Cruz Control

If Ken Griffey Jr. is universally known as Junior, then perhaps the Mariners' new leftfielder, Jose Cruz Jr., should be called Junior Jr. Cruz is a mini version of Griffey: a graceful outfielder with exceptional power and speed. He even has a celebrated baseball father.

Jose Jr., 23, is the son of Jose Cruz, who played for the Cardinals, the Astros and the Yankees from 1970 to '88. The elder Cruz, now Houston's first base coach, holds Astros records for games (1,870), hits (1,937) and runs batted in (942). Of Jose Jr., he says, "People expect a lot from him because he's my son, but I don't think it has ever bothered him because, like Ken Griffey Jr., he grew up in big league clubhouses."

Griffey's advice to Jose Jr. was to not worry about living up to his father's accomplishments and simply to win the starting job in leftfield, where he clearly would not be replacing a legend. In fact Cruz is the 48th leftfielder to play alongside Griffey in Seattle over the last nine seasons. Says manager Lou Piniella, "Jose Cruz is our future."

Cruz, a three-time All-America at Rice, where he set 15 school records, was selected third in the June 1995 draft. He played just one full minor league season, hitting .293 with 15 homers and 89 RBIs, at three levels in '96. He also had 17 outfield assists. Cruz expected to start in left for Seattle on Opening Day this year, but despite hitting .339 with four home runs and 12 RBIs during spring training, he was one of the final cuts when the Mariners broke camp.

Seattle sent him down because it feared that the switch-hitting Cruz might struggle as a rookie and get discouraged over bouncing between Triple A and the majors. What they didn't bargain on was that Cruz would bristle at his demotion and go into a funk in Triple A. Tacoma manager Dave Myers became so frustrated with Cruz that he considered benching his best prospect. Cruz's wake-up call came on May 3 when the Mariners needed a reserve outfielder and called up Rob Ducey instead of Cruz. "When Rob was promoted, a light went on in my head, and I realized I had to work harder and take responsibility for my actions," says Cruz.

Then, in mid-May, Cruz met a power-of-positive-thinking guru, Rafael Colon, through the family he lived with in Olympia, Wash. "A lot of negative thoughts were bearing down on me, and I wasn't handling them well," Cruz says. "I met Rafael, and we just started talking. I spilled my guts, and that really helped."

He buckled down, started playing better and was called up by Seattle on May 31, after a total of only 210 minor league games. He started his major league career 0 for 7, but since then has gone 17 for 65 through Sunday. He has also cracked four home runs, three more than all other Mariners leftfielders combined. Cruz has also made several Griffeyesque catches.

"It's a great situation for me," Cruz says. "We have so many franchise players on this team that I think I could have a real good year and nobody will even notice."

Tepid Table Setters

The Brewers have already auditioned five players in the leadoff spot this season, and the HELP WANTED sign is still posted. The Phillies have also used five different hitters in the top spot; through last Sunday they had scored a run in only 27 of Philadelphia's 71 games. Tigers leadoff man Brian Hunter was recently demoted to the ninth spot in the order because he had an on-base percentage of only .287, the 10th worst in the league. Hunter was reinstated two days later when Detroit realized it had no better option.