Typical Grady Sizemore.
The king of Cleveland baseball will play in his second All-Star game in his third full season as a major leaguer tonight, but when you ask him about the honor, he brings up his teammates.
The 24-year-old center fielder from Mill Creek, who is quickly becoming one of baseball’s biggest stars, has never been one to talk much about himself.
“It’s really exciting,” he said last week when asked about his All-Star selection.
But wait, there’s more to his answer: “I’m looking forward to having a couple of guys going with me this time.”
Those couple of guys would be Indians pitcher C.C. Sabathia and catcher Victor Martinez. When Sizemore made his All-Star game debut last season, he was Cleveland’s lone representative on the American League squad.
Come on Grady, you’re Cleveland’s most sought-after bachelor (see gradysladies.com), you were on the cover Sports Illustrated two months ago, and everyone who talks about you can’t stop saying good things. There must be days when catch yourself think, “Hey, look at me. I’m a star.”
“I really don’t have time to think about much of anything other than what’s going on that given day,” he said. “You just lose yourself in the day-to-day stuff. I keep trying to get better and keep trying to win.”
And thanks in part to Sizemore, the Indians are doing a lot of winning this season. The Indians are 52-36 at the break, one game behind Detroit for the AL Central lead and 1 games ahead of Seattle in the wild card standings. In those first 88 games (Sizemore hasn’t missed a game since the 2005 season despite an all-out-all-the-time approach to baseball) he is hitting .280 with 15 home runs, 46 RBI, 17 doubles, 24 stole bases, a .393 on base percentage, and a .471 slugging percentage.
In the SI cover story, Indians general manager Mark Shapiro calls Sizemore “without a doubt one of the greatest players of our generation.”
Sizemore, of course, doesn’t like to talk about the praise that flies his way, or the fact that last year he became the second player in baseball history to record 50 doubles, 10 triples, 20 home runs, and 20 stolen bases in a season.
“It happens so fast,” Sizemore said of his meteoric rise from the Montreal Expos third-round draft pick out of Cascade High to a two-time All Star. “You enjoy it as much as you can and try to and just go with it and stay in the moment.
“Maybe later on someday I can look back and enjoy it a little more”
Typical Grady Sizemore.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
