JETHAWKS NOTEBOOK: HE'S A LITTLE GREEN AT LEADOFF INFIELDER ADJUSTING TO TOP SPOT.Byline: Gideon Rubin Staff Writer LAKE ELSINORE - JetHawks 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 Andy Green Wing Commander Andy D Green OBE BA RAF (born 1962), a British RAF F-4 Phantom and Tornado F3 pilot and Officer Commanding Operations Wing at RAF Wittering, is the current holder of the land speed record and the first person to break the sound barrier on land. excels in all the areas a prototypical leadoff hitter In baseball, a leadoff hitter is a batter who bats first in the lineup. Strategy Leadoff hitters must possess certain traits to be successful: they must reach base at a proficient rate and be able to steal bases. is supposed to. Green, who's batting .298 (77 for 258), leads the JetHawks with a .402 on-base percentage. He's second on the team with nine stolen bases and is tied for the team lead with 25 doubles. But Green has had most of his success batting second, a spot in the lineup where he's hit most of his life and where, by his own admission, he's more comfortable. Regardless, as a result of outfielder Victor Hall's recent promotion to Double-A El Paso El Paso (ĕl pă`sō), city (1990 pop. 515,342), seat of El Paso co., extreme W Tex., on the Rio Grande opposite Juárez, Mex.; inc. 1873. (Texas), Green has inherited the leadoff spot. ``He's the only guy suitable right now with the personnel we have to lead off,'' JetHawks manager Bill Plummer William Francis Plummer (born March 21, 1947 in Oakland, CA) was a catcher for the Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds, and the Seattle Mariners. While never a regular player (he was Johnny Bench's backup catcher during the Big Red Machine years), he did play solid defense. said. ``There's nobody else.'' The leadoff spot isn't altogether new for Green. He spent most of spring training in the Triple-A Tucson (Ariz.) workout group as the team's leadoff hitter, and he split the job with Hall at Single-A South Bend South Bend, city (1990 pop. 105,511), seat of St. Joseph co., N Ind., on the great south bend of the St. Joseph River, in a farming and mint-growing region; inc. as a city 1865. (Ind.) last season. ``I'm more comfortable in the two-hole, but it's not that big of a deal,'' Green said. ``It's not that I'm uncomfortable leading off, it's just that when you spend your whole life batting in a certain spot in the order, you get used to it and it takes some time getting used to leading off.'' Green said leading off is an opportunity to increase his value in the parent Arizona Diamondbacks' system, though he acknowledged it is a challenge. ``Sometimes the hardest thing (about leading off) is having just one single focus,'' he said. ``It's just about you getting on base. When Vic gets on or somebody else gets on before me in the two-hole, I can focus on something else, moving a runner or bunting bunting, common name for small, plump birds of the family Fringillidae (finch family). Among the American buntings are the indigo bunting, in which the summer plumage of the male reflects sunlight as a rich, metallic blue; the painted bunting, or nonpareil ( him over, using a lot of different aspects of the game instead of just being dead-set on getting on base. ``A lot of times it doesn't make a difference, but sometimes when you're going through a funk, it can get frustrating frus·trate tr.v. frus·trat·ed, frus·trat·ing, frus·trates 1. a. To prevent from accomplishing a purpose or fulfilling a desire; thwart: just having that one focus. Sometimes, just having something else to pay attention to can take your mind off what you're struggling with and get you going again.'' Plummer is confident Green will adapt to his new role. ``He has the best plate discipline,'' Plummer said. ``He takes pitches, he works the count and he has a good eye. ``Leadoff hitters are one of the hardest prototypes to find. We'll have to see how it goes.'' --New lease: Outfielder Dwight Edge, who's seen limited playing time in the second half, has taken over for Hall as the team's everyday center fielder. A converted tight end from the University of Florida University of Florida is the third-largest university in the United States, with 50,912 students (as of Fall 2006) and has the eighth-largest budget (nearly $1.9 billion per year). UF is home to 16 colleges and more than 150 research centers and institutes. who's in his first full year of pro ball, Edge has been the JetHawks' best defensive outfielder this season. But struggles at the plate cost him his starting right-field position. ``It kind of gives me a new lease on the rest of my season,'' Edge said. ``It's exciting playing every day, especially playing center field. That's where I like to play.'' In Thursday night's 7-3 loss to Lake Elsinore, Edge was 2 for 4 and made an outstanding running catch on a ball hit to his right in the bottom of the sixth inning in·ning n. 1. a. Baseball One of nine divisions or periods of a regulation game, in which each team has a turn at bat as limited by three outs. b. innings (used with a sing. . A refocused Edge admitted riding the bench was difficult and is determined not to squander squan·der tr.v. squan·dered, squan·der·ing, squan·ders 1. To spend wastefully or extravagantly; dissipate. See Synonyms at waste. 2. what he views as a second chance. ``It's been on my mind a lot,'' he said. ``I was kind of questioning things, wondering what was going on, and once I found out (Hall) was going to Double-A, I might have been happier than he was.'' --Confidence builder: JetHawks reliever Greg Belson never had struggled on a consistent basis through his first two years of pro ball, but he's fallen on hard times of late. Belson, who led the Diamondbacks system with 16 saves at South Bend last season, had allowed 22 earned runs earned run n. Baseball A run scored without the aid of an error, used in computing earned run averages. Noun 1. earned run - a run that was not scored as the result of an error by the other team in 14 innings INNINGS, estates. Lands gained from the sea by draining. Cunn. L. Dict. h. t.; Law of Sewers, 31. in his past nine outings. Searching for answers, he spent much of the past few days seeking the counsel of several members of the JetHawks' coaching staff. The conclusion was that he needed to adjust his mental approach. It seems to have worked. He had what the JetHawks are hoping was a breakthrough outing Thursday, when he struck out four batters and didn't allow a walk in three shutout innings of four-hit ball. ``I'm just trying to be positive,'' Belson said. ``I had an hour talk with every one of the coaches the last day or two and they pretty much said it's not my stuff, it's not anything mechanical, it's just that as soon as something bad happens, I'm just like, 'Here we go again,' and you just can't pitch like that.'' CAPTION(S): photo Photo: (ran in AV edition only) ANDY GREEN The second baseman is batting leadoff now that Victor Hall was promoted to Double-A. |
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