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What is it with these Astros? Daryle Ward, before he became a Pirate, was the first and only player to hit a home run into the drink. Last night, his former Astros teammate Lance Berkman joined that company by plunking his fourth attempt -- after three measly singles to right -- some 442 feet into the Allegheny River in the opening round of Home Run Derby at PNC Park.
Membership in the splashdown club later grew to include two more left-handed batters, with Boston's David Ortiz and Philadelphia's Ryan Howard following with two balls apiece struck into the Allegheny, one in each of the first two rounds.
Berkman's blast was something of a surprise because he wasn't expected to swing from the left side. Upon agreeing late last week to participate in this Derby, the switch-hitting Berkman said that he planned to bat only from the right side, so as not to possibly mess up his left-handed swing while trying to reach the inviting Clemente Wall. Yet he dug in and swatted left-handed last night, hitting two other homers in the first round -- one actually leaving the ballpark but landing on the hillside along the river.
Then, the water show began.
Ortiz, on the eighth homer of his first-round 10, bopped one beyond Berkman's best into the Allegheny with a 488-foot shot.
And Howard followed with a water shot of his own, at 446 feet, on his fourth of eight first-rounders.
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INDIANAPOLIS (48-40) was off.Howard likewise duplicated the trick in the second round, with his 15th overall homer. He added two more that round to surpass Florida's Miguel Cabrera's 15 and advance to the championship round. There, Howard defeated the New York Mets' David Wright, five final-round homers to four. On that winning homer, Howard bounced it off the right-field bleachers' Hit It Here sign, winning a fan 500 round-trip flights.
Arm weary
Ramon Henderson might be the first bullpen coach in baseball history requiring five days' rest because of the All-Star break.
Henderson, an employee of the Philadelphia Phillies, doesn't get much of a break anymore, though. He was the batting-practice pitcher who offered up Bobby Abreu's record 41 homers in last year's Derby at Detroit's Comerica Park. Abreu advised his Phillies teammate Howard to utilize Henderson's services at the PNC Park Derby. This time, Howard wasn't his only client.
Ortiz, a fellow Dominican, and Baltimore's Miguel Tejada also asked Henderson to toss them favorable Derby pitches. It was enough to wear out a man.
Tejada needed about 20 pitches in his first-round flameout. Ortiz put Henderson through roughly 70 pitches in two rounds. And Howard, in reaching the championship round, called for Henderson to throw 90 more -- not counting warmup tosses during incessant commercial breaks for ESPN.
Meanwhile, Mets catcher Paul Lo Duca transformed into a batting-practice pitcher for teammate Wright, carrying out a plan they concocted last weekend. It worked: Wright hit 16 homers in the first round, tying Albert Belle of Cleveland in 1995 for the third-most in the Derby's 21-year history. Only Ortiz, with 17, and Abreu, with a record 24, in the first round last July hit more.
Joked Lo Duca: "I was a pitcher in high school, and now you know why I'm not anymore."
Derby seen
It was a surreal scene around the field during the end of the NL batting practice and the start of the AL workout: Notre Dame football coach Charlie Weis, actress Alyssa Milano (who a decade and a half ago dated then-Penguins star Robbie Brown), Pirates of the early 1990s Bobby Bonilla and Doug Drabek, director Rob Reiner and former Superman Dean Cain.
In what was billed as a media opportunity, there were several hundred people clogging the area between the field and the fans, who were ogling for autographs. When the public-address announcer said the media had to leave the field, the fans broke into mock cheers and applause. It wasn't as if the working media wanted to stay amid this see-and-be-seen hour.
Heard
Shortly before the event commenced, a handful of fans entering PNC Park robustly cheered: "Here we go, Steelers, here we go."
Yeah, this is a baseball town.
No rain, thank goodness
A slight drizzle eased before the contest opened, keeping 1988 in Cincinnati's Riverfront Stadium as the only Derby canceled due to rain.
McClatchy beaming
It has not been the best of seasons, to say the least, for the Pirates or owner Kevin McClatchy, but he seemed to take heart in the public's response to the All-Star Game.
"It reminds people how much baseball and our franchise has been a part of this town, and it's been that way for a long time," he said last night. "It's been just outstanding so far."
He pointed to the estimated crowd of 27,000 for the Futures Game Sunday, which he said was an increase over the previous year in Detroit.
"That went very well," McClatchy said. "We're just hoping to keep the raindrops away now."
A real Holliday
Colorado Rockies outfielder Matt Holliday will have about a dozen supporters making a short drive for the game tonight.
His father, Tom, hails from Uniontown, where his grandmother, Edith, lives along with plenty of other family.
"My dad's still a big Pirates fan," Holliday said. "But I really think he should be leaning more toward the Rockies by now."
Instant reversal
Ozzie Guillen, controversial manager of the Chicago White Sox, was booed when introduced to the crowd for an on-field interview before the Home Run Derby last night.
Within seconds, he ripped open his uniform top to show a Roberto Clemente T-shirt underneath, drawing a loud roar.
"Oh, now they like me," he said into the microphone.
Guillen also wore a Clemente cap much of the time when the White Sox were in town two weeks ago.
