OUTFIELDER BRITO KEEPS EYE ON BALL.Byline: GIDEON RUBIN Staff Writer LANCASTER -- The responsibility of a professional in any business to focus on their work amid times when events in their personal lives seem more important is usually easier said than done. The task is exponentially ex·po·nen·tial adj. 1. Of or relating to an exponent. 2. Mathematics a. Containing, involving, or expressed as an exponent. b. more difficult if you happen to be in the business of professional baseball, where the ability to make contact with 95 mph fastballs requires laser-like focus. JetHawks outfielder Javier Brito has taken fulfilling his responsibility to another level. On Aug. 13, his wife gave birth to their first child, Javier Jr., in Puerto La Cruz Puerto la Cruz, city (1990 pop. 69,556), NE Anzoátegui state, NE Venezuela, on the Caribbean Sea. Puerto la Cruz is a center for the storage, refining, and shipping of petroleum. , Venezuela. Brito hasn't been to his native country since arriving in Tucson, Ariz., for spring training in early March, and acknowledged that staying focused on baseball hasn't been easy. But if the results are any indication, he seems to have mastered the art of compartmentalization. Brito, 23, is having the best month of a career year. He is batting Batting has several meanings:
``It's a month I've never had before,'' Brito said through a translator, summing the events in his personal and professional life. Brito, 23, who was signed by the JetHawks parent 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. as a nondrafed free agent in 2002, had hit just 20 homers in 909 previous professional at-bats before this year. The timing of his emergence could not have been better for the promotion/injury depleted de·plete tr.v. de·plet·ed, de·plet·ing, de·pletes To decrease the fullness of; use up or empty out. [Latin d JetHawks. His bat has helped catapult catapult (kăt`əpŭlt'), mechanism used to throw missiles in ancient and medieval warfare. At first, catapults were specifically designed to shoot spears or other missiles at a low trajectory (see bow and arrow). the JetHawks near the top of an intensely competitive second-half title race. Going into Saturday, Lancaster (66-71, 34-33 second half) trailed Lake Elsinore (71-66, 35-32) by just one game with three regular season games remaining for both teams. ``He's really been the one who's been carrying us,'' JetHawks shortstop Derek Bruce Bruce, Scottish royal family descended from an 11th-century Norman duke, Robert de Brus. He aided William I in his conquest of England (1066) and was given lands in England. said. Brito speaks with his wife and relative on the phone regularly, but he acknowledged that the experience has been difficult. ``It's extremely hard,'' he said. ``My baby's on my mind pretty much all the time.'' Brito said he tries not to look at the calendar. The JetHawks play their last regular season game on Monday, but a deep playoff play·off also play-off n. Sports 1. A final game or series of games played to break a tie. 2. A series of games played to determine a championship. Noun 1. run could keep Brito in Lancaster until Sept. 18. ``When I'm here, all I think about is baseball, when I'm away from the field, all I think about is my kid and my family,'' Brito said. ``I can't really not think about it.'' gideon.rubin@dailynews.com (661) 267-7802 CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Lancaster JetHawk Javier Brito, whose wife recently gave birth to their first child, is having a great month on the field. |
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