Hitchcock: The Vampires' Unsung Hero June 20, 2000
In the midst of one of the most horrendous overall team performances in EL history there shines the bright light of a budding yet overlooked All-Star. Stuck in the middle of New Orleans' rebuilding project, Vampires ace Sterling Hitchcock has seen his spotlight stolen. Not by any other member of the team, mind you, but by the front office. Vampires executives and the PR department have subconsciously drawn significant attention away from Hitchcock's career season and instead onto its of furious trading. Hitchcock, acquired in the offseason from Detroit via the Free Agent Plan, signed a multi-million dollar, multi-year contract and is expected to anchor the staff for the next 6 years. He is the highest paid pitcher in baseball at the moment which, admittedly, raised a few eyebrows and caused a few snickers among league owners.
But the critics have been silenced. Hitchcock has dominated EL and DL hitters and he has single-handedly kept a Vampires' staff alive that has seen Roger Clemens, Denny Neagle, Jaime Navarro, Tom Gordon and Kevin Millwood come and go. Rock steady in this maelstrom of pitching staff chaos remains Sterling who has been nothing short of 'sterling' himself. Despite a lack of run support which has seen his overall record creep to a meager 6-5, Hitchcock is clearly the most dominating and successful starting pitcher in the EL this season. Leading the league with 111 innings pitched, Hitchcock's ERA continues to drop, currently standing at an astounding 2.03. Opponents are hitting only .236 against him and he has moved into the Top 10 in strikeouts with 87. He has only walked 12 batters and 12 of his 15 starts have been "quality" starts. He has started every game he been called upon to do so.
Hitchcock remains upbeat, despite his team's struggles and exceedingly modest. "I just want to keep us moving in the right direction," he says, "I'm not disappointed at all that I haven't received much attention. I'm not a stats and records kind of guy. I want to win. If I'm chosen for the All-Star team it would certainly be an honor but I'd much rather see us playing in October."
When asked what he thought of his teams struggles, Sterling replied, "Well, when you makes as many changes as we have during one season you're bound to face adversity. Personally, I think the kids are coming along well. I just think it's extremely important for us to go into next season with the same basic guys, at least the starters. We need to play together awhile, gel and learn each other's tendencies. Getting Mac (Mike MacFarlane) in here will certainly help the young pitchers get their acts together."
Sterling's act is already together. Even if it is off-Broadway.
