Life at the top: leadoff hitters Dykstra and Nixon are counted on to start trouble in the playoffs

Sporting News, The, Oct 18, 1993 by Mark Newman

It all began here: Philadelphia's Lenny Dykstra against Atlanta's Otis Nixon, the double against the drag bunt, the spit against the wind, the bulldog against the whippet, the cymbal against the harp, the MVP hype against the understated elegance. The National League invited its two best leadoff hitters to the playoffs, and many baseball people saw that matchup as the most crucial one.

"Otis is a good leadoff man," says Dodgers veteran Brett Butler, who drove over from his home in suburban Atlanta last Monday to watch the two who surpassed him as the league's tops atop the order. "But without him, the Braves still can win. Lenny is the cornerstone of the Phillies. If he doesn't get on base, then Philadelphia has a hard time winning."

That's what happened in this, the unofficial last chance to reach the World Series in a single step. The first priority on both teams' scouting reports was containment of the other team's leadoff hitter. Both teams had varying degrees of success, one reason the series returned to Veterans Stadium and a Braves-Blue Jays rematch was left in doubt.

The Braves took a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series, largely because they contained Dykstra. He was the first man this century to lead the league in walks, at-bats, runs and hits, but getting to first base wasn't easy here. If the tobacco juice dribbling down The Dude's chin in Game 2 didn't shock you, then his five strikeouts in the first three games surely did. Fortunately for the Phillies, Dykstra reverted to regular-season form in Game 4 and inspired the East champions by reaching base four times in a 2-1 victory.

Nixon, meanwhile, was hitting .438 (7 for 16) through four games, helping the Braves to a playoff-record 14 runs in Game 2. But he was fairly well contained by lefthanders when the series moved to Atlanta. Butler played in front of Nixon when they were together at Cleveland, and he sees a lot of himself in Nixon. But Butler says Dykstra is the league's premier leadoff man and says he would be interested to see a matchup with Rickey Henderson, whose style Dykstra most closely matches.

"Lenny is more of a Rickey Henderson type, not so much for the stolen-bases part, but because of the power," Butler says. "I look at Rickey as a typical No. 3 hitter. Lenny is like that now. He's lifted the weights and done the things that in my opinion has made him the best leadoff hitter in the National League. Here's a guy who went out early this year struggling to get on base, struggling with his average, but because he had quality guys in the 3-4 holes, was able to generate some runs.

"Otis, if you're talking complete players, is a better outfielder than Dykstra. But Lenny has got more punch. Otis is going to beat him out stealing bases, but Lenny's still a threat. The only comparison is that they both take the ball well, they both hit with strikes on them, which to me is the most essential part of being a leadoff man. They're not afraid to get deep in count. They know the strike zone well. They motivated their club from the top of lineup."

Scouts, players and the principals themselves will tell you that these two leadoff men take totally divergent paths to reach the same end. Their teams tend to go as they go, and as the series left Atlanta it was obvious how fortunes could turn if you failed to contain one of them.

They're both catalysts, and in order to be successful against either club you've got to keep them off base," says Moose Johnson, the Blue Jays' major league advance scout. "They both have the same effect on their offense. If we play either team, it's one of the first things, to keep that man off base. If you do, you neutralize them a lot. Last year, we had to keep Nixon off base. When we kept him off base, we were successful. If you keep Dykstra off, you'll have a much better chance of beating them.

"They're different types of leadoff hitters. Dykstra has more power and may take the pitcher more into the count. The other guy's more of a speedster, who will bunt. I compare Dykstra a lot to (Paul) Molitor, when he was leading off for the Brewers. He was a catalyst who had power, more than a bunt-and-slash guy. Nixon's more like a (Kenny) Lofton type.

"Dykstra hasn't always stayed healthy, but when he plays, the Phillies have a greater percentage of wins over losses. When he's hurt, they suffer. You know he's got to have a tremendous impact on that club. Deion (Sanders) could be the same impact leadoff man if the Braves let Nixon go. If you have a great club, you have to have a good leadoff man."

Butler, whose Dodgers qualified only for an upcoming tour of Japan, was considered the league's quintessential leadoff man up until the past couple of seasons; he is a master of the bunt single and a perennial 100-run man. But Nixon, 33, found a late niche in his career with Atlanta. Dykstra, 30, hit .325 in 1990 but was injured in a car wreck and sustained various injuries before making it through a career-high 161 games this season. Butler says the early difference between the players in this series might have been their recent postseason histories.