Streaky McGriff Hits the Ground Running

Turns out Fred McGriff isn’t perfect after all.

He improved his hitting streak to 14 games in the Padres’ 9-6 loss to Philadelphia Thursday, and he hit his sixth and seventh home runs of the season, added a single and increased his batting average to .363.

But did you see the guy run the bases?

Fourth inning. McGriff takes a cut against Terry Mulholland. The ball rifles toward left-center. McGriff runs hard toward first. The ball’s path is exquisite--it zooms over the fence. McGriff’s path is a little less graceful--he touches first, turns toward second, takes a couple of steps . . .

And falls flat on his face. Plop.

“I told him they greased the first-base bag,” Ed Whitson said. “I think he had his good-luck spikes on. The spikes are only about a quarter-of-an-inch--he’s worn them down to where they’re flats.”

McGriff: “I’ve got some bad shoes--I’ve got to get new shoes. Yesterday, I was watching the highlights (on the scoreboard), the bloopers, and I was thinking that that never happens to me.

“I guess I’ll be on This Week in Baseball now.”

This Week in Baseball? The way McGriff is going, he’s quickly becoming a regular on the late-night sports shows on ESPN and CNN.

He has five homers in the past seven games. He is batting .346 (nine for 26) with runners in scoring position--more impressive because he started the season two for 18 in those situations. He has come through with a hit on seven of his past eight at-bats with runners in scoring position.

Asked if he has ever had a better two-week run in the majors, McGriff said probably not.

“I don’t think so,” he said. “I think I’m getting better as a hitter.”

The usual scenario is that a change in leagues is quickly followed by an adjustment phase. McGriff’s adjustment period has consisted of learning which San Diego restaurants are recommended.

“A fastball is a fastball, a curve is a curve,” he said. “They don’t throw different kinds of fastballs in the National League than they do in the American League. If you have good mechanics, you’re going to hit. If you have bad mechanics, you’re not. It doesn’t matter if you’re playing in Japan.”

The two homers he hit Thursday--off Mulholland in the fourth and off Mitch Williams in the ninth--came on fastballs.

“My goal is always to have the same stance, the same everything, for the whole year,” he said. “Every day, I’m always working on that.”

McGriff’s four RBI increased his total to 21, tying him with Kevin Mitchell and George Bell for fourth in the NL. He leads the league in total bases (64) and on-base percentage (.455), is tied with Tony Gwynn for the NL lead in hits (37), is second in the NL slugging percentage (.627) and is third in home runs.

His 14-game hitting streak is the longest for the Padres since Roberto Alomar hit in 17 consecutive games in 1989.

The secrets? McGriff said he is seeing the ball well and, among other things, he talked of distributing his weight evenly.

He was referring to his hitting, not his baserunning.