 |
||||||||
 |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
Skills packageBy BRANT JAMES, Times Staff Writer© St. Petersburg Times published May 5, 2002 Many special talents go into making a good baseball player. Instincts, skill, heart, knowledge -- and not necessarily always pure athletic prowess -- are some of the more obvious. Never in the short history of the Times "Skills Package" have so many of those skills been packed into so few players. Whether that is good or bad depends on if you like quality or quantity, or if you root for Crystal River or Pasco. That hint laid down the middle like a batting-practice fastball, we present the "2002 Skills Package." BEST FASTBALLRONNIE LOWE, Ridgewood His first-class heater helped produce 9-1 record, 0.69 ERA. BEST CURVEBALLRONNIE LOWE, Ridgewood The area's best bender helped with the 99 strikeouts in 60 innings. BEST CHANGEUPJIMMY METZ, Crystal River His fastball is difficult to touch, but his changeup is deadly. Once Metz gets you looking fastball, you're in trouble. BEST PROSPECTLEE CRUZ, Pasco He has the bloodlines. His brother, Alex, was drafted by the Pirates in 2000. Lee has the same projectable skills scouts adore. BEST INFIELD ARMAARON McLAMAR, Ridgewood You must have a little something in the sleeve to play third base, and the Rams' corner man fills the bill. BEST OUTFIELD ARMORLANDO ROSALES, Pasco Possessor of the arm baserunners care not to challenge. BEST INFIELD GLOVELEE CRUZ, Pasco The shortstop is a steady force in the hole and pivot. BEST OUTFIELD GLOVEORLANDO ROSALES, Pasco Get the feeling he is the complete package defensively? BEST INFIELD RANGELEE CRUZ, Pasco Looks like Pasco is strong up the middle. BEST OUTFIELD RANGEANTON STANDIFER, Pasco How did this team give up a hit? BEST CLUTCH HITTERCLAYTON TRENARY, Crystal River Has 12 home runs and 54 RBIs as the Pirates' No. 3 batter. Once the table is set, Trenary cleans it. BEST HITTER FOR AVERAGECLAYTON TRENARY, Crystal River A patient batter who waits for his pitch, he boasts a whopping .573 mark. He topped .500 last spring. BEST POWER HITTERCLAYTON TRENARY, Crystal River Of the senior's 51 base hits, 12 are homers. He has 9 doubles and 3 triples. Trenary can go deep to any corner of the park. MOST COMPLETE PLAYERLEE CRUZ, Pasco A .494 batting average, 9 home runs, 43 RBIs, 21 walks (just 7 strikeouts), 41 hits, 44 runs. Pretty complete. FASTEST BASERUNNERANTON STANDIFER, Pasco Now you know why his outfield range is so good. SMARTEST BASERUNNERRICHIE HITTEL, Ridgewood With 22 regular-season steals, he is more than just a product of speed. BEST KNOWLEDGEROBBIE ALVAREZ, Land O'Lakes Crucial on-field coach, and in a good spot as catcher. BEST BUNTERTRAVIS TOLBERT, Central Master of a crucial skill in the Bears' scientific baseball approach. BEST CATCHERCLAYTON TRENARY, Crystal River Tall, athletic backstop caught for staff that has 1.40 ERA. A first-year catcher, he will get only better with experience. CATCHER WITH BEST ARMROBBIE ALVAREZ, Land O'Lakes Straying off first base is a risky venture against the Gators. BEST DOUBLE-PLAY COMBINATIONLEE CRUZ & JOEY HARPER, Pasco Cruz, a shortstop, and second baseman Harper are slick and quick as the leaders of the Pirates' solid defense. -- Staff writers Keith Niebuhr and Greg Auman contributed to this report.
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111 
|
|
