For Anderson and Orioles, There’s No Looking Back

With so many bad vibes, not to mention numbers, emanating from the general direction of 1988, Baltimore Orioles center fielder Brady Anderson prefers to dwell on the here and now.

Here being Anaheim Stadium, now being a Monday night game against the Angels that the Orioles entered leading the American League East by 1 1/2 games.

Yes, those Orioles, who redefined the term cellar-dweller last season by going 54-107, adding their personal mark by losing the first 21 games of 1988.

But the Orioles are on top and Brady Anderson has led them. Well, he’s led off for them. Anderson, who played his college ball at UC Irvine, is hitting .253 from the leadoff spot. He leads the team in runs (15) and stolen bases (10).

“You can’t say he’s the entire reason for our success, but he’s certainly played an important part,” Baltimore Manager Frank Robinson said.

The Orioles are the youngest team in the major leagues, with an average age of 26 years, 1 month. Anderson is 25.

Coming into Monday’s game, they had been outhit, .240 to .257, but had managed to outscore opponents, 77 to 73.

This has meant they’ve had to manufacture a few runs, and Anderson has been a captain of industry. Typical of his season was Anderson’s second at-bat Monday against Jim Abbott of the Angels.

Anderson walked to lead off the third--he leads the team in that category with 10. He then stole second and third to set a club record for most steals in April with eight. That put him past the likes of Luis Aparicio and Paul Blair.

He then scored the Orioles’ first run on Cal Ripkin’s sacrifice, scoring without luxury of a base hit in a game the Angels rallied to win, 3-2.

“I want to get on and make things happen,” Anderson said.

Things were happening last season for Anderson. Unfortunately for him, they were the kind of things that has Anderson stating, “I don’t want to talk about last season.”

But which last season is he talking about?

The season with the Boston Red Sox? One that started with great promise--he was hitting .276 at the start--but ended with him going zero for 20 at the plate and from Boston to triple-A Pawtucket by June 4.

Is it the penance he paid in the minors, where he began zero for 13?

Or is it the 53 games he endured with the Orioles after Boston traded him and pitcher Curt Schilling for pitcher Mike Boddicker? Anderson hit .197 with Baltimore, striking out 40 times in 177 at-bats.

Anderson prefers that the past stay in the past, as do most of the Orioles who seem a bit sensitive anytime 1988 is mentioned.

“I didn’t say a thing to them about last season,” Robinson said. “What good would it do? For us to win, kids like Brady Anderson have to produce, that’s all. There’s no point in looking back.”

Forced to do so, Anderson says the difference in him as a player this year and last are just a few minor adjustments.

He modified his stance and forced himself to become a more patient hitter.

“It’s not the only reason, but it’s a distraction,” Anderson said.

Said Robinson: “For a young player like that, it helps to know every day exactly where and what you’re doing. That way you can focus on your job and not worry about other things.”

What’s to worry? Brady Anderson is in center field and 1988 is behind him.