Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings
June 20, 2006
It's the Stadium!

In the article on Adrian Beltre linked in this post, there was a suggestion that seeing Manny Mota again might help the former Dodger:

If nothing else, pitcher and former teammate Odalis Perez says Beltre could benefit from reuniting with Dodgers coach Manny Mota.

"Since Adrian came to this organization, Manuel Mota has been like a father to him," Perez says. "When he went through difficult times, Manuel was the one who got him going again."

Mota, a Dodgers fixture for 37 years, believes leaving such a familiar environment might have prompted the sensitive Beltre to put extra pressure on himself.

"I might talk to him and try to enhance his confidence level, remind him of the things he did to become such a good hitter in late 2003 and 2004," Mota says.

"More than anything, encourage him, tell him to relax."

If he talked to Mota before the game, it worked. Adrian is two for two with two runs scored and two RBI. His two hits are a double and a home run. The Mariners lead the Dodgers 4-2 in the bottom of the fourth.


Posted by David Pinto at 11:12 PM | Players | TrackBack (0)
Comments

More likely, there's nothing wrong with him, he just had one fluke season.

Posted by: JeremyR at June 20, 2006 11:33 PM

Ugh... he finally finds his stroke again, and it's when he comes back to town. I remember one year when we had booted Tom Goodwin for being of no value, and then he wound up on the Giants and only seemed to come alive when he played the Dodgers.

Posted by: Adam Villani at June 21, 2006 01:41 AM

> he just had one fluke season
----
hmm... :)

Posted by: Pozycjonowanie at June 21, 2006 04:14 AM

> he just had one fluke season
----
hmm... :)

Posted by: Pozycjonowanie at June 21, 2006 04:15 AM

I agree with JeremyR. Beltre had a great year, but just one year. The best thing Paul DePodesta did in his short, undderrated stint as the GM of the Dodgers was not re-sign him.

Posted by: pawnking at June 21, 2006 10:50 AM
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