ANGELS NOTEBOOK: LOOKING FOR AN ANSWER AT DH SPOT.Byline: Joe Haakenson Staff Writer DETROIT - The term ``designated hitter'' has been a misnomer misnomer n. the wrong name. MISNOMER. The act of using a wrong name. 2. Misnomers, may be considered with regard to contracts, to devises and bequests, and to suits or actions. 3.-1. , as far as the Angels are concerned, with the team getting very little production from the spot no matter who has occupied it. The Angels are hoping what happened Sunday was the first step to changing that. Juan Rivera's three-run home run in the fourth inning was the first homer by an Angels DH this season, and only the third extra-base hit ex·tra-base hit n. Baseball A double, a triple, or a home run. . The DHs had only seven RBI RBI abbr. Baseball runs batted in Noun 1. rbi - a run that is the result of the batter's performance; "he had more than 100 rbi last season" run batted in all season before Rivera got his three. The Angels have used six players in the DH spot this season: Jeff DaVanon Jeffrey Graham DaVanon (born December 8, 1973 in San Diego, California) is a Major League Baseball outfielder with the Oakland Athletics. DaVanon came up through the Oakland Athletics system before being traded to the Anaheim Angels as a minor-leaguer in 1999. (17 games), Rivera (10), Chone Figgins Desmond DeChone "Chone" Figgins (born January 22, 1978 in Leary, Georgia) is a Major League Baseball utility player for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Despite the unusual spelling of his first name, "Chone" is pronounced as "Shawn. (4), Vladimir Guerrero Vladimir Alvino Guerrero (born February 9, 1976 in Don Gregorio, Nizao, Dominican Republic), and known in his native Dominican Republic as Miquéas (Spanish for Micah), is a Major League Baseball right fielder who plays for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. (4), Garret Anderson Garret Joseph Anderson (born June 30, 1972 in Los Angeles, California) is a Major League Baseball left fielder who has played his entire career for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. (3) and Steve Finley (1). Manager Mike Scioscia admitted that trying to get too many players at-bats to stay sharp can have a negative affect. ``When you have three or four players for one position, you might get four guys struggling instead of one or two being more productive,'' he said. ``If you look around the American League, there's not a lot of true DHs. A lot of teams do what we do: mix and match.'' It's possible Rivera will work his way into more of a full-time DH role, which means batting against right-handed pitchers. ``I'm more comfortable against right-handers,'' Rivera said, and the numbers back him up. He has hit right-handers (.290) better than lefties (.286) in his career. The DH role is new to Rivera, but he said he finally is starting to feel at ease in that spot. ``When you play defense, you're more focused on the game,'' he said. ``At DH, you're sitting on the bench watching, waiting for your turn. But I feel more comfortable now as a DH.'' --Pitching moves: Kevin Gregg pitched 1 1/3 innings of relief Sunday, taking him out of consideration for Tuesday's start against the Indians. The Angels will promote Ervin Santana from Double-A Arkansas to make the start. Bartolo Colon will pitch Wednesday on three days' rest. Colon threw 88 pitches Saturday with flu-like symptoms, but he felt much better on Sunday. Colon is 1-1 with a 5.02 ERA in his career on three days' rest, but the victory came last Oct. 1, clinching at least a tie for the AL West Division title. |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion