Word: pitcherful
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...back to the rocky fields of San Pedro de Macoris, a hardscrabble town in the Dominican Republic where, as a teenager, he had first hurled fastballs and curves to Guerrero. Both Andujar, 32, and Guerrero, 29, are the sons of sugarmill workers, and there was little money. But, the pitcher recalls, "we found a rubber ball and a piece of wood for a bat and played with that." Both were signed up by major league scouts...
...number of outstanding Dominican players--including future Hall of Fame Pitcher Juan Marichal, Rico Carty and the three Alou brothers, Felipe, Jesus and Matty--went off to the U.S. and major league success. Impressed, the Dominican government built three professional-quality parks on the island, one of them in San Pedro. Today the town draws youngsters from other communities who move there to play on San Pedro's 200 teams...
Back on the dusty streets where horse-drawn carts roll alongside the occasional Mercedes, other boys hope to make it to the big leagues, and those who have are often there to help. "I wanted to be just like Rico Carty," says Cleveland Pitcher Ramon Romero. "Maybe someday I'll be someone's hero." Mindful of his own debt, Oakland's Griffin supplies uniforms, bats and balls to a San Pedro sugar-mill team called, appropriately enough, Estrellas de Griffin. Andujar spends much of the off-season coaching teenage players there. Says he: "I could go to the beach...
...always, reassuring to take a look at the league leaders which shows that the millions they earn are not going to waste. For example, it should come as no surprise that Tim Birtsas of the Oakland A's with his overpowering 8-2 record is the leading A.I. pitcher. Or it is any surprise that some guy named Franco of the Cincinnati Reds is the leading N.I. hurler...
...Dodgers' begins. In the top of the ninth, Valenzuela also loads the bases with no outs. But they are emptied by singles that include Gooden's third of the game. The final score is 4-1. "That's the first time in my career that I ever saw a pitcher fire up the offense," muses Hernandez afterward. He refers to Gooden's pitching, not his hitting. "Oh, I love to hit," Gooden says. "When the Mets drafted me as a pitcher, I was upset. The Pirates had timed me running the bases, the Angels too. Why couldn...