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Sporting News, The, Sept 11, 2000 by Kirk Kenney

Two oversized flame throwers are being counted on to ignite the U.S. baseball team in the Olympics

When pitchers C.C. Sabathia and Jon Rauch take their turns on the mound for the U.S. Olympic baseball team, don't be surprised if opposing hitters ask for time, step out of the batters box, scratch their heads and wonder if the pair somehow got separated from the Dream Team.

Sabathia is 6-7, 235 pounds--a Charles Barkley type. At 6-11, Rauch can look Kevin Garnett right in the eye. The two will be starters when the U.S. opens play September 17 against Japan.

Sabathia, a lefthander for Class AA Akron in the Indians organization, and Rauch, a 230-pound righthander for the White Sox's Class AA Birmingham team, tower over teammates, opponents and most countrymen, such as the woman at the post office in downtown Akron who processed Sabathia's passport application.

"It said baseball right on the paper I gave her," he says, "but she asked if I was on the basketball team."

No, and there's a reason, too.

"Basketball made my knees hurt," Sabathia says.

Ranch says he didn't have the coordination for basketball, but put a hardball in his hand ...

Both Sabathia and Ranch are power pitchers. They each throw fastballs in the mid-90s, and some of Sabathia's have approached 100 mph. That's why they're on the Olympic team, which is using professional players for the first time. Eleven roster members have at least some major league experience.

"This is not a developmental-type thing like the minor leagues," says Olympics pitching coach Phil Regan. "We wanted guys who threw the ball hard. With young pitchers, you can overcome a lot of things if you throw hard."

Although there's no proof that height aids velocity, it does offer several other advantages. "Whenever you get a pitcher that big it's very imposing on the mound," says Regan. "That's the first thing people will talk about. Then if they can throw hard ... the ball jumps on you."

Sabathia says his height provides another edge.

"You're not throwing the ball 60 feet," he says. "It's more like you're throwing it 40 feet."

At least it seems that way. If the pitcher drops his arm angle, it also makes it seem like the ball is coming from behind the hitter. That can make it more difficult to track the ball. And make some batters bail out of the box.

The U.S. team would have a full front court on its roster if 6-10 lefthander Ryan Anderson, who is in the Mariners system, weren't sidelined with tendinitis. But pitchers with a post-up player's height might be more of a coincidence than a trend for now.

"We just haven't gotten those kind of guys in the past," says former Anaheim Angels G.M. Bill Bavasi, co-chairman of USA Baseball's selection committee. "It will be the wave of the future if these guys are successful."

Though their size and fastball put Ranch and Sabathia on a par, they got to this point at different speeds. Sabathia's given name was shortened to C.C. because his grandmother was intimidated by the mouthful his parents bestowed upon him: Carsten Charles Sabathia Jr. His time in the minor leagues has been compressed as well.

A 20-year-old from Vallejo, Calif., Sabathia was Cleveland's first-round draft choice two years ago. He signed late and missed the 1998 season, but by the start of this year he had been tagged the No. 1 prospect in the Indians' farm system.

In Akron this season Sabathia was 3-7 with a 3.58 ERA and 90 strike-outs in 90 innings, but his record didn't reflect the dominance he displayed with his fastball, slurve and changeup. An appearance in the Futures Game during the All-Star break in Atlanta took care of that. Sabathia pitched the third inning and struck out the side.

Attention from USA Baseball officials increased from there, and it created a dilemma: Cleveland had been considering Sabathia for a September callup.

"It was a tough decision for us," says assistant G.M. Mark Shapiro. "We decided the benefits of going to the Games could be as meaningful to his development as being called up."

Rauch, 22, is the tallest player in professional baseball, but he has no desire to be the game's first 7-footer.

"It's hard enough buying clothes now," he says.

Riding in most cars is uncomfortable, too. Same with plane flights. The trip to Australia is 17 hours, and Rauch wants to make sure he gets an aisle seat.

He didn't have to give international travel much thought until a few weeks ago. Growing up in Westport, Ky., Rauch was a late bloomer. He didn't make his high school's varsity team until his junior year. After graduation he went undrafted, and his career at Morehead State University was uneventful as well.

Rauch finally caught the attention of scouts when he was pitching in a summer league before his junior year in college, but he contracted viral meningitis the following spring and his stock slipped. Chicago made him a third-round pick in 1999, and things have come together quickly since.

Rauch traces his success to last summer at Class A Bristol (Va.).

"I started learning how to pitch, instead of just throwing a fastball or a curveball," he says. "And I got stronger mentally."