Tuesday, February 27, 2007
The Indians' best all-around player got in all 162 games last season.
WINTER HAVEN, Fla. (AP) -- Grady Sizemore might take a few days off this season -- not by choice.
Cleveland's hard-nosed leadoff hitter played all 162 games last year, the only Indians player to do so.
He started 159 games in center field and one at designated hitter. He came off the bench in two others.
Sizemore has played in 196 consecutive games, fourth longest among active players. But that streak could end this year.
Manager Eric Wedge wants to give Sizemore an occasional day off to keep his best all-around player fresh. However, Wedge wanted to do the same thing a year ago.
"I'd be surprised if he didn't get a couple of days off this year," Wedge said. "Just make sure that when you print that, you guys block my door as he's trying to get in my office. Whenever I mention a day off, he looks at me like I'm crazy."
Wedge's sanity might be questioned if he ever leaves Sizemore off his lineup card.
Good numbers
One of baseball's rising young players, the 24-year-old batted .290 with 28 home runs, 76 RBIs and 22 stolen bases last season. He led the American League with 134 runs scored and 53 doubles, becoming just the second player to have at least 50 doubles, 10 triples, 20 homers and 20 steals in the same season.
The only other player to do so was Hall of Famer Chuck Klein in 1932.
Sizemore's game in many ways is from another era.
"If you look at his entire game and the way he plays, it's an old school approach," Wedge said. "I think that if you go back to 1950, the way Grady plays was probably the norm back then and the way guys play now would stick out like a sore thumb. Today, it's probably the opposite. That's why the way Grady plays sticks out so much."
Sizemore smiles when his old school approach is mentioned.
"I've always played that way," he said. "It's what my dad taught me. I've played like this since I was a kid."
His style of play
He has the energy of an eager youngster. Whether it's an intrasquad game in spring training, the season opener or a meaningless game in the August heat, Sizemore never lets up. His passion and drive has drawn comparisons to some of baseball's hustle players.
"He plays with a controlled anger," said Buck Showalter, the former Texas manager, now an Indians special assistant. "Grady growls at the ball when he swings. He reminds me of Kirk Gibson. They play the game with a certain physicality, but they also play with a certain grace."
Indians outfielder Trot Nixon, himself a throwback, has watched Sizemore's style from Boston's dugout.
"He reminds me of Johnny Damon," said Nixon, who signed with the Indians in January. "Johnny Damon plays extremely hard every single day in all aspects of the game, and that's what Grady does."
Showalter experienced Sizemore's never-let-up attitude last season.
During a late-season game in Texas, Sizemore hit a high fly down the left-field line. Carlos Lee missed a diving catch and the ball took a high bounce before rolling into the corner. Sizemore ran hard from the instant he left the box and ended up with an inside-the-park home run.
"He ran like it was a swinging bunt," Showalter said. "Most guys coast on that play, but he was at second base when the ball rolled to the fence."