JETHAWKS NOTEBOOK: VALERA'S STATUS CLOUDY AFTER TIFF.Byline: Chris Cocoles Daily News Staff Writer Baseball went on without Ramon Valera Monday. The JetHawks milled around the cage, taking batting practice, as Valera watched in street clothes from the front row at Lancaster Municipal Stadium. The shortstop was suspended by the JetHawks' parent club, the Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are a professional baseball team based in Seattle, Washington. The Mariners are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League. From to the present, the Mariners have played in Safeco Field. , for what was described as ``insubordination in·sub·or·di·nate adj. Not submissive to authority: has a history of insubordinate behavior. in and failure to put on a uniform.'' Valera, 22, allegedly didn't want to be associated with the team anymore, but he appeared to have a change of heart Monday. The suspension, however, continues until the Mariners say so. Manager Darrin Garner declined to publicly comment on what took place at Sunday's series finale
A series finale is the very last installment of a television series, usually a sitcom or drama. in Stockton, but Valera admitted some personal problems at home in the Dominican Republic Dominican Republic (dəmĭn`ĭkən), republic (2005 est. pop. 8,950,000), 18,700 sq mi (48,442 sq km), West Indies, on the eastern two thirds of the island of Hispaniola. The capital and largest city is Santo Domingo. are taking a toll. ``I'm confused right now,'' Valera said. ``I think too much a lot of the time, and it gets me in trouble. . . . 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. what's going to happen. I want to come back and play hard. They told me I have to go to Seattle.'' It's unclear whether Valera will return to the JetHawks, let alone to any of the Mariners' minor-league teams, in 1999. As for the JetHawks' coaching staff and his teammates, there was a game to be played Monday night. While Valera sat in the stands, the JetHawks lost to the Lake Elsinore Storm The Lake Elsinore Storm are a minor league baseball team in Lake Elsinore, California, USA. They are a "high-A" class team in the California League, and are a farm team of the San Diego Padres. 12-9 in 11 innings. They also tried to ignore Valera's suspension. ``We can't let that affect us. We had to go out and play our game,'' outfielder Harvey Hargrove said. ``(Valera) is our teammate and a good baseball player. I think everyone on the team loves him. ``I don't know much about (Valera's off-the-field issues). . . . It's understandable.'' It's also not rare for a player to be derailed by a crisis away from the game. ``They look at it as a situation where a guy has some problems,'' Garner said. ``It happens on a team every year. It's not something that these guys haven't been around.'' That Valera was suspended is slightly more unique, however. On the field, his season has been a struggle from the beginning. Coming off an outstanding 1998 effort at Wisconsin, Valera is hitting only .185 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. with a .204 on-base percentage while hitting leadoff several times among his 17 games played Games played (most often abbreviated as G or GP) is a statistic used in team sports to indicate the total number of games in which a player has participated (in any capacity); the statistic is generally applied irrespective of whatever portion of the game is contested. . Would the suspension have a positive impact? ``I think so,'' Valera stated adamantly. ``I don't have any problems with Garner anymore.'' Walking wounded Walking wounded is a term used in first aid and triage to indicate injured persons who are of a relatively low priority. These patients are conscious and breathing and usually have only (relatively) minor injuries; thus they are capable of walking. : Trainer Troy McIntosh Troy McIntosh (born March 29, 1973) is a sprinter from The Bahamas. Achievements Year Tournament Venue Result Extra 1998 IAAF World Cup Johannesburg, South Africa 3rd 400 metres IAAF World Cup Johannesburg, South Africa 3rd 4x400 m relay , who didn't have many easy days the past two years healing injury-plagued JetHawks teams in 1997-98, has been busy again. In addition to the strained right shoulder that landed pitcher Russ Koehler on the disabled list, another starting pitcher Noun 1. starting pitcher - (baseball) a pitcher who starts in a baseball game baseball, baseball game - a ball game played with a bat and ball between two teams of nine players; teams take turns at bat trying to score runs; "he played baseball in high school"; , Jeff Farnsworth, was scratched from his scheduled outing Wednesday, suffering back spasms. McIntosh said Farnsworth will be re-evaluated in the next two days. Then in the 10th inning Monday night, outfielder and leading hitter Mike Marchiano sprained his right ankle rolling over first base reaching on a Storm error. The ankle swelled after the game, and McIntosh reported Marchiano's status is day-to-day. Help is on the way. Catcher Rafael Lopez, who had 32 at-bats in a brief stint at Double-A New Haven, was expected to rejoin the JetHawks by Tuesday. Let's get ready to . . .: All that was missing was a pitcher-hitter confrontation between Jason Stephens and Anton French. The JetHawks and Storm played on the exact one-year anniversary of their brawl last May 3 at The Hangar. Stephens, whose beaning of French triggered both dugouts to charge, started Monday's game and was in position for a win. Stephens rebounded from a slow start to pitch seven-plus innings, though the right-hander did allow eight runs (six earned) on 10 hits. Storm shortstop Nelson Castro, who was plunked with pitches twice in last year's game before the punch-fest, went 1 for 5 Monday but drew a key ninth-inning walk that helped Lake Elsinore's rally to extend the game into extra innings. CAPTION(S): Photo PHOTO (Color--Ran in SAC Edition only) VALERA |
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