N.L. West

Sporting News, The, Sept 13, 1999

.360 vision

During the off season in which so much has gone wrong, at least the Rockies have Larry Walker.

He was leading the league with a .369 average through last Saturday and trying to win his second consecutive batting title, something no National League player other than Tony Gwynn has done since Dave Parker in 1977-78.

Walker has a chance for even more illustrious history. He could become the first player to hit .360 or better in three consecutive seasons since Hall of Fame Al Simmons in 1929-31. Walker downplays the possibility of reaching hitting heights that haven't been scaled in nearly 70 years. "I guess it would be exciting," he says. "But I play at Coors Field, too. That makes it a little easier. I'm not going to sit here and talk about--yeah I hit .360 three years in a row, if that does happen, and not forget about where I play."

Walker is hitting .448 at Coors Field, where the Rockies have 14 remaining games, and .284 (56-for-107) on the road. Coors Field, where Walker's lifetime average is .395, obviously helps Walker but only because he has certain innate talents.

"He's a very intelligent hitter, as far as situations and making adjustments," batting coach Clint Hurdle says. "And that basically comes from good mechanics. He keeps his hands back. He has great strike-zone discipline."

Walker has been playing all season with sore knees. Frayed cartilage was detected in his left knee last month, and arthroscopic surgery is likely after the season. By then, Walker might be able to look back at batting history, albeit with mixed feelings.

"Nothing's satisfying when you're 20 (games) back," he says. "It'd be the greatest thing in the world if we'd won some divisions and gone to the playoffs every year." --Jack Etkin

Arizona

80-56: 1st

Durazo shows promise in the field and at a plate

The knock on Erubiel Durazo was not on offense but defense. A little more than a month into his stay with the Diamondbacks, Durazo has looked fairly sharp at first base, digging out balls in the dirt and coming up with sharply-hit grounders and line drives, the ones that were supposed to give the rookie troubles. He remains one of the more intriguing hitters on the club, rarely hitting a ball softly. Most everything he hits results in a line drive somewhere.... LHP Dan Plesac has pitched only 14 1/3 innings since arriving in a trade from Toronto in June, but he remains one of manager Buck Showalter's go-to guys when it comes to facing a difficult lefthanded batter late in the game in a pressure situation. Plesac rarely is allowed to face righthanded batters, who are batting .426 against him.

POUND FOR POUND: When LHP Greg Swindell's weight started to rise earlier this season, some concern started to surface within the team's front office. Then Showalter looked up Swindell's finest seasons and realized he pitched his best when he was a few pounds heavier. Swindell entered the week with a 2.32 ERA and had logged 54 1/3 innings, the most in Arizona's bullpen this year.

SEE A DIFFERENT GAME: Sometimes a roster move backfires on a club for no apparent reason. One move the Diamondbacks do not want to make, fearing a chemistry blowup, is removing SS Hanley Frias from the active roster. There was some thought given to sending Frias down in the weeks leading up to August 31, but each time the front office feared a resulting imbalance in the clubhouse. Of course, if Frias were of no use to the club, the move would have been made. But with Frias contributing, mostly defensive, and being such a well-liked teammate, the front office decided against sending him down, thus maintaining the serenity of the clubhouse. --Pedro Gomez

GRADING OUT

OFFENSE C

Managed only two runs in a pair of losses to lowly Montreal

PITCHING B

Johnson gets his job done but continues to be the victim of little run support

DEFENSE C

The middle of the infield, where defense is most needed, has been shoddy.

DIAMONDBACKS

                AVG     G    AB     R     H      HR

Gonzalez( )    .342   130   523    97   179(a)   23
Colbrunn       .337    55    98    12    33       3
(*)Durazo( )   .300    30    90    17    27       8
Williams       .299   134   542    85   162      31
Harris( )      .296    94   162    15    48       0
Gilkey         .291    80   172    25    50       7
Bell           .281   129   506   108   142      32
Womack( )      .276   121   511    96   141       3
Miller         .258    75   264    29    68       7
Finley( )      .257   133   499    77   128      25
(*)Ryan( )     .238    11    21     3     5       2
Stinnett       .222    74   243    28    54      12
(*)Frias(#)    .217    46    83    14    18       0
(*)Powell      .200    14    20     1     4       0
(*)Klassen       --     0     0     0     0       0

               RBI    OBP    SLG   SB        K   BB    E

Gonzalez( )     93   .407   .568    8       58   55    4
Colbrunn        20   .417   .510    0       18   11    0
(*)Durazo( )    15   .381   .578    1       30   12    0
Williams       120   .338   .533    2       84   34    8
Harris( )       13   .321   .370    1        6    6    9
Gilkey          28   .376   .494    1       31   25    3
Bell            93   .360   .540    5      112   64   19
Womack( )       33   .335   .366   62(a)    55   46    4
Miller          40   .295   .398    0       69   13    6
Finley( )       83   .330   .489    6       81   54    2
(*)Ryan( )       4   .273   .524    0        8    1    0
Stinnett        33   .287   .220    1       71   18    5
(*)Frias(#)      9   .337   .253    1       14   15    3
(*)Powell        1   .273   .350    1        4    2    1
(*)Klassen       0     --     --    0        0    0    0

GRAND SLAMS:  Lee (2), Bell, Finley, Miller, Williams, Womack (1)

                ERA       W-L    G      IP        H     R

Chouinard      2.10       5-2   22    30.0       21    10
Swindell( )    2.32       2-0   50    54.1       45    15
Johnson( )     2.47(a)   14-9   30   233.2(a)   117    72
Mantei         2.56       1-3   56    56.1       38    17
(*)Sabel       3.24       0-0    5     8.1        8     3
Holmes         3.35       3-3   35    37.2       36    15
Olson          3.51       5-4   49    48.2       41    21
Daal( )        3.70      13-8   27   185.0      157    79
Reynoso        3.89      10-3   27   150.1      156    74
Stottlemyre    3.96       5-2   12    75.0       76    38
Plesac( )      4.4        2-1   26    14.1       17     8
Benes          4.95      10-11  28   169.0      184   104
Anderson( )    5.27       6-2   26   100.2      124    62

              ER   HR     K      BB   SV   Avg.

Chouinard      7    3    18      10    0   .202
Swindell( )   14    5    43      17    1   .230
Johnson( )    64   24   315(a)   62    0   .209
Mantei        16    4    85      39   26   .189
(*)Sabel       3    0     6       6    0   .250
Holmes        14    3    27      23    0   .247
Olson         19    6    39      21   14   .229
Daal( )       76   18   131      73    0   .231
Reynoso       65   14    69      61    0   .272
Stottlemyre   33    9    51      28    0   .260
Plesac( )      7    2    18       8    1   .293
Benes         93   29   124      77    0   .273
Anderson( )   59   17    59      19    1   .302