While Walt Hriniak tutored White Sox hitters during pregame batting practice at Comiskey Park Saturday, Ozzie Guillen stood on the third-base side of the diamond lobbing a few BP tosses to his two young boys.
It was a Norman Rockwell kind of scene-a father playing baseball with his sons.
Three hours later, with a crowd of 40,268 chanting ”Ozzie, Ozzie” over and over again, Guillen stroked a ninth-inning, bases-loaded single off Milwaukee reliever Dan Plesac to drive home the tying and winning runs in a 5-4 comeback win for the Sox.
It was another picturesque moment-a father showing his sons how it`s done in the big leagues.
Guillen did it all right, getting the clutch up-the-middle single on a 1-2 delivery to send the Sox to their fourth win in five games and the 13th in their last at-bat. The Sox`s 58-37 record is the second-best in baseball, behind only the A`s.
”Something special is going on out there,” said Sox manager Jeff Torborg. ”I know that after winning like that you can get giddy, but this happens so many times. It`s not coincidence, and it`s not luck.”
Whatever it is, it certainly left the paying customers satisfied. Twenty minutes after the game, fans filing out were still chanting ”Ozzie, Ozzie.” You might recall that it used to be ”Harold, Harold,” before the Sox traded popular outfielder Harold Baines to Texas exactly one year ago on Sunday.
”They can`t say `Baines-y, Baines-y` anymore,” shrugged Guillen afterwards. ”They`ve got to say somebody`s name.”
Guillen`s opportunity to be the hero in the nationally televised affair was made possible by a rally-igniting double off the left-field wall by Ron Karkovice to open the bottom of the ninth.
The Sox had fallen behind 4-3 on Greg Vaughn`s RBI sacrifice fly in the eighth, and had only one hit in their previous 20 at-bats before Plesac came on in the last inning.
It didn`t look good for Sox fans. After a leadoff homer by Sammy Sosa and an RBI single by Dan Pasqua in the first gave Chicago a 2-0 lead, and Calderon`s run-scoring hit in the third upped it to 3-0, the Sox bats had turned popsicle-cold.
But Karkovice`s shot awoke the crowd, and Scott Fletcher`s bunt single put runners on the corners with no one out.
Carlton Fisk, pinch-hitting for Steve Lyons, drew a walk on five pitches, loading the bags for Guillen. He fouled off the first pitch, missed badly on a slider and barely checked his next swing to keep alive at 1-2 against Plesac. ”Walt (Hriniak) was calling out the dugout to Ozzie,” Torborg said.
”`Go the other way. Go up the middle.` ”
”Plesac is one of the toughest left-handed pitchers I`ve ever faced in my life,” said Guillen. ”I just tried to get the ball in play.”
Guillen`s hit made a winner out of reliever Scott Radinsky (6-0), who pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings and remained unbeaten in the majors since being called up from Class A in 1990. And the comeback also kept Ken Patterson from being a tough-luck loser.
Patterson came on for starter Melido Perez with runners on first and third and none out in the Brewers` sixth, after Gary Sheffield`s RBI single had tied the game at 3. Patterson retired the next three batters without allowing a run.
”Patterson made the difference,” Torborg said. ”It`s funny. You think of a save being in the ninth inning, but he really saved the game in the sixth.”
After giving up a leadoff single in the eighth, Patterson went out for righty Donn Pall.
The Brewers put two on when Karkovice`s throw to second on Robin Yount`s sacrifice bunt arrived late. Sheffield then bunted them over to second and third. An intentional walk to Dave Parker loaded the bases, and Vaughn`s sacrifice gave Milwaukee its first lead.
The ninth-inning double by Karkovice raised his batting average to .274. Before Hriniak joined the organization as batting coach in time for the 1989 season, ”Karko`s” career average was .168 in 297 at-bats.
A week shy of 27 years old and possessing one of the game`s most feared arms, Karkovice could probably start for 90 percent of the teams in the majors. Instead, Karkovice has to remain content backing up the Hall-of-Fame- bound Fisk, until old age catches up to ”Pudge.” If it ever does, that is.
”I know my role now is to back up Carlton Fisk,” he said. ”When he steps down, I`ll be ready.”
