European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - August 10, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Wednesday August 10, 1988 the stars and stripes Page 23 nobody s close to Strawberry in total yardage Strawberry big 5 Darryl Strawberry picks his five biggest Home runs Date site Pitcher he hit it off or my Shea stadium is. Reds Jack Armstrong Ball cleared Mefs bullpen in right Field and no Alop he Cincinnati. Bus Walling outside stadium exit. My to in Houston Dave Smith hit Small Popcorn Concession stand in corridor beyond seats in right. My 17, ims Atlanta Tom Olavine banned Ball off lacing of luxury boxes beyond seats in right Field. Oct. 1, ims St. Louis Ken Dayley hit digital clock in right Center Field of Busch stadium. By Joe Sexton new York not the baseball exploded off Darryl Strawberry s Bat and when it hit the digital clock in Busch stadium time was perhaps the Only thing that did t stand still. Player stopped in their tracks images were fro zen in memories and an imposing Prece Dent was set. The night was oct. 1, 1985. The  Pitcher was Ken Dayley. The Home run later estimated to have trav eled a minimum of 440 feet was the difference in a critical 1-0 Triumph by themes Over the cardinals. The moment was Strawberry a but the punchline was Clint hurdle s. It takes a Licking hurdle said of the timepiece in right Field but keeps on  Strawberry for his part has shown no signs of winding Down. In the nearly three years since the giant Home runs have come with a clockwork regularity for the 26-year-old right fielder for the new York mets. Asked if he has on occasion amazed himself Strawberry responds with the unadorned emotion of a technician. It s something that does t faze yours a Home run hitter said Strawberry who leads the National leagues with 27this season including a two run shot sunday that proved to be the game win Ner. On those shots you simply feel like you be swung the Bat  wrought with an almost effortless in coiling of Strawberry s arms the homers have occupied one physicist for an afternoon dented a Popcorn stand in the nether reaches of the Astrodome and intruded on the luxury boxes at Atlanta Fulton county stadium. The Home runs which usually bring prolonged stares from Strawberry and equally lengthy circuits of the bases have dismayed opponents thunderstruck teammates and numbed at least one broadcaster. It s easy to fall into traps As a Broad Caster trying to relate Strawberry s Home runs said Tim Mccarver a television broadcaster for the mets. He has in sense overwhelmed Vou so Many times that your Calls Are often neglect fully underwhelming. You find yourself saying Well that one is out of Here you forget to Tell people How  Moore balanced a couple of equations in an attempt to determine just How far Strawberry might have hit his second Home run in a game at Mont Realon april 4 of this year. Moore a physicist from Mcgill University estimate that the Home run which crashed off the rim of right Field lights lining the roof of olympic stadium would have travelled 525 feet had it not been  can t hit a Golf Ball that far said Bob Mcclure the Pitcher who As teammate no longer has to face Straw Berry. In fact Strawberry must Lead the league in total yardage. Not too Many of them just make it Over the  Mcclure though none of them parallel the shot in olympic stadium. Infant Mcclure who played for the expos at the time went out the next Day with his teammates and stood directly under the place in the roof where Strawberry s Ball had  spent almost an hour hitting fun gos straight up Mcclure said. Nothing came close to touching the roof. And we were 200 feet closer than he was when he hit  years ago Strawberry inadvertently made it something of a harrowing experience for fans in Houston who were waiting in line for  was 1986, our second trip into Houston Keith Hernandez said. In right Field up above the seats and out inthe lobby there is a Little Popcorn stand. Darryl hit one off it. That in a place where it s Tough enough just to hit it out at All. The one in Montreal was impressive but i la always have that Little pop Corn stand in my  Montreal Randy St. Claire hit rim of lights lining Root of olympic stadium of Darryl Straw Berry s looping swing san Francis co Pitcher Mike Krakow says the Guy has incredible Bat Speed. You can i swear hear it out on the  according to observers Strawberry s facility for formidable Home runs is the result of the k of in his swing the Hitchin his step with his front foot and the tremendous leverage generated by his sizable physical Frame. It also has some thing to do with the fact that Strawberry s Bat is moving at an alarming rate not hear it out on the  s propensity for hitting tape measure shots can be staggering. Three weeks ago in a four game set wit the braves