|
|
|
|
|
|
First Person -- Fernando Vina, St. Louis Cardinals
By Mike Eisenbath, SportsWritersDirect
September 25, 2000
ST. LOUIS (Sept. 25) -- When the St. Louis Cardinals looked at their list of needs last offseason, two glaring holes included a true leadoff man and an above-average defensive second baseman. A few players could have filled both jobs, but they settled on Fernando Vina and couldn't be more pleased with the results.
The Cardinals acquired him in a deal that sent pitcher Juan Acevedo and two minor-leaguers to the Milwaukee Brewers. Though it might fall a little shy of the infamous Brock-for-Broglio deal or the trades that turned Mark McGwire and Jim Edmonds into Cardinals, landing Vina might turn into one of the top trades in Cardinals history.
He set a preseason goal of posting a .380 on-base percentage and winning the Gold Glove as the National League's best defensive second baseman, and both of those seem possible.
The on-base percentage has been helped by the fact that he has been hit by a pitch 27 times, most in the majors this season and four shy of the franchise record. But he also has batted around .300 all year.
He has given the Cardinals their best pure leadoff man since Vince Coleman as well as possibly their best defensive second baseman since Red Schoendienst. And he also has been a somewhat fiery team leader who balances that with one of the most outgoing personalities in baseball. He probably leads the league in handshakes and kind words.
Vina talked recently with SportsWritersDirect's Mike Eisenbath about the pride he takes in his reputation as an outstanding defensive player, especially at turning a double play, as well as his friendly nature and intense desire to do anything to help his team win a game:
I think some of my defense has been natural. People have helped me to polish it up even more, but I've always had the quick hands and was able to get the ball in and out of my glove quick for some reason, thank God.
As I got into the big leagues, my first year in the major leagues I had a coach named Sam Perlozzo who helped me a lot with my footwork around the bag. That helped me get even quicker.
The thing about being quick around the second-base bag is that you have to get your feet down on the ground and set properly to be able to throw the ball. You have to get that footwork down to do that. So that work with Sam really helped me to polish my sequence out.
Sometimes the hard part on turning a double play is when that runner is coming at you. To be honest with you, you can't even worry about that runner. If you do, you're going to panic, you're going to rush, and you're going to do something you don't want to do.
When I turn a double play, I don't even really notice that runner except for the tough ones where you have to hang in there until he runs into me or I see him right there, and I have programmed myself to get up in the air and keep my body soft.
In a double play, I can't think about that guy. You get rid of the ball, get up in the air and keep your body soft so if he does make contact with you, you move with him and hope nothing dangerous happens.
Making a quick tag when a guy is trying to steal a base, that's a God-given talent, I guess. It's something that I'm able to catch the ball and get it down to a spot quicker than anybody or just as quick as anybody ever.
If I can catch the ball in a decent place, I can get it down there. I really don't notice it sometimes. Growing up, I used to mess up sometimes trying to be even quicker. My coaches would say, "Fernando, you're super quick already, you don't need to be quicker." Once I learned to relax, everything came to me.
In high school, junior college and Arizona State University, that's when people told me that my quick hands really stood out. When I took infield, that was the first thing that seemed to pop into people's minds, the way I turned a double play, and I started to hear it more in college.
But the most important thing, I've learned is to actually catch the ball. The bottom line is you've got to get the ball. If you try to be too quick, it will pop out. Once you have the ball, the rest comes natural. Things I do offensively aren't as natural. I've had to work at them, and I still have to keep doing it. But it's all kind of part of who I am right now.
I guess me being friendly, that's pretty natural, too. It's just the way I was raised. It goes back to my parents. I've always been taught that you should be nice to people. It irks me to see people that are not. It bothers me.
I see that, and it isn't fair. You, me, all the guys that work in the clubhouse and around the ballpark, we've all got a job to do and we've got to take care of each other. That's my whole approach to everyone in life. We all have to take care of each other in whatever it is we do.
My parents (who emigrated from Cuba while expecting Fernando) taught me how important it is to always be able and ready to help someone else, to be kind to them. Now, I really just like to be a good person because I believe it's the right thing to do. That's the way I want people to treat me.
There are days when I encounter something and I'm like, "Man, this again!" You don't always want to do all these things the same way every day. You're not always in a good mood.
But something clicks in my head that tells me there's maybe only that one time someone could see you and get the wrong impression of you. A little kid could ask me to sign an autograph and even though I might not want to sign it, I know how important it is to that little kid.
Like the other day a bunch of people were yelling, "Vina, come over here!" I kept walking. A lady said, "It's my birthday! It's my birthday!" I had to stop. That bothered me that I wouldn't sign for her on her birthday. I turned around and walked over and did it.
You never know about first impressions. That might be the only time she ever sees me, and I wanted to leave a good impression. Some people don't care what people think about them. But I want people to know that I'm a good person.
I know they called me "The Mayor" up in Milwaukee because of the way I was. Some people might joke about it or make fun of it or whatever. I like to be a good person, and I want people to treat me the way I treat them.
I think people know I'm genuine. Since Day 1, when I was a rookie, I've just been happy to be here, and I've kept that attitude. That's the way I am. I can't see it, but the people who know me and the people who have just met me always come up to me and tell me, "Man, you're a person."
That's part of where I came from, where I grew up. We didn't have much where I grew up in Sacramento. It was kind of a tough area in some ways. But that makes you into a certain kind of person.
I've always told myself that I would never change. I'm nothing better than anybody else, and I don't want anyone to treat me any better than they would treat someone else.
Sometimes people see an athlete and raise them up on this pedestal. If I'm walking down the street, I want everyone to know it's just me. I'll go watch a football game back home at a guy's house and have lunch, and his friends freak out. Nothing has changed for me, though.
I'm kind of a basic ballplayer in some ways. I was never just given anything. So I was raised to take whatever you could get in the game. In junior college, our big motto was, "Take it for the team. Do whatever you can to help this team win." My coach there would line us up and throw wiffle balls at us, then show us how we were supposed to roll our bodies if a pitch was coming at us.
I don't have a fear of the ball hitting me. Some people do. And it does hurt more than a wiffle ball. Either I just have a gift for not being afraid of it, or I'm more stupid than everyone else.
Junior college is where that attitude started, and it keeps going. You remember where you came from. That's the way I play. Once you get your style, you never lose it.
There are other guys who do it and do it well. At some point, there's an art to it. You have to make sure you turn into the pitch and turn in safely. I hope I don't get hurt, but there are ways to do it right.
With this lineup and the guys hitting behind me, I've got to get on base as often as I can. It doesn't matter how I do it.
SportsWritersDirect
|
| |
