BASEBALL LIFER HAS NOTHING BUT PRAISE FOR TODAY'S BEST

(copy of 1995 Chicago Tribune article by Jerome Holtzman)
Whitey Lockman, the only player to hit a home run in his first and last major-league at-bat, is at Comiskey Park this weekend. No one has touched more bases. He had a 15-year playing career, managed the Cubs for 2 1/2 seasons in the early 70s, was a big-league coach, managed in the minors, was a farm director and for the last 20 years has been a special assignment scout. He is currently employed by the Florida Marlins.

This is his 50th season in the big leagues. I know of no one who would be a better judge in the continuing controversy comparing the moderns against the ancients. And so I asked for his thoughts. For example, does outfielder Ken Griffey Jr., the Seattle star, rank with Willie Mays "Definitely."

Could he elaborate?

"I don't think Griffey is going to be better than Willie. But he does everything Willie did--except one thing. I played with Mays for seven years and coached with him four years--11 years during his best years. He was special because he caught so many base hits. He had a great jump, an instinctive move to the ball. It almost seemed he was moving before the ball was hit. I haven't seen Griffey do that as much, but I've seen him make a lot of great catches.

"Griffey, if he can stay healthy and has a long career, when he gets to 600 home runs, yes, he'll be as good as Mays. Griffey also matches up with Mickey Mantle. But Mantle does have an edge. He was the best switch-hitter of all time and he ran better."

There has been a lot of talk here and elsewhere about Frank Thomas, the White Sox slugger. Have you ever seen a more productive hitter?

"First, I want to say today's players--across the board--are better. They're bigger, stronger and faster. They hit the ball farther and run faster. There always have been outstanding players, and there always will be.

"Frank Thomas, if he played in the '40s and '50s, would be a Hall-of-Famer. He's up there with the best of all time. He's very strong, and he has a great knowledge of the strike zone. He's a very impressive hitter.

"Barry Bonds and Griffey would be superstars, too, just as they are today. I think Bonds and Griffey would have had a better chance to break Babe Ruth's home run record than Roger Maris. Maybe Frank Thomas, too. They're better hitters than Maris."

And I assume you will agree that it's tougher to hit .320 today than 40 or 50 years ago?

"Absolutely. When I played and the game went into the eighth inning we were batting against a tired starter. The biggest change has been in the relief pitching. Today, you've got closers who come in in the ninth and pitch one inning. And there are setup guys who work the seventh and eighth. And some of those setup pitchers are really tough. In the eighth or ninth inning, you're not going to get a hit off them. They take away your last at-bat."

The ballparks, especially in the National League, were smaller when you played. Three or four of them were bandboxes. This made it easier for the hitters. But what about the pitchers. Did you have anyone comparable to Greg Maddux?

"Yes, Warren Spahn. He won something like 360 games. And there was Robin Roberts and Bob Gibson. If I had to run a pitcher out there for one game, it would be Gibson--ahead of Nolan Ryan and Roger Clemens.

"The big difference today is the split-finger. Once in a while we saw a forkball. The split-finger is the forkball, thrown harder. It's given the pitchers an extra pitch. If Bob Feller had a split-finger to go with all his other stuff, he would have won 40."

There is another question that really hasn't been answered--hasn't expansion weakened the pitching?

"Oh, man, get a pencil and paper. There used to be 16 teams, now there are 28. Do an exercise and start eliminating 12 shortstops, 12 first basemen, 12 second basemen and 120 pitchers and see what you'd have left. There are some pretty good players who wouldn't survive."

In other words there are more good players at the top?

"Many more."

I've seen a lot of old movies and Christy Mathewson, the "Great Matty," pitched flat-footed. Would he big a winner today?"

"No."

And Babe Ruth? Sometimes he would take two or three steps toward the mound as the pitch was coming in. Could he do that today?

"He'd better not. He'd get killed. The ball would whiz right by him."

What about Ty Cobb? There was a time when everyone thought his one-season record of 96 stolen bases would never be surpassed. Lou Brock and Rickey Henderson have broken Cobb's record. Was Cobb the better base-stealer?

"No. I didn't see Cobb, but I guarantee you the pitchers in his era weren't as good at holding runners on as they are today."

Thank you Mr. Lockman, for your expertise. Is there anything we can do for you?

"Yes, the Marlins need more good players