His Move From Angels to Chicago Doesn’t Help Matters

It’s almost as if some Greater Baseball Being has put a hex on Chris Cron, who left the Angel organization in 1991, hoping to better his lot. Instead, he wound up in an equally suffocating situation with the Chicago White Sox.

Cron, 29, a first baseman who played at El Dorado High School and Santa Ana College, put up impressive numbers for several years in the Angel farm system.

He hit .251 with 14 homers and 84 runs batted in at Class-A Palm Springs in 1988 and .301 with 22 homers and 103 RBIs at double-A Midland, Tex., in 1989. He spent the next two seasons at triple-A Edmonton, batting .287 with 17 homers and 75 RBIs in an injury shortened 1990 and .293 with 22 homers and 91 RBIs in 1991.

But with Wally Joyner entrenched at first base for the Angels since 1986 and Lee Stevens waiting in the wings, Cron saw no room for career advancement. Believing Joyner would re-sign with the Angels, Cron turned down an offer to return to the team and asked for his release in November, 1991.

He saw an opportunity with the Chicago White Sox, who had question marks at first base (Frank Thomas was coming off shoulder surgery) and designated hitter (no outstanding prospects), and Cron signed with the team on Dec. 6.

Three days later, Joyner signed with Kansas City as a free agent. Stevens then flopped as Joyner’s 1992 replacement. Thomas, who spent most of 1991 as a DH, responded well to surgery and returned to first base, and a week before the 1992 season began, the White Sox traded for George Bell, who took over at DH.

Once again, Cron was in the wrong place at the wrong time. He spent the 1992 season with the White Sox’s triple-A team at Vancouver, batting .278 with 16 homers and 81 RBIs before being called up to Chicago in mid-September.

And this season, his prospects with the White Sox grew even dimmer. Bo Jackson has returned from hip-replacement surgery and is filling in at DH, and third baseman Robin Ventura has also spelled Thomas at first.

“Now, you look at the situation, and people say, ‘Why’d you leave the Angels?’ ” Cron said. “With Wally gone and Lee struggling, I could have had a chance there. Now, Frank and Robin have been awesome, George Bell is doing the job, Bo Jackson is healthy--the situation is bad for me to make the big leagues. I just have to keep putting up big numbers and hope someone notices.”

It’s hard to ignore the season Cron is having at triple-A Nashville. He’s off to one of his best starts ever, batting .287 with 11 homers and 34 RBIs, doing everything he can to make it to the major leagues.

“I’m just hitting mistakes and hitting them for home runs,” Cron said. “It’s unexplainable. I never try to hit home runs, but you’re going to get your share of pitches to hit.”

Cron thinks too many of those have been triple-A pitches. He has only two hits in 12 major league at-bats and is beginning to wonder what is keeping him from the big leagues.

“If you find out, I wish you would tell me,” said Cron, a 6-foot-2, 207-pound right-hander. “I don’t run very well, but how many first basemen do? I feel I know the game pretty well. I just need an opportunity to play, and I’ve never had that.

“I have 41 days of major league service and only two hits. A legitimate chance would be 150 at-bats in a row, where you can get on a roll or something.”

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Slump-buster: Marty Cordova, who was named California League most valuable player after batting .341 with 28 home runs and 131 RBIs at Class-A Visalia last season, is putting up big numbers again for the Minnesota Twins’ double-A team at Nashville.

But it took a while. Cordova, who played outfield at OCC in 1989, went homerless and was batting .150 after 15 games but has since boosted his average to .267 with eight homers and 31 RBIs in 55 games.

“I was trying to keep up with (Nashville first baseman) Steve Dunn, who had four homers in the first nine games,” Cordova said. “They were pitching me away and I was striking out and popping up a lot because I tried to hit home runs. I just went back to what I did last year--hit up the middle and go to right field more. If I try to pull the ball, I won’t hit well.”

Cordova hit terribly in his first three injury-plagued pro seasons--a combined .231 with 22 homers and 73 RBIs at the Class-A level--but he dedicated himself to an off-season weight and conditioning program in the winter of 1991-92 and got immediate results.

He won the 1992 Twins’ minor league player of the year award, was rated the fifth-best prospect in the organization and earned a spot on Minnesota’s 40-man major league roster this season.

“They like me a lot and I’m happy where I’m at,” Cordova, 23, said. “I hope I have a chance to go up to the big league team in September. That’s my goal now.”

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Roomies: Cron and Cordova are playing on a Greer Stadium field that is getting plenty of use this summer. The triple-A Nashville Sounds (White Sox) and double-A Nashville Xpress (Twins) are sharing the stadium and are believed to be the first co-tenants in minor league history.

The Sounds have played in Nashville for many years, but when Charlotte Xpress owner George Shin’s team was left homeless in March, he worked out a deal with Nashville to use Greer Stadium when the Sounds were on the road.

Shin’s planned move to New Orleans was overruled when the triple-A Denver Zephyrs, who had first choice, decided to move to New Orleans to make way for the expansion Colorado Rockies.

The teams are sharing more than a home field. One front-office staff is handling both teams, creating a heavy workload.

“There are nine days in the whole season when we don’t have a game here, and we’ve used five already,” said Todd Prenger, a public relations intern from Bowling Green University. “I came down to see if this is what I wanted to do, but I wasn’t quite expecting this much.”