SS Osvaldo Navarro chased down a Texas Leaguer parachute job by running a down-and-out to the L/CF fence and then over to the foul line. He dives at the end and catches the ball.
It exemplified everything that is wonderful about AAA baseball. And I guess it sort of explains why, even with the Ronny Cedeno situation earlier, the Mariners never gave a second thought to letting Navarro play SS in Safeco.
Well, maybe that's not fair. Earlier (like August 1) Navarro was hitting .150 or something. He went on an incredible 25-for-52 streak, or something, to get to his current .250.
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Matt Tuiasosopo was standing out there playing the second base position when I got seated.
Visually, it looked just like Adrian Beltre taking his D-stance at 2B. I never saw Tui touch the baseball, though we got there in the 2nd and left in the 7th. A bitter disappointment. :- )
Cindy's good with body language. Before the 6th, I told her to give me her intuition on Tui's.
He took one ball, literally bobbing his head down into the strike zone to get a better look at it, and then on the next pitch hit a missile perhaps three yards to the shortstop's left. The SS literally did not take a step towards it.
I can assure you that Cindy is not at all prone to giving the undeserved compliment. :- ) But on this one she sat up. "That ball was hit INCREDibly hard."
The liner went up the middle past the SS -- and the left fielder took the ball. Does that give you an idea?
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I wonder what Tui is doing playing middle infield, if they've got so many questions about his playing IF well enough to handle third. :- )
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One of D-O-V's most enduring debates was over the projectable power of Bryan Lahair.
In 2006-07, Lahair joined the Rainiers and was, defensively, arm-swinging at everything. Learning curve, or lack of power? Despite his woeful HR output in those days, we insisted that Lahair was, one of these days, quite capable of developing normal HR power for a 1B. That is, 25-32 homers per year.
Lahair is 6'5", 230 if he's a pound. My 17-year-old son is taking on Lahair's frame precisely, and I know firsthand what kind of 'he-man' physical power is latent in the tall, symmetric, shouldered frame that Lahair is blessed with. Guys with that farm-boy frame can be even much stronger than they look. .... both Lahair and John remind me of the stories that George Washington could bend a horseshoe in his hands...
Am not saying that Lahair is Adam Dunn. He ain't. But capable of hitting 30 homers in some particular MLB season out into the future? Sure, if he can square up the ball.
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Nowadays? Lahair has 26 homers in a huge park, hits #3 for the Rainiers, and ... they shift him as though he were Russell Branyan.
Bryan takes a dangerously loaded stance and as the pitcher winds up, he cocks his shoulder backward even more dangerously. He takes a short, piston-like turn on the ball and the pitches jump off his bat.
His 26 HR and 85 RBI, in 120 games, project to 32 HR and 115 RBI over a full ML season.
Early opinion here -- back in 2005-06 -- was that Bryan had a chance, when 27 or 28 or 29 years old, to have a couple of Geronimo Berroa seasons in the big leagues. Right now, that chance is looking like it's getting close to 50%.
Do you even want a Geronimo Berroa in 2011-12, playing 1B/DH in Safeco? I dunno, but Bryan Lahair is awfully close to ready to move up a level.
Cheers,
Dr D