Wednesday, June 12, 1985/The Battalion/Page 7
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Batting
National League averages
slumping dramatically in '85
Associated Press
There’s a hitting slump in the
National League this season, and
it’s being attributed to speed, de
fense and better overall pitching.
“Everybody’s trying to analyze
it, and it’s all guesswork,” said Jim
Frey, manager of the Chicago
Cubs. “But there’s no question
hitting is down throughout the
league.”
Besides more speed and better
defense. Chuck Tanner, manager
of the Pittsburgh Pirates, cites
pitchers who have developed fork
balls and slip pitches.
The current campaign is at the
one-third mark. And with the ex
ception of the St. Louis Cardinals,
averages throughout the league
are down sharply from the final
totals of 1984.
The Cardinals, a team built for
speed because of the big park and
artificial turf at home, are batting
.272. The second team is San
Diego with a .253 average. Hous
ton, Cincinnati, Atlanta and Mon
treal are the only other teams hit
ting above .250.
Chicago is sixth in the league at
"Everybody's trying to
analyze it, and ids all gues
swork, But there's no
question hitting is down
throughout the league/’
— Chicago Cubs Manager
Jim Frey
.240. The figures then plunge to
San Francisco’s low of .210. The
averages were based on perfor
mances going into Tuesday
night’s games.
Philadelphia led the league in
hitting last year with a .266 aver
age, but nine other teams had av
erages above .250. Cincinnati and
Los Angeles finished at .244, a
figure that would place those
teams in seventh place or the
middle of the pack this season.
“It used to be that having a
short man in relief was all that
most teams felt they needed,”
said Frey. “But now teams are de
veloping a whole bullpen. In ad
dition to the short man, there are
two righties and two lefties and
the managers flip-flop pitchers
and pinch batters without giving
it a thought.”
Frey also believes there are bet
ter defenses in the outfield.
“Because of the Astro-turf sur
faces you need more outfield
speed and every team has two or
three burners in the outfield who
can fly,” he said.
“Where you once wanted big
power hitters in right and left
fields, you now have speedsters.
They cut down on run produc
tion with their defense and don’t
provide as much batting punch.
“And at some point, you have
to start believing the pitching is
better. Years ago, when I played,
it was a generalization that when
the count went to 3-and-l or 2-
and-() or even 3-and-2, the hitter
could expect a fastball.
“But the pitchers today are not
giving in to the hitters as much,”
he said. “Not as many pitchers
live with the fastball. They just as
soon go with a sinker, a slider, a
curve, a fork ball or any kind of
off-speed pitch they can throw.”
Cards' Herr making a name
for himself in NL hitting circle
By JOHN NELSON
AP Sports Writer
What’s gotten into Tommy
Herr lately? It was a pertinent
question, rather innocently posed
to St. Louis Cardinals Manager
Whitey Herzog.
“He’s an intelligent, young bal
lplayer who’s always been under
rated,” Herzog replied. “He’s just
hit 70 points under his average all
his life.”
Herr, 29 years old, came into
the 1985 season with a .276 ca
reer batting average, precisely
what he hit last year. After Mon
day night’s 6-1 victory at Pitts
burgh, Heir led the National
League with a .373 average. He
also had a league-leading 51 RBI,
two more than his season-high of
1984, and was a big part of the
reason the Cardinals were lead
ing the NL in hitting and runs
scored.
The question, then, deserves a
better answer than what Herzog
offered, especially in light of
some of the physical problems
Herr has encountered in the past
two years.
Beginning in November 1982
with an operation on his right
knee, Flerr underwent surgery
three times on his knees in less
than a year. He had surgery on
the left knee on March 25, 1983,
began the season with the Cardi
nals, then had another operation
on the same knee on Aug. 17,
missing the rest of the season.
After 313 at-bats in 1983, how
ever, Herr was leading the league
with a .323 average, perhaps an
inkling of what we were to see
when he was whole again.
Herr has made a minor change
in his batting style, moving far
ther up in the batter’s box and
closer to the pitcher to try to pick
up the ball quicker.
But even he admits this change
can’t account for the difference in
his average. At least “it shouldn’t
improve my average by 100
points.”
It may, however, have helped
his on-hase percentage, since he
has walked 26 times this season.
In fact, in 54 games, Herr has
failed only twice to get on base via
a walk or nit.
The improvement in his aver
age, however, probably results
from a combination of factors.
One is his position in the batting
order, No. 3 behind basestealers
Vince Coleman and Willie McGee
and in front of Jack Clark.
“Tommy’s always been a good
ballplayer, very intelligent,” Her
zog says. “He knows the strike
zone, and he’s become a better
hitter. But he’s also hitting be
hind the two jackrabbits and in
front of Jack Clark, and he’s tak
ing advantage of it.”
Herr wholeheartedly agrees
with Herzog.
“Those are pretty accurate as
sessments,” he says. “I’m a better
situation hitter. I’m better at
looking for certain pitches in cer
tain locations.”
With the exception of last year,
the switch-hitting Herr always has
been a bit better hitter from the
left side. One of the most interest
ing results of his newfound bat
ting prowess is that he is hitting
more than 100 points better
right-handed this year. His aver
age left-handed is .331; right-
handed it’s .456.
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