The Newest Killer B

Lance Berkman was no different from any other first-time All-Star. He was wide-eyed and a little nervous simply walking into the locker room.

The Houston Astros’ left fielder adjusted quickly, as he’s done on the field all season.

Besides, his All-Star teammates were just as curious about how a guy in his first full season in the majors could be leading the league in hitting with a .365 average and a 21-game hitting streak at the break.

“At first, you feel like you don’t belong when you see all these guys who have been there before,” Berkman said. “Then, you see some of the guys and start talking, and it’s just like our clubhouse.”

Berkman has been getting a lot of attention this season since he’s joined Craig Biggio and Jeff Bagwell as the “Killer Bs,” the hitting trio that originally included former outfielder Derek Bell.

With little minor-league experience after a stellar college career at Rice, Berkman fought his way into the Astros’ crowded outfield this season, starting at all three positions.

He and Moises Alou have been among the league leaders in hitting all season. At the All-Star break, they were 1-2 in the NL. Berkman also has given the Astros a switch-hitter in the cleanup position.

Berkman has cooled off since the start of the second half, but he’s still among the league leaders in hitting and appears headed for a long major league career.

San Diego outfielder Tony Gwynn sought out Berkman at the All-Star game to chat about hitting.

“I had a lot of questions for him, and he gave all the right answers,” Gwynn said.

Biggio also likes what he sees.

“He’s just having one of those years you just sit back and enjoy watching,” Biggio said. “Every now and then guys have those. They are the kind of years where everything just goes right.

“You just pinch yourself and sit back and enjoy it.”

Berkman is quick to point out his brief span of success.

“Certainly, if they’d said you’d be hitting .365 with 25 home runs at the All-Star break, I’d say, ‘Yeah, I’ll take that,”’ Berkman said. “It’s something that’s probably beyond where I’d expect to be. But it’s just half a season. It’s not how you start but how you finish.”

While not putting down his success, Berkman recognizes a key to any big year is getting some breaks.

“The years you hit for a higher average are the years you get more of those dying quails and ground balls with eyes, that sort of thing,” Berkman said. “I got more than my share of those in the first half.”

Berkman was Houston’s first-round pick (16th overall) in the 1997 draft. After 2 1/2 seasons in the minors, he debuted in the majors, playing 34 games with the Astros in 1999.

He started the 2000 season at Triple-A New Orleans, then hit .297 in 114 games with the Astros. Berkman won a starting spot this season and has played mostly in left field.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a young player play this well,” Bagwell said. “The first 3 1/2 months of the season he has just been dominating. It’s a pleasure to watch.”

Berkman said he hasn’t achieved the confidence level he had in his senior year at Rice.

“Every time I go up there now, I feel like I’m fighting for my life,” Berkman said. “A lot of times I go up there and feel I have no chance at all, and somehow a guy throws a pitch and you happen to run into it and you go, ‘Wow, how did that happen?”’

Friends and fans seeing Berkman’s rise to the majors expected it. Most just didn’t think it would be so fast, including Wayne Graham, Berkman’s coach at Rice.

“I thought he would make it and he did, but I’m surprised he came on so rapidly,” Graham said. “He came to us with a great swing. He wasn’t drafted out of high school, but you can never judge a guy’s work ethic. He’s had a great work ethic.”

Graham pointed to a time early in Berkman’s college career when his attention to work got better.

During practice, Berkman made a high throw to second on a double play attempt. Thinking he’d overthrown, he didn’t notice when the second baseman leaped, got the ball and fired it back, hitting Berkman.

“We talked about commitment early in his career, and he was much more attentive after that,” Graham said.