JETHAWKS NOTEBOOK BYES NOT ALWAYS GOOD PARENT WORRIES ABOUT JETHAWKS LOSING EDGE.

Byline: Gideon Rubin Staff Writer

LANCASTER - For professional baseball players, health isn't always the greatest wealth.

At least that's the opinion of manager Mark Parent, whose JetHawks enjoyed a bye in the first round of the divisional playoffs this week. The break gave them a chance to rest up and recover from some of the nagging injuries and soreness of a 140-game regular season over the past week.

``As infielders and outfielders, you're feeling pretty good,'' Parent said of the rest days they've had this week. ``(So) you've got to knock them down a little bit and fatigue them a little bit.''

With that in mind, Parent has had infielders making long throws to first and relay plays to the plate, and outfielders making relay plays to infielders. It's part of the practice drills the JetHawks have had this week in preparation for their best-of-five California League divisional playoffs series, which begins tonight at Lancaster Municipal Stadium at 7:15pm.

The JetHawks will host the winner of the divisional playoff series between the San Bernardino Stampede and the Lake Elsinore Storm in the first two games of the divisional-championship series. The JetHawks would also host a decisive fifth game in the divisional-championship series, if necessary.

``When your arm is feeling too strong, you don't have the command that you want out of it, even as an infielder or a catcher,'' Parent said, explaining the science behind his old-school approach. ``Being 100 percent isn't all its cut out to be.''

The JetHawks workouts this week are particularly important, because their second-round playoff opponent - whichever team it is - will come into Lancaster tonight with at least two games played since the last day of the regular season.

And although they played outstanding ball in the second half of season, posting a 49-31 record, the JetHawks haven't had a meaningful game in terms of postseason implications since June 19, the last day of the first half, when they clinched the first-half South Division title.

A concern for the JetHawks going into the postseason is that the time off they have had from live action will have left them rusty going into tonight's game.

The JetHawks played a simulated game Wednesday, with gave each pitcher a chance to throw off the mound in the middle of the diamond against teammates. Each hitter got five pitches.

Prior to the simulated game, the JetHawks did their regular infield and outfield drills and had batting practice afterward.

``It's more for the pitchers,'' said JetHawks pitching coach Scott Budner. ``Hitters don't like simulated games.''

But according to Parent, JetHawks hitters will benefit from it as well.

``Ultimately, them seeing live pitching within a period of a couple of off-days will help them be more sharp when they face another team,'' he said.

Comparatively lighter workouts on Tuesday and Thursday consisted of batting practice, infield practice and taking ground balls.

``We know the significance of the practices, not playing (games) and having these days off,'' JetHawks first baseman Peanut Williams said.

Williams noted that the practices have been intense this week but said that's nothing new.

``It's just like any other day for us, any time we step over the white lines its business for us,'' he said. ``It's serious, but it's the same thing we've been doing all year to get us 89 wins.''

``We just did what we needed to do,'' outfielder Freddie May said. ``We want to stay in tune with our game. We don't want to lose it. We want to stay ready.''

Outfielder Harvey Hargrove downplayed the rust factor.

``I don't think it'll hurt us,'' he said of the days off his team has had this week. ``We need to just go out and handle our business just like we did all season.

``We're all ready for this to get started. We've played all season to get to this point, so we're just ready to go out and play some ballgames now.''

--Ouch: During the simulated game, Parent, a former major-league catcher, worked behind the plate for two innings so team catchers Scott Maynard and Craig Kuzmic could bat.

It's an experience Parent will likely not forget, although he's lucky he remembers it. He took a foul tip off his head, the ball bouncing over the screen and into the stands. The JetHawks don't have a helmet that fit him, so the ball left a large lump on the top of his head.

--In limbo: JetHawks trainer Troy McIntosh knows that it's the nature of the business. But with the JetHawks player-development contract (PDC) with the Seattle Mariners set to expire at the end of the season - as is the case for eight of the other nine teams in the league - he is concerned about the ramifications of a possible relocation.

The uncertainty surrounding the PDC situation affects nobody on the team more than McIntosh, a Mariners employee who has been the JetHawks trainer since 1997. Unlike the players on the team, who expect to be playing at the advanced levels in Mariners system, or coaches who live elsewhere in the offseason, McIntosh owns a home in the Antelope Valley and is employed as a physical therapist by locally based Athletic Injury Management. He and his wife Dawn have a 17-month-old baby boy named Blake.

Mariners officials and JetHawks front-office personnel aren't commenting on the status of their PDC negotiations, and representatives from both sides are adamant in stating that it is their intention not to release any information regarding the situation until after the playoffs.

``I have to assume there's a chance that we might not be coming back. Nothing's signed yet,'' McIntosh said while he was packing boxes with equipment that is Mariners property in the eventuality their Single-A team doesn't return to Lancaster next season.

``I can't fault anybody, it's just the nature of the circumstances,'' he said, noting that he was aware of the transient nature of minor-league affiliations when he moved his family to the Antelope Valley.

``I'm sure there are a lot of other people in baseball going through the same thing that I'm going through,'' McIntosh said. ``A lot of teams that are going to be moving around.''

McIntosh said he is awaiting an announcement before he decides to either re-locate, seek employment with the a new JetHawks affiliate if there is one, or consider other career options.

``What can I do?'' he said. ``I'll just wait, find out where we're going and then I'll make a decision about what I'm going to do.''

--Injury update: Williams, who underwent midseason surgery to remove bone chips from his right elbow - causing him to miss more than six weeks - had been complaining about pain in the same elbow, and had an MRI done earlier this week to determine what was causing it.

The MRI revealed that Williams is suffering from degenerative arthritis, a condition common for professional athletes, McIntosh said.

``It's a little sore right now, but its nothing that will keep me out of the lineup,'' Willliams said. ``I wouldn't be in the lineup if I didn't think in my heart and my mind that I wasn't 100 percent.''