All-Star Is Trying History On For Size - News Herald

Jim Ingraham JIngraham@News-Herald.com

Sizemore's superb 2006 season results in many accolades; just don't ask the Tribe center fielder to talk about any of them

WINTER HAVEN, Fla. - What do you do the year after you've done it all? Well, um, gee ... do it again?
"I hope that's a typical Grady Sizemore season," said Indians hitting coach Derek Shelton. "He had a season that has only been done three other times in major-league history."
The only problem with Sizemore's super-sized 2006 season is history says it's almost impossible to duplicate: 53 doubles, 11 triples, 28 home runs.
The only other players in baseball history to have a 50-double, 10-triple, 25 home run season are Joe Medwick in 1937, Chuck Klein in 1932 and Lou Gehrig in 1927. All three are in the Hall of Fame.
In addition to leading the majors in doubles, Sizemore also led the majors in runs scored with 134 and led the American League with 92 extra-base hits. He was second in the league in total bases, third in the league in triples, seventh in hits, eighth in multi-hit games, 11th in stolen bases, and defensively he led all major-league outfielders in total chances.
Oh yeah, he also set an Indians record for fewest double plays hit into (two) and was the first Indian in 17 years to play all 162 games.
Other than that, Sizemore was invisible last year.
"Out of all the guys in the game today," said Indians player development adviser Johnny Goryl, who is 73 and has been in professional baseball for over 50 years, "Grady is the one guy I'd pay to see play. He just has so many intangibles that impact the team."
The tangibles aren't too bad, either.
"I don't know if it's realistic to expect those kinds of numbers every year," said Sizemore. "I just go out and try to take the same approach from year to year, and the numbers will take care of themselves."
The only thing greater than Sizemore's numbers is his reluctance to talk about them. He tends to sit quietly at his locker in the clubhouse, then talks even quieter when asked about his monster 2006 season, which triggered a cascade of compliments from both teammates and opponents.
White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen calls Sizemore, the Indians' lone representative on the All-Star team last year, the best player in the American League. Some national experts this year have tabbed Sizemore as their pick to be the American League's Most Valuable Player.
Ask Sizemore about the accolades, however, and he acts like he's the 25th man on the roster, not, as one scout said recently, "One of the 10 best players in the major leagues."
"I try to be humble about whatever success I've had," said Sizemore. "This year, I'm just trying to get stronger and get better."
"I'll tell you who Grady reminds me of," said Goryl. "Robin Yount. The way he plays the game, how hard he plays. And Grady is a great teammate. He wants to be the guy up there with the game on the line."
Goryl said he knew Sizemore would be special the first time he saw Sizemore play, which was at Class A Kinston, shortly after the Indians acquired Sizemore from Montreal in the epic Bartolo Colon trade in 2002.
"He was playing left field then, but you could tell that it was just a matter of time before he'd get to the big leagues, and stay for a long time," said Goryl. "And I knew that the way he plays the game, fans would be anxious to see him play, and they'd be anxious to come back again and see him play. And the amazing thing is that he's still so young, and there's still so much ahead of him."
What's the next stage in the evolution of the 24-year-old Sizemore as a hitter?
"I think he'll continue to hit a lot of doubles because of his speed, and he'll hit more triples because he's able to turn doubles into triples," said Shelton. "His power should increase as he gets to know the league and the pitchers better. And I don't see why he can't be a .300 hitter. He's hit .289 and .290 the last two years. The only difference between that and .300 is four or five more hits during the course of a season."
Ask Sizemore which of his statistics from last year he's most proud of, and he hems and haws like a father being asked which of his kids is his favorite.
"I guess it would be the runs scored," he said, after a long pause. "The job of a leadoff hitter is to get on base and score runs, so I want to get on base as much as I can."
Sizemore's only negative number from last year was his strikeout total. He struck out 153 times, the third-highest total in the league. Indians officials say they will take the tradeoff of 150 strikeouts for all of the other numbers Sizemore produces.
"It's not a big deal. Outs are outs," said Shelton. "Is it something we want him to work to improve on? Yes. Are we spending an overwhelming amount of time trying to get Grady to strike out less? No."
Striking out 150 times is not good for any hitter, but from a leadoff hitter it can be particularly troublesome. But Shelton said he feels Sizemore's strikeouts will go down as he continues to mature as a hitter.
However, whether Sizemore continues to be a leadoff hitter throughout his career remains to be seen. Manager Eric Wedge admits Sizemore has the potential to be a middle-of-the-order hitter, probably No. 3, but that change won't happen unless and until the Indians find somebody who can come close to Sizemore's effectiveness in the leadoff spot.
Good luck finding that guy.
"We've got the best of both worlds with Grady," said Shelton. "We're getting middle-of-the-order production from a guy who hits leadoff."
And, better yet, from a guy who doesn't much like to talk about it.