azdad1978
Championship!!!!
Bob McManaman
The Arizona Republic
Mar. 10, 2005 12:00 AM
TUCSON - The Diamondbacks have a new player in camp. You may remember him. Luis Terrero.
You know, the five-tool player without the toolbox? The young, enigmatic lightning rod of a center fielder with the short fuse?
The guy who chucked a baseball into the stands during a confrontation with a heckler, striking a female bystander instead?
The immature kid who kissed home plate after hitting a home run in a minor league game, appalling just about everyone on the field, including his own teammates?
Yeah, that guy.
Well, he doesn't live here anymore.
Terrero said he has shed the alter ego, the one prone to temper tantrums. He had to. It was time to grow up and smell the caffeine before his time in the majors was limited to the proverbial cup of coffee.
"I'm staying quiet. I know what I have to do and how I have to go about things here," said Terrero, who was scratched from Wednesday's game against the Angels due to a bruised tailbone. "It all starts with hard work for me. It's just about baseball and doing whatever I can to help this team win."
Terrero is doing his best to keep a low profile, and it couldn't have come at a better time. For starters, he doesn't have the luxury of a starting job anymore. That belongs to Jose Cruz Jr., acquired from Tampa Bay in a deal for pitcher Casey Fossum.
Terrero also happens to be out of minor league options, meaning if he can't cut it as a reserve, he could be out altogether.
He could be traded. Sometimes a fresh start and a clean slate go a long way for a player trying to rebuild his image and his career, one that has barely started.
"He's got all the skills in the world," left fielder Luis Gonzalez said. "He's made some mistakes with the suspensions and doing silly things like throwing balls into the stands, but I think he's learning how to listen. If he wants to play this game for a long time, he's got to change his ways with some of the stuff he was doing on the field.
"He knows that. He's starting to mature and he's getting a good feel for what he needs to do now."
The Diamondbacks don't appear in any rush to flush Terrero out of the system. They believe he still can develop his raw skills and evolve into a star, as long as he harnesses his emotions, which resulted in a pair of suspensions last season at Triple-A Tucson.
"I just want to play ball, man," said Terrero, who hit .313 for the Sidewinders and, eventually, played in 62 games for the Diamondbacks, batting .245 with four home runs, 10 stolen bases and eight errors in center.
"I don't even want to talk about the past. The past is the past, and I've moved on."
Terrero's road to inner peace was fostered last season when his friendship to then-teammate Danny Bautista deepened into a brotherly type of bond. Bautista was the good shepherd, Terrero the wayward lamb. Terrero beams when he talks about his short time with Bautista, who signed with the Devil Rays as a free agent.
Now there are other relationships to be fostered, a slew of veterans to seek out for knowledge, inspiration and advice. Then there's first base coach Brett Butler, who can teach as well as preach, and should be able to bring the best out of Terrero in the outfield and on the base paths.
"He's in good hands," said manager Bob Melvin, who has been impressed with Terrero's work ethic since the first day of camp.
Game report
At Tucson Electric Park: Angels (ss) 16, Diamondbacks 2
Diamondbacks record: 4-4
At the plate: The Angels dominated. Scott Hairston helped Arizona avert its second shutout of the Cactus League season with an RBI double high off the batter's eye in center field, scoring Alan Zinter in the ninth. Corey Myers added an RBI single. Hairston and Myers each had two hits.
On the mound: It was downright ugly through the first six innings, as starter Shawn Estes, Oscar Villarreal and Donovan Osborne each allowed five earned runs and a combined 11hits. Estes threw 48 pitches, a majority of them fastballs out over the plate. Villarreal issued three walks and hit a batter. Brandon Lyon had two strikeouts in one inning of work and is beginning to separate himself in the battle to win one of two bullpen spots.
In the field: 3B Troy Glaus threw a strike across the diamond on the first play of the game, leaving manager Bob Melvin completely satisfied with the slugger's recovery from shoulder surgery. "That's going to get it done right there, period. His arm is good enough to play," Melvin said. The Diamondbacks turned four double plays.
He said it: "l know he wanted to throw a lot of fastballs today, and he did. Just a lot of them came back from somebody out in the outfield somewhere." - Melvin on Estes' second start.
Today: Diamondbacks vs. Giants, Tucson Electric Park, 1:05 p.m. The Diamondbacks will start RHP Javier Vazquez vs. LHP Kirk Rueter.
http://www.azcentral.com/sports/diamondbacks/articles/0310dbacks0310.html
The Arizona Republic
Mar. 10, 2005 12:00 AM
TUCSON - The Diamondbacks have a new player in camp. You may remember him. Luis Terrero.
