DOING HIS THING; DREW KENNEDY SETS THE TONE FOR PALMDALE.Byline: Lee Barnathan Staff Writer Drew Kennedy's appearance deceives. The scowl on his face, the cold eyes, the bleached, spiked hair - plus his ability to break boards and bricks with karate karate: see martial arts. karate Martial art in which an attacker is disabled by crippling kicks and punches. Emphasis is on concentration of as much of the body's power as possible at the point and instant of impact. , a penchant for sending annoying e-mails and having friends in jail - puts Kennedy on the outside of many social circles. In baseball, he has the added disadvantage of transferring from Highland to Palmdale, fierce rivals. ``Of all the Highland kids, he was the worst enemy of any Highland kid,'' said Palmdale baseball coach Lance Pierson. Yet Kennedy considers himself a nice guy. That's why when pitcher Matt Harrington Matt Harrington (born February 1, 1982) is a baseball player who holds the record for the most times being chosen in the Major League Baseball amateur draft. Between 2000 and 2004, Harrington, a top prospect coming out of high school, was chosen in all five drafts, but never signed hurt his ankle playing basketball, Kennedy immediately elevated Harrington's ankle with his backpack and iced it. ``That was the turning point,'' Harrington said. Since then, Kennedy has been part of Palmdale. He batted .530 with seven home runs and 42 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 and helped the Falcons regain the Golden League title they lost last year to Highland. For his efforts, Kennedy was selected to play in Saturday's 24th Daily News Bernie Milligan All-Star Game An all-star game is an exhibition game played by the best players in their sports league. The players are often chosen by a popular vote of fans of the sport and the game often occurs at the halfway point of the regular season, although this is not the case for some all-star games at 1 p.m. at Stengel Field in Glendale. His teammates also voted him co-MVP with Harrington at the team banquet Tuesday night. ``I'm not a mean guy,'' Kennedy insists. Yet, this is a guy who sent Harrington e-mails claiming the pitcher was overrated Overrated was a Horde World of Warcraft guild, based on the US Black Dragonflight Realm. On November 2 2006, the majority of the guild members were indefinitely banned from the game for use of (or directly benefiting from) a third-party "wall-hack", used to bypass content and he would hit a home run off him (he did). Harrington, he of the 90 mph and a first-round-draft-pick, carries influence within Palmdale baseball. So when Kennedy e-mailed Harrington, ``How do you think about me coming to Palmdale?'' Harrington emphatically em·phat·ic adj. 1. Expressed or performed with emphasis: responded with an emphatic "no." 2. Forceful and definite in expression or action. 3. answered, ``No!'' ``Drew's one of those people, we had run-ins,'' Harrington said. ``I was like, `You know what? I'm not going to say he can't come over here. I'm going to keep my distance from him.' '' So did everyone else. They still do, since Kennedy hangs out with people who seem to get in trouble, mostly through drugs and robbery. He has one friend who has been in jail for a year and another who has been in and out three times for between a week and a month. Kennedy, however, has no police record (``I'm not a fighter type,'' he says). Perhaps it's because of his random acts of kindness. While driving down the street, he saw Palmdale teammate Robert Arellano stranded on the roadside. He stopped and helped Arellano get the necessary gas. Then there was Harrington's injury. It happened in sixth period when the whole team was around. Kennedy came over to Harrington instinctively in·stinc·tive adj. 1. Of, relating to, or prompted by instinct. 2. Arising from impulse; spontaneous and unthinking: an instinctive mistrust of bureaucrats. . Harrington was surprised. Kennedy knew it. ``They're like, `Whoa!' '' Kennedy said. ``They 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. how to thank me when I do something nice.'' Over time, the players realized Kennedy wasn't so bad. In fact, it's better to have him on your team than not. Kennedy still doesn't hang out with his teammates and freely admits he transferred to Palmdale because he thought it had the best chance of winning the league. Plus, he can intimidate in·tim·i·date tr.v. in·tim·i·dat·ed, in·tim·i·dat·ing, in·tim·i·dates 1. To make timid; fill with fear. 2. To coerce or inhibit by or as if by threats. through his looks and actions. At a recent assembly, he put on a karate demonstration in which he broke boards with his head and bricks with his hands. Scared looks came over the faces of many. ``I heard people say, `Damn, I don't want to mess with mess with Verb Informal, chiefly US to interfere in, or become involved with, a dangerous person, thing, or situation: he had started messing with drugs him,' '' Harrington said. ``He's got that look that scares people.'' But a friendly heart inside. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: (color) Drew Kennedy, a standout with his arm and his bat for the Palmdale baseball team, will play in the Bernie Milligan Daily News All- Star Game Saturday. Eric Grigorian/Special to the Daily News |
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