Easy Does It

B.J. Surhoff did not always view each at bat as a matter of life or death. There was a time when he took the game much more seriously. "I'd have a bad day, and I'd let it affect my entire life," says Surhoff. "I've gotten a lot better in that way."

He's gotten better in almost every way. At 34, in his 13th big league season, Surhoff is stronger, smarter and more confident than he once was, and not quite as sullen. The Baltimore Orioles' left-fielder still smiles about as often as teammate Albert Belle sends a balloon-a-gram to the press box, but Surhoff says he no longer allows the game's daily grind to wear him down.

These days he steps into the batter's box without fear of striking out or losing his job, an approach that has freed him to enjoy his most productive season—and, as a result, to earn his first trip to the All-Star Game. Batting third in the Baltimore order, Surhoff entered the midseason break not only with the second-most hits in the majors (123) and the seventh-best average in the American League (.332) but also with surprising power numbers. His 20 home runs and 71 RBIs were tops on the woeful Orioles and put him on pace to shatter his career highs of 22 and 92, respectively.

"The power has always been there; I just had to find a way to tap it," says Surhoff. "Mostly it's a matter of learning to relax at the plate. You don't worry about striking out and looking bad as much as before."

In his first eight years in the majors, all with the Milwaukee Brewers, Surhoff never hit more than seven home runs in a season. "I used to play him to spray the ball to left or left center," says Baltimore center-fielder Brady Anderson. "Now he's got unbelievable power to center and right."

Surhoff started putting the game in perspective in 1995, his ninth and last year with Milwaukee. He had been a free agent after an injury-plagued '94 season but signed a minor league contract with the Brewers despite having received two major league offers. He stuck with the big club after spring training but played six positions that season. Still fighting for job security at 30, he had his best year at the plate: .320,13 homers and 73 RBIs in just 117 games. Then the Orioles lured him away with a three-year, $3.7 million free-agent deal. Last December, Surhoff re-upped with Baltimore for three more years and $14 million. "I never wanted to leave Milwaukee," he says, "but this was just a perfect fit."

Finally, Surhoff could step up to the plate without one eye on the rearview mirror. He was free to swing for the fences and strike out. Last season he fanned a career-high 81 times, and this year he has struck out 42 times. No big deal. He knows he'll still have a job when he gets back to the dugout.

The Orioles didn't mess with Surhoff even after they signed Belle, a career left-fielder, as a free agent following last season; the new guy switched to right. The team's confidence in Surhoff served to raise his faith in himself. "He's got a pretty good idea of how to play this game now," says Baltimore hitting coach Terry Crowley, "and a pretty good swing."

Indeed, while Surhoff has decent size (6'1", 200 pounds) and strength, he relies on exceptional timing to generate power. His home run stroke often looks like a gentle flick of the wrist until the ball sails beyond the rightfield fence. "It's like golf," he says. "Sometimes the best hits are the ones you can barely feel off the bat."

And sometimes a player needs time to learn that by relaxing, he can get a lot more of those hits.