Major League All-Star Game : HIGH SIERRA : Ranger Outfielder Is in Peak Form, but Has Rocky Time With All-Star Balloting

Ruben Sierra is one of the best-kept secrets in the American League.

Outside of Texas, when you see Sierra’s name in the paper it’s usually in small type. Keep an eye on the daily list of top batters, and you’ll find Sierra, Tex at or near the top.

The lack of publicity may partially explain why Sierra, despite a .331 batting average, was only sixth in the All-Star voting among American League outfielders.

Times baseball columnist Ross Newhan recently wrote that Sierra, the Rangers’ right fielder, should be No. 1.

But even Oakland’s Jose Canseco, who hasn’t played all season because of a wrist injury, beat Sierra in the fan voting.

Sierra, also leads the league in runs batted in with 65, in doubles with 27, is second in triples with nine and tied for second in runs scored with 56.

He was voted the American League Player of the Month for June, and he hit his 13th and 14th homers the season Thursday and Friday in Ranger victories over the Angels and Oakland.

Still, he is only an All-Star because American League Manager Tony La Russa picked him as a reserve.

What does Sierra have to do to get some national recognition?

“Just keep putting up the numbers,” he said.

Bobby Valentine, now in his fifth season as the Texas manager, said: “It’s not just Ruben. It’s the Texas Rangers. We don’t get much attention because of where we come from (Arlington, Tex.) and where we’ve been (usually near the bottom of the American League West standings).

“We’ve got some outstanding players, but nobody knows it. Did you know we have the best relief pitcher in the American League? It’s Jeff Russell, but I’ll bet you didn’t know that.”

Sierra has another problem. He came to the United States from Puerto Rico six years ago not knowing a word of English.

“My first two years here, I didn’t say a word to anybody,” he said. “Now, it’s OK. I do interviews.”

Sierra is easy to understand, but he talks softly and in short sentences. And he seems to stay away from difficult topics.

Teammate and friend Julio Franco, the AL’s All-Star starter at second base, said: “He doesn’t trust people right away.”

Tracy Ringolsby, who covers the Rangers for the Dallas Morning News, said: “He’s really a great kid. He just worries he will say the wrong thing.

“Pedro Guerrero got a lot of heat for saying something very profound earlier this season. He said, ‘People write what I say and not what I think.’

“That’s a very valid thing with Latin players. With Ruben, he knows what he wants to say, but he’s afraid it will come out wrong.”

While the Rangers were at Anaheim Stadium last week, a reporter,accompanied by a childhood friend of Sierra’s, Oswald (Ozzie) Ayala, paid Sierra a visit.

Sierra and Ayala were neighbors in a poor section of Rio Piedras.

Sierra, now 23, left Puerto Rico at the age of 17 to play baseball in the United States.

Ayala, also 23, left about the same time to become a jockey. One problem, though. Ayala continued to grow, so instead he became an exercise rider. He now works for trainer Neil Drysdale and also has a part-time job at the YMCA in Monrovia.

When Sierra saw Ayala before last Monday night’s game, he greeted him with a big smile and a bigger hug. They hadn’t seen each other since leaving their hometown.

The two talked for a while in Spanish, then Sierra excused himself to take batting practice, but not before inviting Ayala to go out later that evening.

After the Angels beat the Rangers, 5-2, in a game in which Sierra popped up in the ninth inning, Sierra, Ayala, the reporter and a friend of Ayala’s, John Richards of Arcadia, left the stadium together.

Sierra was not in a good mood. He snubbed autograph seekers, saying several times, “I’m not signing tonight. Tomorrow night, I sign.”

Later, in the bar at the team’s nearby hotel, Sierra mellowed. “I sign autographs,” he explained. “I don’t mind. But sometimes you get tired and you don’t feel like it.”

At the bar, Sierra, showing a generous side, offered to pay for all the drinks as well as a pizza.

He even offered part of the pizza to two women sitting at an adjacent table. “Come on, have some pizza,” he insisted.

The two women, at first appearing a little annoyed, finally accepted Sierra’s offer.

That made Sierra happy. He introduced himself as simply Ruben and also introduced his companions.

The women, Barbara and Sharon, asked about Sierra’s jewelry--three flashy gold necklaces, one bearing the name RUBEN in capital letters, three rings on one hand and a ring resembling brass knuckles on the other.

