A Second-Guesser’s Delight

Here comes another pitch, high and outside. Marquis Grissom takes a mighty cut and misses. Strike three. The Cleveland Indians fans groan. Oh, what they would do to have Kenny Lofton back.

Hundreds of miles away in Atlanta, Lofton takes off at the crack of the bat. Only he’s going the wrong way. Legs churning, cap aflutter, he wheels around and tries to catch up, but the ball falls in for a hit. Ugggh, the Atlanta faithful grumble. Boy, do we miss Marquis.

Cleveland and Atlanta rocked baseball at the end of spring training with a rare swap of All-Stars between contending teams. Five months later, fickle fans on both sides wish they could undo the deal.

The Braves sent Grissom and David Justice to Cleveland for Lofton and pitcher Alan Embree in a trade that satisfied business concerns all around. Without Justice’s $12.5 million salary to worry about, Atlanta could sign pitchers Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine to long-term deals. And Cleveland didn’t have to worry about losing Lofton to free agency after the season and getting nothing in return.

It was a trade that made sense for both teams, one that hasn’t knocked either one out of playoff contention. That doesn’t mean there are no second thoughts.

“We need a center fielder and a leadoff hitter in this town who is not Marquis Grissom,” Cleveland radio host Kevin Keane said in a diatribe typical of the town’s “Bring Back Kenny” rhetoric. “I watch Marquis Grissom every day, and he frustrates the heck out of me.”

If such critics could only take in a game at Turner Field, where Lofton isn’t exactly Mr. Popularity, either.

Lofton won four straight Gold Gloves and five consecutive stolen-base titles in the American League, where he was known as a thrilling playmaker with a knack for spectacular, game-saving catches. He would save three runs by snaring a home-run ball at the fence, then walk, steal second and third and score on a wild pitch the next inning. One of Lofton’s trademark plays was scoring from second base--that’s right, second--on a sacrifice fly.

But his first year in Atlanta has been marred by injuries. He missed nearly two months with a pulled hamstring and has been hampered by a groin injury most of the year. Though batting above .340, Lofton had only 21 stolen bases heading into the weekend and had been caught 20 times.

In six previous seasons, Lofton had 327 steals in 398 tries (82 percent). He averaged 65 steals a year with the Indians.

“If we get him healthy and get him going full speed in September, I think all the fans are going to say, ‘Geez, it’s a great offensive weapon to have. I’m glad we got him,”’ Braves general manager John Schuerholz said.

They’re not sold yet. Unable to use raw speed to cancel out mistakes in center field, Lofton is considered a step below his Braves predecessors--Grissom and Otis Nixon.

“Sometimes exciting players will make a mistake here and there,” said Indians general manager John Hart, amazed that anyone could complain about Lofton’s defense. “But for every mistake Kenny made, he’d do four or five good things for you. We loved the guy when he was here.”

Lofton did not take kindly to the assertion that he hasn’t been the impact-player folks in Atlanta expected.

“I look at it as Kenny Lofton is doing what he does,” he said. “That’s impact enough. How else people want to look at it, that’s their problem.”

In Cleveland, Grissom has shown tremendous instincts and ability in center field, gliding effortlessly under fly balls that Lofton might have misjudged. But not everyone sees it that way. Each time Grissom goes to the fence and comes up empty, people wonder, “Would Kenny have caught that?”

Plus, Grissom has been doomed to low public opinion by a sub-par offensive season. He has batted .250-ish most of the year and was dropped from the leadoff spot--where Lofton thrived.

“I didn’t come here to try to be Kenny Lofton,” Grissom said. “I came here to try to be myself.”

Cleveland may yet glimpse Grissom’s prowess at the plate. Known for playing better when games matter most, Grissom is batting close to .400 in the past two weeks, raising his batting average into the respectable .260s. He is a career .404 hitter in the World Series.

And while Lofton can be aloof and prickly at times, Grissom has remained a steady influence in the clubhouse--even during slumps.

“I’m not going to be a problem on this team,” Grissom said. “I owe too much to my teammates for that.”

The player who may tilt the trade in Cleveland’s favor is Justice, who is having the best season of his eight-year career. The 31-year-old outfielder is closing in on his second 40-homer season and is contending for the AL batting title after hitting .385 in August with 11 homers.

“It didn’t matter what team I was traded to,” said Justice, who missed most of the 1996 season with a separated shoulder. “I just knew if I was healthy, I was going to have a great season.”

Who got the better deal? It might not be known for years. There are too many variables, including Embree’s potential as a fireballing setup man for the Braves in the playoffs.

And only Lofton knows how serious he was about leaving the Indians as a free agent. If he’d re-signed with Cleveland, the trade wouldn’t have happened.

“I didn’t want to make this trade,” said Hart, who signed Grissom and Justice through 2002 shortly after the deal.

Despite pleas from fans, it’s unlikely Cleveland will be able to sign Lofton this winter. They couldn’t afford him last spring, and probably can’t now.

After Maddux and Glavine joined John Smoltz and Denny Neagle in re-signing with Atlanta, the Braves might not have enough money for Lofton, either. But if he helps them win a second World Series then the Braves can call the trade a success.

While Atlanta has yet to embrace Lofton, Cleveland knows better than to doubt him.

“Once you’re out on the field, you just do what you have to do to help the team win,” Lofton said. “Everything else is in the past.”