Post by John on Apr 25, 2006 11:47:04 GMT -4
Fast start leads to plenty of attention for low-key Shelton
By Scott Miller
CBS SportsLine.com Senior Writer
Pulling the ball, Chris Shelton will be the first to tell you, is not his style. Neither is hitting nine home runs in 13 games, coverage in the New York Times, a guest spot on Cold Pizza nor addressing the constant flow of media members that make the lines at some wedding receptions look tame.
"Hitting nine home runs, as fast as I did it, it was surprising," Shelton, the Detroit Tigers' slugging first baseman, says. "I don't go trying to hit home runs. I don't go trying to do things out of the ordinary."
Yet in this extraordinary first month of what could become the season of his life, Shelton has announced himself so loudly with his actions that the rest of him is struggling to catch up.
"It's true when I say that the fact that we're playing well is the best thing about it," he says. "All of the attention personally, it's been overwhelming."
Until Shelton this month, no American Leaguer had ever belted nine home runs in the season's first 13 games. No major leaguer has started a season by collecting three hits in each of his first three games -- as Shelton did this year against Kansas City and Texas -- since Toronto's George Bell in 1984.
Even though he hasn't homered in a week, since April 17 against Cleveland, Shelton remains tied for second in the majors with four others behind Albert Pujols' 12 homers.
Despite going 0-for-9 in Seattle over the weekend, he opened this week's series in Anaheim on Monday night with a .371 batting average, and he was leading the AL in slugging percentage (.914) and extra-base hits (17). He was tied for the league lead in triples (three, with Seattle's Raul Ibanez) and was tied for fifth in RBI (18).
Not that things have changed for Shelton since Detroit snagged him away from Pittsburgh in December, 2003, but before this, what was the craziest point ever in his life?
When it came time for him to leave a community college in his native Salt Lake City and choose a four-year school. He settled on the University of Utah.
"If you can consider that crazy," he says, almost apologetically. "I guess I've had a pretty quiet life."
Heck, before now, he's practically spent more time telling people who he isn't than who he actually is. Google Shelton's name and on the first page comes a hit that somebody named Chris Shelton was one of six finalists for the television show The Apprentice -- the Donald Trump vehicle -- several months ago. And then was arrested for disorderly conduct.
"People talk to you and say, 'Are you the same guy that got arrested and put in jail?'" Shelton says. "I'm like, 'What?'
"I don't even know the whole story. I'm like, 'I don't know what you're talking about. You have some bad info.'"
The only thing disorderly so far about Detroit's newest hitmaker is the way he's roughing up opposing pitching staffs.
"It's exciting every time he comes up to the plate," Detroit pitcher Justin Verlander says.
The Tigers picked Pittsburgh's pocket by claiming him in the Rule V draft, a Pirates error compounded further by the fact that when they left Shelton unprotected, they had only 37 players on their 40-man roster. Pittsburgh had plenty of room to add Shelton to the 40-man -- but just didn't.
His first real chance came last year, when he batted .299 with 18 homers and 59 RBI in 107 games. He won the first base job this spring, a decision amplified when Detroit released Carlos Pena -- his chief competitor and a former first-round draft pick by Texas. Shelton? Pittsburgh had chosen him in the 33rd round of the 2001 draft.
While he felt badly for Pena, who now is in the New York Yankees system, Shelton does admit that the move allowed him to relax.
"It told me that the organization and the coaching staff had confidence in me, and it gave me the confidence to know that these guys were going to support me," says Shelton, 25.
He belted two homers on opening day in Kansas City, two more three days later in Texas, and the race was on. By the time the Tigers opened at home on April 10, he already had five homers and everybody in Detroit knew who this thick, red-haired slugger was.
Nicknames began sprouting like daffodils. Big Red. Red Bull. Red Pop, after a locally favorite soda. And -- in a throwback to the late former Tiger Stormin' Norman Cash -- the Stormin' Morman.
"Red Pop is starting to grow on me," he says. "I wasn't a big fan of it at first because I didn't know what it was."
