Scott Rolen And Hometown Share In Rookie Honor

JASPER, Ind. - Take a left at the Indiana Baseball Hall of Fame, drive up the hill about a half mile and you're at the childhood home of Phillies third baseman Scott Rolen.

In accordance with state law, there's a basketball hoop over the driveway. Parked nearby is the van, attached to a mobile home in which Ed and Linda Rolen logged 20,000 miles this summer following their youngest son around the country.

Walk up the driveway, the site of stickball and one-on-one games that are local legend, and you'll see an antenna rising like a praying mantis off the roof. Out back, near a stash of yellow and black signs left over from so many high-school pep rallies, is a satellite dish.

Earlier this year, the Rolens bought another dish, one of those state-of-the-art jobs. It was out back until Linda came home one day and realized it was gone.

"Ed," she said. "You didn't."

Ed had moved the dish from the back deck to the front porch, right above the door.

"Getting a Philadelphia Phillies baseball game in southern Indiana is quite a challenge," Ed said.

This is Jasper, a town of 10,000, a town devoted to woodworking, farming and kids. Especially kids. You can see that in the Fifth Street Elementary School, where Linda teaches first graders who wear Scott Rolen shirts. You can see it up on St. Charles Street, where signs supporting the football and volleyball teams rise from lawns as the high school approaches on the right.

The kids of Jasper trick-or-treated on Thursday night this year so they wouldn't miss the high-school football game Friday night at Alumni Stadium in the center of town.

They love their "Hoosiers" schoolboy basketball, as Jasper High's gym - a stately 3,500-seat facility, always sold-out - attests.

But this is also a baseball town. The Wildcats have won the past two state titles. They play at a little gem of a ballpark, Alvin C. Ruxer Field, in the center of town. A row of oaks stands behind the grandstand, providing shade for spectators. Down the right-field line is a hand-painted sign listing the program's team and individual accomplishments. Scott Rolen's name is all over it. In the distance, towering over left field, is the stone spire of St. Joseph Church.

"We call it Big Ben," coach Terry Gobert said, laughing. "We always used to wonder if Rolen would hit it."

The basement of the Rolens' home is lined with pictures and memorabilia from Kristie's days as a volleyball player at Jasper, and Todd's time on the Wildcats' football and basketball teams. There's even a studio picture of Ed, many pounds lighter, in his high-school basketball uniform. Close your eyes and you can hear Gene Hackman shouting "Hands up . . . hands up."

The best picture is a black-and-white one of Scott in a Jasper uniform dunking a basketball. Scott, who was offered a scholarship to play basketball at the University of Georgia, looks as if he's conquering the world.

"That's Scottie's favorite," Linda said.

"I believe he may have been the first kid in Jasper to dunk," Ed said.

"Great basketball player," Gobert said. "And he may have been the best quarterback we ever had if he stuck with football. As a freshman, I saw him throw a ball 65 yards, out of the lights and back down.

"But baseball was always Scott's passion."

Make room for another

That passion leaps off the walls of the Rolen family basement. There's Scott's retired Jasper jersey, No. 21. The No. 6 he wore in his first Phillies game. There's a picture of him being mobbed by high-school teammates after hitting a home run. Not far away is a plaque: Indiana Mr. Baseball 1993.

Now, the Rolens have to make room for another award - 1997 National League Rookie of the Year. Rolen won the award last week.

At The Fiesta, a neighborhood wings and beer joint, the rookie of the year award is what everyone talks about.

"Everybody's extremely proud of Scott," Gobert said. "People who've never met him or heard his voice will drive hours to Cincinnati or St. Louis or Chicago to see him play.

"It's funny. When he was in high school, he was Jasper's Scott Rolen and the rival towns hated him. Now, he's Dubois County's Scott Rolen and everyone loves him."

Gobert, 36 and athletic, is wearing a Clearwater Phillies cap in the basement of his home, which has almost as much Scott Rolen memorabilia on the wall as the Rolens' house.

The two have remained close. When Rolen was called up to the majors on Aug. 1, 1996, Gobert drove all night to Philadelphia. He and his wife have seen Rolen play at every minor-league stop.

