This Was the Break They Needed

Now you know why they don’t use aluminum bats.

This is the story of Mike Sharperson’s splendid splinter. This is the story of a sharp stick that came flying at the San Francisco Giants like a bat out of hell. This is the story of how the Dodgers will take a a chunk of busted wood over a chopped Atlanta Brave tomahawk--any time, anywhere, anyhow.

This is the story of the Dodgers’ sharpest single ever.

There it sat, on the clubhouse rug, snapped in half like a wishbone, the Louisville Slugger C-243 “Powerized” model that a baseball player known to his friends as Sharpy had just used Sunday to hammer home the tying run in L.A.’s side-splitting 3-2 victory over the San Francisco Giants.

Since the bat saved the Dodgers, the Dodgers saved the bat.

“They can have it,” Sharperson said. “It’s not going to do me any good anymore.”

Maybe not, but as keepsakes go, this might really be one worth keeping. Because if the Dodgers, who still lead their division by one game, end up winning it by one game, then the sawed-off weapon of Michael Sharperson, the one that came gyrating at San Francisco third baseman Matt Williams like a boomerang, might very well be the baseball souvenir of the season.

What happened?

Even Sharpy isn’t entirely sure what happened.

“Words can’t even explain it,” he said.

Call it a broken play. Sharperson came to bat in the ninth inning with two runners in scoring position and the Dodgers desperately needing at least one of them to score. They needed one thing from Sharpy and one thing only. They needed him to make contact. They needed him to get his bat on the ball.

Which he did.

Twice.

The baseball sailed toward the third baseman. The baseball bat sailed toward the third baseman. Williams got a glove on one and took cover from the other. The barrel fragment of Sharperson’s bat reached the fringe of the infield grass, nearly 90 feet from home plate, and grazed the baseball as it passed by.

Williams ducked the bat and dived for the ball, which skipped off the heel of his mitt.

“I had a chance to grab it just before the bat got there,” Williams said later.

Stan Javier hustled home. Brett Butler stayed put at second base. You might say he wasn’t off with the crack of the bat. The entire play unraveled in front of Butler’s eyes, but he hardly believed what he was seeing.

“Freaky things have happened to us all season,” Butler said, “but this one was, I don’t know, super-freaky.”

Bat and ball shot into the air, fell to earth, Sharperson knew not where.

He said: “Man, I just put my head down and ran. I didn’t know where anything was except first base.”

Sharpy got there--the fifth time of the night he had reached there without fail.

Score tied, 2-2. Dodgers on second and first. Darryl Strawberry at the plate . . .

With an unbroken bat . . .

With which he whacked Dave Righetti’s 1-and-2 delivery into center field to send home Butler and 47,533 Dodger Stadium customers, many of whom will spend the next week wondering whether their hearts will be broken like Sharperson’s bat.

For much of the weekend, it had seemed to be the Dodgers Against the World.

Everything and everybody conspired against them. Those choking dogs the Houston Astros couldn’t win a game from the Braves. Those ever-helpful Chicago Cubs gave the Braves a new pitcher and catcher. Those thoughtful Cincinnati Reds would not be using armed-and-dangerous pitcher Norm Charlton against Atlanta. That considerate manager of the Giants assured the manager of the Braves that his team would be happy to take care of the Dodgers for them.

Several Dodgers pitched in with first place at stake. Mike Scioscia made an amazing tag to save a run. Then he batted for himself--against left-handed pitching--to open the ninth inning and hit a little boinger that sprang over Williams’ head into left field.

Javier came through in a pinch. Butler made an out, but up stepped Sharperson, who has never been hotter. You’ve heard of ripping the cover off the ball? Sharpy ripped the cover off the bat.

“Like they say,” Sharperson said, “when you’re hot, you’re hot.”