Breakout stories often abound in April, only to disappear soon thereafter. Whether Shelton is Detroit's next Cecil Fielder -- 51 homers in 1990 -- or Matt Nokes -- a shooting star with 32 homers in 1987 who disappeared shortly thereafter -- is a story that will be written in the coming months, and seasons.
For now, Shelton works hard at hitting the ball hard up the middle, trying to stay in the outfield gaps. He definitely has cooled from his lava-hot start, but he also appears to have survived the suffocating crush of his early-season attention.
Hall of Famer Al Kaline, after watching the media throng after Shelton crashed his seventh homer two Thursdays ago in Detroit, approached Shelton and advised him to simply be himself and not let external pressure change him.
"That stuck with me," Shelton says.
No question, the Tigers have been watching the situation closely.
"He's probably never had 15 people around his locker," Leyland says. "This kid, you wouldn't even know he was in the lunchroom."
Leyland, despite Shelton's current 1-for-13 (he was 1-for-4 in Detroit's 3-0 loss in Anaheim on Monday), says there is nothing wrong with his swing. Lots of guys go a couple of days without getting a hit, Leyland says, and besides, the kid who started for Seattle on Sunday -- Felix Hernandez -- is pretty darn good.
For his part, Shelton has noticed subtle changes in the way pitchers are attacking him. He's seeing more fastballs early in the count, and more breaking balls away later in the count.
"Nothing drastic," he says. "You've got to expect that they're going to make changes."
Particularly now, with his face plastered all over the television and newspapers, and with the regular ovations in Detroit. There are signs all over that this Detroit club is for real, from the early exploits of Shelton, Verlander and young reliever Joel Zumaya to the Tigers' 10-3 start on the road -- the club's best since winning its first 17 road games in that magical season of 1984.
Moreover, the Tigers, 17-46 on the West Coast over the past five seasons, are in the process of completing their first winning Western trip since 2000. They won five of six in Oakland and Seattle heading into this trip-ending three-game set in Anaheim.
"It's a growing process, and you can't speed it up," Leyland says, speaking mostly of Shelton, Verlander and Zumaya. "You can't make a four-year player out of a first-year player. You can't do it.
"It's a gradual process and the ones who are good enough survive. The ones who aren't go back to the minor leagues."
By Scott Miller
CBS SportsLine.com Senior Writer
Pulling the ball, Chris Shelton will be the first to tell you, is not his style. Neither is hitting nine home runs in 13 games, coverage in the New York Times, a guest spot on Cold Pizza nor addressing the constant flow of media members that make the lines at some wedding receptions look tame.
"Hitting nine home runs, as fast as I did it, it was surprising," Shelton, the Detroit Tigers' slugging first baseman, says. "I don't go trying to hit home runs. I don't go trying to do things out of the ordinary."
Yet in this extraordinary first month of what could become the season of his life, Shelton has announced himself so loudly with his actions that the rest of him is struggling to catch up.
"It's true when I say that the fact that we're playing well is the best thing about it," he says. "All of the attention personally, it's been overwhelming."
Until Shelton this month, no American Leaguer had ever belted nine home runs in the season's first 13 games. No major leaguer has started a season by collecting three hits in each of his first three games -- as Shelton did this year against Kansas City and Texas -- since Toronto's George Bell in 1984.
Even though he hasn't homered in a week, since April 17 against Cleveland, Shelton remains tied for second in the majors with four others behind Albert Pujols' 12 homers.
Despite going 0-for-9 in Seattle over the weekend, he opened this week's series in Anaheim on Monday night with a .371 batting average, and he was leading the AL in slugging percentage (.914) and extra-base hits (17). He was tied for the league lead in triples (three, with Seattle's Raul Ibanez) and was tied for fifth in RBI (18).
Not that things have changed for Shelton since Detroit snagged him away from Pittsburgh in December, 2003, but before this, what was the craziest point ever in his life?
When it came time for him to leave a community college in his native Salt Lake City and choose a four-year school. He settled on the University of Utah.
"If you can consider that crazy," he says, almost apologetically. "I guess I've had a pretty quiet life."
Heck, before now, he's practically spent more time telling people who he isn't than who he actually is. Google Shelton's name and on the first page comes a hit that somebody named Chris Shelton was one of six finalists for the television show The Apprentice -- the Donald Trump vehicle -- several months ago. And then was arrested for disorderly conduct.