He told them he bought the jewelry in Puerto Rico.

Said Sharon: “You’re not Ruben Sierra, are you?”

Sierra nodded, and Sharon whispered something to Barbara.

Said Barbara: “She said you lead the American League in about 50 categories. Sorry, the only baseball player I know of is Pete Rose.”

Sierra smiled, seemingly satisfied he had made two new friends.

Sierra and Ayala then talked about their days of playing youth baseball together.

“I was the right fielder,” Ayala said. “He took my position.”

Sierra was the pitcher and, according to Ayala, a good one.

“I pitched and batted fourth,” Sierra said.

And he got plenty of respect back then. “In four years, I made the All-Star team four times,” he said.

Ayala remembered Sierra as only a right-handed hitter. He is now a switch hitter.

“In the rookie league (at Sarasota, Fla. in 1983), they teach me to bunt from the left side because I have speed,” Sierra said. “The first time I try to hit from the left side I hit a triple.”

Ayala said Sierra was always an outstanding athlete in all sports, and very popular. “Ruben was shy, but everyone liked him,” Ayala said.

Sierra grew up as the youngest in a family of four. He said his father died when Ruben was 4. He said his older brothers, Ray, now 37, and Carlos, 30, encouraged him to play sports. He also has a sister.

Sierra lives in an apartment in Arlington during the season, but the rest of the time lives in a home he owns in Carolina, Puerto Rico, which is about 15 miles from Rio Piedras on the eastern part of the island.

Roberto Clemente grew up in Carolina and later moved to Rio Piedras. The Rangers played two exhibition games against the Chicago White Sox in Rio Piedras last spring to benefit the Roberto Clemente Foundation.

The Morning News’ Ringolsby went to Puerto Rico with the Rangers and learned that Sierra is revered as a successor to Clemente, the Pittsburgh Pirate great who was killed in a plane crash on a mercy mission to earthquake-stricken Nicaragua in 1972.

Luis Maryoral, a Puerto Rican journalist, told Ringolsby: “Ruben is the first product from this city since Clemente to play in the major leagues. He has a striking facial resemblance to Clemente. He plays right field. And he wears No. 21. Even for people who know nothing about baseball, that makes Ruben special to them.

“The people identify with him because he is from a poor family. What he does, he does for Puerto Rico, not just for Ruben Sierra.”

It’s a burden Sierra originally tried to avoid. He wore No. 3 when he first joined the Rangers in 1986. “I want to be Ruben Sierra, not Roberto Clemente,” he said at the time.

Two years later, Valentine convinced Sierra to wear No. 21. “Bobby told me to wear it and be proud of it,” Sierra said.

Sierra said his family has never been to the United States to see him play and will not be at Tuesday’s All-Star game at Anaheim. But, he said, they are planning a trip to Texas soon. “They will stay with me,” he said.

Despite a pending divorce, Sierra said his life is good. “I like Arlington. I have no problems there. I like the Rangers. I will stay with them as long as they pay me enough.”

Sierra played in the minor leagues for three years and one month before joining the Rangers in 1986 at the age of 20.

He had 69 homers before his 23rd birthday. In major league history, only 13 players have had more before turning 23.

This season, Sierra’s base salary is $350,000. He would have gotten a $10,000 bonus if he had been voted to the All-Star team, but he still gets $7,500 for being selected.

After this season, his contract is up and he will be eligible for arbitration.

“I don’t want to go to arbitration,” he said. “I just want to be paid right.”

There is precedent for players getting huge increases after their third full season, when they become eligible for arbitration.

Recent examples: Wally Joyner of the Angels went from $345,000 last year to $920,000 this year, Canseco went from $330,000 to $1.6 million, Danny Tartabull of Kansas City went from $335,000 to $1.35 million, and Will Clark of San Francisco went from $320,000 to $1.25 million.

Said La Russa of Sierra: “He’s always had the potential. He’s been improving daily to where his potential is becoming his performance.”

Said Valentine: “The talent has always been there for him to be the best. I’ve been saying that for three years. And now he does the little things that help you win, like taking a 3-2 pitch, breaking up double plays, taking leads off second and (defensively) hitting the cut-off man. He’s a wonderful kid with a tremendous future.”

Said Franco: “He’s going to be a superstar for a long time.”