You know, the five-tool player without the toolbox? The young, enigmatic lightning rod of a center fielder with the short fuse?
The guy who chucked a baseball into the stands during a confrontation with a heckler, striking a female bystander instead?
The immature kid who kissed home plate after hitting a home run in a minor league game, appalling just about everyone on the field, including his own teammates?
Yeah, that guy.
Well, he doesn't live here anymore.
Terrero said he has shed the alter ego, the one prone to temper tantrums. He had to. It was time to grow up and smell the caffeine before his time in the majors was limited to the proverbial cup of coffee.
"I'm staying quiet. I know what I have to do and how I have to go about things here," said Terrero, who was scratched from Wednesday's game against the Angels due to a bruised tailbone. "It all starts with hard work for me. It's just about baseball and doing whatever I can to help this team win."
Terrero is doing his best to keep a low profile, and it couldn't have come at a better time. For starters, he doesn't have the luxury of a starting job anymore. That belongs to Jose Cruz Jr., acquired from Tampa Bay in a deal for pitcher Casey Fossum.
Terrero also happens to be out of minor league options, meaning if he can't cut it as a reserve, he could be out altogether.
He could be traded. Sometimes a fresh start and a clean slate go a long way for a player trying to rebuild his image and his career, one that has barely started.
"He's got all the skills in the world," left fielder Luis Gonzalez said. "He's made some mistakes with the suspensions and doing silly things like throwing balls into the stands, but I think he's learning how to listen. If he wants to play this game for a long time, he's got to change his ways with some of the stuff he was doing on the field.
"He knows that. He's starting to mature and he's getting a good feel for what he needs to do now."
The Diamondbacks don't appear in any rush to flush Terrero out of the system. They believe he still can develop his raw skills and evolve into a star, as long as he harnesses his emotions, which resulted in a pair of suspensions last season at Triple-A Tucson.
"I just want to play ball, man," said Terrero, who hit .313 for the Sidewinders and, eventually, played in 62 games for the Diamondbacks, batting .245 with four home runs, 10 stolen bases and eight errors in center.
"I don't even want to talk about the past. The past is the past, and I've moved on."
Terrero's road to inner peace was fostered last season when his friendship to then-teammate Danny Bautista deepened into a brotherly type of bond. Bautista was the good shepherd, Terrero the wayward lamb. Terrero beams when he talks about his short time with Bautista, who signed with the Devil Rays as a free agent.
Now there are other relationships to be fostered, a slew of veterans to seek out for knowledge, inspiration and advice. Then there's first base coach Brett Butler, who can teach as well as preach, and should be able to bring the best out of Terrero in the outfield and on the base paths.
"He's in good hands," said manager Bob Melvin, who has been impressed with Terrero's work ethic since the first day of camp.
Game report
At Tucson Electric Park: Angels (ss) 16, Diamondbacks 2
Diamondbacks record: 4-4
At the plate: The Angels dominated. Scott Hairston helped Arizona avert its second shutout of the Cactus League season with an RBI double high off the batter's eye in center field, scoring Alan Zinter in the ninth. Corey Myers added an RBI single. Hairston and Myers each had two hits.
On the mound: It was downright ugly through the first six innings, as starter Shawn Estes, Oscar Villarreal and Donovan Osborne each allowed five earned runs and a combined 11hits. Estes threw 48 pitches, a majority of them fastballs out over the plate. Villarreal issued three walks and hit a batter. Brandon Lyon had two strikeouts in one inning of work and is beginning to separate himself in the battle to win one of two bullpen spots.
In the field: 3B Troy Glaus threw a strike across the diamond on the first play of the game, leaving manager Bob Melvin completely satisfied with the slugger's recovery from shoulder surgery. "That's going to get it done right there, period. His arm is good enough to play," Melvin said. The Diamondbacks turned four double plays.
He said it: "l know he wanted to throw a lot of fastballs today, and he did. Just a lot of them came back from somebody out in the outfield somewhere." - Melvin on Estes' second start.
Today: Diamondbacks vs. Giants, Tucson Electric Park, 1:05 p.m. The Diamondbacks will start RHP Javier Vazquez vs. LHP Kirk Rueter.
http://www.azcentral.com/sports/diamondbacks/articles/0310dbacks0310.html
