March 10, 2008
Walking to the Majors
Denard Span is taking his way to the top; of the lineup, that is:
Span walked four times in five plate appearances, living up to his own credo as a leadoff hitter: Just get on base.
"I'll take this day every day if I could," Span said after the Twins' 6-4 loss to the New York Yankees at Hammond Stadium. "Four walks? I'll take 0 for 1 every day."
Span is competing with Carlos Gomez and Jason Pridie in the most-watched battle of the Twins' training camp. He's off to a slow start at the plate, hitting .214, but Gomez is at .190 and Pridie .238, so Span hopes his ability to help the offense even without base hits draws a favorable contrast to the less-patient Gomez.
"I don't think they're looking for anybody to go up there and hit 20 home runs. They need somebody to score 100 runs and stay on base and put pressure on the defense and the pitcher," said Span, the Twins' 2002 first-round draft pick. "I just want to get on base."
Span posted a .348 OBA in his minor league career, nothing to write home about. With no pop, maybe he figured out the best way to make the majors is to be an OBA machine.
He would also be the first major leaguer with the first name Denard.
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I wouldn't get excited, none of the pitches were even close. It wasn't like he had two strikes and laid off something breaking off the plate. From what I remember, they were just fastballs missing the zone.
Dusty Baker would trade him for someone with Derek Jeter's glove and Ramon Castro's bat.
