Thursday, September 16, 1999
Pinch of Sweeney goes long way
Hitting .600 off the bench since return
BY JOHN FAY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Hitters will tell you that the most difficult thing in baseball is to pinch hit. So how does Mark Sweeney make it look so easy?
Since being recalled from Triple A Indianapolis on Sept. 1, Sweeney has gone to the plate 10 times as a pinch-hitter.
He has six hits, including one in each of the last two games. He has two doubles and a pair of RBI singles. He has 20 total bases in 24 at-bats.
“He's done a phenomenal job,” said Reds General Manager Jim Bowden. “He's a great pinch-hitter.”
All his hits have come in critical situations during a pennant race, but Sweeney is as relaxed as one can be in such a role.
“I'm not uncomfortable up there,” he said. “I try to go up there and get a good at-bat. Last night, with two outs, I was trying to hit a double. If I'm leading off the inning, I might try to work the count more.”
Sweeney is hitting .458 overall with two home runs and seven RBI, all as a pinch-hitter.
Sweeney, a 29-year-old left-handed hitter, was obtained in the Greg Vaughn trade from San Diego to fill the pinch-hitter role. He was cruising along, hitting .357 until he was sent down in a roster crunch.
Bowden admits Sweeney deserved to be in the big leagues all year.
“Absolutely,” Bowden said. “But would you have rather sent (Michael) Tucker, (Jeffery) Hammonds or (Dmitri) Young? They all have 10 or more home runs.
“You can only have 25 guys. If we could have 26, (Sweeney) would have been here all year.”
Sweeney wasn't happy to go to Indy, but he didn't pout there — he produced.
“Two or three weeks would have been OK,” he said. “But 31/2 months ... it seemed like 11/2 years. It was frustrating because I felt like I belonged here.”
Sweeney hit .322 at Indy and led the International League in on-base percentage at .423.
Sweeney's play since his recall would seem to make him a lock for the playoff roster, if the Reds make it. Hal Morris, the other top left-handed bat off the bench, is on the disabled list with a fractured bone in his right wrist, and Morris is hitting only .227 as a pinch-hitter.
One thing against Sweeney is his injured left shoulder prevents him from throwing, so he can't play in the field.
Bowden would not commit on who will be on the playoff roster. “We're not in yet,” he said. “We're not going to deal with that now.”
Sweeney's taking the same tack.
“I'm not going to worry about it,” he said. “That's something I can't control.”
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