DODGERS NOTEBOOK: BATTING PRACTICE SESSION IS AN ENCOURAGING SIGN FOR KENT.Byline: Tony Jackson
Anthony (Antonio) Jackson, best known as Tony Jackson Staff Writer VERO BEACH Vero Beach (vēr`o), city (1990 pop. 17,350), seat of Indian River co., E Fla., on Indian River (a lagoon and part of the Intracoastal Waterway); founded c.1888, inc. 1919. , Fla. - Dodgers 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 Jeff Kent Jeffrey Franklin Kent (born March 7, 1968 in Bellflower, California) is a Major League Baseball player for the Los Angeles Dodgers and a former MVP winner. Early career took the biggest step yet in his recovery from minor wrist surgery, participating in regular batting practice for the first time during a scaled-back workout on Tuesday at Dodgertown. ``I have been hitting in the cage - off the tee, soft toss and short toss - but this was the first time live on the field with a coach throwing,'' said Kent, who hit off roving minor-league hitting instructor Bill Robinson. ``I feel good, but I'm not going to make a big deal out of it. I was just making the circuit of going the other way, pulling the ball, swinging one-handed and two-handed. I felt fine swinging. I probably could have (swung harder), but I didn't even want to try.'' Only 23 players from major-league camp took part in the workout, with minor-league catcher Tony Harper joining them to help catch bullpens. The rest of the club, including manager Grady Little William Grady Little (born March 30, 1950 in Abilene, Texas) is a manager in Major League Baseball. He guided the Boston Red Sox from 2002 to 2003, and has been manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers since 2006. , went to Jacksonville for what amounted to a glorified glo·ri·fy tr.v. glo·ri·fied, glo·ri·fy·ing, glo·ri·fies 1. To give glory, honor, or high praise to; exalt. 2. intrasquad game at the home of the Dodgers' Double-A affiliate. Hitting coach Eddie Murray supervised the Dodgertown workout. Kent clearly won't be ready for game action when the Dodgers begin Grapefruit League play on Thursday against Atlanta, but said he will be playing well before the April 3 season opener, also against the Braves, and that he expects to get plenty of at-bats in spring training. ``I ramp it up a little bit every day, but I'm taking it slow,'' Kent said. ``I'm not on a set program or plan. It's just a matter of what I feel like doing each day. I have been playing the game a long time, and I play it better with my head than I play it with my body now. I don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. if I really need physical activity (to get ready).'' Kent hit no balls beyond medium depth in the outfield, an obvious sign he wasn't swinging as hard as he would if he were 100-percent healthy. --Furcal leaves: Shortstop Rafael Furcal, rehabbing from minor surgery last month on his right knee, returned to his native Dominican Republic to take care of a personal matter. He is expected to rejoin the team in time for today's workout. It isn't clear exactly why Furcal furcal /fur·cal/ (fur´k'l) shaped like a fork; forked. fur·cal adj. Forked. furcal forked. had to leave, but there were indications on Tuesday it had something to do with a visa snafu involving one of his family members. He had received permission a few days ago from manager Grady Little and general manager Ned Colletti to leave the team to take care of the matter. Furcal also is expected to be 100-percent healthy by opening day. --Dodgers lose: Delwyn Young, Andre Ethier and Joel Guzman clubbed two-run homers in the Jacksonville game to lead the Suns - or at least a bunch of guys A Bunch of Guys (BOGs), or Group of Guys (GOGs) are terms used by counter-terrorism officials to refer to small, self-organizing terrorist cells.[1] BOGs typically have little to no contact with global terrorist groups like al Qaeda, so they independently plan and wearing Suns uniforms, most of whom were part of last year's Southern League champions Past baseball champions in the Southern League:
Pitching prospect Justin Orenduff turned in two scoreless innings, striking out three. --Second place: The Dodgers double-play combination of Furcal and Kent has been rated by SI.com as the second-best in baseball, just behind Baltimore's Miguel Tejada and Brian Roberts and just ahead of Philadelphia's Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley. Tony Jackson, (818) 713-3675 tony.jackson(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): photo Photo: JEFF KENT Dodgers second baseman, who is recovering from a wrist injury, took part in batting practice at Vero Beach, Fla., on Tuesday. |
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