As a leadoff guy, I have to be that way. For my kind of game, I need my legs to be strong. In Milwaukee we never had a chance. He also upgraded St. Louis's infield defense. With two outs in the bottom of the ninth in a World Series game, I want the ball hit to him.
Pitch counts go up, and that affects the pitcher.
I played with probably the best leadoff hitter ever, in Rickey Henderson. For more Inside Baseball see this week's issue of Sports Illustrated, on newsstands Wednesday, May 24. Sports Ilustrated's newsletters and alerts. Sports Illustrated and CNN have combined to form a 24 hour sports news and information channel. All Rights Reserved.