ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, April 5, 1996 TAG: 9604050078
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RAY COX STAFF WRITER
THE SALEM AVALANCHE slugger knows he can hit, but will he be able to play in the field every day?
Brian Culp starts the 1996 baseball season with the butterflies in his digestive tract in full flight, maybe more than you'd expect from a career
What has a guy like Culp have to be worried about when he occupies the fifth spot in the Salem Avalanche's lineup tonight at Prince William as the 52nd Carolina League season commences?
For a guy who led the Colorado Rockies organization with 44 doubles in 1995, who homered in his last at-bat to become the Kansas State University all-time homer king, who was All Big-Eight four years in a row, what is there to worry about?
A lot, actually. His knee, surgically-repaired this past fall, is a good place to start.
``From what I understand, the main question about me is whether I'll be able to play 140 games,'' said Culp, who will alternate between designated hitter (his position tonight) and the outfield this season.
That isn't the only question.
``The most important thing for Brian is to get healthy,'' Salem manager Bill McGuire said. ``Then, the next thing is, he has to show us that he can play a position in the big leagues.
``We [the parent Colorado Rockies] are in the National League. There's no DH there.''
Culp has heard it before. Nice bat, fellow. But what can you do for us when you aren't swinging it?
That will be one of the many questions tonight as Salem begins its second year of affiliation with the Rockies.
One question that McGuire and pitching coach Billy Champion already have the answer to is what the pitching rotation will be. The opening-night starter will be right-hander Matt Pool (9-9, 4.80 ERA at Salem last year). He'll be followed by right-hander Luther Hackman (11-11, 4.64 at Asheville), then left-hander Doug Million (5-7, 4.62 at Salem), right-hander Brent Crowther (the starter for the home opener against Wilmington on Monday), and lefty Mike Vavrek (combined 5-4, 2.00 ERA in 902/3 innings at Portland and Asheville).
``I have no reason not to believe that we won't pitch well and play good defense,'' McGuire said.
McGuire has 19-year-old Venezuelan right-hander Luis Colmenares (21 saves, 2.29 ERA at Asheville) as his closer and assorted good arms in middle and long relief such as second-year Salem hurlers Keith Barnes and Scott LaRock.
The defense is expected to be solid up the middle with catcher Mike Higgins, center fielder Ronnie Hall and the double-play combination of shortstop Kyle Houser and second baseman Elvis Pena (51 steals at Asheville and Portland). There are Avalanche veterans at the corners with first baseman Nate Holdren (.245, 15 home runs, 69 RBI) and third baseman Steve Bernhardt as well as in the outfield with Pookie Jones in left and strong-armed John Giudice in right.
Jones, a former University of Kentucky quarterback, Pena and Hall (50 steals to go along with 197 hits the past two years) will assure the Avalanche will have better team speed this season.
One guy who didn't move so well during spring training in Arizona was Culp.
``On doctor's orders, I didn't start running until 10 days before spring training,'' Culp said. ``I was on crutches for two months. I swam, rode a stationary bike and lifted weights in rehab, but my speed was still affected this spring, although it got better as I went along.''
Culp isn't the sort who complains when he has a hangnail. Last year, for example, the same knee he had the surgery on hurt the whole time along with assorted problems with his shoulder and neck.
The neck injury was downright scary. During a game, he swung at and missed a pitch and both arms went numb. Trainer Bill Borowski pulled him out of the lineup and sent him to the hospital for an examination.
Tests revealed there was nothing to be alarmed about, ``but you can't take chances,'' Borowski said.
Culp has had as many ups and downs as a movie script. In fact, he recently took four months and wrote one.
``If you can believe it, it's about baseball players,'' he said. ``It's mostly about them and their wives and girlfriends and what kind of impact baseball has on those relationships.''
One or two of those fictitious ballplayers may have as much on his mind as Culp himself does.
LENGTH: Medium: 85 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: (headshot) Culp. color.by CNB