The long ball could become a real yawner

Tim Bogar is an honest man. “I’ve become obsolete,” he says. There aren’t many of us who would make that admission about anything, especially if the reference is about our work.

Bogar has played pro baseball for 13 years, involving major league service with the New York Mets and the Houston Astros, his current team. We talked about the state of the game last week while standing in a dugout at Enron Field in Houston, a park yielding home runs by the Cracker Jack boxful.

The figures are out for April as Major League Baseball’s ongoing tale of the long ball continues along with more extra base hits and longer games. The pace in all cases will set offensive records that were set just last year. Enron Field and Pacific Bell Park in San Francisco are joining Coors Field in Denver as places hitters most want to be buried after they bury pitchers.

I asked Bogar, “What do I say about this [Enron] field?”

“You say the pitchers have to relax,” was Bogar’s reply. “You have to pitch here to win,” he went on. “Home runs are going to fly out of here if you don’t. This is not the Astrodome.”

“Pitchers have to work locations and keep the ball away from the righthanded hitters or they’ll nail it over the wall 315 feet away in left,” he added. “If pitchers can keep the ball in center or the alleys, they can get their outs.”

Still, he knows this is another hitters yard – long-ball hitters. His major league career average was .231 to start the year. He has hit 15 home runs, never more than four a season. He has survived as a utility player because he can play any infield position, is a solid defensive asset, can bunt and hit and run.

His voice softens and he laments what has happened to the game and the impact changes have had on players like him.

“It used to matter that I could save a run or two with a good defensive play or manufacture a run by moving runners up. Now, when you know the final score will probably be 14-11, what I do means far less,” he says.

Bogar stares at the 315-foot short porch in left and remembers learning how to play the game.

“Fundamentals used to matter,” he says. “Turning two, bunting, hitting behind runners was how I learned to play. There’s always been a place in the game for guys like me because we could help win games.”

And now?

Bogar lets a light smile pass. “Thornee,” he says, “I think I’m obsolete.”

Among MLB’s April numbers are the perfect records of pitchers Randy Johnson, Tom Glavine, Pedro Martinez, and Greg Maddux. Some say that shows balance.

Wrong.

There’s so much bad pitching in the bandbox ballparks that most hitters don’t even worry about hitting the few really good arms. Hitters know that eight out of every 10 games they’ll face very hittable pitchers. Many good hitters just take a day off when the stars are throwing. Why hurt the average?

A committee of general managers is reviewing the offensive surge in MLB to determine if corrective action is necessary. Raising the mound to help pitchers is high on the list.

Too much of a good thing makes one ill. So it is with home runs. They are no longer special.

Special is a Tim Bogar who can play fundamentally sound baseball that gives a team a chance to win a 3-2, 4-3 game.

Tim, quality never goes out of style, and that is what you bring to the game – 316-foot home runs will be obsolete long before you are.

NEWS columnist Gary Thorne, an Old Town native, is an ESPN and CBS broadcaster.