Sugar & Spice

Posted March 13, 200519 yr

Newsday

During a midseason game at Detroit last season, then-Kansas City Royals third baseman Joe Randa spotted a rag on the bench, a few feet away from where he was sitting.

"Hey, Mike," he said, nodding toward Mike Sweeney, the team's All-Star first baseman. "Can you throw that down this way?"

Sweeney picked up the garment and handed it to his long-time friend. "Thanks," said Randa.

"No," countered Sweeney. "Thank you."

Randa paused for a moment, filed the exchange in his memory bank, then moved on. "People say, 'Thank you' all the time," he said, shaking his head as he recalled the moment. "But Mike Sweeney actually thanked me for thanking him. How can anyone be nicer than that?"

Randa, now a member of the Cincinnati Reds, said this as he sat near his locker at the team's spring training facility in Sarasota, Fla. Nearby, his first baseman, All-Star Sean Casey, had just entered the room. His was not the stroll of the prototypical major league baseball player - a holier-than-thou strut that inevitably involves striding past (and completely ignoring) one or two maligners as if they were spots on a carpet.

No, Casey bounced like a big ol' puppy dog, eager to pat everyone on the backside or induce a spirited high-five or offer a mini-hug or a big hug or a huge hug or the world's biggest hug.

How nice is Casey? On the first day of spring training each year, while other players are comparing offseason notes with one another, Casey inevitably stops by the team's media room just to check in on the (egad!) reporters.

"There's no debate, and there never will be a debate," said Hal McCoy, a longtime Reds beat writer for the Dayton Daily News. "Sean Casey is the nicest guy in professional baseball. Ever."

Sweeney or Casey? Casey or Sweeney? Who's the ballplayer you'd feel most comfortable taking home to Mama? In this rocky time for the sport, when the faces of the game are a scowling Barry Bonds, a smirking Jose Canseco and an uncomfortable Bud Selig, what's important to know is not who is nicest, but that nice guys actually exist. And they do.

In Cincinnati, Casey is so beloved that he has been bestowed the nickname "The Mayor" for his ability to know absolutely everybody after a single meeting. "He sees the good in people when none of us can," said Reds starter and former Met Paul Wilson. "More times than not, he does the right thing. Truthfully, many of us in this profession don't."

Casey's universal reputation as a good guy began his rookie year with the Reds in 1998, when he would greet every opposing baserunner with a "Hey, nice job, man!" and "My name's Sean. It's great to meet you."

During an infield drill early that season, Casey was struck in the right eye with a baseball thrown by then-teammate Damian Jackson. Casey broke his eye socket.

"I was devastated," said Jackson, now a non-roster invitee with the Padres. "I showed up at Sean's hospital room with tears in my eyes, just hoping he would forgive me. I mean, how could I do this to a good friend? A good person?"

When Jackson reluctantly poked his head into the room, Casey lit up.

"Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeey!" he said. "How are ya doing?"

"The man's eye looked like Mike Tyson had hit it," Jackson said, "and he gave me a big hug. That's a special person."

Jackson, a good guy himself, believes that ballplayers get a bad rap; that the general public tends to turn athletes into villains after the first refusal to jot down an autograph - "even if that guy just signed 300," he said.

"Just look around this room," he said, sitting in the Padres' spring training home, "and you'll find plenty of men who have decency and big hearts."

According to a remarkably unscientific Newsday poll of 50 random major leaguers (Question: Who are the absolute nicest people in baseball today?), another of the league's kindest men is Padres outfielder Dave Roberts, who, like Casey, is rarely spotted without a smile and a kind word emanating from his lips. A hero of Boston's run to the 2004 World Series title, Roberts was traded to San Diego not out of necessity or disappointment but because he is a good guy who deserved an opportunity to play every day.

"That's what it came down to," one Red Sox official said. "We love his speed and base-running ability. But you want to see someone like Dave be happy and have every chance to succeed."

The same goes for Twins centerfielder Torii Hunter, one of the Newsday All-Nice Guy Team's biggest stars and a man who rarely turns down an autograph request or spews negativity toward a teammate. "I live in Texas," former Twins infielder Jay Canizaro said. "If I was stranded on a road and needed Torii to pick me up, he'd drive the 1,000 miles to do so."

Among the other players receiving multiple votes were Mets infielder Joe McEwing ("Always in a good mood," Cardinals pitcher Matt Morris said), Red Sox slugger David Ortiz ("A big teddy bear and a real funny guy," Pirates pitcher Mark Redman said), Giants catcher Mike Matheny ("A stand-up guy with the attitude of a waiter, not a baseball player," Orioles reliever Steve Kline said) and Cardinals shortstop David Eckstein ("How to describe Eck?" said Reds reliever Ben Weber. "Opie.").

It must be noted that a majority of the players named were not of the Bonds or Derek Jeter caliber, but men who struggled to hold on to a job; who know how it feels to come to spring training uncertain of the future.

"My mom always used to tell me, 'You get more with honey than you do with vinegar,'" said Kline, who received several votes. "I'm not always in a good mood, and I don't always feel like signing another autograph. But I am blessed to play this game. And for those of us who forget that, well, it needs to be remembered. This is a blessing. An absolute blessing."

NICE GUYS

In six years covering baseball for Sports Illustrated, Newsday's Jeff Pearlman, left, had his share of writer-subject disagreements. But he also surfed with Barry Zito, split a dish of Cracker Barrel potatoes with Kevin Millar and exchanged movie lines with Ryan Dempster. In short, he accepts the jerks, but he appreciates the nice guys.

THE ALL NICE-GUY TEAM

Starters:

DH: Mike Sweeney, Royals

1B: Sean Casey, Reds

2B: Pokey Reese, Mariners

SS: David Eckstein, Cardinals

3B: Joe Randa, Reds

C: Sal Fasano, Orioles

OF: Raul Iba?ez, Mariners

OF: Torii Hunter, Twins

OF: Dave Roberts, Padres

Rotation: