azdad1978
Championship!!!!
By Jack Magruder, Tribune
WASHINGTON - For a guy on one hour’s sleep, Scott Hairston was feeling pretty frisky Sunday morning after his recall from Tucson.
Hairston left Tucson for Las Vegas at 10 p.m. Saturday, caught a flight for Washington at 1 a.m. Sunday and landed at 7:30 a.m. After a short nap, he was at RFK Stadium in time for his second trip to the big leagues.
"To get to the big leagues, I’m leaving any time," said Hairston, who replaced Jose Cruz Jr. on the roster.
Hairston was hitting .308 with two homers and six RBIs in Tucson and noted, "I’m seeing the ball really well."
He will be used primarily as a right-handed pinch-hitter, manager Bob Melvin said, "to complement Tony (Clark) on the other side."
"Our switch-hitters, we do have that matchup, but for the most part they are a little better left-handed hitters than they are right-handed hitters, so we have a true right-hander over there," Melvin said.
"He has very little going on with his swing. He’s short to the ball. Typically, those are your best pinch-hitters, guys with short swings who can take the ball to all fields."
Cruz, who is suffering from an irritated nerve in his lower back, is eligible to return from the disabled list April 25. Melvin said Cruz likely will need some at-bats on a rehab assignment or with the group in extended spring training in Tucson before being activated.
"Any time you are out roughly a week, you lose a little bit of your edge," Melvin said.
GOOD IDEA AT THE TIME
Exactly two weeks ago, an hour before the start of the regular season, Colorado owner Charlie Monfort predicted the Rockies would win the NL West.
"When I said it, (co-owner Dick Monfort and president Keli McGregor) looked at me like I was losing my mind," Monfort said. "The (2004 NBA champion) Detroit Pistons came from nowhere, and look what the Texas Rangers did last year and the Angels in 2002. Why not us?"
Sports Illustrated appears more prescient. It called them a "Triple-A team with Todd Helton."
After Clint Barmes’ walkoff homer in a 12-10 victory opening night, the Rockies lost eight in a row before beating San Francisco on Saturday.
SHORT HOPS
Melvin said he was attempting to maintain a competitive edge by not disclosing that Cruz was in the Valley the first two games of the series against the Nationals. "If they (Nationals) don’t know, I don’t want to alert that. If they don’t notice and the name is on the card, and they do something because of that . . ." Cruz’s name was on the lineup card both days, since he had not been placed on the disabled list, and the D-Backs made sure not to call attention to his absence by scratching his name from those to be announced in pregame introductions Thursday. . . .
Assessing Randy Choate’s outing Saturday, Melvin said, "It wasn’t his best outing, but that’s his spot. If he is going to be a viable option, we are going to bring him in against left-handed hitters that they are not going to pinch-hit for, and he has to get them out." Choate gave up four runs and three hits while hitting a batter in the Nationals’ seven-run seventh. . . .
Situational left-hander Javier Lopez, claimed Thursday, pitched two scoreless innings for Triple-A Tucson on Saturday night, striking out three and walking three. "He’s another left-hander we feel can make left-handers uncomfortable," Melvin said. . . .
The Nationals unveiled their mascot Sunday — Screech, a bald eagle clad in a Nationals jersey and hat and with the bouncing paunch of the Phillie Fanatic.
http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/index.php?sty=39771
WASHINGTON - For a guy on one hour’s sleep, Scott Hairston was feeling pretty frisky Sunday morning after his recall from Tucson.
Hairston left Tucson for Las Vegas at 10 p.m. Saturday, caught a flight for Washington at 1 a.m. Sunday and landed at 7:30 a.m. After a short nap, he was at RFK Stadium in time for his second trip to the big leagues.
"To get to the big leagues, I’m leaving any time," said Hairston, who replaced Jose Cruz Jr. on the roster.
Hairston was hitting .308 with two homers and six RBIs in Tucson and noted, "I’m seeing the ball really well."
He will be used primarily as a right-handed pinch-hitter, manager Bob Melvin said, "to complement Tony (Clark) on the other side."
"Our switch-hitters, we do have that matchup, but for the most part they are a little better left-handed hitters than they are right-handed hitters, so we have a true right-hander over there," Melvin said.
"He has very little going on with his swing. He’s short to the ball. Typically, those are your best pinch-hitters, guys with short swings who can take the ball to all fields."
Cruz, who is suffering from an irritated nerve in his lower back, is eligible to return from the disabled list April 25. Melvin said Cruz likely will need some at-bats on a rehab assignment or with the group in extended spring training in Tucson before being activated.
"Any time you are out roughly a week, you lose a little bit of your edge," Melvin said.
GOOD IDEA AT THE TIME
Exactly two weeks ago, an hour before the start of the regular season, Colorado owner Charlie Monfort predicted the Rockies would win the NL West.
"When I said it, (co-owner Dick Monfort and president Keli McGregor) looked at me like I was losing my mind," Monfort said. "The (2004 NBA champion) Detroit Pistons came from nowhere, and look what the Texas Rangers did last year and the Angels in 2002. Why not us?"
Sports Illustrated appears more prescient. It called them a "Triple-A team with Todd Helton."
After Clint Barmes’ walkoff homer in a 12-10 victory opening night, the Rockies lost eight in a row before beating San Francisco on Saturday.
SHORT HOPS
Melvin said he was attempting to maintain a competitive edge by not disclosing that Cruz was in the Valley the first two games of the series against the Nationals. "If they (Nationals) don’t know, I don’t want to alert that. If they don’t notice and the name is on the card, and they do something because of that . . ." Cruz’s name was on the lineup card both days, since he had not been placed on the disabled list, and the D-Backs made sure not to call attention to his absence by scratching his name from those to be announced in pregame introductions Thursday. . . .
Assessing Randy Choate’s outing Saturday, Melvin said, "It wasn’t his best outing, but that’s his spot. If he is going to be a viable option, we are going to bring him in against left-handed hitters that they are not going to pinch-hit for, and he has to get them out." Choate gave up four runs and three hits while hitting a batter in the Nationals’ seven-run seventh. . . .
Situational left-hander Javier Lopez, claimed Thursday, pitched two scoreless innings for Triple-A Tucson on Saturday night, striking out three and walking three. "He’s another left-hander we feel can make left-handers uncomfortable," Melvin said. . . .
The Nationals unveiled their mascot Sunday — Screech, a bald eagle clad in a Nationals jersey and hat and with the bouncing paunch of the Phillie Fanatic.
http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/index.php?sty=39771
