A Rose Is a Rose : Rockies’ Bates Tries to Match Nickname

Mickey Mantle’s home-run trot eventually led him back to the dugout, where he plopped down on the bench next to Whitey Ford.

“You see Charlie Hustle out there?” Ford asked, pointing to the young outfielder who had tried to scale the outfield fence in a valiant-but-vain effort during spring training to catch the ball that landed 10 rows back.

The nickname stuck, of course.

Jason Bates won’t mind if his new nickname sticks. Colorado Rockies pitcher Marvin Freeman calls the rookie second baseman, “Pete Rose, the sequel.”

“It’s the stance, from both sides of the plate, and he plays dirty,” Freeman said, referring to the soil on Bates’ uniform, not any mean- spiritedness.

It’s a nickname Bates will embrace and roll around the infield with.

“It pops up sometimes, mostly in fun,” Bates said, smiling. “I hope it has something to do with how hard I play.”

According to veteran shortstop Walt Weiss--who relishes his role as mentor for the 24-year-old former Esperanza High and Cypress College standout--it has everything to do with it.

“I love the way he plays,” Weiss said before a recent game against the Padres at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium. “He’s really a scrappy kid, a Pete Rose-type player. He plays the game right, the way it’s supposed to be played, and you just don’t see that very much with young kids coming up now.”

Manager Don Baylor has had his eye on Bates for a couple of years. Bates led the Pacific Coast League by being hit by a pitch 10 times in 1993. Baylor holds the major league career mark; he was hit 267 times.

“These days,” Baylor says with disdain, “most guys try to get out of the way.”

Not everyone is ecstatic about Bates’ gung-ho, pedal-to-the-metal style, however. Just ask Shawon Dunston. Bates was caught stealing recently, which didn’t bother the Cub shortstop. But Dunston had to make the tag and he didn’t find it to be a pleasant experience.

Dunston slapped Bates’ helmet off his head after the play, both benches emptied and Dunston was ejected.

“It was just a bad situation,” Bates said, wide-eyed in innocence. “The ball came into me, I slid in hard, but my spikes were down, my head was down. It was just two bodies coming hard at each other.

“I guess he thought I was going after him and he didn’t like it. It all sort of happened in one motion. I didn’t even realize my helmet was gone until I got back to the dugout.”

*

He says he’s on the fast track and whether he’s sprinting toward second, chasing a pop fly into right or pursuing his goals in baseball, Jason Bates knows only one gear. And the tachometer is permanently in the red.

Selected by the Rockies in the seventh round of the 1992 draft after his senior year at Arizona, Bates played a season of rookie-league ball at Bend, Ore. Injuries to two Colorado infielders presented an opportunity for Bates to play with the major leaguers during spring training the next season.

He hit .305 in the spring and was leap-frogged into triple-A.

“That was a huge turning point in my career,” he said. “There are a lot of guys with the talent to play in the big leagues who just never have the chance. I was destined for A-ball and ended up in triple-A. And that was the beginning of the fast track.”

After two seasons with the Colorado Springs Sky Sox, Bates has made the hurdle into the big leagues. He thought he might get to pinch-hit every once in awhile and maybe sneak in an occasional start when somebody pulled a muscle or needed a day off.

But, hey, he’s on the expressway, remember?

All of sudden, Jason Bates is the Rockies’ starting second baseman. All of sudden, he doesn’t even need to look at the lineup card anymore. All of a sudden, he’s a mainstay and, get this, an offensive force on team that includes Dante Bichette, Larry Walker, Vinny Castilla and Andres Galarraga.

“Really, it’s been a dream come true,” said Bates, who has played in all but four of Colorado’s games this year. “During the off-season, I worked at shortstop, third and second, all three, because that was my expectation, to be a utility player, and I wanted to be as versatile as possible.

“Then Harold [Reynolds] left and I got the opportunity to play.”

