By DAMIAN CRISTODERO, Times Staff Writer
Published April 17, 2005
Don't like your players bloated by steroids or energized by supplements? Then the ribs that poke through Ichiro Suzuki's taut skin are your badge of courage.
In a sport stained by players whose accomplishments are as phony as the grass on which some teams play, the Mariners rightfielder, at 5 feet 9, 170 pounds, plays the game with precision and the knowledge that size doesn't always matter.
"I think about that a lot, seeing guys getting too big and not being able to perform," Ichiro, 31, told the Kansas City Star through a translator. "You have to know what's important. If you get too big, you can get hurt. A lot of guys train hard, but they get injured and get weaker. When you train, you should get stronger, but stronger at what?"
Ichiro's strength is his consistency.
After ending last season with a 13-game hitting streak, he began the spring with one of 19 games then hit in his first seven of the regular season before going 0-for-4 Wednesday against the Royals.
"You just hope and throw," Royals pitcher Zack Greinke said. "He's so good. If you give him a pitch most people can't hit, he can roll over it and beat it out to first or go with it. Go inside on him, you might get away with it for a little while. But then he'll say, "Okay,' and turn on it and hit a rocket." "The most important thing is being able to control your bat," said Ichiro, who had a major-league record 262 hits last season and this season is batting .432 with three RBIs. "Just because you're big doesn't mean you're good. You have to know what your body can do. I don't want to get too big."
SPIRITUAL AWAKENING: Before Cubs ace Mark Prior made his debut Wednesday in the second game of a doubleheader with the Padres, manager Dusty Baker sprinkled holy water on the elbow that bothered the right-hander all spring.
Baker told Chicago reporters he got the holy water from media relations director Sharon Pannozzo, who four months earlier brought the vial blessed by Pope John Paul II.
"It's about as close to holy medicine as you can get," said Baker, who said he is not Catholic.
"My wife's Catholic. I go to a Catholic church even though I'm not Catholic. I sit up there by myself, just praying and putting a little holy water on myself. There's something to it. It's not like it's voodoo or something. It's blessed. I just hope that my sinning doesn't negate the effectiveness of the water."
Cubs players got a kick out of their manager's ways.
"That's why we have a fun team," centerfielder Corey Patterson said. "Everyone has their little superstitions or whatever. If everyone was the same, it would be boring."
SERIOUS SITUATION: Remember Twins first baseman Justin Morneau, who seemed to shake off an April6 beaning by Seattle's Ron Villone?
Turns out the slugger sustained a concussion and went on the disabled list. It was Morneau's fifth concussion but the first, he said, for which he needed medical attention. After experiencing headaches and dizziness, Morneau went to a neurologist, who made the diagnosis.
SPELL CHECK: Reds equipment manager Rick Stowe took some heat because the first "I" in Cincinnati was missing from the uniform of pitcher Aaron Harang for Tuesday's game with the Cardinals.
"The clubhouse guys from Arizona called me and said, "What kindergarten did you fail?"' Stowe told the Dayton Daily News. "I always check the back of jerseys for the players' names. I never thought about the front."
Harang said he didn't notice until after the first inning, when, "I saw (teammates) Paul Wilson and Eric Milton looking at me funny."
"What's up with that?" Wilson said.
"What?" Harang said.
"Your jersey."
Said Harang: "I thought I spilled something on it, but Paul said, "Cincinnati is spelled wrong.' "
Harang switched jerseys after the Cardinals scored three runs in the second en route to a 5-1 victory.
QUOTE TO NOTE: Mariners 6-foot-10 pitcher Andrew Sisco has never met his idol, Randy Johnson, even though he grew up in Seattle, where Johnson played, and lives in Scottsdale, Ariz., where Johnson has a home.
"You'd think living in Arizona, two 6-10 lefties would magnetize to each other."
ETC: The Elias Sports Bureau said there were 39 blown saves in the majors' first 99 games, up from 35 last season in the first 102. Padres closer Trevor Hoffman said he is not surprised. "There's no way you can simulate this job in spring training," he said. ... The Brewers-Cubs rivalry could heat up after Milwaukee's Carlos Lee leg-whipped second baseman Todd Walker with a hard (though legal) slide. ... The Marlins got four complete games in their first nine. The last team to do it: the 1992 Red Sox. ... When Magglio Ordonez signed a $75-million free agent contract with the Tigers, he said he wanted to play every day. But an intestinal problem has limited him to three games, and he will miss 4-6 weeks for hernia surgery.
Information from other news organizations was used in this report.
