The Eighth Tribe, 1975 (2. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1975-09-01 / 9. szám
Szeptember, 1975 THE EIGHTH TRIBE Page 7 Baseball’s Newest Star: AL HRABOSKY St. Louis’ raving relief pitcher, A1 Hrabosky, known as the Mad Hungarian, smites opponents with his special pitch, a fastball with more than speed to recommend it. How Hrabosky really devastates batters is through his extra ingredient—hate. Yes, Hrabosky pitches hate. He pounds it down into a tight, hardcore ball, spins it off his glove, and lets it fly loose upon the world. Hrabosky hates the world. When he’s pitching, the Cardinal reliefer claims, “I get mad at the world. I’m throwing the ball at the world.” Hrabosky is mean and what feeds his meanness is his self-psyching technique. Up on the mound Hrabosky becomes transformed into a malevolent “Six Million Dollar Man.” First he steps off the mound and turns his back on the batter. Then he stares straight through the second baseman. To him the second baseman doesn’t exist; and who knows, with those yellowish venom eyes Hrabosky may disintegrate him before the end of the season. Next the Mad Hungarian stomps around, mutters to himself and begins his long think which drives batters up the fence. When Hrabosky is ready, and only when HE is ready, he clips back to the mound and flings his pitch. By this time the batter is usually so flustered that he completely misses the ball. Says teammate Ken Reitz, “A1 has been the most exciting man in baseball. .. he finally got everything together and lie’s got those batters all screwed up.” Besides the foot stomping and forehead furrowing, Hrabosky’s technique seems to involve a form of strong mind control. The twenty six year old’s killer glare and ferocious Fu Manchu are just props to enhance his demonic image. Actually thorough concentration is what Hrabosky is about. Hrabosky says about his technique, “It is positive thinking. I visualize myself throwing to a certain spot, then I see the batter swing and miss. I make it a personal battle between the two of us by thinking about something he’s done against my team.” Realizing his methods may be unconventional, Hrabosky declares that it is something he has to do. Disappointed by his performance the first half of last season, Hrabosky hit upon his self-psyching routine during 1974’s All-Star break. The left handed pitcher says, “I discovered that by stepping behind the mound, I would be distracting the hitter. He’d have to wait for me. If the batter stepped out of the box, I’d step off the rubber. And he’d still have to wait for me to pitch.” In this manner the Cardinal reliefer manages to put the hitter on the defensive rather than the pitcher. Undoubtedly Hrabosky’s psyching routine has sprouted controversy throughout the National League. In a game against Chicago last year, he infuriated both the crowd and the Cubs when Bill Madlock and he played step in-step away. First Hrabosky would step off the mound to meditate and Madlock would step in the batter’s box. Then Hrabosky would step on the mound and Madlock would step away from the batter’s box. After this hoofing had gone on several minutes, Cubs’ manager, Jim Marshall, became impatient and protested to the umpire. While Marshall, the umpire, and Madlock were gathered around homeplate, Hrabosky decided he was psyched enough and blasted his pitch at all three of them. This action touched off a reaction comparable to the townspeople’s torch-bearing vengeance against Frankenstein. Perhaps antics such as these is the reason Walter Alston, manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers, bypassed Hrabosky as a pitcher for the National League All-Star team this year. Certainly Hrabosky’s record as a relief pitcher is impressive. He leads the National League with a .818 winning percentage and 14 saves. In 43 appearances totaling 57 innings, he struck out 45 and walked 17. When the National League named Hrabosky as Pitcher for the Month of July, he boasted a 9-2 record and a 1.42 earned run average. For July his record was 6-0 with a 0.43 ERA, appearing in 13 games during the month.
