ANGELS NOTEBOOK: RARE BYRD AMONG POWER PITCHING STAFF.Byline: Gabe Lacques Staff Writer TEMPE, Ariz. - In the machismo machismo Exaggerated pride in masculinity, perceived as power, often coupled with a minimal sense of responsibility and disregard of consequences. In machismo there is supreme valuation of characteristics culturally associated with the masculine and a denigration of culture of baseball, there are code words some pitchers would rather not be associated with, words like ``crafty'' or ``guile.'' Paul Byrd Paul Gregory Byrd (born December 3, 1970 in Louisville, Kentucky) is a Major League Baseball right-handed starting pitcher who plays for the Cleveland Indians. Byrd attended Louisiana State University where he pitched as part of the Tigers baseball team that won the 1991 , 34, doesn't duck these labels. In fact, he embraces them. ``It's the truth. If I'm not crafty, I won't be here,'' said Byrd, slated to be the Angels' No. 5 starter this year. ``Everybody wants to know how many strikeouts a pitcher has. My game's not set up that way. You've got to play the hand you're dealt.'' Byrd never was blessed with great velocity, and when he had elbow ligament replacement surgery in 2003, it could have sounded a death knell death knell Noun something that heralds death or destruction Noun 1. death knell - an omen of death or destruction to his career. Instead, it has been a boon. Byrd, whose fastball usually tops out around 86 mph, has picked up more velocity since the surgery and has been able to throw a sinker Sinker A bond whose payments are provided by the issuer's sinking fund. Notes: A portion of these bonds are retired by the issuer each year. See also: Sinking Fund, Super Sinker Sinker , which his elbow couldn't handle before. Byrd won 17 games with Kansas City Kansas City, two adjacent cities of the same name, one (1990 pop. 149,767), seat of Wyandotte co., NE Kansas (inc. 1859), the other (1990 pop. 435,146), Clay, Jackson, and Platte counties, NW Mo. (inc. 1850). in 2002, and the Angels hope his innings-eating ability, paired with a prolific offense, produces a lot of wins. On Saturday, Byrd threw a round of live batting practice to Angels hitters, showcasing his old-school, slingshot (networking, business, tool, product, protocol) Slingshot - CSK Software's real time financial server for the Internet. Slingshot allows the delivery of real time market data across the Internet and private intranets quickly, cheaply and securely. delivery. It isn't pretty, but it works. ``He drops down and has deception even before he throws the ball,'' second baseman second baseman n. Baseball The infielder who is positioned near and to the first-base side of second base. Noun 1. second baseman - (baseball) the person who plays second base second sacker Chone Figgins said. ``He drops down and still has good control.'' Byrd spent the past two seasons in Atlanta, a place many pitchers like because of pitching coach Leo Mazzone, who has resurrected many careers. Byrd went 8-7 with a 3.94 ERA last season, decent numbers for a pitcher one year removed from Tommy John surgery Tommy John surgery, known by doctors as ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction (or UCL), is a surgical procedure in which a ligament in the medial elbow is replaced with a tendon from elsewhere in the body (often from the forearm, hamstring, knee, or foot of the . In Anaheim, Byrd sees a rotation with power arms such as Bartolo Colon, Kelvim Escobar and John Lackey, and a hard-throwing bullpen led by Francisco Rodriguez and Brendan Donnelly, and he thinks his soft stuff could be effective among all the power. --Rivera in camp: Juan Rivera finally arrived to camp Saturday after missing four workouts while awaiting clearance for a visa in Venezuela. Rivera said he could not convince the embassy in Caracas to move his visa appointment up from Feb. 22. Rivera, acquired with Maicer Izturis for Jose Guillen in November, enters one of the few competitive situations in camp. He, Jeff DaVanon, Robb Quinlan and, when he arrives, Kendry Morales, are bidding for time at designated hitter. Gabe Lacques, (626) 962-8811 gabe.lacques(at)sgvn.com CAPTION(S): photo Photo: JUAN RIVERA Versatile outfielder finally is in camp after visa problems delayed his arrival. |
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