According to Herzog, Baseball Has Reached Its Speed Limit

Whitey Herzog, manager of the St. Louis Cardinals, said the days of baseball teams running to victory are over.

“Baseball is changing again,” Herzog said. “I went to Kansas City and put in a running game. I came to St. Louis and we stole 300 bases. We found ways to manufacture runs. But you can’t run that much anymore.

“I know we worked real hard in spring training, (practicing) cheating, balking, (making) quick pitches so we can keep runners closer. So does everybody else.”

As an example, Herzog points to the Cardinals’ Vince Coleman, whose stolen-base total last season was a career-low 65--45 fewer than his 1985 total.

“He just can’t get the jump he used to get,” Herzog said. “I’m not knocking Vince. It’s just the direction the game is taking, and because of it, we’re going to have to change the concept of our offense. Speed will still be important, but maybe not base-stealers. I still want to be aggressive and go first to third. But we won’t steal as much.”

Does that mean an end to “turf teams,” which gear their offenses to artificial home surfaces?

“You build your club to the dimensions of the ballpark, not the surface,” Herzog said. “If Fenway Park had artificial turf, I wouldn’t want a speed team. The key to having a good team on turf is that you have to have a real good-throwing shortstop, because he needs to play deep and make a lot of throws from the hole.”

Trivia time: On Dec. 22, 1969, who set an NCAA record by making 30 of 31 free throws?

That’s entertainment: Baltimore Oriole Manager Frank Robinson, who never earned more than $180,000 a year as a player, on free agency: “We hear about baseball salaries. About football and basketball salaries. But I never hear anybody complain about rock stars--what they make. Movie stars--what they get for one picture.

“Too much emphasis is put on it (sports salaries). This is the American game. Everybody plays it and most play it for fun. But baseball also is a business. And players want to be paid for their performance.”

Past is precious: Jack Craig of the Boston Globe, on televising Senior Assn. baseball games: “I subscribe to the philosophy of retired Red Sox announcer Ken Coleman, who was found sitting in the Fenway Park dining room two years ago as an old-timers’ game was taking place. ‘I just can’t bear to watch, because I remember them when,’ Coleman said.”

Spheres of influence: Former Cincinnati Red John Franco, on the club’s bullpen, which now includes Randy Myers and Rob Dibble: “Dibble’s in his own world. And from what I understand, Myers is in his own world, too. Now they can be on their own planets together.”

Looking for meaning: Khimik Voskresensk of the Soviet Union completed its six-game tour of NHL cities last week in St. Louis, beating the Blues, 6-3. The Soviet team finished the tour with a 3-3 record. The Washington Capitals’ Kelly Miller said of the exhibition: “It’s not a bad thing, but if they could work it in so it means something, it would be a little different.”

But they were good tackles: Injured Seattle linebacker Brian Bosworth, being paid $500,000 a season, made a dozen tackles before being forced out by a sore shoulder earlier this season. That’s $41,666 a tackle.

Bosworth has appeared in 24 games in a three-year Seahawk career.

Catching their drift: The Rockford (Ill.) Lightning of the Continental Basketball Assn. and a hardware store offered snow blowers as halftime contest prizes this season. All a fan had to do was make a free throw--after being blindfolded and spun around at the free-throw line. The contests were canceled after four games, during which three snow blowers were won.

Trivia answer: Pete Maravich, who scored 46 points to lead Louisiana State to a 98-89 victory over Georgia.

Quotebook: Whitey Herzog, on Nashville’s segmented Opryland Hotel, headquarters for baseball’s winter meetings: “Lewis and Clark couldn’t find their rooms in this place.”