If You Don’t Succeed at First, Forget Dodgers

It is an article of faith in baseball that the corridor to success begins with the catcher’s box, continues through the mound, the middle of the infield and ends with the center fielder. The so-called “Pennant Line.”

OK. But what about the best team ever to play the game, the 1927 Yankees? 110 victories, and a then-record 975 runs scored.

Their pennant line--catchers Pat Collins and Johnny Grabowski, middle infielders Mark Keonig and Tony Lazzeri, center fielder Earle Combs, pitchers Waite Hoyt, Cy Moore, Herb Pennock--was intact. But what about the “line” extending through first base (Lou Gehrig) out in to right field (Babe Ruth)? Might be a pennant or two right there.

The Dodgers’ success over the years might be ascribable to the line down the middle of the field. But what the Dodgers have always had in their salad years was a solid performer at first base. The pennant line frequently took a detour to first.

Eric Karros, who anchors the position for the present-day Dodgers, is following in some distinguished company. Some of the names are now forgotten, but Dodger success stories probably began with a Dolph Camilli on first base. Dolph was a steady .280-.290 hitter who drove in 100 runs, scored 90 and hit 25-28 home runs a year (he led the league with 34 in 1941).

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After Dolph came Gil Hodges. Gil hit 42 home runs one year and 30-something most others. He drove is more than 100 runs seven years in a row, batted over .300 several times and around .280 the rest of the time.

The steady Ron Fairly replaced Hodges and was followed by the classy, slick-fielding Wes Parker. Then Steve Garvey came along. Garvey’s specialty was the 200-hit season, and he had six of them from 1974 through 1980. He also hit homers--33 one year, 28 another.

Now, it’s Karros’ turn. He has a role to fill like a man doing a remake of “The Count Of Monte Cristo.”

First basemen are as taken for granted as the ground crew. It is the “quiet” position. A workhorse position. First-basemen are seldom controversy-makers, rarely temperamental, divisive, loud or even boastful. They’re too busy. They have to make 10-15 putouts a game, hold the baserunners. They are often the first one out to the mound when the pitcher runs into trouble. They are the team’s calming influence. A first baseman is not excitable, gaudy, giddy, even flamboyant. Check how many times the first baseman is captain.

They have to be able to hit with power. Any other infield position, it’s OK to produce singles, hit behind the runners, keep the rally going. First-sackers are the rally. First-sackers swing from the end of the bat. No one wants a choke hitter on first. A first baseman is never a No. 2 hitter or even a No. 7 or 8 hitter. A first baseman is in the wheelhouse--cleanup hitter or No. 5 or No. 3. He is not a table-setter, he’s the table-cleaner. His average is not so important as his RBI statistic.

Eric Karros fills all the requirements. For some reason, his stock-in-trade has been the two-base hit. He had more than 40 of them in his college career, a Pacific 10 record. When he got in organized baseball, he continued to specialize. He had 40 in his first full season in organized ball at Bakersfield in 1988 and 45 the next. His first major league hit was a two-bagger. His first major league season he had 30, and he has hit more than 20 every year in the big leagues. He has 13 so far this year. He also hits homers--20 in his first full season with the Dodgers. He has 14 this year.

First basemen are made, not born. The position sort of finds them. Gehrig was a second baseman in the minor leagues. Garvey was a third baseman--until the customers behind the first base dugout began to show up in hard hats.

Karros was a third baseman too. If he was anything.

He didn’t even get a scholarship to UCLA. He was a “walk-on.” He just showed up one day with a glove and cleats, both his own. He ended up leading the league with .415 average and ended up with the school’s second-best batting average, .357. The Dodgers drafted him in the sixth round.

“He’s as self-made as Rockefeller, Donald Trump or any of them millionaires,” trumpets his manager, Tom Lasorda. “God didn’t make him a ballplayer, he did!”

“I must of thrown him a million curveballs!” shouts Lasorda. “He’d stand out there till his hands would bleed! Look what he went through to get to the big leagues! He didn’t even get a scholarship at UCLA. We sent him down to Venezuela one winter, and he got released. Then we had a meeting two years ago and we were going to send him down to the minors and I said ‘Hey! Wait a minute! Anybody who works this hard stays on my ballclub!’ ”

Karros stayed. And became rookie of the year. First basemen have to have perseverance too. It’s no place for prima donnas.

Naturally, his baseball idol is Pete Rose. Rose became the greatest hitter in all the annals of baseball probably as much through sheer enthusiasm as native talent. It’s interesting Rose is second on the all-time doubles list with 746 (Tris Speaker is first with 793).

Karros is not an overachiever. He is more like an achiever--ability and results come out even. “Am I going to hit .400?” he asks. “No. Am I going to hit .330? Probably not. Get 200 hits a year like Garvey? Unlikely.”

What he will do is probably be the Dodger first baseman well into the 21st Century. The other night, as the Giants came into Dodger Stadium to start the season’s fights in the pit, the Dodgers hit five home runs. Karros hit two of them. And the second one won the ballgame.

That’s what Dodger first basemen do. It’s not a position, it’s a tradition.