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Sunday, April 28, 2002

By Steve Ziants, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

As Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa staged their summer-long pursuit of Roger Maris in 1998, no less than all-time home run king Hank Aaron told a reporter: "The triple is the most exciting play in baseball. Home runs win a lot of games, but I never understood why fans are so obsessed with them."

And here, The Guy In The Stands always thought the most exciting play in baseball was any time Jerry Narron made the call to the Rangers' bullpen.

But The Hammer says it's the triple. And who is The Guy to question The Hammer? Yet if that's so, then where were the headlines after Atlanta's Rafael Furcal tied a major-league record with three three-base hits in a 4-2 win against Florida Sunday?

It might be one of the rarest feats in all of baseball.

"I don't think I've seen it before in my 40 years [in baseball]," Braves Manager Bobby Cox said.

Indeed, Furcal's three-triple game was the first by a Brave since Danny O'Connell June 13, 1956. (For the record, the Pirates haven't had one since Roberto Clemente nearly 44 years ago -- vs. the Reds Sept. 8, 1958.) All of baseball hasn't seen one since Lance Johnson of the White Sox Sept. 23, 1995. Nearly seven years.

For comparison's sake, since the start of the 2000 season players have hit three home runs in a game 27 times. Until Furcal, no one had three triples.

To further illustrate how few and far between are afternoons like his, let's consider the supposedly unique "triples" achieved in just the six-plus years between Johnson's three-triple game and the seventh inning Sunday when Furcal hit triple No. 3, a towering shot to left-center at Turner Field off Vic Darensbourg.

The all-time single-season home run record changed hands three times.

Roger Clemens, Pedro Martinez and Randy Johnson each won three Cy Young awards.

Three New York Yankees pitched no-hitters -- Dwight Gooden (May 4, 1996), David Wells (May 17, 1998) and David Cone (July 18, 1999).

The Yankees won three consecutive World Series (1998-2000).

Three times Sammy Sosa hit 60 home runs.

Larry Walker (1998-99, 2001) and Tony Gwynn (1995-97) each won three batting titles.

Sosa hit three homers in one game three times ... in the same season (2001).

McGwire homered three times in a game ... in both leagues.

Difficult accomplishments. Historic feats. But in many respects they're not as difficult as what Furcal accomplished Sunday, particularly not when you take into account the fact that smaller is better in ballparks these days -- a design concept hardly conducive to triples.

"When I hit it in the gap, I always think about a triple," Furcal said. "But you don't think you can get three in a game."

Heck no. It's not like we're talking about home runs.

Next idea

Scratch bench jockeying off the list of ways to get to Arizona's Randy Johnson (5-0, 1.38 ERA). After Colorado's Terry Shumpert struck out in the sixth inning against Johnson last Sunday, the two had a "glareup" as Shumpert returned to the dugout. The Rockies' bench, if not their bats, found a spark in the showdown and chirped a bit more than usual in Johnson's direction the rest of the game. Uh, bad idea. Not only did Johnson go on to finish with a two-hitter and strike out 17 in a 7-1 win, three of the four pitches he threw to strike out Todd Helton to end the game hit triple digits -- the only three pitches he threw in the game that reached 100 mph.

"You'd think a guy's a little tired, but his stuff was better in the ninth inning than the first," said Arizona catcher Damian Miller. "It's not right. It's not supposed to happen, but he finds a way. He can be his own closer. It's why he's so good."

A dream fulfilled

No matter what happens the next five months, no matter that he came back with an equally impressive effort vs. the Giants yesterday, Jose Rijo's win last Sunday for the Reds at Wrigley Field will go down as one of the enduring moments of 2002. Since making his previous big-league start July 18, 1995, Rijo has had six surgeries on his elbow, went two years at one point without throwing a ball and even received a vote for the Hall of Fame before beginning a comeback late in 2001 that earned him a job in the Cincinnati bullpen.

"To come back and pitch again, you're not just lucky, you're special," says Rijo, appreciative of his second chance.

"Seven years, at the worst stage of your life. From 30 to 37," Rijo wondered, after allowing one run and three hits in five innings against Chicago. "Whatever that is in days, that's how much I've been dreaming of this."

Still in the books

In case you missed it last weekend, Seattle third baseman Jeff Cirillo made an error in the sixth inning of the Mariners' 5-3 win vs. the Rangers April 20, ending his consecutive errorless games streak at a record-tying 99. Why do we care? Carrick's John Wehner remains in the major-league record book, albeit as co-record holder with Cirillo, for consecutive errorless games at third.

Requests anyone?

