azdad1978
Championship!!!!
By Jack Magruder, Tribune
TUCSON - With its nonconforming dimensions and fencing made of multiple materials, right field at San Francisco’s SBC Park seems a place only a mathematician or an architect could love.
"There are a lot of quirks to it,’’ Diamondbacks right fielder Shawn Green said diplomatically.
Jose Cruz Jr. won a Gold Glove in that patch of rough in 2003.
That allays any concerns Arizona might have about Cruz’s adjustment to center field at Bank One Ballpark this season.
"(BOB) is not your cookiecutter ballpark. There are some nuances out there in center field that you have to get used to,’’ D-Backs manager Bob Melvin said.
"But there are as many nuances in right field in San Francisco as there are anywhere. I don’t think it is going to be a problem for him. When you have played the corners, center field ends up being easier for you as far as reading balls.’’
Green has seen Cruz at work, playing right field to Cruz’s center when the two were teammates in Toronto from 1997-99, and sees a fit.
"He’s a good outfielder, a good center fielder,’’ Green said.
Besides, if you can play right field in SBC Park, where the dimensions range from 309 feet down the right-field line to 421 in the right-center field gap. . . .
Where the fence takes a 90-degree jog at one point along the way. . . .
And where the direction and distance of the carom varies on whether the ball hits the chain-link fence at ground level, or the brick, or the faux brick, or the metal, or the padding on the 25-foot height. . . .
"There are definitely some obstacles,’’ said Cruz, who spent 2002-03 in right with the Giants.
"But you can play shallow because it is not very deep along the line. You can be aggressive. If they hit a ball in that gap, you’re not going to catch it anyway. It’s a triple. But if they hit a (shallow) line drive, you can catch it.’’
Cruz said relearning positioning in center field is his issue this spring, the first time he has played much center since his last year in Toronto in 2002 and the first time he will be a regular there since 2001.
"I’m just tinkering with it right now until I feel comfortable. Everything else is pretty straightforward,’’ he said. "If you’ve played center, you can play anywhere.’’
Cruz considers himself a center fielder exiled by circumstances. Seattle’s other Jr., Ken Griffey Jr., was entrenched in center when the Mariners recalled Cruz in 1997, then traded him to Toronto at the July deadline.
Vernon Wells became the regular center fielder in Toronto in 2002, with Cruz playing all three spots, and veteran Marquis Grissom was the Giants’ center fielder in Cruz’s two years there. Rocco Baldelli played there in Tampa Bay last season, Cruz’s only year with the Devil Rays, when he slumped to 10 errors after committing only two in his Gold Glove season.
While Cruz’s spot in the field is settled, his spot in the batting order is still under advisement. Melvin seems to prefer Cruz hitting sixth, where he will get RBI opportunities while protecting Green, who will hit fifth. Cruz was 2-for-3 with an RBI single Saturday.
"Fine with me. Either way, I’m going to try to look for that pitch to drive, whether it be (hitting) first or last,’’ Cruz said. "I’m a big believer that the lineup makes itself. A lot has to do with how you are going at the time.’’
Cruz had his best offensive season in 2001, when he hit .274 with 34 home runs and 32 stolen bases, becoming only the second player in Blue Jays history (Green was the first) to record a 30-30 season. He hit four leadoff homers that season, often hitting at the top of the order.
Cruz, Howard Johnson and Carlos Beltran are the only switch-hitters in baseball history with 30-30 seasons, and Cruz’s 175 career homers are nine more than his father, Jose Cruz, an outfielder who spent most of his career with Houston.
The D-Backs traded Casey Fossum for Cruz in January, the last part of the offseason rebuilding.
"The better your team gets, the better you want it to be,’’ Melvin said. "That was the one spot we had a younger player (Luis Terrero).’’
http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/index.php?sty=37906
TUCSON - With its nonconforming dimensions and fencing made of multiple materials, right field at San Francisco’s SBC Park seems a place only a mathematician or an architect could love.
"There are a lot of quirks to it,’’ Diamondbacks right fielder Shawn Green said diplomatically.
Jose Cruz Jr. won a Gold Glove in that patch of rough in 2003.
That allays any concerns Arizona might have about Cruz’s adjustment to center field at Bank One Ballpark this season.
"(BOB) is not your cookiecutter ballpark. There are some nuances out there in center field that you have to get used to,’’ D-Backs manager Bob Melvin said.
"But there are as many nuances in right field in San Francisco as there are anywhere. I don’t think it is going to be a problem for him. When you have played the corners, center field ends up being easier for you as far as reading balls.’’
Green has seen Cruz at work, playing right field to Cruz’s center when the two were teammates in Toronto from 1997-99, and sees a fit.
"He’s a good outfielder, a good center fielder,’’ Green said.
Besides, if you can play right field in SBC Park, where the dimensions range from 309 feet down the right-field line to 421 in the right-center field gap. . . .
Where the fence takes a 90-degree jog at one point along the way. . . .
And where the direction and distance of the carom varies on whether the ball hits the chain-link fence at ground level, or the brick, or the faux brick, or the metal, or the padding on the 25-foot height. . . .
"There are definitely some obstacles,’’ said Cruz, who spent 2002-03 in right with the Giants.
"But you can play shallow because it is not very deep along the line. You can be aggressive. If they hit a ball in that gap, you’re not going to catch it anyway. It’s a triple. But if they hit a (shallow) line drive, you can catch it.’’
Cruz said relearning positioning in center field is his issue this spring, the first time he has played much center since his last year in Toronto in 2002 and the first time he will be a regular there since 2001.
"I’m just tinkering with it right now until I feel comfortable. Everything else is pretty straightforward,’’ he said. "If you’ve played center, you can play anywhere.’’
Cruz considers himself a center fielder exiled by circumstances. Seattle’s other Jr., Ken Griffey Jr., was entrenched in center when the Mariners recalled Cruz in 1997, then traded him to Toronto at the July deadline.
Vernon Wells became the regular center fielder in Toronto in 2002, with Cruz playing all three spots, and veteran Marquis Grissom was the Giants’ center fielder in Cruz’s two years there. Rocco Baldelli played there in Tampa Bay last season, Cruz’s only year with the Devil Rays, when he slumped to 10 errors after committing only two in his Gold Glove season.
While Cruz’s spot in the field is settled, his spot in the batting order is still under advisement. Melvin seems to prefer Cruz hitting sixth, where he will get RBI opportunities while protecting Green, who will hit fifth. Cruz was 2-for-3 with an RBI single Saturday.
"Fine with me. Either way, I’m going to try to look for that pitch to drive, whether it be (hitting) first or last,’’ Cruz said. "I’m a big believer that the lineup makes itself. A lot has to do with how you are going at the time.’’
Cruz had his best offensive season in 2001, when he hit .274 with 34 home runs and 32 stolen bases, becoming only the second player in Blue Jays history (Green was the first) to record a 30-30 season. He hit four leadoff homers that season, often hitting at the top of the order.
Cruz, Howard Johnson and Carlos Beltran are the only switch-hitters in baseball history with 30-30 seasons, and Cruz’s 175 career homers are nine more than his father, Jose Cruz, an outfielder who spent most of his career with Houston.
The D-Backs traded Casey Fossum for Cruz in January, the last part of the offseason rebuilding.
"The better your team gets, the better you want it to be,’’ Melvin said. "That was the one spot we had a younger player (Luis Terrero).’’
http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/index.php?sty=37906
