Thursday, September 09, 1999
Home run surge hard to explain
BY JOHN FAY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
CHICAGO — Eddie Taubensee says it's aggressiveness. Mike Cameron says it's bad pitches. Jack McKeon says it's bad pitchers.
Aaron Boone says it's irony.
Greg Vaughn says it's beyond explanation.
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BROKEN RECORDS
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Here is list of the home run records the Reds have broken or tied over the few days:
• Their 21 home runs in a five-game span equals the Major League record set by the 1977 Red Sox.
• Their nine home run against Philadelphia Saturday set a single game National League record and was one ML record set by the 1987 Orioles.
• They set a ML record Saturday for the most players with at least home run in a game (eight).
• Their 14 home runs Satruday and Sunday set the ML record for home runs in consecutive game.
• Their 15 home Friday-Sunday and Saturday-Monday set the NL record for home runs in the three consecutive games.
• Their 17 home runs Wednsday-Sunday set the NL record for home runs in four consecutive games.
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POWER SURGE
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The Reds have eight players with 10 or more home runs. The Reds haven't had nine players with 10 home runs since 1965. In this century, they've never had 10 players with 10 home runs. The home run leaders are:
Greg Vaughn ....... 35
Sean Casey ....... 23
Mike Cameron ....... 18
Eddie Taubensee ....... 17
Jeffery Hammonds ....... 15
Aaron Boone ....... 13
Dmitri Young ....... 11
Michael Tucker ....... 10
Pokey Reese ....... 9
Barry Larkin ....... 9
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STRONG WEEK
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The Reds' home runs in the last six games:
Saturday ....... 9
Sunday ....... 5
Monday ....... 1
Tuesday
• Game 1 ....... 0
• Game 2 ....... 6
Wednesday ....... 1
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Ask five different Reds what's behind the team's sudden and unprecedented home run production and you get five different answers.
The Reds' six home runs in the second game of Tuesday's doubleheader gave them 21 over five games. That equaled the major-league record for homers over a five-game span, set by the Boston Red Sox in 1977.
Vaughn hit another home run in Wednesday's 6-4 victory over the Cubs. Elias Sports Bureau is checking to see if 22 home runs in a six-game span is a record.
The Reds have a total of 178 home runs and are on pace to hit 206. The only other time the club has gone over 200 is when the 1956 team hit 221.
“It's amazing,” Cameron said.
The Reds' home runs have come up and down the lineup. Nine players have hit the 22 homers in the six-game span. The surge has helped the Reds catch up with the rest of baseball. Despite the recent barrage, the Reds are only third in the National League in homers and eighth in the big leagues.
“Look at the whole league,” McKeon said. “How many did we get off (Curt) Schilling? (Greg) Maddux? You've got to jump on the ones you can. We've done so on the inexperienced guys.”
The Reds seem to be setting precedents nearly every day.
Vaughn hit three home runs in a game for the first time in his career Tuesday. On the same night, Boone hit two in a game for the first time. Dmitri Young hit home runs in three straight games Saturday through Monday. Before that, he had never hit homers in consecutive games.
But this is not a team built for power. The exception is Vaughn. He hit 50 last year and leads the team with 35 this year, the most
a Red has hit since Eric Davis hit 37 in 1987.
Vaughn's two-run homer Wednesday broke open the game.
“The home run gave us a little insurance,” McKeon said. “That helps your pitching.”
The hot streak began after a team meeting in Philadelphia.
“I think that had a lot to do with it,” Taubensee said. “We talked about going out and having fun. We're being aggressive at the plate, and we're getting some good results. If you're pressing, you make too many mistakes up there.”
Cameron, who started Tuesday's homer parade, said mistakes by the pitchers are key.
“When they get behind 2-0, 3-1, that puts you in a good position to do damage,” Cameron said. “You get good pitches to drive. When you hit a home run, you usually hit a mistake by the pitcher.”
Reds hitting instructor Denis Menke agrees.
“We've seen a lot of bad pitches,” he said. “A lot of pitches up in the zone. When you get a pitch like that, you're supposed to hit it out. And the wind was blowing out pretty good in Philly too.”
Menke said most of his hitters are “line-drive, gap hitters.” But throw a high pitch over the plate to Boone, Young or Sean Casey, and he will hit it out.
Five Reds — Casey (23), Cameron (18), Taubensee (17), Boone (13) and Pokey Reese (nine) — have set career highs for home runs. If Larkin, the one player who hasn't participated in the home run derby (he's homerless since June 21), and Reese hit another home run each, it would give the Reds 10 players with 10 home runs for the first time in their modern history.
Players such as Casey, Boone, Cameron and Reese are so early in their careers that Menke says their power numbers naturally will rise.
“That's experience,” Menke said. “They're starting to know what the pitchers throw. Down in the minors, you might see different pitchers every year. Now they're seeing the same pitchers, and they're making adjustments.”
The rise in power has come faster than anyone expected. Casey, for example, never hit more than 15 in his three-year minor-league career. Again, there's no ready explanation for that.
“I don't try to figure it out,” Vaughn said. “I just hope it continues.”
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