HE'LL CATCH THEIR EYES; LITTLE-NOTICED ARVIZO MAKES IT A FATHER-SON GAME.Byline: Gerry Gittelson Daily News Staff Writer Is that a smile we see on the face of ever-intense Mike Arvizo? Perhaps Littlerock High's Arvizo is celebrating just a little bit more than his teammates, as the East All-Stars prepare for the Bernie Milligan Daily News All-Star Baseball All-Star Baseball is a baseball video game series developed and published by Acclaim Entertainment. The series began in 1998 with the release of All-Star Baseball '99. Gameat 1 p.m. Saturday at Stengel Field in Glendale. Arvizo has never had an easy time getting noticed at Littlerock, a far-off school that hasn't finished better than fifth place in the Golden League in Arvizo's three-year career. However, his .489 batting average batting average n. Baseball A measure of a batter's performance obtained by dividing the total of base hits by the number of times at bat, not including walks. Noun 1. , 10 home runs, 27 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 excellent defense at catcher this season are worthy credentials. Arvizo is the first Littlerock player ever selected. What makes Arvizo's participation even more special is that he's a Bernie Milligan legacy. His father, Leonard Arvizo of Simi Valley Simi Valley (sē`mē, sĭm`ē), city (1990 pop. 100,217), Ventura co., SW Calif. in an oil, fruit, and farm region; laid out 1887, inc. 1969. High, went 1 for 2 in the 1980 Bernie Milligan Game at Dodger Stadium • • [ . ``When I got the phone call and learned I made it, I thought I had finally done something for my dad,'' an emotional Arvizo said Tuesday. ``He's just so proud of me.'' Arvizo's mother, Judy Arvizo, was eight months pregnant with Mike at the 1980 game. The couple had married two months earlier. ``I think it's absolutely awesome to have Mike in the game, too,'' Judy said. ``After 19 years, it's so exciting. I really think it's incredible and I know both Mike and his father are really excited.'' Leonard Arvizo appreciates his son finally getting some recognition. However, the elder Arvizo said he would have liked his son to play sports at Simi Valley High or Royal, where Mike might have enjoyed more exposure. ``Mike has a lot of raw talent and he's getting better and better,'' the elder Arvizo said. ``He's doing good. Before the Larry Lake 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 Lancaster Stadium the other day, Mike hit five home runs in batting practice, including one that went over the scoreboard.'' Littlerock coach Dennis Henderson considers Arvizo underrated. ``I'm still trying to figure out why Division I schools didn't look at him that much,'' Henderson said. ``He's got power, he can hit for average, he's got a real strong arm and decent speed.'' Henderson said there's no way Arvizo doesn't compare favorably fa·vor·a·ble adj. 1. Advantageous; helpful: favorable winds. 2. Encouraging; propitious: a favorable diagnosis. 3. to Highland catcher Jason Allec, who also is participating in the Milligan game. Allec has committed to Cal State Northridge. ``Mike Arvizo may not have the ball-blocking skills of Allec, but he hits just as well and has just as strong an arm,'' Henderson said. However, Highland - and Palmdale and Quartz Hill and most other Golden League competitors, for that matter - always has more good players than Littlerock. Henderson said the reason is the town of Littlerock offers no Little League baseball program; the boys play youth softball softball, variant of baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Invented (1888) in Chicago as an indoor game, it was at various times called indoor baseball, mush ball, playground ball, kitten ball, and, because it was also played by women, ladies' . ``I can't believe it, but it's true,'' Henderson said. ``Littlerock is the first place I've heard of with no Little League. I was at Alemany (in Mission Hills) for 11 years, so I was used to seeing kids who had played baseball since they were 6 or 7 years old.'' Arvizo is also an exceptional football linebacker who set a school single-season tackle record two years ago. However, at 5-foot-10 and a squatty squat·ty adj. squat·ti·er, squat·ti·est Somewhat short and thick; rather squat. Adj. 1. squatty - short and thick; as e.g. 210 pounds, Arvizo has realized his future is in baseball, not football. His last football game comes immediately after the Bernie Milligan event, when Arvizo must scramble To encode (encrypt) data in order to make it indecipherable without having a secret key to "unlock" it. The term came from the early days of cryptography which camouflaged analog transmissions with secret frequency patterns. back to Lancaster for the High Desert All-Star football game at 7 p.m. at Antelope Valley College Antelope Valley College is a comprehensive community college located in Lancaster, California, USA. It is operated by the Antelope Valley Community College District, with a primary service area of 1,945 square miles covering portions of Los Angeles and Kern counties. . ``It's kind of bothersome that a lot of colleges overlooked me because I'm so small,'' Arvizo said. ``If you can hit, you can hit. I'm just more determined. I want to make it to the pros. So I just keep working on my hitting.'' Arvizo plans to play baseball at Antelope Valley College next spring. CAPTION(S): Photo PHOTO (Ran in AV Edition only) Littlerock catcher Mike Arvizo will play for the East in Saturday's Bernie Milligan All-Star Game - his father Leonard played in it in 1980. Gus Ruelas/Daily News |
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