![]() ![]() ![]() What we see with Griffey is partially a thing of beauty: a refined baseball engine that maintains a quick, offensive-oriented pace while still keeping the player honest on the defensive side of the ball, chasing down smashes into the gap and balls ripped into the hole on the left side. I knew all too well the workings of Major League Baseball featuring Ken Griffey Jr. John Marzano went six for seven, smashing three doubles and driving in eight runs, and Denny Hocking sliced a single in six of his eight trips to the plate, recording four stolen bases and scoring five runs to boot.Įveryone was shocked, awed, even aghast. Todd Van Poppel pitched a lights-out performance, allowing only four hits and striking out eight in notching a complete game, backed by a stellar, all-around defensive performance. Luis Sojo cracked two home runs over the left field wall at The Vet, a solo shot and a three run blast as reigning Cy Young winner Greg Maddux couldn't find his way out of the first inning. When we won that first game against our divisional rival Braves 35-1, it pretty much silenced all the critics. One might call me crazy for assuming John Marzano would be a more than adequate big league catcher - let alone dream he'd put up numbers rivaling Mike Piazza and Pudge Rodriguez - or thinking that Denny Hocking would emerge out of obscurity to become the lead-off man of the most dynamic offense in baseball history. One might surmise I'd be kicking myself for not pursuing someone with a bit more juice in his bat than Luis Sojo to be my clean-up hitter, or that I'd at least be worried sending the always-erratic Todd Van Poppel to the mound as my ace. One might think I was worried as my starting nine took the field that brisk opening night in April. ![]() When burly columnist Bill Conlin tried to put me in the hot seat when we sat down for a face-to-face interview, demanding I explain my ''ridiculous'' actions to the blue-collar fans of Philadelphia, I calmly told him to wait at least one game into the season before passing judgment on my squad. The Daily News bellowed that I was now the Donald Sterling of the East, an owner out to reap every dollar he could get from his fans without even a consideration as to the quality of product put forth on the playing field. I made tremendous cuts in payroll much to the dismay of my overcharged fans, axing the Scott Rolen's and Bobby Abreu's from my roster - and even the Doug Glanville's and Marlon Anderson's too. I meticulously crafted my roster out of the best Triple-A caliber players at my disposal, building a ragtag band of has-been's and never-would-be's that'd make even Rachel Phelps's Indians of the film Major League fame snicker as we took the field. Major League Baseball Featuring Ken Griffey Jr. ![]()
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