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LaPorta's first swing delayed until tonight
By Patrick McManamon
Beacon Journal columnist
Published on Wednesday, Jul 09, 2008
The conversation comes about midway through Bull Durham (starring the master thespian, Kevin Costner).
Crash Davis looks at Nuke LaLoosh and tells him he has to learn some things about playing baseball — like what to say in interviews.
''Write this down,'' Davis says. ''We gotta play 'em one day at a time.''
Davis continues with ''I'm just happy to be here and help the ballclub'' and ''I just want to give it my best shot and, good Lord willing, things will work out.''
Late in the film, when LaLoosh is finally called up to ''The Show,'' LaLoosh says just what Davis tells him to say.
Tuesday at Canal Park, it was Matt LaPorta's turn. Recently acquired from the Milwaukee Brewers for CC Sabathia, LaPorta — a standout Class AA hitter — did his best Nuke LaLoosh.
He said he doesn't pay attention to hype or expectations.
''I just go out and play baseball,'' he said.
He said he goes out every day ''with the mind-set to try to get better'' and tries to ''come through for the team every day.''
And he even at one point said he wants to take things ''a day at a time.''
Not that that approach was a bad idea for LaPorta, mind you.
With the debut of the Indians' newest hoped-for phenom delayed a day by rain, all anyone was left with were his words.
Let it be said he spoke clearly and well.
He seemed grounded and was very fast to smile.
Such as the time it was brought up to him he now was playing in Ohio after going to college at Florida, and fans might recall that fact.
''After we beat Ohio State all those times? That what you mean?'' he said, his face beaming as he thought of Florida beating the Buckeyes for national titles in football and basketball.
LaPorta also smiled broadly when asked the strength of his hitting.
''God-given talent, man,'' he said.
LaPorta was not afraid to hide from being a role model, and also seemed a bit humbled by being traded for the defending Cy Young winner. That's a very good thing.
In short, he's got the personal attributes a team would want — based on one 25-minute interview.
But the one thing everyone wanted to see from LaPorta they could not see — to see him swing the bat. Rain delayed his Akron debut until tonight.
Which gets a person to thinking.
Here is a guy who has yet to take a swing in the major leagues, whose wood-bat experience developed in the Cape Cod League, who has not been above AA. And he had just been acquired in a trade that involved the league's Cy Young winner.
Pressure?
What pressure?
It's not like the fans will be hoping this guy hits 78 home runs a year or anything like that.
Or like he's taking the place of the first genuine, innings-eating, Cy Young-winning starting pitcher the Indians have had since the Teapot Dome Scandal.
Or like he's the key part of a trade that has part of the fan base scratching its head and another part growling in anger.
No pressure there — if one chooses to acknowledge it.
Here's a kid, 23, who basically could not talk to anyone the past few days because he lost his cell phone. At first, he said it wasn't working, but later he added ''you can say it was lost.''
Then he smiled.
The more you think, the better LaPorta's LaLoosh-like approach seems. At a time like this, the Crash Davis-lines are infinitely better than casual bravado.
LaPorta clearly is bright enough to know that the one thing he can do and must do is hit. If he translates what he did at Florida and in the Milwaukee minor-league system to the major leagues in Cleveland, it might not matter if he does a Nuke LaLoosh or a Cool Hand Luke.
But at this point, it's good to know he has a grasp of the fundamentals.
Patrick McManamon can be reached at pmcmanamon@thebeaconjournal.com. Read his blog at http://www.ohiomm.com/blogs/mcmanamon/.
The conversation comes about midway through Bull Durham (starring the master thespian, Kevin Costner).
Get the full article here.
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