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**Blackbeard** · 07-10-2006, 07:02 PM

Good luck Spearit!!! Berkman has 9 more HR's and higher slugging percentage, and line is only -119 thats weird, but cabrerra has higher batting average, so maybe it equals out

**Spearit** · 07-10-2006, 07:08 PM

Thanx Hendrix-- It is a good observation. Always enjoyed your comments/threads

**Spearit** · 07-10-2006, 07:11 PM

KANSAS CITY -- Troy Glaus is a Derby veteran. Toronto's slugging third baseman took part in the event in 2001 and he's leaning on his experience to help him on Monday, when he'll step into the batter's box at PNC Park for this year's Century 21 Home Run Derby, airing on ESPN at 8 p.m. ET.
In 2001, Glaus took 10 swings and learned something from each one of them. He wound up with no home runs and was eliminated in the first round of the annual home run contest. How will that experience help him the second time around? Now, Glaus will know what to expect.

"It's strange. You never hit on the field without a cage," said Glaus, recalling his poor showing in his first Home Run Derby. "It's different. And we don't take batting practice in front of 50,000 people either, where all you're trying to do is hit home runs."

Now that those 10 swings are far behind him, Glaus has a plan heading into Pittsburgh, where he'll be competing against David Ortiz of the Red Sox, Jermaine Dye of the White Sox, Miguel Tejada of the Orioles, Ryan Howard of the Phillies, Miguel Cabrera of the Marlins, Lance Berkman of the Astros, and David Wright of the Mets.

"You've got to just relax and not try to kill the ball -- not try to overswing," Glaus said. "Just take a nice, loose swing. Everybody wants to see the ball go 480 feet, but at the end of the day, that's not what you're trying to do. All you have to do is get it over the wall."

For right-handed hitters like Glaus, hitting it over the wall in Pittsburgh is slightly more challenging than for lefties. At PNC Park, the left-field wall is just 325 feet down the line, but the distance away from home plate increases rapidly to 410 feet in left-center field -- the deepest part of the ballpark.

"It's bigger," Glaus said. "It's not ridiculously big, but yeah, it's bigger."

Belting long home runs hasn't been much of a problem this season for Glaus. Counting his home run on Sunday, he leads the Blue Jays with 23 moon shots, which also ranks first among AL third basemen.

Some Derby participants have brought their own personal pitchers in the past, but Glaus said he isn't sure who he will have throwing to him on Monday. One option is Toronto manager John Gibbons, who often throws batting practice for the Jays and will be in attendance as a coach for the AL.

Gibbons laughed when asked if he'd be throwing to Glaus.

"Not if he wants to hit any homers," Gibbons joked.

Glaus is still waiting for that first Derby blast.

**Spearit** · 07-10-2006, 07:22 PM

A left-handed hitter, of course. Well, that's the belief of Derby participant Lance Berkman of the Astros.

"[PNC Park] is more beneficial to left-handed hitters than to right-handed hitters," Berkman said, "because it's really big in left field there."

He's right. PNC Park is slightly shorter down the right-field line (320 feet) than it is down the left-field line (325). Yet the biggest difference is between right-center and left-center.

Berkman could line a home run to right-center at about 375 feet. To left-center, the distance from home plate ranges anywhere from 389 to 410 feet.

For Berkman, a switch-hitter, the ballpark's design has convinced him to bat left-handed Monday. Still, he's not claiming a first Derby victory just yet.

"One thing you have to realize about the Home Run Derby is that it looks easy, like the guy's just lobbing it in there," Berkman said. "But you still have to get a good pitch to hit."

Berkman only hit one pitch over the outfield wall in 2002, when he participated in the Home Run Derby at Milwaukee's Miller Park. In '04, he had better luck and hammered 21 baseballs into the seats at Houston's Minute Maid Park.

Seventeen of those homers came over the first two rounds before Berkman met Miguel Tejada of the Orioles in the finals. By then, Berkman was gassed.

"It was tiring," Berkman said. "I felt like I was chopping firewood. You just take so many swings and I was definitely huffin' and puffin' at the end of that thing."

Now, Berkman knows what to expect. That doesn't necessarily mean he has a blueprint for winning this, his third Derby, but he knows to pace himself.

Complete All-Star Game coverage >"It's not some random [thing where you] go up there and see how many home runs you can hit," Berkman said. "Even though it is batting practice, you still need to get a pitch. A guy who's not throwing hard -- if he throws it away from you, down-and-away or down -- it's hard to elevate a pitch like that. You're looking to put some air under the ball."

Berkman shouldn't have a problem getting the pitches he wants, because Astros bullpen coach Mark Bailey, who throws everyday batting practice to him, will be tossing to Berkman in the Derby.

Other contestants have the option to bring their pitcher of choice. Some may. Others may not. So, perhaps having Bailey plays in Berkman's favor.

Then again, maybe the pitcher is really a non-factor. For it's the hitter who has to stroke pitches out of the park, and there's plenty of capable sluggers in this season's Derby.

"I think [Phillies first baseman Ryan] Howard has a great chance," Berkman said. "I think [Red Sox designated hitter] David Ortiz has a great chance. I think it's going to be a left-handed hitter -- depending on how the ball's carrying -- but I think it's going to be tough for a right-handed hitter to win it because the porch is a lot closer in right field than left."

**Tomorrows Paper** · 07-10-2006, 07:44 PM

Good luck Spear - I'll be rooting for Lance with ya.

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