Baseball Aussies fire up today - 21 April 2008
- Thread starter matm
- Start date
great article from the local San Diego newspaper website.
SignOnSanDiego.com > Sports -- Three-run blast against Big Unit big deal to Huber, if not to Aussies
Three-run blast against Big Unit big deal to Huber, if not to Aussies
UNION-TRIBUNE
April 21, 2008
PHOENIX – When the ball left Justin Huber's bat yesterday afternoon, it was already Monday in Melbourne. Breakfast time. The sports news of the day was dominated by the neck injury sustained by one David Neitz in another depressing Australian Rules Football defeat for the hometown Demons.
So if Huber's first big league home run was a shot heard 'round the world, it was because someone back home was listening mighty closely.
“It's pretty special,†said the Padres' newfound Thunder from Down Under. “But I don't see myself telling stories about it in 10 years' time or 20 years' time, because nobody in Australia knows who Randy Johnson is.â€
Imagine that. You cross the ocean to carve out a baseball career and when you finally make your mark, against a towering and iconic opponent, the meaning is lost on your friends and family.
Huber's three-run homer helped propel the Padres to a 9-4 victory at Chase Field, ending a four-game losing streak and contributing to the club's largest run total of the season. Yet taking the Big Unit deep doesn't resonate in the Southern Hemisphere as it does in Southern California. It's a feat Huber may have to savor by himself.
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“It was,†he said, “a pretty cool experience.â€
It was one of those chance opportunities a ballplayer gets as much by default as merit. With the left-handed Johnson scheduled to start a day game following Saturday's twilight game, Padres manager Bud Black saw it as an opportunity to rest his left-handed outfielders and provide some game action for the reserves accumulating cobwebs at the end of his bench.
There was no matchup history to consider. Huber had never faced Johnson. There was no tactical hunch at work, Black admitted, and not even much of a percentage play.
Huber's pregame stat sheet showed him as a .161 hitter against big league left-handers, with one career extra-base hit in 62 at-bats. Even that hit was both dated and dubious – a 2005 bloop double against Cleveland's Cliff Lee.
But what the raw numbers don't tell you is that a utility player who exists on the fringe of major league baseball does not get to choose his circumstances. What few at-bats Huber has logged at the major league level have come largely against the tough lefties many established players duck: C.C. Sabathia, Mark Buehrle, Johan Santana.
Those names may not mean much in Melbourne, but they carry a certain cachet on these shores.
The 6-foot-10 Johnson poses unique problems, even at 44 years old, but Huber has not hung around this long to be intimidated. Three years ago, with Wichita, he won the batting title of the Double-A Texas League. Huber had never cracked an Opening Day roster until he joined the Padres this spring, but it wasn't because of his bat.
“It's funny,†Huber said. “Just when you think you've got things figured out, you never have this game figured out. You just keep grinding away.
“The last few years have been a grind. It seems like not being in the right place at the right time. I'm happy to have a fresh start, almost, take a mulligan on the last three years in the big leagues.â€
Originally a property of the New York Mets, Huber joined the Padres in late March after failing to find a permanent place with the Kansas City Royals in exchange for the legendary “player to be named later†or cash considerations.
“He gives you a pretty good AB,†Black said. “And he's got some power and he's got some extra-base hits in him. He's doing fine in left (field). He has some first base in him. He's an emergency catcher. He's a better all-around player than I thought.â€
Huber reported to work early yesterday morning, intent on studying some video of Johnson before facing him in the flesh. Concerned that he might overthink his opportunity and become “super-stressed,†Huber settled on a simple strategy.
“They sort of said he's predominantly fastball/slider,†Huber said. “I saw that he was throwing a lot of stuff away. So that was my approach today. I was just looking for the fastball. I didn't really want to mess with the slider too much.â€
Johnson retired Huber on a ground ball to shortstop in the second inning, then struck him out in the fourth. When Huber returned to home plate in the sixth inning, the Padres had already seized a 2-1 lead and were threatening to extend it.
Josh Bard reached base courtesy of an error by Diamondbacks shortstop Chris Burke. Khalil Greene followed with a single, the first of three hits for the previously slumping shortstop.
Then Huber lined Johnson's 1-2 fastball an estimated 392 feet into the left-field seats, producing as many runs with a single swing as the Padres had scored in any of their previous four ballgames. Since a spectator contemptuously tossed the ball back on the field, the artifact would ultimately make its way into Huber's duffel bag.
As the Padres packed for their flight to Houston, someone had the inspiration to play a Bee Gees tune, presumably in tribute to Australian exports.
