Tribe fans enjoy a date with Grady - Canton Repository 1/25/08

BY ANDY CALL
REPOSITORY SPORTS WRITER

CANTON Fast reaction time is one reason Grady Sizemore is a Gold Glove winner.

Cleveland’s 25-year-old outfielder was answering questions from the audience during Thursday’s annual winter press tour stop in Canton when a woman in the crowd belted a long, high drive to center field.

“The girl sitting next to me doesn’t have a date for the winter formal,” the woman announced, pointing to a teen who is most likely not speaking to her mother today.

Sizemore didn’t even break stride as he nabbed this one on the warning track.

“I don’t have a date for the winter formal either,” he deadpanned.

Sizemore is no longer fazed by expressions of adoration from females, old and young. That has been business as usual since long before the formation of Grady’s Ladies. The two-time All-Star has become more polished in how he balances his natural shyness with the fans’ desire to know him beyond what they see at Progressive Field or on the TV screen.

“Honestly, it’s never been that bad,” Sizemore said before joining a sellout crowd of 450 in the McKinley Grand Hotel’s ballroom. “You just have fun with it. I try to embrace the fans as much as I can, and be as nice as I can.”

It isn’t always easy. Team staff members realized during an earlier press tour stop that two young women were following Sizemore, quite literally, everywhere he went. They were politely asked to give the young man some space.

He’s young, handsome and a multimillionaire. His teammates admire his talent and respect his hustle. He has avoided any embarrassing public incidents or controversial statements. A special player like Sizemore can attract attention to the point where even going out to dinner can become a prolonged autograph session.

Sizemore said he chooses his destinations carefully.

“I make it a point not to go to places I might be mobbed,” he said with a smirk.

He also tends to keep his personal life personal, although he briefly dated actress Jaime Pressly while in the minor leagues. Teammates once attempted to prod him into arranging a date with actress Hilary Duff with a 25-man chant of “Make the call!” as Duff’s image appeared on the big-screen clubhouse TV. Sizemore simply waved off his fellow players — and, presumably, Miss Duff.

That is not to say the Seattle native avoids the public entirely. Many veteran players avoid the winter press tour as if it might cause impetigo. Sizemore was the first one with his hand in the air.

“He is off the charts,” Indians Media Relations Director Bart Swain said of Sizemore’s level of cooperation. “Zero arm-twisting. Zero.”

Kimberly Stoffer, 19, of Navarre, didn’t need to twist Sizemore’s arm when she needed a baseball autographed as a gift for her cousin — even though he had just signed a jersey for her.

Stoffer laughed when asked if she was a big Sizemore fan.

“Are you kidding me?.” Stoffer said. “Who isn’t?”