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Short story Indians' Vizquel continues to torment former team
By Jeff Pearlman, Sports Illustrated CLEVELAND -- Way back in the stone ages of Seattle Mariner baseball, Omar Vizquel was Paul Zuvella. Or Tom Veryzer. Or Felix Fermin. Take your pick from the list of millions upon millions of great-field, no-hit shortstops, and Vizquel fit in like Emmanuel Lewis at the National Has-Been Jamboree. In 1989, his rookie year, Vizquel hit .220 in 143 games. The next year, his average dropped to .214. He was light-footed and strong-armed; he could leap like Dwight Stone and dance like Gregory Hines. He just couldn't hit. Hence, Mariners' brass fancied themselves geniuses when, on a cold December day in 1993, they shipped Vizquel to Cleveland for not just Fermin, but Reggie Jefferson, too. Reggie Jefferson!!! Oy. In Cleveland's 17-2 Game 3 thumping of the Fermin-less, Jefferson-less Mariners on Saturday, Vizquel was Ripken and A-Rod and a little George Herman (Babe) Ruth, too. Vizquel went 4-for-6 with two runs. His six RBIs broke the Indians' playoff record of five, set by Elmer Smith way back in 1920. His fourth career playoff triple, attained in the Tribe's two-run second inning, also is a team record. "If we go down through history, you've got to mention some of the guys with RBIs," said Vizquel after the game. "You would never hear my name, though. "Have you ever heard of Elmer Smith? Vizquel was asked. "Uhh, no." Many, however, have now heard of Omar Vizquel, King of the Wooden Stick of Oomph. In three playoff games against what was supposed to be a dominant Mariners staff, Vizquel is batting .429, with a goofy .643 slugging percentage. He is light years removed from his Seattle days, when Vizquel was something of a guess/slap hitter, the deadliest combination of offensive ineptitude. Things began to change in 1994, his first season as an Indian. Vizquel batted a so-so .273, but struck out only 23 times in 286 at-bats. "As I got older, I became much more patient," he told me this spring. "With experience, you become more of a thinker at the plate. I was figuring things out." Just as the Indians have done to the 116-win Mariners. At this point in the best-of-five series, it has become clear that -- regular season be damned -- the Indians are the better all-around playoff club. Seattle is perfectly built for the long haul: A corps of solid, inning-eating pitchers who win more than they lose. A very strong defense. A top-heavy lineup of contact hitters. A deep bullpen. The Indians, however, are a short-haul machine. Their two best starters, Bartolo Colon and C.C. Sabathia, smell of dominance, and their lineup -- unlike the Dan Wilson-David Bell-Mark McLemore bottom of Seattle's nine -- has no true weakness. "I think when you win 116 games, you expect a team to go all the way," said Vizquel. "But a lot of things can happen. There is a lot of personal records and stuff, but you've got to put it all together in the playoffs to win, too." In other words, the Mariners are in trouble ... and their shortstop plays for the wrong team. Where is Felix Fermin, anyway?
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