“I'm surprised we didn't have Men At Work,†Bud Black said.
SignOnSanDiego.com > Sports -- Three-run blast against Big Unit big deal to Huber, if not to Aussies
Three-run blast against Big Unit big deal to Huber, if not to Aussies
UNION-TRIBUNE
April 21, 2008
PHOENIX – When the ball left Justin Huber's bat yesterday afternoon, it was already Monday in Melbourne. Breakfast time. The sports news of the day was dominated by the neck injury sustained by one David Neitz in another depressing Australian Rules Football defeat for the hometown Demons.
So if Huber's first big league home run was a shot heard 'round the world, it was because someone back home was listening mighty closely.
“It's pretty special,†said the Padres' newfound Thunder from Down Under. “But I don't see myself telling stories about it in 10 years' time or 20 years' time, because nobody in Australia knows who Randy Johnson is.â€
Imagine that. You cross the ocean to carve out a baseball career and when you finally make your mark, against a towering and iconic opponent, the meaning is lost on your friends and family.
Huber's three-run homer helped propel the Padres to a 9-4 victory at Chase Field, ending a four-game losing streak and contributing to the club's largest run total of the season. Yet taking the Big Unit deep doesn't resonate in the Southern Hemisphere as it does in Southern California. It's a feat Huber may have to savor by himself.
Advertisement
“It was,†he said, “a pretty cool experience.â€
It was one of those chance opportunities a ballplayer gets as much by default as merit. With the left-handed Johnson scheduled to start a day game following Saturday's twilight game, Padres manager Bud Black saw it as an opportunity to rest his left-handed outfielders and provide some game action for the reserves accumulating cobwebs at the end of his bench.
There was no matchup history to consider. Huber had never faced Johnson. There was no tactical hunch at work, Black admitted, and not even much of a percentage play.
Huber's pregame stat sheet showed him as a .161 hitter against big league left-handers, with one career extra-base hit in 62 at-bats. Even that hit was both dated and dubious – a 2005 bloop double against Cleveland's Cliff Lee.
But what the raw numbers don't tell you is that a utility player who exists on the fringe of major league baseball does not get to choose his circumstances. What few at-bats Huber has logged at the major league level have come largely against the tough lefties many established players duck: C.C. Sabathia, Mark Buehrle, Johan Santana.
Those names may not mean much in Melbourne, but they carry a certain cachet on these shores.
The 6-foot-10 Johnson poses unique problems, even at 44 years old, but Huber has not hung around this long to be intimidated. Three years ago, with Wichita, he won the batting title of the Double-A Texas League. Huber had never cracked an Opening Day roster until he joined the Padres this spring, but it wasn't because of his bat.
“It's funny,†Huber said. “Just when you think you've got things figured out, you never have this game figured out. You just keep grinding away.
“The last few years have been a grind. It seems like not being in the right place at the right time. I'm happy to have a fresh start, almost, take a mulligan on the last three years in the big leagues.â€
Originally a property of the New York Mets, Huber joined the Padres in late March after failing to find a permanent place with the Kansas City Royals in exchange for the legendary “player to be named later†or cash considerations.
“He gives you a pretty good AB,†Black said. “And he's got some power and he's got some extra-base hits in him. He's doing fine in left (field). He has some first base in him. He's an emergency catcher. He's a better all-around player than I thought.â€
Huber reported to work early yesterday morning, intent on studying some video of Johnson before facing him in the flesh. Concerned that he might overthink his opportunity and become “super-stressed,†Huber settled on a simple strategy.
“They sort of said he's predominantly fastball/slider,†Huber said. “I saw that he was throwing a lot of stuff away. So that was my approach today. I was just looking for the fastball. I didn't really want to mess with the slider too much.â€
Johnson retired Huber on a ground ball to shortstop in the second inning, then struck him out in the fourth. When Huber returned to home plate in the sixth inning, the Padres had already seized a 2-1 lead and were threatening to extend it.
Josh Bard reached base courtesy of an error by Diamondbacks shortstop Chris Burke. Khalil Greene followed with a single, the first of three hits for the previously slumping shortstop.
Then Huber lined Johnson's 1-2 fastball an estimated 392 feet into the left-field seats, producing as many runs with a single swing as the Padres had scored in any of their previous four ballgames. Since a spectator contemptuously tossed the ball back on the field, the artifact would ultimately make its way into Huber's duffel bag.
As the Padres packed for their flight to Houston, someone had the inspiration to play a Bee Gees tune, presumably in tribute to Australian exports.
“I'm surprised we didn't have Men At Work,†Bud Black said.
