Drew looks safe now, but he'll catch fury of Philly eventually
By Bernie Miklasz
St. Louis Post-Dispatch 5/12/99

No place to hide

J.D. Drew has a strained quadriceps and probably won't play today when the Cardinals conclude their home series with Philadelphia. This is OK. Drew can't suffer additional harm if he's sheltered in the Cardinals dugout, a safe distance from Curt Schilling's fastball.

Schilling, Philadelphia's ace, was once quoted as saying Drew had better wear a batting helmet with double earflaps when he faced the Phillies for the first time.

Schilling is scheduled to start on Wednesday but has cooled considerably. He dismisses his previous threat.


Drew's first turn against the scorned franchise came on Tuesday night, and it inspired nothing stronger than a yawn. No one threw a baseball at Drew's torso, and the Phils didn't chuckle in the dugout after his pinch-hi t, double-play grounder in the seventh inning of their 9-4 victory at Busch Stadium.

Manager Tony La Russa was eager to get Drew into a game against Philadelphia to break the tension. The scene won't be as calm when the Cardinals visit Philadelphia on Aug. 9-11. Cardinals reliever Ricky Bottalico, the former Phillie, urges Drew to wear a batting helmet during the entire stay.

"He laughed," Bottalico told the Philadelphia Inquirer. "But I was serious. . . . I tried to make him realize it's not like (St. Louis). Here the fans are laid back and very positive. Those people are tough. But then again, he's the one who made it tough on himself."

Drew was drafted by Philadelphia, refused to sign, sat out a year, re-entered the draft, was chosen by the Cardinals. He got his $8 million from St. Louis and lots of hate mail from Philadelphia.

Why so much fuss over a quiet, polite, Bible-reading, .232-hitting rookie outfielder?
"I disagree with what he did," Bottalico said. "I was an undrafted free agent. I can't fathom turning down 2.5 million dollars, the way he did with the Phillies. But J.D. told me his side of the story. And now that I know him, I see that he's a great guy. But the one knock he's going to have against him in his whole career is what he did at the beginning of his career."


OK, suppose a Philly pitcher decks Drew?

"I'd back J.D. up," Bottalico said. "I mean, the one main reason I didn't like Drew then because he wasn't on our team, and he didn't want to play for my team. But now he's my teammate. So you back up your teammates. There's no doubt at all."

Then there's La Russa, who respects Schilling's vigilante posturing.

"I thought Schilling was 100 percent right," La Russa said. "He's a pro. I can understand what they're thinking. 'What do you mean you don't want to be on our team? Who are you?' If someone did that to the Cardinals, we'd feel the same way."

Cardinals fans would be just as upset had Drew rejected St. Louis in favor of Philadelphia. Look at how the fans here vilified free-agent outfielder Vince Coleman for defecting from the Cardinals to sign a slightly better deal with the New York Mets. And St. Louis booed Wayne Gretzky after he jumped from the Blues to the New York Rangers.

I certainly understand why the Phillies and their fans would be angry. Cardinals outfielder Eric Davis does not.

"As far as I look at this situation now, it has nothing to do with Curt Schilling," Davis said. "So why would he want to hit this kid? This kid didn't do anything to Curt Schilling. Why would he want to hit this Christian man? It's America. Drew can sign wherever he wants to. He doesn't have to sign with Philadelphia if they drafted him.

"We wouldn't be talking about this unless this man had talent. And if Philadelphia wanted that talent, they should pay the man the money. And they didn't pay him the money, so that means you didn't really want him. So let him go."

We may all be shouting "let him go" when Drew finally meets the mob in Philadelphia.

copyright St. Louis Post-Dispatch 5/12/99

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