COMMENTARY : Merits, Demerits of Spring Training

Weep not for spring training.

More than a few people in the know already know what most of the rest of us will soon learn: That spring training is overrated, in addition to being overly long.

Rare is the Mr. October who kills himself trying to be Mr. March. Gone is the time when a horde of fatsos spilled southward before the season needing six weeks to burn off a winter of excess in the warm spring sun of Florida and Arizona.

There’s one notable exception, but more on the more of Lonnie Smith later.

“When I played in the 1950s,” former Dodger shortstop and current Chicago Cubs Manager Don Zimmer said, “there’d always be five or six guys coming into camp 15 pounds overweight, and some guys, (Roy) Campanella for instance, you’d only guess at.

“When I played, you put the gloves and the spikes in the cupboard, did whatever you did over the winter, and didn’t take them out until it was time to head for Florida,” he continued. “And when you got there, you lived in an old army barracks with bunk beds, four to a room, and one television in the hall. A guy knocked on your door at 7 a.m., blew a whistle and you lined up for breakfast.

“Of course, it’s a rarity for a guy to come in like that (overweight) today. These guys find a way to stay in shape year-round, and with what they’re making, plenty have got gyms in their house.”

When pressed, Zimmer allows that he could field a representative team in as little as three weeks, but only because he has his eight position players and six reserves pretty well set. At that, Zimmer pleads for extra time to find a dependable fourth starter in the rotation.

Tony LaRussa, manager of the world champion Oakland A’s, concedes his players, too, could do well without all of the conditioning work but reserves the final say.

“I’ve heard plenty of people say it’s too long,” he said, “but I think it’s better to be ready and give them days off, if necessary.

“Besides, there’s a big difference between position players and your pitchers. They have to be on the mound in game conditions five or six times, with four or five days between appearances. . . . If I had to do it in a month, I could do it. But less than that,” he added, “and it’s risky.”

Chicago White Sox batting Coach Walt Hrniak said he has always believed that spring training basically was for the pitchers.

“Meanwhile, plenty of hitters actually get stale. If they’ve been working out through the winter and swinging a bat, taking some batting practice, 20 or 30 at-bats facing a live pitcher ought to get it,” he said. “Two weeks of games.”

Forget the rookies trying to earn a spot and the rehabilitating veterans trying to keep one. Put aside, for the moment, even the staggering economic impact--a study by tourism officials three years ago in Florida, where 18 of the 26 teams vacation, estimated that more than $300 million flows into the state with the baseball migration--and what have you really lost?

”. . .These guys come in in pretty good shape, conceded Dodgers Manager Tommy Lasorda. “When I played with Brooklyn, most of the guys lived in New York, and if they got into a gym and shot some baskets once in awhile, that was a workout.

“I’m not saying today’s guys don’t need the work. Weightlifting has nothing to do with baseball. You’ve still got to throw it and hit and catch it, and you have to have time to do that.

“A few years back, Tim Raines (of the Expos) had a contract problem, missed all of spring training and hit a bunch of homers to start. But do you want to rely on that?

“Before a fight, a boxer boxes a lot. He runs for his legs, hits the heavy bag and the light bag, does exactly what he does in a fight. Baseball players have to hit and throw and catch it sometime, even if you hardly see the guys with the big problems anymore.”

Ah, but what about Lonnie Smith? The Atlanta Braves’ outfielder followed up one of the finest comeback seasons in memory by bringing back the grand old tradition of indulgence.

Remember the grainy films of Babe Ruth mugging for the cameras in spring training while devouring hot dogs? Smith started doing that last October, and with no spring training to shed the 35 extra pounds he loaded onto a 5-foot-9 frame, he checked into a fat farm in Smyrna, Ga.

“My most strenuous exercise was Christmas shopping,” is how he described his off-season to one interviewer, “and I got that out of the way by November.”

Maybe six weeks isn’t that long after all.