Scott and his former coach still play Whiffleball in Gobert's backyard. The New Year's Day game was a thriller, with Rolen going over the wall to make a game-saving catch.

"I remember seeing him in his first big-league game," Gobert said. "You could tell from the first pitch he fit it. He looked like a major-league ball player. It looked like that was why he was put on Earth."

Ed Rolen is a heavy-set man with a gray mustache. He is quiet compared with his funny, exuberant wife. He often starts a story, and she picks it up when he stops to catch his breath.

Both are teachers. When the school year ends in June, the Rolens' travels begin: to Louisville, Ky., to see Todd, a teacher, 24; to Sarasota, Fla., to see Kristie, 27, also a teacher, and her family; to Philadelphia and anywhere else the Phillies go to see Scott, 22.

All the traveling is done in the van, with the camper in tow. Linda won't get on an airplane.

Linda considered flying when her son got called up to the Phillies. They were in Sarasota when Scott phoned with the news.

"Mom, I'm going to Philadelphia," he said.

"What's there?" Linda asked.

"No, Mom, I'm `going to Philadelphia,' " Scott said.

" `Philadelphia, Philadelphia,' " his mother said. "Oh, my God, I've got to go!"

Close to midnight, the Rolens jumped in the van and headed for Philadelphia. The next day's game was starting at 5:30 p.m. They drove through the night. As they got to Richmond, Va., time was getting tight. They called a few airlines, but nothing got into Philly on time. So they kept driving.

Game time arrived and they were a couple of hours away. They picked up the game on radio near Baltimore and heard their son's first major-league hit - a double off St. Louis' Donovan Osborne - as the van exited the Fort McHenry Tunnel.

"We were cheering; we were yelling; we were clapping; we were crying," Linda recalled.

They got to Philadelphia in time for the second game of the doubleheader. Linda cried every time her son came to the plate.

"He was doing something he'd always dreamed about," she said. "I remember him watching ball games on TV when he was 2 years old. He'd point at the TV and say, `I do that.' It's all he's ever wanted."

Ed and Linda's adventure took them to Philadelphia, Atlanta, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Chicago and Baltimore this season. Their old van died on the way to Boston. They camped in the repair shop's parking lot for a night, then went acoss the street and bought a new van.

"It's always been this way," Linda said "We've always loved going to our kids' games. Now we just drive farther."

When the Phillies are home, the Rolens stay at a campground near Atlantic City. In St. Louis, they camp right in the city.

And when they aren't there in person, they employ one of those satellites and watch at home.

"We plan our whole day around the game," Linda said.

If they can't find the game on TV - that happens too often for their liking - they tune in 1210 AM on the radio. The signal reaches southern Indiana, somewhat sporadically, after sundown. For some reason, Ed said, the signal is better in the van. So, they eat dinner in the van listening to the games. And when the team is on the West Coast and the games are late, they go outside and listen in their pajamas.

"People must think we're the Griswolds," Linda said.

Linda says part of her believes his fate was predestined. She grew up in Petersburg, Ind., you see, and Gil Hodges and his family lived on the same street. The whole town rooted for Hodges' Dodgers. Everyone except her father.

"For some reason, the Phillies were always his team," she said.

Scott Rolen maintained his rookie status when he was hit by a pitch and broke his arm during his 131st at-bat in 1996. If that at-bat had become official, he would have lost his rookie standing for 1997.

Rolen suffered the broken arm on Sept. 7. Years earlier, Linda Rolen's father died on Sept. 7.

"That he broke his arm on that day seems so unreal to me," she said. "My father was a Phillies fan. . . . I just think some things are supposed to happen in life."

Majors all that mattered

Ed said his son had never thought about the possibility of winning the award. All that ever mattered to Scott was making the big leagues and becoming a productive player.

So this award belongs to the people who launched Scott Rolen - his family and his town.

Rolen is the first Phillie since Dick Allen in 1964 to win the award. He'll receive it Feb. 1 at a banquet in Manhattan. The entire Rolen family will be there. Some will fly in. Ed and Linda will drive.

"I think we'll have to stay in a hotel," Linda said to her husband. "Something tells me there aren't many campgrounds in New York City."