Vero Beach, Fla. – Rafael Furcal carries his month-old baby around the clubhouse, stopping and smiling as teammates dote on the infant.
Through his daughter, Furcal’s value as a player can be summarized. He’s a Hershey Kiss, a big deal in a small package. As baseball grows smaller in the post-steroid era, players such as Furcal and Tampa Bay’s Carl Crawford will grow in stature.
Furcal can run, steal bases and bunt, and has just enough pop to turn a sloppy pitch into a souvenir.
“It seemed like the game was all about the home runs. Those guys always get paid the most,” Furcal said from his locker at Dodgertown. “But if you don’t have a leadoff hitter or guys who can get on base in front of them, it’s not going to matter what they do.”
Any doubt that speed and versatility have become valuable was erased when the Dodgers signed Furcal to a three-year, $39 million contract six months after Jimmy Rollins received a five-year, $40 million contract extension from the Phillies.
“The fans of Atlanta are going to love Edgar Renteria,” Braves pitcher John Smoltz said, “but you don’t replace a guy like Furcal.”
Furcal hit .284 with 12 home runs last season while reaching base 35 percent of the time. He also fields his position well, which can’t be underestimated after years of teams sacrificing defense for offensive brute.
“No longer do you have to have power to be seen as a winning player,” said Walt Weiss, a Rockies’ special assistant. “Your skills can be viewed more in how they make the team as a whole function better.”
Crawford resides as Furcal’s counterpart in the American League. He is the type of player previously lost in the shuffle, if not muscle, now poised to become a superstar.
He is a young Barry Bonds, circa 1988. That season Bonds, looking more like a sprinter than a shot putter, hit .283 and had 24 home runs, 58 RBIs and 17 stolen bases. Crawford compared favorably last year – with a .301 average, 15 home runs, 81 RBIs and 46 swipes. Crawford, recruited by Nebraska football coaches to be an option quarterback, also has 43 triples the past three seasons.
As the game shifts away from pure power, there will be more focus on baserunning, bunting and defense. The White Sox, who hit 200 home runs last year, steamrolled through the playoffs as raiders of a lost art: small ball.
Chicago White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen called second baseman Tadahito Iguchi his most valuable player because of his selfless at-bats. Elsewhere, the glove-only player, viewed forever as a liability, is making a comeback in Houston with shortstop Adam Everett and, to a lesser degree, in Colorado with catcher Danny Ardoin.
That, explained former commissioner Fay Vincent, is the most delightful offshoot of baseball’s diminished power. It will shine light back on the nuances that separate the sport from the NFL or the WWE.
“I think you will see some of the strategy come back,” Vincent said.
Sparks flying
With baseball’s power diminished, the importance of having a player capable of sparking the offense becomes more critical. Denver Post national baseball writer Troy E. Renck takes a division-by-division look at the catalytic forces.
NL West
Rafael Furcal, SS, Dodgers – Career .348 OBP; could hit 15 HRs with 50 stolen bases this season.
NL Central
David Eckstein, SS, Cardinals – Master bunter, especially on suicide squeeze.
NL East
Jimmy Rollins, SS, Phillies – Enters season with 36-game hitting streak.
AL West
Ichiro Suzuki, RF, Mariners – First player with 200-plus hits in first five big-league seasons.
AL Central
Scott Podsednik, LF, White Sox – Causes havoc on bases, plays with alarming intensity.
AL East
Carl Crawford, LF, Devil Rays – He is what Barry Bonds used to be: a 20-homer, 50-stolen base kind of player.
