Edition: U.S. / Global

Coleman Gets Set To Go for the Mets

By JOE SEXTON, Special to The New York Times
Published: March 4, 1991

If speed was God's gift to Vince Coleman, it was one that took a while to be unwrapped.

Coleman, the outfielder who has led the National League in stolen bases for the last six seasons with a combination of instincts and insolence, insists he was not particularly fast as a child. There were other neighborhood kids fleeter, there were moments of doubt spent staring at another's heels in the distance and wondering what lay ahead in his own athletic future.

"I created the speed I have," Coleman, who was acquired by the Mets this winter, said the other day here at the team's spring training camp, still breathing hard from his latest demonstration of that terrible swiftness. "I developed it."

Coleman merely smiles at the argument that speed cannot be taught, that it is a talent one is born with and not a skill that can be acquired. Coleman, his impatient shake of the head hints, has spent too much time cultivating his speed to spend much effort convincing the disbelieving. 'Always Being Outrun'

"I can't explain it but one way," he said. "Everybody says it had to have been some blessing that was there from the start. But it's just not true. I was never the fastest kid on the block. I was always being outrun. But I ran the stairs of bleachers in high school and the hills around Tallahassee at Florida A&M. I lifted weights for strength. And from strength came speed."

And from speed came fame and fortune: because Coleman had made himself dangerously fast, the Mets made him fabulously rich, signing the 29-year-old outfielder Dec. 5 to a four-year deal worth $11.95 million. The contract at once violated two of the organization's operating principles: not to sign high-priced free agents and not to hand out a deal for longer than three years.

It was an investment in philosophy as much as finance. Their offensive engine suddenly lacking the giant piston that was Darryl Strawberry's bat, the Mets had to find another approach for making a run at the National League East title.

Having posted a career-high .292 average for the Cardinals in 1990, Coleman offered the possibility of lethal leadoff hitting and consequently the threat of an early run or an unnerving late-inning scare. No Defense Works

"You can't defense Coleman," said Bud Harrelson, the manager of the Mets. "You walk him late in a one-run game, and you are going to have a heck of a time."

On base is where Coleman has his best of times. The National League rookie of the year in 1985, when he stole 110 bases, Coleman went on to become the first major leaguer ever to steal 100 or more bases in each of his first three seasons. Coleman, who ran his career total to 549, a figure that qualifies him for 14th place on the career list, stole 50 consecutive bases without being caught in 1989, demolishing the major league record of 38 set by Davey Lopes.

"I think a base stealer has to have an egotistical attitude," Coleman said. "I don't want to make anybody mad. As for nervous -- well, yes."

As for his effectiveness in doing so -- well, yes, Coleman has been destabilizing for pitchers, infielders and managers. "It's the pitcher you are trying to beat," Coleman said. "The program is to establish that lead and stay there. You are going to force him to give in before you do."

It is no secret that Coleman has a momentous assignment ahead of him. Harrelson has made clear just how dependent he will be on Coleman. His visions of the typical first inning for the Mets include Coleman on second base with no one out almost as a given. But it's a huge assumption. Coleman had an on-base percentage last season of only .340, collecting just 35 walks and scoring only 73 runs, the lowest total of his career. Indeed, he has averaged 104 strikeouts and only 52 walks a season in the major leagues. And the effects on his average of playing regularly on grass remain to be seen.

"He's got a long swing and he often swings too hard," Harrelson said of Coleman. "I told him back in New York in December that he ought to be the toughest guy to strike out on the team. The fear factor alone ought to make him that."

Offense aside, there exists a genuine fear factor among fans and observers about Coleman's future defensive fortunes in center field. The Mets have maintained that they expect the shift of positions for the longtime left fielder to be relatively easy. But for others, including some quietly suspicious teammates, the determination that Coleman can handle the added responsibility and alterations in technique is premature.

"Am I comfortable?" asked Coleman, who played center in college and the minor leagues. "The day I get comfortable is the day I retire."

As for his farewell to St. Louis, Coleman appears both grateful for the experiences of two trips to the World Series with the Cardinals and relieved by the prospect of forgetting an often trying relationship with his former manager, Whitey Herzog.

"We didn't have jaw-jacking arguments," Coleman said of Herzog. "But he'd talk negatively about his players. He'd ridicule you. He wanted me to do everything. He wanted, in all phases, for me to be a better ballplayer. That was his beef. I didn't think I deserved to go through it."

Criticism is sure to begin at Shea Stadium, it was pointed out to Coleman, should his season get off to a slow start. Coleman, though, insisted he was prepared to endure it, and that, self-made speed and all, he wasn't about to run from the spotlight. "I love attention," he said. "I accept it. And I can take it."

Photo: Vince Coleman discussing his speed: "Everybody says it had to have been some blessing that was there from the start. But it's just not true." (Associated Press)