Never one to approach a situation cautiously, Bates took a running, headlong dive into his new role. And he came up swinging, too. He had at least one hit in each of his first 10 starts--including four home runs--and was hitting .348.

Lately, he has come back to the reality of major league pitching--a recent three-game series against Atlanta and what may be baseball’s best staff hammered it home--but his numbers are solid: a .279 average, nine doubles, six homers, 23 runs scored and 25 runs batted in.

“The fast start helped out with my confidence and it’s really made it fun,” he said. “Every day has been exciting, from the first day when Dante hit that one to beat the Mets in the 14th inning until now.

“I’ve struggled a little lately, but I’m still keeping my head above water. It seems like I’ve been able to go one for four or so and mix in a walk or two, even on the bad days.”

Baylor says Bates’ early offense is much more than just a rookie flash, it can be the springboard to a solid first year and a long career in the majors.

“A start like that can be incredibly helpful for a young player,” he said. “When you scuffle early, you just have so far to come. If you start out at .180, .190, it takes a long time to get it back up and you’re battling all sorts of mind games.

“But Jason’s average has ranged from .280 to .300 all year and for a rookie to come in and do what he’s done, to be thrown into it from day one and not know anything about the pitchers, it’s really pretty remarkable.”

*

This early success cannot be attributed to just enthusiasm, or attitude, or even luck. And he swears he hasn’t sold his soul to anyone.

More likely, Bates has been a quick hitter because he’s a quick study.

“I’ve been asking a ton of questions,” he said. “How else do you learn? Walt and I talk about everything, defense, hitting, baseball in general. And I go to Dante and Larry Walker about pitchers. You know, ‘What’s this guy got? What’s his out pitch?’

“I’ve tried to be a sponge.”

Bates isn’t the first rookie who has listened, but there is an integral next step that makes a speedy maturation possible. He has been able to sop it up and then squeeze it back out at the right times.

“He’s not at all stubborn and that helps,” Baylor said. “Still, he’s trying to absorb so much in a short period of time. Walt’s talking to him about a play, I’m grabbing him to tell him what to look for at the plate. It’s not easy.”

Bates has managed to keep from being overwhelmed by maintaining his focus on the task at hand. He washes the stars from his eyes with sweat.

“The kid’s awesome, very polished for a rookie,” Bichette said. “He’s just locked in. Watch him take batting practice. He’s working on something with every swing. A lot of young players, and I was this way, are more into just hitting the ball out of the park in BP.

“But he’s got a plan and he really works at it.”

Nobody’s predicting Bates is the second coming of Pete Rose--not in terms of the record books, anyway--and he’s the first to admit the fast track is also a long road.

After a high school, college and minor league career at shortstop, he knows he has plenty to learn about the intricacies of playing second, for instance.

“It’s different, but I’m loving second now,” he said. “That’s where I think, and hope, my future will be. And I couldn’t have asked for a better situation while breaking into the big leagues than having a guy like Walt across the bag.”

And there are some things that seem to only come with time. Patience, for instance.

“Like all young players, he doesn’t like to take a strike,” Baylor said. “You have to keep reminding them there’s 500 or so plate appearances. Think on that scale.

“He’s also feeling for the ball from the right side, now, satisfied just to make contact. But basically, he’s done a tremendous job.”

Bates is trying very hard not to be impressed. He’s listed in the Colorado media guide at 5 feet 11, 170 pounds, but is probably closer to 5-9 and 150. He doesn’t look like a power hitter and certainly doesn’t want to think like one.

“If I hit a couple of home runs, that’s when I get screwed up,” he said. “All of sudden, my swing starts getting big.”

He has managed to keep his swing--and his ego--small so far, and that has helped keep him from spinning off the fast track. Only late at night, when he’s alone with his thoughts, does he allow himself a moment’s satisfaction.

“It’s really nice to go home, lie in bed and kind of reflect, just let everything soak in,” he said. “Yeah, it has been great. And I’ve enjoyed every minute of it.”