing that Fernando brings to the team is that he plays all-out. He gets on base, he makes things happen. He sets a tone for us. I don't want that changed."
It may be impossible for Vina to slow down considerably, even though he suffered a broken ankle last April. He had been bothered by a pulled hamstring this spring and missed 12 days. On the day he returned to the field he was supposed to get two at-bats and take no chances.
So in his first at-bat Vina hits a ball to the left side. He is out of the box like Michael Johnson out of the blocks. By Vina's third stride, the entire Milwaukee coaching staff is screaming at him to slow down. He does, but the point is made. His instincts are pointed toward all-out.
It all started, Vina believes, with the example of his parents, who came to America from Cuba in 1969 with few material possessions. They worked hard. They had to work hard. After you understand that putting food on the family table can be a struggle, working up some enthusiasm for a game is hardly a reach.
So there is no danger that Vina, now that he has established himself, is going to become complacent. None of this came easily. One way or another, he was usually the little guy, the underdog.
"I could be here all day just telling you how it feels to be in this situation that I've worked for all my life," he says. "I've really got to pinch myself sometimes now. But I've got to keep the same intensity, keep working hard, because I know how hard it was to get to this spot. I'm not going to let anybody take it away. I'm not going to give in, at all.
There can be days when even the relentlessly upbeat Fernando Vina feels less than terrific. But that becomes just one more thing to overcome.
"We all have days when we don't want to go where we have to go or do what we have to do," Vina says. "Those are the days when I just push myself more to do it."
There is no reason to stop pushing now. And don't worry too much about those trade rumors. Garner says there are no plans to peddle Vina. The stories about trades, well, those are other clubs, calling to see if they can get him. You can't blame them. This is a player you want on your side.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
|
| |
