Wood Bats Drive Him Bats

"Kirk has the same problems a lot of kids have," says Gates Brown, the Tiger hitting instructor. "He's got to learn to get out in front of the ball. He's used to being able to let the ball occasionally get in on him, and maybe those metal bats would still allow him to hit. Well, here it's getting in a lot quicker."

In the Tigers' opening exhibition game, Gibson got a chance to play left-field in the late innings. In his first at bat, he watched Boston rookie Pitcher Wilhelmus Remmerswaal nibble around to a 3-and-l count, jumped on a fastball and drove it 450 feet over the scoreboard in right. "That's just an indication of what Kirk can do," said Campbell. "He's the greatest combination of power and speed I've seen in a long, long time."

But as spring training progressed, Gibson sat on the bench most of the time. He's been to the plate only eight times since his homer. Six of those times he struck out. "He knew and we knew it would take work," says Campbell. "But speed makes up for a lot, and I'm not sure anyone can run with Kirk."

As Gibson hit until his hands blistered and bled on one field of the baseball complex called Tigertown, on an adjacent field an old friend of his worked out with the University of Michigan squad, a young man who is facing the same kind of decision Gibson made. His name is Rick Leach, and he was the Wolverines' starting quarterback for four years, during which he accounted for 81 touchdowns. Like Gibson, Leach is also an All-America outfielder. He outhit Gibson last year to win the Big Ten batting crown at .404, the first .400 hitter at Michigan since former Tiger Catcher Bill Freehan in 1960, but Leach is waiting to see how he does in the NFL draft before deciding whether to play pro football or baseball. "Kirk and I talk a lot about it and what it's like in baseball," says Leach. "You know what the first piece of advice he gave me was? Find myself a wooden bat."