INSIDE THE NL: ROOKIES OF YEAR DOGGING IT.Byline: Tony Jackson
Anthony (Antonio) Jackson, best known as Tony Jackson Staff Writer The National League's two most recent Rookies of the Year have something else in common now: Each one finds himself in his manager's doghouse. Florida's Dontrelle Willis Dontrelle Wayne Willis (born January 12, 1982, in Oakland, California), nicknamed "The D-Train", is a Major League Baseball starting pitcher for the Florida Marlins. , who captured the award in 2003, has made 35 starts since his promotion to the major leagues last May. In the 23 of those games the Marlins won, Willis' ERA is 1.73. In the other 12, it is 8.28. ``You 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. which guy is going to show up,'' Marlins manager Jack McKeon John Aloysius McKeon (born November 23, 1930 in South Amboy, New Jersey), nicknamed Trader Jack, was a manager in Major League Baseball for the Florida Marlins. said. Colorado's Jason Jennings
Jennings somehow got through six innings but used 126 pitches to do so. ``We are at the point with him right now where it's time for him to fish or cut bait,'' Hurdle said after that game. ``That's as bad as I have ever seen him the first three innings and as good as I have ever seen him the last three. I don't have any more comments about (him).'' Willis' spot in the rotation appears safer than Jennings', at least for now. But a big part of Willis' problem might be his trademark, free-form pitching delivery, which is why Marlins pitching coach Wayne Rosenthal planned to work with him last Thursday. While Rosenthal wasn't planning a drastic overhaul of Willis' unique motion, he wasn't opposed to tweaking tweaking Vox populi Fine-tuning to produce optimal results it slightly. ``You hate to tinker with his delivery, because maybe that's one of the reasons he's effective,'' McKeon said. ``But when he gets off, he stays off.'' Jennings is 2-5 with an 8.50 ERA through his first nine starts, and given that he has minor-league options, it is conceivable the Rockies might use one. ``I can understand (Hurdle's) frustration,'' Jennings said. ``Because of what I have done, winning (Rookie of the Year Rookie of the Year may refer to:
--No progress: San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are a Major League Baseball team based in San Francisco, California that currently play in the National League West Division. New York Giants history Early days and the John McGraw era trainer Stan Conte insisted it wasn't a setback. But given the club's decision to give closer Robb Nen another month to rest his thrice-surgically repaired right shoulder, just after Nen completed an initial 10-day period of inactivity, it's tough to describe it as anything else. Nen has not pitched since the 2002 World Series. ``We're going to re-evaluate in 30 days, just like we re-evaluated in 10 days,'' Conte said. ``We saw some improvement, but not enough. There are all kinds of possibilities for where we go after that, but it's all supposition.'' --Good Samaritan: Cincinnati closer Danny Graves, the major-league saves leader, assumed he would never again see the wallet he lost on a team bus in San Diego two weeks ago - or the $1,400 cash he had inside it. But last Monday, Graves got a call from his wife in Florida, telling him it had been mailed to their home by the bus custodian who found it. The guy had taken exactly $26 - to cover the cost of delivering the wallet overnight. Tony Jackson, (818) 713-3675 tony.jackson(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): 3 photos, box Photo: (1 -- 2) Tennis sensation Anna Kournikova throws out the ceremonial first pitch The ceremonial first pitch is longstanding ritual of American baseball in which a guest of honor throws a ball to mark the end of pregame festivities and the start of the game. at Tuesday's game between the Rangers and Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are a professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals are a member of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. From to the present, the Royals have played in Kauffman Stadium. in Arlington, Texas. Tony Gutierrez/Associated Press (3) no caption (Ben Sheets) Box: AROUND THE HORN By Rich Hammond |
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