Bobby Bonilla and Ruben Sierra were players I'd love to hate. All my life, I wished I could play ball, but I didn't have the speed, and couldn't catch up with a good fastball, unless I got the sign from the pitcher he was throwing it. Both Bonilla and Sierra could catch up with a good fastball; they had this gift. This is why they became major leaguers. But they both knew to become complete players, they needed to work on a few things. One was patience at the plate. Yogi Berra was one of those rare ballplayers that wasn't patient, and could turn pitches well outside the strike zone into line drive base hits.
But Sierra and Bonilla failed, as they swung at too many pitches out of the strike zone, and wouldn't make adjustments. When both players came to New York, they acted as if they were doing the Mets (Bonilla) and the Yankees (Sierra) a favor. Both Met managers Jeff Torborg and Bobby Valentine resented Bonilla making demands and setting rules both times he came to the ballclub, rather than accepting his role. When new Yankee manager Joe Torre inherited a Yankee ballclub with Sierra already on it, he tried get Ruben to play a tighter defense, and not swing at every pitch regardless of the situation on base. Sierra only came to the Yankees, after his previous manager with the A's, called Sierra "the village idiot".
LaRussa had given up on the selfish player he hoped would be as effective in his lineup as the player the A's traded away for him (Jose Canseco). Sierra's attitude that he was a potential superstar that didn't need fine tuning, only hurt the A's in the early 90s. Before Jose Canseco left, this was a ballclub that won 3 straight A. L. pennants including one World Series, all during 3 of Canseco's first 5 years in the Majors. With Sierra, the A's won the A. L. West, but failed to reach the World Series, losing to the Blue Jays in the '92 ALCS. They failed to reach the post season again with Sierra on the ballclub. When the Yankees picked up Sierra in '95, like the A's, they too reached the playoffs his first year, and it looked like Ruben would make the adjustments. But they, too, were eliminated in the playoffs that year. With a new manager and a new look ballclub that included rookie Derek Jeter, skipper Joe Torre realized this time owner Steinbrenner would not settle for anything less but a trip to the World Series for the first time in 15 years. This included removing all excess baggage, that didn't want to be a team player. The moment Sierra was benched in the lineup, he sulked and criticized the ballclub. He proved, like Bonilla, it was all about him, and no one else. It reminds too much of how both Sierra and Bonilla are the opposite of players like Lenny Dykstra, Tino Martinez, and Jason Giambi. Especially, Lenny. Davey Johnson platooned Dykstra with the great Met ballclubs of the 80s, because he felt he couldn't hit lefties.
When Dykstra came to the Phillies, manager Jim Fregosi, threatened to the same, or even consider trading him, unless Dykstra opened his stance and just tried to get on base. Dykstra went along with this, and played full-time. He would lead the Phillies to a pennant in '93, and lead the league in runs scored (143) and hits (194), as well as hits (192) during his first full season with the Phils in 1990. That year, he started an All-Star Game, too.
Today, Bonilla retired, but Sierra still plays. He finally accepted his new role as a team player, as he's tried to make a comeback with the Seattle Mariners. He filled in mostly for Edgar Martinez this season, but Piniella has gotten clutch play from Sierra that other teams didn't in the past. But this is what is great about baseball, I never forget a player, regardless of their ability or their attitude. Especially the ones that came to New York.
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Posted September 2, 2002.
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