After 2 Seasons, Ripken Finds Patience Has Rewards
Cal Ripken says he doesn't particularly want to talk about his torrid spring training, lest he jinx himself and ensure something like a zero-for-20 beginning to a most eagerly awaited regular season.</br></br>But then he flashes an easy smile and consents, and what follows is the kind of analysis that does not bode well for American League pitchers. Ripken, who's hardly one for self-promotion, won't say it, but it's clear that the 30-year-old shortstop believes he has a banner season ahead of him. For perhaps the first time in 2 1/2 years, Cal Ripken is unburdened.</br></br>Glenn Davis is here and Dwight Evans is here, and a lineup in which Ripken is sandwiched between Randy Milligan and that pair of slugging newcomers seems certain to assure more fastballs in more hittable locations than the eight-time all-star has seen in recent seasons. Ripken said today he no longer feels as if he has to shoulder the entire offensive burden for the Orioles, something he concedes he often has attempted to do since Eddie Murray was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers following the 1988 season.</br></br>Ripken has resolved to take more pitches, and he's adamant about forcing pitchers to throw him strikes before he removes the bat from his shoulder. And with Davis - who had 164 home runs over the past six seasons in Houston - in the on-deck circle, pitchers may have little choice but to oblige.</br></br>"Last year Cal felt like he had to carry the entire load," Orioles Manager Frank Robinson said. "He was not patient at the plate. He expanded the strike zone, swung at pitches he probably shouldn't have.