Managers have been ejected over the years for so many things that it's a wonder Jerry Springer hasn't jumped all over it. But we might have stumbled onto a new one in Little Rock, Ark., this week, where Tulsa Drillers Manager Tim Ireland got the heave-ho for complaining about the stadium organist.

Rich Pharris, organist at Rich Winder Field -- home of the Texas League's Arkansas Travelers -- had taken to playing not only between innings and batters, but between pitches, too. By the sixth inning last Sunday, Ireland had had enough. Tulsa pitcher Erasmo Ramirez had fallen behind in the count 3-0 in an at-bat in which even Arkansas batter Trent Durrington had twice been distracted by the music, twice tried to call time and twice was denied. Ireland complained to umpire Jason Markley. An argument ensued and Ireland was tossed. But not before the umpires directed Pharris to only play between innings.

"We've complained many times," Ireland said. "There's a failure on the institution here to control it."

FYI: Pharris did get one parting shot in. As the ejected Ireland headed for the clubhouse, that renegade Pharris struck up a lovely rendition of "Happy Trails".

Good, wild & ugly

Box score lines of the week:

Good: Sean Lowe, Red Sox, yesterday: 9 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 Ks in a 10-0 win vs. Devil Rays. In a week of "Can You Top This?" among major-league pitchers -- a two-hitter Sunday by Randy Johnson, a two-hitter Thursday by Pedro Martinez & Co., and one-hitters Friday by Odalis Perez and Shawn Estes -- Lowe topped them all with the first no-hitter at Fenway Park in 37 years.

Wild: Luis Vizcaino, Brewers, April 20: 1/3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 Ks in a 5-3 win vs. the Cardinals. For the second time in six days, he threw one pitch and wound up with a win. And so for the second consecutive week -- a first in Guy In The Stands history -- he is Wild man of the week.

Ugly: Greg Maddux, Braves, Thursday: 4 2/3 IP, 7 H, 10 R, 6 ER, 5 BB, 3 Ks in an 11-5 loss vs. the Diamondbacks. The 10 runs are a career worst, as are the eight runs he allowed in the fifth inning. "I embarrassed my team, my manager and myself," said Maddux.

Series of the week

Mariners (17-6 through Friday) at White Sox (15-9), Tuesday-Thursday, Comiskey Park. ... Seattle didn't lose its sixth game last year until May 1. ... Chicago took 3 of 4 from AL Central rival Cleveland this week, and has won 13 of 18.

This 'n' that

When Dodgers reliever Jesse Orosco turned 45 last Sunday, he joined Charlie Hough, Carlton Fisk, Nolan Ryan, Gaylord Perry, Tommy John, Phil Niekro and Pete Rose as the only players since 1980 to play after turning 45. ... More uncharacteristic than the 10 runs he allowed Thursday was the fact that of the 100 pitches Atlanta's Greg Maddux threw, 53 were balls, only 47 were strikes. ... Steve Cox's third-inning home run off Minnesota's Brad Radke Tuesday -- in the Devil Rays' 18th game of the season -- marked their first home run from a player in the 3-4-5 spots in the batting order. ... History was made in Midland, Texas, Wednesday when Arkansas Travelers pitcher Billy Stokely made eight putouts in an 8-2 win against the Midland RockHounds , breaking the 106-year-old Texas League record for putouts by a pitcher. Sport McAllister had seven July 15, 1896. ...

For all the reloading the Mets did in the off-season, Mark Johnson's pinch-hit home run to beat the Cardinals Thursday was their first in 10 days. ... How often will you see this? Oakland's Greg Myers pinch hit twice against Anaheim closer Troy Percival last weekend and beat him both times, hitting a two-run single April 19 and a winning three-run homer in the ninth Sunday. ... The rebirth of Jose Rijo in Cincinnati has spurred interest in all things Jose. Said Rijo on the trade that brought him to Cincinnati from Oakland in 1988 along with pitcher Tim Birtsas for Dave Parker: "The Reds got two good arms ... unfortunately, both the good arms were mine."

Shot and a jeer

Shot: The Boston Globe Web site has turned every Pedro Martinez start into a contest. Correctly predict how many hits, walks, strikeouts and earned runs Pedro will allow and win $100. Their first choice was a "When Will The Sox Win The Series?" contest, but editors weren't sure the winning contestant would still be alive to collect the prize.

Jeer: Jeffrey Loria kept goodwill ambassadors Tony Perez and Andre Dawson on as special assistants when he took over the Marlins in February, paraded them through press conferences, the club's fanfest and other public events in an attempt to endear the new regime to South Florida ... then informed them by letter earlier this month that they'd been terminated.