European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 27, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse Thursday june 27, 1991 the stars and stripes b Page 21 National league analysis by Greg Garber _ the Hartford courant the game was Over. Still the baseball arced into the dwindling sunlight at Cincinnati s riverfront stadium seeming to gain momentum As it climbed. It cleared the Center Field Fence acid landed some 400 Feci from its Point the pitchers Mound and hit a fan. Reds Relief Pitcher Rob Dibble heaved it there. He had done his Job preserved a 4.-3 Victory Over the Chicago cubs april 28, but he had been less than perfect allowing five hits and two runs. For an instant he wore the face of a Gargoyle a face contorted in anger. When his Mother Barbara saw the video clip while sitting at Home in Southington conn., she cringed. And then she cried. She wrote him a Long painful letter. To Why you Are like this a she wrote. �?�1 pushed you too hard. A a i a a. A Quot a a a a a Quot no mom a Rob told her later a a it a a growing up we would t let him fail a Barbara says. A looking Back i feel terrible. In a not a horrible person but no we never said a better Luck next time we said a Rob How come you were so bad a a to feel you have to be perfect to enjoy a game that a terrible. He just has to be perfect. 1 made Robbie a a a a a a a a. Rob Dibble a controversial exploits pitching and a otherwise have been the subject of National scrutiny during his four major league seasons. Yet no one has explained the source of his fury. Trying to live up to the expectations of his Mother while growing up in Southington Eft him unable to meet those impossibly High standards. And so feelings of Inadequacy turned to anger. Gradually he Learned to Channel that rage and it has made him one of the most dominant pitchers in baseball. On the Mound he has been wildly successful by. Cd Ergo new a standards but his own. At 27, he has a world series ring and he has pitched in the All Star game. He leads the majors in saves this season with 19 in As Many opportunities. Or v the 6-foot-4, 230-Pound right hander has a 100 Mph fastball and amazingly it goes where he Aims it. Less than a handful of history a major leagues have had that ability. Quot a. This year Dibble has struck out 56 batters in 34 innings an average of 14.5 hatters for every nine innings pitched. That would be the Best season total in the history of a game that has been played for More than a Century. The two Best previous standards set in 1989 and 1990, already belong to Dibble. A pitchers sole responsibility is preventing the other team from reaching base and the strikeout is the Only Way he can take matters into his own hand. Historically speaking then in the past 2vi seasons Robert Keith Dibble has come closer to perfection at his Craft than anyone before him. A a a a a a Why Isnit that enough Why does he loathe himself even when he succeeds a it feel when i fail on the Field i fail As a person a acid that a wrong he has stud. A to pitch the Way 1 do i need to be on the Edge of rage 1 know i have to control my anger. But when things go wrong and in a at the Point of going Over the Edge 1 have to Stop myself step Hack take a deep breath become unfocused.�?�. The self imposed pressure became suffocating this season when for the first time he was anointed the reds late inning closer the Pitcher who comes in at the end to get the last Tew outs and save the game. Pressure All that sat stake this season is lifetime Security for his wife Joanne and daughter Ashley. When the season ends Dibble will be eligible Tor salary arbitration for the first time a process that with Success could quadruple his $475,000 annual salary. _ there have been times celebrated in the National Media when Dibble did no to step Back quickly enough. Reds1 reliever Rob Dibble is an imposing figure on the Mound but the intense Warrior is much Meeker off it. Times when he seemed to go Over the Edge. Dibble a dangerous fastball behind the Back of the Houston astros Eric Yelding april 11 started a Bench Clearing Brawl. Seventeen Days later he threw that Ball in the stands at riverfront where it accidentally struck Meg Porter a first Grade teacher on the Elbow the Public perception fuelled and disputed by dih ble according to whim is that he is insane a a in a tired of being Psychoanal Zed a he moaned last week during a series against the new York mets at Shea stadium. A the sporting news had some Guy who never met me saying that i was crazy that i had stepped Over the line. I can to have some idiot saying in a crazy in a a a and yet three hours earlier Dibble was met by a television Crew As he emerged from a meeting with National league president Bill White he was asked about his disposition after appealing one of three suspensions dating to last year a. A a no problem with that a Dibble said with a sinister Laue i. A a in a still nuts a a. really Dibble is probably not insane As he would sometimes have you believe. He is just angry and More Plum a Little insecure. Ii hitters think be is a Little crazy Dibble knows it works to his advantage. Hie Pitcher s Mound is the Only sate socially acceptable place to release his festering anger. And when it s not there boiling at the surface hell reach As faraway As 1 h years to find it. A. A -. A. A i Ley Quot Dibble says a they picked a girl ahead of me when i was 11 years old. There a always been someone m from irl me pushing me. Back. T his is the. Host year in be been m Iron of the now the National league president wants to Cut in. Sometime in the next 10 Days,-.white is expected Dibble for As Many As seven games Lor us Pari in the Yak log and Center held toss y i lairs. Dibble tikes to talk about the iwo Rob Dibbles the Nasty Man on the Mound and the Nice Man who sits at Home watching television with his wife Joanne a Tor Mer Southington High , and daughter Ashley who is nearly 2. In truth there Are so Many contradictions n adds up to one weirdly consistent Man. Me has been involved in More bavi a Hall a dozen incidents that have called attention to his combative a lure yet Fie genuinely worries about his image with Young ians. And says Jones the imposing Dibble has lost every Light he was. Ever in a Harrelson working at dealing with met fans by Joe Donnelly new Day a York a As the new York mets stumble through june the Man heat is manager Bud Harrelson. Who would have thought he Ever would have been booed at an old timers game at Shea stadium it happened. And there have been other occasions too. Unless the mets can turn it around me booing of Harrelson figures to become a new York pastime this summer. A it goes with the territory a said pitch or i rank Viola who remembers what Summers in new York used to be like for Harrelson. A a a buddy was loved As a player a Man aging is a different number. While it has been the failure of Viola and others who pitch catch and swing a Bat that has made june so sour the fan shave zeroed in on Harrelson. Its a Tough town going Tough tiniest and if a the mets Don t provide a winning outlet there is so Little patience. _ a t realize they want a Winner As much a As i do, said. A a a a a a a. A getting hoped docs Hurt. I be always been fairly sensitive. But it goes with the Job. No one likes to be booed but in a not. Going to do things different than i have monday he woke up to headlines and talk show chatter that second guessed his decision hot to use John Branco in sundays tortuous defeat m Atlanta. It did l seem to matter Harrelson had made a commitment to himself not to use the Back plagued Franco Over the weekend and stayed with it. Harrelson Wasny to going to let the headlines or the talk shows spoil mondays off Day. He was looking Forward to attending the sports banquet where 6-Yenr-ok , coming off a i season would be among those honoured. Quot ill just be one of the fathers there and that a great no speeches a Harrelson said. A when Tim the oldest of his five children turned 22, i was Able to conic Home from St. Louis on an till Day earlier tins month Lor his birthday. A i watched Kuste s i Ball game at hand saw Tim play a softball double header later 1 love u. That a what keeps Ine going.�?�. Some longtime friends helped i him when he was booed at Midi inters. Day. Guys like Jerry Grote i and Jerry to Ornan told him a a done to let it get to you do your thing and it will All work Yogi Berra who knows manager must endure said a hang in there. Shorty a. And that a what Harrelson is trying. A it do. A. ,
