Garth’S Gumption True To Form

Garth Brooks’ spring training gambol with the San Diego Padres appears to be yet another example of Brooks titanic shrewdness and PR acumen - and not much of a gamble at all.

Asked in a recent telephone press conference whether this is a publicity stunt, he responded obliquely with a profound truth:

“I don’t need the publicity.”

It is, though, difficult to imagine Brooks doing much without publicity, and while this may or may not be a stunt, there is no question that it will involve reams and reels of publicity not only for Brooks’ Touch ‘em All Foundation children’s charity, which stands to receive a lot of money from the effort, but for Brooks himself.

The genius this time lies in the fact that this venture takes Brooks out of the national music realm in which his image, still potent by comparison with his peers, is nevertheless losing much of its luster. The new project transports him onto a new field of competition on which, having not played baseball since high school, he can reclaim the role of the underdog and perhaps regain momentum.

It seems a perfect way for Brooks to back away from the music business for a while without giving anyone the impression that he is quitting anything permanently. There are obvious Michael Jordan comparisons to be drawn, and Brooks did little to discourage them by saying several times during the telephone press conference how much he admired Jordan and Jordan’s switch to baseball a couple of years ago.

He is, however, deadly serious in his competition for a spot on some Padres-affiliated team. Proclaiming a determination not to “embarrass” major league baseball by what he is doing, he said that his daily regimen has included “100 to 200 swings a day from both sides of the plate.”

The risk of embarrassment, he indicated, is personal, that of “disgracing the family name,” as he put it. But how big a risk is that? Not achieving such a seemingly unattainable goal would more likely reap an admiration for trying, not embarrassment for not succeeding.

Don’t be surprised, though, if Brooks manages to be competitive. He is understood to have hit some batting-practice pitches into the stands of certain major league ballparks last year, and he didn’t become a world music phenomenon by being a shrinking violet.