For
the past three or four years now, Dmitri Young has carried that
same burden, the burden of hope and optimism.
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One of the best reasons to listen to sports talk radio has to do with hope and optimism, two items sometimes in short supply in our world.
Because once in a while, a guy calls up who seems to have up-to-date minor league stats right at his fingertips...and he'll ask the host about the potential of player X...a player who has caught the eye of the caller.
And the caller just has a feeling that player X is going to make it big.
Brian Jordan was one of those players. And heck, all the while that interest about Jordan was growing...he was either hurt or playing football.
But those who were intrigued by Jordan's potential...and felt that some day he would be a player...well, those fellas were right.
For
the past three or four years now, Dmitri Young has carried that
same burden, the burden of hope and optimism.
Ever since being drafted by the Cardinals, right out of high school, in the first round of the 1991 draft (with the fourth overall selection), Young has tantalized Cardinal fans and management with an interesting blend of attributes.
For one thing, Young's profile is more reminiscent of Mickey Lolich than, say, Bob Gibson.
It was often reported that Young's weight moved up and down on a regular basis. Actually, more up than down. And at 6-2 and 235 lbs...well, here was a guy many beer leaguers could identify with.
Especially when it was reported that Young ran fairly well "for a big man".
But Dmitri Young's main baseball attribute involves hitting.
Cardinals
personnel, when asked about Young, are fond of saying things like
"he knows how to hit" and "he looks like a hitter".
A glimpse of that hitting potential was evident in last year's NLCS vs. the Braves, when Young recorded the first extra-base hit of his career.
Young's Game 4 hit, a two-run triple, came with two outs in the seventh inning. Young himself scored the tying run later in the same inning.
Dmitri Young's 1996 accomplishments at Louisville (AAA) shouldn't be minimized, either. His .333 batting average and 90 runs scored led the league in those categories.
So, Cardinals fans, players, and management alike are naturally curious.
What kind of ballplayer will Dmitri Young become?
Will 1997 be his breakthrough year in the big leagues?
The early part of the '97 season will prove to be especially important for Young, because Ray Lankford's off-season shoulder surgery effectively opens up a spot for Young at first base...with the incumbent at 1B, John Mabry moving to RF and Brian Jordan shifting over to CF.
All of this assumes, of course, that Dmitri Young can play a respectable first base.
Adding to Young's mystique as a player is the widely held view that he will never be mistaken for Keith Hernandez around the bag.
Or even Pete Guerrero.
So Tony La Russa has made it his business this spring to see how Dmitri Young responds to playing 1B on an every day basis...so much so that as of the middle of March, Mabry and Mark Sweeney hadn't seen much action at 1B, other than taking ground balls after spring games just to keep sharp.
Anyway, I wanted to talk to Young about his defense...AND his offense.
That point was made clear to Young before starting the interview. He smiled broadly, and pointed to a teammate's vacant chair next to his.
"Sit down," he said, with the sound of relief in his voice.
"I've been given the job at first base...and there are a lot of nooks and crannies at first base. So whatever it takes to be comfortable at first base, that's what I'm going to do. I take extra ground balls all the time."
But back to hitting.
In spring games through March 19, Dmitri Young leads the team in total bases, HRs, and RBIs.
But something else is apparent when you watch Young leave the on-deck circle and step into the batters box.
The guy really does look confident striding to the plate. He also appears confident with a bat in his hands. And he looks like he knows how to use that bat, too.
"That's just me," said Young when asked who he relies on for advice about hitting.
"But I do talk to George Hendrick, our hitting instructor, and pick up some things."
"George teaches the same approach every day as far as hitting is concerned. The first strike is basically a free swing. First strike fastball, you look for one that you can drive, you take advantage. If you can't, or if you don't think you can hit it hard or whatever, or if he throws a curveball and you have to take it, you just focus on what you need to do at the plate.
"I go up there every time that way. It's you against the pitcher...and he's trying to beat you. It's a war. Actually, it's a battle. Every pitch. Every at-bat. Every ball. Every strike. Every foul ball."
It was then suggested that Young, sitting in the Al Lang locker room in 1997, looked a lot more confident than he did sitting in the same room last spring...or even in the Busch locker room during the '96 season.
Young answered the question after a short pause.
"Well, the situation was different last year. Last year I was trying to prove myself to the staff and everybody...I had the chance to start over. And after I won the batting title in Mexico [after the '95 season] and also in Louisville last year, so I basically proved myself.
"This year, they handed me the starting job [at first base]. But it's a given that I have to play good to keep the job. If you don't do the job, then that's going to raise some questions.
"I know Mabry's going to do his job.
"I have to do my job."
The conversation then turned to the fielding part of Dmitri Young's job.
"I go out there and I try to relax. I haven't been able to take many ground balls at home...I was in and out of St. Louis doing different things...in December I was sick with the flu and then tonsillitis. That cleared up in January so I could do the Cardinals Caravan and I came back after that to do as much extra work as I could. My hitting was kind of coming along so I spent as much time on my fielding as I could...just trying to get a feel.
"Here I'm working with Carney Lansford and Mark DeJohn [on my fielding]," Young said.
"Usually, when we're at home...we don't have to be here until 9:30 or 9:40, so at about 8:30 I get loose and then work on fundamentals...catching ground balls and trying to relax and make the plays.
"Mike Gallego told me, that to catch ground balls...he said relax...concentrate...concentrate...relax...concentrate on what you're doing....relax...relax...before long I started to go ahhhhhhh...ahhhhhhh...
"But it works!
"That relaxation, in the field, it's the same as at the plate, because [there] you try to have a nice fluid swing...but in the field you just relax..."
Before concluding, Dmitri Young had one more statement to make about his desire to make, and stay on, the 25 man roster this year.
"I feel privileged that the Cardinals are putting upon me to fill that void at first base until Lankford gets back. I definitely want to play every day. I don't want to sound like a replacement player, but if it doesn't work out where I'm starting at first base, then I want to be a good guy to come off the bench to give one of the guys a day off...maybe Mabry or whoever."
Alert StLSO readers realize that there is substance to Dmitri Young's idea concerning his importance as a reserve on the 1997 Cardinals, because they remember that Tony La Russa started Young at 1B (in place of Mabry) in Game 7 in last year's NLCS vs. the Braves.
Of course, if Dmitri Young puts on a hitting show this April, and manages to make the routine plays at first base, his status as a reserve may not last long.
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