"People talk to you and say, 'Are you the same guy that got arrested and put in jail?'" Shelton says. "I'm like, 'What?'
"I don't even know the whole story. I'm like, 'I don't know what you're talking about. You have some bad info.'"
The only thing disorderly so far about Detroit's newest hitmaker is the way he's roughing up opposing pitching staffs.
"It's exciting every time he comes up to the plate," Detroit pitcher Justin Verlander says.
The Tigers picked Pittsburgh's pocket by claiming him in the Rule V draft, a Pirates error compounded further by the fact that when they left Shelton unprotected, they had only 37 players on their 40-man roster. Pittsburgh had plenty of room to add Shelton to the 40-man -- but just didn't.
His first real chance came last year, when he batted .299 with 18 homers and 59 RBI in 107 games. He won the first base job this spring, a decision amplified when Detroit released Carlos Pena -- his chief competitor and a former first-round draft pick by Texas. Shelton? Pittsburgh had chosen him in the 33rd round of the 2001 draft.
While he felt badly for Pena, who now is in the New York Yankees system, Shelton does admit that the move allowed him to relax.
"It told me that the organization and the coaching staff had confidence in me, and it gave me the confidence to know that these guys were going to support me," says Shelton, 25.
He belted two homers on opening day in Kansas City, two more three days later in Texas, and the race was on. By the time the Tigers opened at home on April 10, he already had five homers and everybody in Detroit knew who this thick, red-haired slugger was.
Nicknames began sprouting like daffodils. Big Red. Red Bull. Red Pop, after a locally favorite soda. And -- in a throwback to the late former Tiger Stormin' Norman Cash -- the Stormin' Morman.
"Red Pop is starting to grow on me," he says. "I wasn't a big fan of it at first because I didn't know what it was."
Breakout stories often abound in April, only to disappear soon thereafter. Whether Shelton is Detroit's next Cecil Fielder -- 51 homers in 1990 -- or Matt Nokes -- a shooting star with 32 homers in 1987 who disappeared shortly thereafter -- is a story that will be written in the coming months, and seasons.
For now, Shelton works hard at hitting the ball hard up the middle, trying to stay in the outfield gaps. He definitely has cooled from his lava-hot start, but he also appears to have survived the suffocating crush of his early-season attention.
Hall of Famer Al Kaline, after watching the media throng after Shelton crashed his seventh homer two Thursdays ago in Detroit, approached Shelton and advised him to simply be himself and not let external pressure change him.
"That stuck with me," Shelton says.
No question, the Tigers have been watching the situation closely.
"He's probably never had 15 people around his locker," Leyland says. "This kid, you wouldn't even know he was in the lunchroom."
Leyland, despite Shelton's current 1-for-13 (he was 1-for-4 in Detroit's 3-0 loss in Anaheim on Monday), says there is nothing wrong with his swing. Lots of guys go a couple of days without getting a hit, Leyland says, and besides, the kid who started for Seattle on Sunday -- Felix Hernandez -- is pretty darn good.
For his part, Shelton has noticed subtle changes in the way pitchers are attacking him. He's seeing more fastballs early in the count, and more breaking balls away later in the count.
"Nothing drastic," he says. "You've got to expect that they're going to make changes."
Particularly now, with his face plastered all over the television and newspapers, and with the regular ovations in Detroit. There are signs all over that this Detroit club is for real, from the early exploits of Shelton, Verlander and young reliever Joel Zumaya to the Tigers' 10-3 start on the road -- the club's best since winning its first 17 road games in that magical season of 1984.
Moreover, the Tigers, 17-46 on the West Coast over the past five seasons, are in the process of completing their first winning Western trip since 2000. They won five of six in Oakland and Seattle heading into this trip-ending three-game set in Anaheim.
"It's a growing process, and you can't speed it up," Leyland says, speaking mostly of Shelton, Verlander and Zumaya. "You can't make a four-year player out of a first-year player. You can't do it.
"It's a gradual process and the ones who are good enough survive. The ones who aren't go back to the minor leagues."