Jesse Barfield’s Long Trip Is Ending, Just as Another Begins

The longest month of Jesse Barfield’s playing career is winding down. Just 10 more games on the road and he hopes to be settling down somewhere in New Jersey with his wife and three young children.

“Living out of suitcases is overrated,” Barfield said as he packed his belongings for the trip Thursday that landed him in Anaheim.

He was in Anaheim with the Toronto Blue Jays, the last day of a week’s trip to the West Coast, when he was traded to the New York Yankees on April 30. It was off to New York for two days. Then Texas, Chicago and back to New York for two games before setting out for the West Coast again.

One hotel room after another. Barfield will have been in 10 in his monthlong grind when the Yankees return home May 22.

“Marla (his wife) will be coming to New York this Saturday to go with a Realtor to find us a place,” he said. “It’s better for me to live in Jersey with the family. But I like to come to the city to go to the theater with my wife. You’ll never get bored here. That’s one of the things that appeals.”

Barfield is an even-tempered man with a gentle smile he flashes frequently. When he arrived in New York, the papers were taking the Yankees to task for again mortgaging the future by trading a young pitcher of promise, Al Leiter, for a veteran whose offensive numbers have been on the decline since he hit 40 homers and drove in 108 runs in 1986.

That had to hurt. But Barfield didn’t react. Manager Dallas Green did. When Barfield’s decline in homers was brought up--28 in 1987 to 18 last year--Green said succinctly, “Leiter doesn’t have any numbers.”

It didn’t help that after singling in his first at-bat as a Yankee Barfield went 0 for 19 with seven strikeouts. It eased the discomfort somewhat when he had his first two-hit game Tuesday and his first homer in pinstripes.

It was his sixth of the year, a pace that if continued would give him 30 homers and make him a welcome addition on a team that has hit only 13 in 32 games.

Barfield, 29, likes to think he has good seasons ahead of him. He had been handicapped by a wrist injury that required surgery after the 1987 season. He feels he has battled back and is on the verge of being an offensive force again.

Having hit 40 homers in one year has become a cross to bear. For seven-plus seasons before then, Barfield had averaged 25 home runs. Would he have been better off if he had hit 39 in 1986?

“I don’t buy that,” Barfield said. “Forty is an elite number. Maybe that is the most I will ever hit. But you just have to go out there, do the best you can, think the best you can and stay positive.

“What people may forget is that I had 19 at the All-Star break the year after I hit the 40. Then the wrist went south. There was an old fracture and calcium built up around it. They had to go get a chip out that was doing damage to a ligament. I can appreciate what Jose (Canseco) is going through. For a power hitter to have hand or wrist surgery, it’s major surgery.”

Barfield went from the middle of 1987 to the All-Star break last year without being able to swing as he had before. He felt he was recovering when he hit 11 of his 18 homers the second half.

“It feels pretty good to be able to turn on the ball again. I know I’m not hitting my weight yet,” said the 6-1, 200-pounder. Barfield is hitting .187. “So it’s either go on a diet or start hitting. I’d prefer to hit, and I think I’m due for one of my hot streaks.”

He will strike out a lot, although he hopes to decrease his current ratio. He has struck out 36 times in 107 at-bats. But even when he hit the 40 homers, he struck out a career-high 146 times. “I figure I’m going to get my strikeouts every year,” he said. “But I also think I can do sufficient damage to the opposition.”

His even disposition would appear to be an ally through his strikeout struggles. And while Yankee Stadium remains somewhat of a spacious challenge for a right-handed long-ball hitter, Barfield’s ability to accentuate the positive should also help.

“I look at it this way,” he said. “Yankee Stadium helps me in a way. You really have to have your mechanics in this ballpark to hit a home run. You can’t just miss one. The home runs I hit would usually go out anywhere. George Bell and I used to talk about that. He hits the crowd pleasers, high and you have time to stand and cheer. Mine just jump. Usually line drives.”

Having studied a videotape of his form of late last season during the wee hours Tuesday, Barfield responded with a Yankee Stadium homer that night. “I cut the swing down,” he said. “I had the bat wrapped too much around my head. Most power hitters go through a stage where their swing gets too long. They try to muscle it instead of using their hands. Hopefully, I’m back to using my hands. I think they’re ready to work.”