in Atlanta he hit three Mam Moth shots in consecutive games. Thelast off Tom Glavine startled the occupants of a right Field luxury Box reason by 5 Uch 13 a11\sv111� to   v v of through the hitting zone. Ably estimated at 475 feet away the Guy has incredible Bat Speed the thing is i think instill i said Mike Krakow the Pitcher for Thesan Francisco giants. You can i swear had a Way to go Strawberry said. I do though think i got most of  father time can t catch Angels Boone by Scott Ostler los Angeles times writer this is the Catcher time forgot. Bob Boone is 40 years old. On his next birthday i november hell turn. What forty one Twenty three Sweet 16? cartwheels name one other ballplayer in any real action sport who had the Best season of his or her life at age 40? it s spooky. To those of us Over 30, it s disgusting. Asked what goes first what Subtle signs of aging he has noticed the Veteran California Angels Catcher said i have none of those things i reheard about the things everyone tells me about. I Don t feel any Dif Ferent than i did 15 years ago. I can Tell absolutely no difference in How i feel and How i approach  hey there is a difference. At 40, Boone can hit it s about time. I hit .286 in Philadelphia Boone said defensively. Come on Bob. Let s talk about Modem times. You hit .286 in1979. In the decade affectionately known As the 80s, you Are a .235hitter. Until this season. Now suddenly you re a .294  s taken me 20 years to learn How to hit Boone said , then is some Prospect. The Angels should try to keep the kid around five or six years until he  Don t try to Analyse it too much Boone said. I think it s a Gin. I m sure the work i do regular Kung Fri and Bob Boone flexibility workouts is part of the reason. But i should the Able to do what i do now. It s a gift and you Don t look a gift horse in the Mouth. You just do it and enjoy it and accept  that it matters what Boone hits. He could hit .007 and still be an asset to the Angels. Hitting is something he does during Breaks from his real Job which is catching. Boone does As Well As any Man who squats. After having caught More games than any other Catcher in history Boone currently is considered by Many to be the game s Best Catcher. He throws out half the runners who try to steal. He i said to be the finest handler of pitchers. What else does he do he watches. You can catch a Guy when he gets on base. You see the opposing manager give signals to the third base coach. You can see the third base coach go through his sequence but maybe the runner is going Back to the base and has Misback turned and did t see the sequence. You know he did t see it because you were watching. So what does the runner do now he can t ask for the sign again. He glances Over at the first base coach who will nod or shake his  if the bad Guys know that the cagey Boone is looking for this kind of stuff Why would they be so care less As to tip their hand in a three hour game Boone says there will be hundreds and hundreds of these situations. Everyone is going to go to sleep a Little bit. My Job is to not sleep indeed Here is How Boone kills the 20 seconds or so Between pitches he mentally rearranges his pitch sequence strategy planning three or four pitches ahead checks the position ing of his fielders and dictates any necessary shifts glances into the opposing dugout studies the third base coach and the first base coach chats with the Umpire chats with the hitter does he sound tired eager studies the runners they la Tell you when they re going to  sneaks peek at the hitter to see what foot or hand adjustments he has made since the last pitch thus ascertaining what pitch the hitter is expecting checks his own dugout for an special instructions scans his Pitcher for signs of fatigue and flashes a signal. All this while sweating under 15pounds of plastic Armor in 95-degree heat and chewing  you be been doing it 20 years you get the hang of it Boone  innings he relaxes by training his a Ray vision on the defense. The Pitcher will show you what he s going to throw Boone says. When he has to have a strike what s his pitch what s his favorite pitch you see whether he tips his pitches. You can read a lot of pitchers. Some hold Heball different in their Glove for different pitches. Or maybe they know you re watching and they try to Jool you. Some times they tip their pitches in the  pantomime a Pitcher going into a stretch.  then he pantomime the exact same stretch Only bringing his hands an Inch closer to his face. Fast you watch the infielders. Do they tip the pitches by moving or leaning if we have a hit and run on do the second baseman and shortstop tip which one will cover second base ? if so i la know which Side to hit the Ball  wonder Boone in t breaking Down like the rest of us. He does t have time to get old