THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, October 17, 1996 TAG: 9610170544
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Tom Robinson
LENGTH: 66 lines
This morning, he is either preparing for Game 7 of the National League Championship Series or the World Series. And those aren't bad alternatives for the St. Louis Cardinals outfielder from Zuni with the football name, Terry Bradshaw.
The only unfortunate part is that ``alternative'' too accurately sums up Bradshaw's life at the moment.
Bradshaw has been the Cardinals' alternate outfielder during the playoffs, the guy they'll go to if one of their other outfielders turns up with an injury. That means Bradshaw, who attended Norfolk State, can be seen, but not heard from unless someone is removed from the active roster in an emergency.
Centerfielder Ray Lankford was nearly scratched before St. Louis' first series because of a shoulder problem, but Lankford struggles on. So every day, Bradshaw puts on his No. 55 uniform, takes batting practice and outfield practice with all his teammates - and then takes a seat in the dugout to commence cheering.
He won't make Mr. October this way, but, hey, it's a start.
``It's a different feeling, I'm not going to lie to you,'' Bradshaw said Wednesday from his Atlanta hotel room. ``But just being around it and watching is fine. It's been wonderful. You gotta feel like something is good about it if they ask you to stay.''
Bradshaw's other option is being home in Zuni and spending his first real time with his son, Montae, who was born in April. But that reunion was pushed back a little longer when Bradshaw received the invitation - which also went to two pitchers and a catcher - to remain on call through the postseason.
At big league pay, of course. And except for the season's first two weeks and then the month of September, Bradshaw spent the regular season in Triple-A Louisville, batting .303 and stealing 42 bases. In 21 big league at-bats, Bradshaw hit .333 and outperformed his good friend Dmitri Young (.241), the Cardinals' Game 4 pinch-hitting hero, who also spent the summer in Louisville's outfield.
However, the switch-hitting Young was placed on the playoff roster over Bradshaw, a lefthanded hitter, by virtue of that versatility. It was Young, then, who got what otherwise might have been Bradshaw's crack at Atlanta's Greg McMichael late in Game 4, tripling home two runs and scoring the game-tying run.
No matter. Bradshaw, who regularly counsels the animated Young on composure, bounced around the dugout as loudly as anybody after Young's big hit. And once he scored, Young made a beeline for Bradshaw, and they celebrated Young's triumph together.
``I know my day is coming,'' Bradshaw said. ``Maybe a little late, I'll be 28 next season. But I feel great about what I did this summer and what that's going to bring to me next year.''
What it could bring is a whole new location. Bradshaw's contract status is such that he cannot be shipped back to the minor leagues without his permission, even if the Cardinals can't find room for him.
So one way or another, Bradshaw is confident his alternatives for '97 look like this: he'll be a major leaguer, from start to finish, for somebody.
``With how I've matured offensively, I know I can play at this level every day,'' Bradshaw said. ``My main concern this winter is whether they're going to trade me, or whether they're trying to make deals to put me in their plans. But I'm gonna be a big league ballplayer. Like I say, I know my day is coming soon.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo
``Just being around it and watching is fine,'' said Cardinals
outfielder Terry Bradshaw. by CNB