Our Team Es Pretty Solido

Even so, players have had to adjust to the coach's frenetic style. Take third baseman Robin Ventura, for instance. The Chicago White Sox took the Oklahoma State senior-to-be—he hit in 58 straight games as a sophomore—with their No. 1 pick. He is an intelligent and gifted hitter, though he always looks as if he has just come in from an all-night poker game. "I'm not a guy who gets dirty and screams all the time," he says. "You don't have to run every ground ball out. I play hard the way I play hard. But Marquess can motivate you. He's the energizer. When it's a day game after a night game and it's 115 degrees, he can pick you up." Ventura is batting .314 with 26 RBIs for the Olympians.

Despite the losses last week, Marquess likes what he sees in his club. "I thought going in we would have a great pitching staff," he says. "But to me that's not our real strength. It's the balance we have. We know we can win 2-1 because we have the speed to create an inning. We can play great defense, and if we need to win 13-12 we can do that too."

The U.S. team will spend four more weeks on the road before Seoul, including 17 days at the world championships in Italy, where it may get another shot at Cuba. The worlds are considered by many to be a bigger event than the Olympic tournament, because baseball is only a demonstration sport until the '92 Games. Though the U.S. team could well be burned out by the time it meets the South Koreans and Taiwanese in Seoul, it's certain the Americans will be putting their best puppies forward.