University of North Carolina Athletics
B.J. Surhoff Makes Baseball Fun Again
June 24, 1999 | Baseball
June 24, 1999
By Dick Heller
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
BALTIMORE - No matter whether the Baltimore Orioles are winning or losing, B.J. Surhoff is fun to watch.
That's a quality too often missing nowadays in pro sports -- fun. Take the Orioles. Cal Ripken displays no emotion on the ballfield; Albert Belle shows too much off it. Mike Mussina pitches with studied arrogance. Will Clark acts madder than any hatter you ever saw.
But B.J. Surhoff is fun to watch.
Not that he tells jokes or juggles between innings. He's fun to watch because everything he feels is writ large across his mug. At the plate, he scowls at his bat, seems about to burst into tears if he doesn't clobber a pitch he thinks he should, and steps back into the batter's box after getting each sign as though it were the last place in the world he wanted to be.
Surhoff also is fun to watch because he's a throwback to ballplayers of yore who hustled every millisecond. Enos Slaughter and Pete Rose would love this guy. Whether stretching a hit, chasing down drives in left field or throwing out runners, Surhoff is a delight. He's the sort of player who makes baseball fun for others, if not necessarily for himself.
Says shortstop Mike Bordick, who has played with or against Surhoff for nearly a decade: "He's a player other guys try to emulate [or should]. He's a great professional, the kind of guy you win pennants with."
And in his 13th major league season, Surhoff is better than ever at 34. Declining to escape the Kingdom of Angelos along with Roberto Alomar, Rafael Palmeiro and Eric Davis after last season, he signed a three-year contract with an option for a fourth. So far, that's about the best money the Orioles have spent for 1999.
Before last night's game with Boston, Surhoff was among the American League leaders in assorted and sundry categories. His .336 batting average was seventh, his 98 hits third, his 16 home runs tied for eighth, his 51 RBI ninth and his 165 total bases fourth. During a 21-game hitting streak that ended Tuesday night, Surhoff batted .358. Typically, he had a sacrifice fly in a 5-3 victory although going hitless.
Want more? Surhoff was the only AL left fielder without an error and led the league in total chances with 148. And, oh yes, his 230 consecutive games made him the major league leader in that Ripken-dominated department.
Statistics can be, and often are, overdone in baseball, but this batch adds up to one undeniable fact: William James Surhoff is having what longtime Orioles broadcaster Chuck Thompson would call a whale of a year. Although it's uncertain whether the O's can get back into contention after their dismal start, there's no question that Surhoff is a winner -- except, perhaps, at talking about himself.
Has he done anything different this season that might explain why his batting average was up 59 points from his lifetime average?
"No, not really."
Has he shouldered more of a leadership role, especially when Orioles icon Cal Ripken was on the disabled list for three weeks?
"No, I've been about the same."
Is he aware that he wears his emotions all over his body, not to mention on his sleeve?
"Some guys show it more than others. Actually, I'm a lot more subdued than I used to be. I've worked on that, because I didn't want how I feel to affect my game."
Is he doing anything different to guard against the second-half offensive dropoffs he has experienced in recent seasons? (From 1994-98, he averaged .297, nine homers and 42 RBI before the All-Star break, compared with .283, seven and 29 after.)
"Nope. Everybody is going to have a lull, days when he doesn't play as well. You just hope you can minimize them."
Thanks a lot, Beej. Maybe you ought to just let your performance speak for you.
When Bordick says Surhoff is a great athlete, he isn't fooling. He was a catcher at the University of North Carolina and for his first six seasons with Milwaukee. Then after the Brewers needed to find a place for catcher Dave Nilsson in 1993, Surhoff put in time at third base and in the outfield. One year he played five positions (presumably not at the same time) and probably would have pitched if skipper Phil Garner had asked nicely.
Since signing with the Orioles in December 1995, Surhoff has adjusted his offensive game nicely to Camden Yards' cozy confines. He has 77 homers in three-plus seasons with the O's after whacking just 57 in nine years with the Brewers.
"Nobody works harder than he does, nobody," Orioles manager Ray Miller said earlier this season. "He's having a great year, and before it's all over, people are going to realize it."
Not only that, he's fun to watch, too.
