University of North Carolina Athletics
Car-o-lines
June 22, 2000 | Baseball
June 22, 2000
By Rick Brewer
While it has gone unnoticed by many baseball fans, the Baltimore Orioles' B.J. Surhoff has been steadily improving his batting average in recent weeks.
Surhoff, the former North Carolina All-America, had been struggling at the plate much of the year after a fast start in the season's first couple of weeks. This had led to some concern among Oriole fans that their best player of a year ago might be slipping. But, actually, Surhoff was a notoriously slow starter during much of his career in Milwaukee who had made him the number one selection in the 1985 free agent draft. His fast start in Baltimore last year was actually unusual for him.
However, after seeing his batting average drop into the .230's just a few weeks ago, he's raised it to .272 heading into this weekend's series at Seattle and was riding a 15-game hitting streak. Over the last seven days he's been hitting at a torrid .414 clip.
Surhoff is one of the hardest workers in the game and one of the most knowledgeable players in baseball today. That's why his improvement at the plate in recent weeks has not been a major surprise.
One problem has been the fact the entire Oriole team has been struggling much of the year and has been constantly criticized for being "too old." In that atmosphere it was difficult for anyone to pull out of a slump.
But, a recent hot streak by Albert Belle and the continued surprising hitting of Mike Bordick and Delino DeShields have combined with improvement from Charles Johnson to give Baltimore a more potent lineup. That has helped Surhoff get better pitches to hit and he has taken advantage of those opportunities.
Despite his early-season slump, baseball people knew Surhoff's value to a team?his constant hustle, his hitting ability and his durability. He currently has the longest streak of consecutive games played (393) in the majors.
That's why his name has popped up in trade rumors with teams desperately in need of a quality leftfielder?the Yankees, Mets, Red Sox and Pirates, in particular. Being a lefthanded hitter has made him especially interesting to certain teams.
Last year he led the American League with 673 at-bats and was second in the league in base-hits with 207. He also tied for second in multi-hit games with 62.
In the five previous seasons he has had a combined batting average of .296. That was topped by a .320 mark in 1995, his last season in Milwaukee before he signed with Baltimore as a free agent. He hit .308 with the Orioles in 1999.
Such success has come as no surprise to those who watched him play at Carolina from 1983 to 1985. He still holds the school record for career batting average with a .392 mark. He slammed 32 home runs in 167 games for the Tar Heels and also stole 84 bases.
His 265 hits and the 84 stole bases are each the third most ever by a UNC player and the most by anyone who played just three years here.
Although Surhoff was the Tar Heels' regular catcher, he was versatile enough to play anywhere. In fact, he played every position but pitcher for Carolina in his three years here.
As a junior, he played the first 16 games of the year at shortstop while Walt Weiss, another future big league star, was recovering from an injury. He hit .388 and scored what was then a school-record 77 runs in just 58 games. Perhaps, the most amazing statistic, however, was the fact he only struck only five times in 267 plate appearances.
Following that season he was named the Athlete of the Year in the Atlantic Coast Conference and was chosen National Player of the Year in college baseball.
His selection as the number one player in the free agent draft that summer surprised no one who had seen him play at Carolina.
"I'm just glad I don't have to see him in that damn Carolina uniform anymore," said veteran Clemson Coach Bill Wilhelm at the time. "I've been around this league a lot of years, probably longer than anyone but (former Tar Heel Coach) Walt Rabb, and I've never seen a more complete player. When we talk about somebody that can hit, run and handle the glove, he's the best the ACC has ever seen."
Surhoff had been chosen the previous summer as one of the catchers on the U.S. Olympic Team for the Summer Games in Los Angeles. Last year he and Charles Johnson were named the two catchers on the all-time USA Baseball Team.
The star of that 1984 Olympic Team was supposed to be Cory Snyder. However, he was a disappointment in Los Angeles and, despite a huge buildup, never made it big with the Indians. Probably the USA Team's other biggest "name" player at the time was Oddibe McDowell, who also never lived up to his promise in the major leagues.
The biggest stars off that Olympic Team would be Surhoff, Mark McGwire, Barry Larkin and Will Clark.
John Marzano, Bobby Witt, Billy Swift and Carolina's Scott Bankhead all would have some success in the majors. But, John Hoover, Chris Gwynn, Shane Mack, Don August and Flavio Alfaro never produced professionally as had been anticipated.
After spending the early part of his big-league career behind the plate, Surhoff moved to third base and then the outfield to help keep his legs fresh. That move has paid off with a lengthy stay in the majors.
It's also been a successful stay. Now that he's shaken his early-season slump, that success is likely to continue. By the end of the year he should be near the .300 mark once again.
With a player who works like Surhoff, there should never have been any great concern about that.
