StfT S£?S
International Athletics
Goodwill Games
TBS (32), 5:05PM.
Sports
Emerald
Eugene Emeralds
,, CHAD PATTESON/Emerald
hugene outfielder Brian Cox digs in against an Everett pitcher during the Ems' 4-3 victory at Civic Stadium on June 29.
By Matt O’Neill
Freelance Reporter
It has been a season of adjustment for
Eugene Emeralds center fielder Brian Cox.
Coming off of a season where he hit
.393 with 18 home runs and 87 RBIs, led
the team with 27 doubles and 112 hits,
and ended with a 25-game hitting streak
and a College World Series appearance at
Florida State, Cox has had to adjust to the
new surroundings of Civic Stadium and
the Northwest League.
Drafted in the 26th round of the 1998
amateur draft by the Atlanta Braves, the
biggest change for the Tallahassee native,
who is hitting just .231 with 2 home runs
and 8 RBIs through Sunday’s Emeralds
10-3 loss to Yakima, was hitting without
the aluminum bat. Cox attributed most of
his hitting woes to the fact that he had to
learn to use a wooden bat.
“(It took] just a few minor adjustments,
and I was trying to make major adjust
ments,” Cox said. “Next thing I know, I
was going downhill.”
Those adjustments contributed to an
early season slump during which Cox’s
batting average plummeted to a season
low of .063 after five games and just .178
after 13 games.
But with the help of Emeralds manager
Jim Saul and positions coach Dan Nor
man, Cox began to find his swing again
and slowly raise his batting average to
.246 after 20 games.
“His mechanics are getting a lot better,”
Norman said. “We talked about closing
Emeralds center fielder
Brian Cox is making the
difficult adjustment from
college to pro baseball
his front side off too much before the
pitch gets there. If he does that, he can’t
get his hips through.”
Once Cox began to change his mechan
ics, his coaches felt he was beginning to
swing the bat better. Norman said he feels
that it is just a matter of time before more
of Cox’s balls begin to fall in for base hits.
“He’s been swinging the bat pretty
good,” Norman said. “He just hasn’t had
any hits. Now if he’s hitting .280 or .290,
some of those hits would be falling in.”
Along with picking up the wooden bat,
Cox thinks the caliber of pitching in the
Northwest League has helped prolong his
early season slump.
“They’re a lot smarter. They throw a lot
harder,” Cox said. “Every day you’re get
ting every college team’s number-one
pitcher, not the number-three or number
four you were in college. ”
While Cox is beginning to show signs of
his hitting stroke from Florida State, the
Ems coaching staff has been impressed
with his defensive skills.
Saul spoke glowingly about his starting
center fielder.
“He’s done a good job in center field,”
Saul said. “He goes after the ball well.
He’s got a good arm, and runners are not
going to take extra bases on him because
he’s a very accurate thrower.”
“He’s got the strongest arm out there,”
Norman said, “and probably the most ac
curate.”
He also feels that the years of experi
ence and coaching at Florida State gave
Cox a head start over players who jump
right from high school to the professional
ranks.
“Most of the guys I’ve been working
with are right out of high school, so he’s a
little ahead of those right out of high
school,” Norman said. “He’s facing better
pitching, guys who are throwing a little
harder than guys in high school. He’s see
ing more quality pitchers at Florida
State.”
After a few months of professional base
ball and seeing the same teams for two or
three times, Cox has begun to show signs
of adjusting to the higher level competi
tion.
“After ten games you should know
what a guy can do,” Norman said. “He’s
been doing a pretty good job.”
The coaching staff would like to see
him continue to raise his game to another
level, as would Cox.
“I’ve been seeing the ball a little better,
but I’m still not hitting the ball the way I
want to,” he said. “I need to start hitting a
few more hard balls."
If Cox continues to show signs of im
provement and begins to find the old
prowess from his college days, he will
have to make another summer adjustment
—to the major leagues.
Rodriguez is
the greatest
shortstop ever
t appeared casually in Saturday’s Reg
ister-Guard — a quote from Hall-of
Fame third baseman Mike Schmidt
JL. that helped validate an argument I’ve
been making for the last three years.
In a brief labeled "Lighter Side,”
Schmidt was quoted as saying in the Pitts
burgh Post-Gazette, “I just like to turn on
ESPN and watch the highlights because
there are plays that are made with regular
ity nowadays that we never made when I
was playing, let alone the generation be
fore me.”
Schmidt played in the ’70s and '80s,
meaning the players just 10 years ago were
better than luminaries like Mantle, Aaron
and Gibson. And meaning that today’s
stars are better than names like Jackson,
Dieu anu i\yan.
“They make plays that
guys never dreamed of
making when 1 played,”
Schmidt continued.
“Nothing against Ozzie
Smith, but there are prob
ably six shortstops in the
big leagues who are mak
ing plays that he brought
into the game.”
Of course those con
temporary shortstops
OPINION
Rob
Moseley
acnrmat was reterrmg to include Cleve
land’s Omar Vizquel and the Mets’ Rey
Ordonez, for sure. But I would also in
clude in that group a player whose case
I’ve been arguing since he came into the
league.
That player is Mariners shortstop Alex
Rodriguez, and the argument is for him be
ing the greatest shortstop to ever play the
game.
Take a moment to let that soak in. I
know that includes placing him above
guys like Smith and Cal Ripken, Hall-of
Fame inductees like Ernie Banks, and hal
lowed names like Honus Wagner.
But I believe that, given his current
pace, if Rodriguez can maintain the level
of play he has enjoyed for the past three
years for another eight to 10, he will be re
membered as the greatest of all time.
Monday was A-Rod’s 23rd birthday.
During his three-plus years in the big
leagues, Rodriguez has hit .312 with 95
home runs and 79 stolen bases. Consider
ing that most ballplayers reach their
primes around the age of 27 or 28, and
maintain that level of play for five to six
years, A-Rod is surely on pace to compile
the most spectacular offensive numbers
ever posted by a shortstop.
The only shortstop to compare with Ro
driguez offensively is former Cub Ernie
Banks. Banks retired after 19 seasons with
512 homers, including five years with at
least 40 bombs.
A-Rod has already hit 31 this season
and is on pace to approach 50. At his cur
rent pace of 36 home runs a year over the
last three seasons (including a projected
48 this year), Rodriguez will finish his ca
reer with somewhere around 650 dingers,
should he play 19 seasons as Banks did.
And Banks finished his career with a .274
batting average; A-Rod is hitting .310 in
his admittedly brief career, inducing his
magical season of 1996, when he hit .358
with 36 bombs and 123 ribbies in proba
bly the greatest offensive season ever for a
shortstop.
Historically, A-Rod compares favorably
as well. Wagner hit .300 or better for 17
consecutive seasons, including eight bat
ting titles. A-Rod would be hard-pressed
to match those marks, considering the
quality of talent today. But Wagner hit just
Turn to A-ROD, Page 8