JETHAWKS NOTEBOOK: UGGLA WORKS WAY BACK UP TO JETHAWKS.Byline: Chris Cocoles Staff Writer LANCASTER - Getting off to a quick start was a relief to 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 Dan Uggla Daniel Cooley Uggla (born March 11 , 1980 in Louisville, Kentucky) is a Major League Baseball second baseman for the Florida Marlins. Uggla finished third in the 2006 National League Rookie of the Year voting behind teammate Hanley Ramirez and Ryan Zimmerman of the Washington . The last time he began with a fresh start, Uggla had just been demoted from Lancaster to low 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.) of the Midwest League The Midwest League is a Class A minor league baseball league which operates in the Midwestern United States. History Six teams – the Belleville Stags, the Centralia Cubs, the Marion Indians, the Mattoon Indians, the Mount Vernon Braves, and the West Frankfort . The former 11th-round pick from the University of Memphis The University of Memphis is a public research university located in Memphis, Tennessee, United States, and is a flagship public research university of the Tennessee Board of Regents system. wasn't comfortable as a JetHawk the first half of 2002. He hit .228 with three homers and 16 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 in 54 California League The California League is a minor league baseball league which operates throughout the state of California. Before 2002, it was classified as a "High-A" league, indicating its status as a Class A league with the highest level of competition within that classification, and the fifth games. But getting sent down seemed like a logical opportunity to regain some momentum and hit his way back to advanced Single-A. ``You've got to look at the positives in everything. Getting sent down is not a good thing,'' Uggla, 23, said. ``I had a new beginning going over there, which I was planning to take advantage of. And I was aggressive. Things didn't work out.'' Uggla hit .199 in 53 games with South Bend, including starting 0 for 22. ``I didn't feel like myself. I didn't have the confidence that I've always had before for some reason,'' he said. ``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. why.'' The Arizona Diamondbacks This article is about the baseball team. For other uses, see Diamondback. The Arizona Diamondbacks (also referred to as the D-backs) are a Major League Baseball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They play in the West Division of the National League. don't operate an instructional league, so Uggla and some baseball-playing friends from his home in the Nashville, Tenn., area spent the fall in Orlando, Fla. Uggla and his buddies worked out every day for four months. The one- to two-hour training sessions were just enough to give him a positive outlook heading into spring training. In Tucson, he spent extra time with hitting coach and eventual JetHawks manager Mike Aldrete Never a big power threat, even while earning third-team All-American honors at Memphis, Uggla's four homers in 17 games are one fewer than the five he hit in 107 last season. ``I feel a lot better. Last year was an awful year for me,'' said Uggla, batting .302 with nine RBI this season. ``I feel confident.'' --The bouncing ball
v. strad·dled, strad·dling, strad·dles v.tr. 1. a. To stand or sit with a leg on each side of; bestride: straddle a horse. b. the line but staying on the fair side of the chalk until coming to a complete stop. But then Uggla was the one who couldn't control the ball's unpredictable movement. He was moving on a pitch when Josh Kroeger hit a ground ball to the right side. It struck Uggla, making him automatically out. ``Obviously, I was kind of ticked,'' Uggla said. But Kroeger benefited nicely. Had Uggla not interfered, Kroeger might have been thrown out. But because of Rule 10.05 (e) that constitutes base hits - ``When a fair ball that has not been touched by a fielder touches a runner or an umpire'' - Kroeger's hit was ruled a single. --Los Lobos: Carlos Villalobos, one of the fan favorites in JetHawks history, continues to set a torrid hitting pace with the Puebla Parrots of the Mexican League. He led the league in hitting over the first 17 games. Roughly 13 games later, he's now second behind Oaxaca's Christian Quintero (.436). But Villalobos is right behind at .434 with seven homers and 33 RBI. Villalobos, a hard-hitting third baseman who played in Lancaster from 1996-97, bounced around the big leagues with the Houston Astros and Detroit Tigers but has been playing mostly independent ball in recent years. --Odds and ends: Catcher Chris Snyder and outfielder Jay Garthwaite are the only two JetHawks who have played in all 18 games this season. ... Ex-Canyon High standout Chris Seddon of the Bakersfield Blaze was among the California League's ERA leaders until he fell a third of an inning below the minimum requirement to qualify for the top 10. In 13 1/3 innings, Seddon is 1-0 with a 2.63 ERA. The JetHawks open a three-game series at Rancho Cucamonga tonight at The Epicenter. By Sunday, these Southern Division rivals will have met for seven consecutive days. Tonight: JetHawks RH Scott Barber (2-0, 5.63 ERA) vs. RH Ervin Santana (2-0, 1.75); Saturday: JetHawks RH Lance Cormier (2-2, 1.80) vs. LH Joe Torres (2-1, 4.08); Sunday: JetHawks RH Matt Henrie (1-2, 4.57) vs. RH Steven Shell (1-1, 3.43). CAPTION(S): photo Photo: DAN UGGLA JetHawks second baseman is batting .302 this season in his second stint with the team. |
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