Braves pitchers make most of batting practice

Posted 7:03AM on Saturday 6th July 2002 ( 23 years ago )

ATLANTA - John Smoltz leaps high over the wall to steal a home run. Greg Maddux makes a running, shoestring catch. Chris Hammond hits a mammoth home run. What is this, a recreational league? Nope, it's just a typical batting practice session for Atlanta Braves, and few pitching staffs enjoy it as much as this one. ``It's such a long season, and you've got to find ways to have fun,'' Smoltz said. ``And if I'm having fun, I'm going to make sure everybody else is, too.'' He takes it pretty seriously, goading teammates while they're in the cage and chasing everybody away from fly balls in the outfield. A gifted athlete, Smoltz regularly robs someone of a homer during BP, and each time, he proudly holds the ball up for everyone to see. He's even jokingly referred to himself as the Braves' best outfielder. ``It's what I do to stay in shape, and I enjoy it,'' Smoltz said. ``I take pride in being able to do it.'' The bullpen, which entered the weekend with the best ERA in the major leagues, has a particularly good time before each home game. With dugout coach Pat Corrales on the mound, the young relievers take on the veterans (read: old-timers) in a ``game'' before the regulars take the field. Hitting coach Terry Pendleton stands behind the cage and serves as official scorer, deciding whether balls hit into the outfield are singles, doubles or outs. But he hears it from Smoltz, too, especially when a ruling goes against the Braves' closer. On Thursday, after Smoltz sent a fly ball to the warning track in left-center, Pendleton said, ``That's an out.'' Smoltz wasn't happy. ``Come on, T, that's why they call them gaps,'' he griped. ``Because nobody's there.'' But Pendleton held firm, and an out later, it was Hammond's turn at the plate. He normally plays on a team with Smoltz, Darren Holmes and Mike Remlinger, but since ``youngster'' Albie Lopez is on the disabled list, Hammond joined Kerry Ligtenberg. On the first pitch, Hammond hit a monstrous shot to right field that curled around the foul pole for a homer. ``It's foul, it's foul,'' Smoltz shouted, until it was clear the ball was fair. ``Nice shot, Hammy,'' Pendleton said. And so it went. Nearly every team has some type of pre-game ritual during batting practice, but Holmes said the Braves have carried it to a new level. ``It's so loose around here, but all the pitchers take BP so seriously, too,'' said Holmes, who played for seven other teams before joining Atlanta in the offseason. ``And that's probably because of John.'' It's easy to see Smoltz has the most fun before the game. He's usually the first pitcher out of the clubhouse and the first one in the cage to bunt. ``He's like a 10-year-old kid out there,'' Holmes said of Smoltz. ``He just has so much fun.'' But what about Smoltz's claim that he's the best outfielder on the team? ``Well, let's just say the reason John's a pitcher isn't just because he has a 98 mph fastball,'' Holmes joked. Like Holmes, Hammond is new to the Braves. He said he's been on teams which played similar games during BP, but he's never been part of a group with chemistry like Atlanta's bullpen. ``It's really just a carryover from the fact that we all get along so well,'' Hammond said. ``That's a big part of why we're doing so well this season.'' Holmes and Hammond contend the older relievers always win the pre-game contests ``I think the young guys are a little intimidated,'' Hammond said - but Lopez disputes that. ``There's a little discrepancy right now,'' Lopez said. ``They say they're way ahead for the year, but it's a lot closer than that. They have more players than us, anyway. That's not fair.'' Kevin Gryboski would be classified as a young reliever, and so would Tim Spooneybarger, but Lopez said they won't play. ``They're probably afraid of getting hurt,'' he said. ``We swing pretty hard up there. Anybody's who healthy doesn't want to take a chance on pulling something.''

http://accesswdun.com/article/2002/7/192779