Ledger-Enquirer from Columbus, Georgia • 20

C6 wwwkdger enquircrcuinsports COLUMBUS LEDGER ENQUIRE SUNDAY JUNE 18 2006 BASEBALL MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL INNOVATIONS Rockies inventing the with iPods Associated Press DENVER Three hours before a start against lorida Colorado Rockies pitcher Jason Jennings sits in front of his locker puts on his headphones and stares at his video iPod He watching the latest Coldplay video or catching up on an episode of as a way to relax before the game though Jennings is doing some last minute cramming: The Rock video staff has downloaded every Marlins hitter into his iPod and Jennings is figuring out how to pitch to them He watches frames of himself delivering the pitch followed by the result of the play Every thing else is weeded out a good way to refresh yourself on how you got guys Jennings said an amazing The Rockies have taken the iPod beyond entertainment And the idea has caught on teams such as lorida and Seattle have called the Rockies to explore their innovative use of the iPod "It like we invented the said Rockies assis tant video coordinator Brian Jones who came up with the idea after the video iPod was released last November using technology as best we can We figured if you can watch music videos by rock roll and by country why you watch at bats by San rancisco and pitches by Jason Over the past two decades video has become common throughout the league as it is with football Teams have a lot of film to help players study their opponents and their own quirks In the past few years players have been able to take home DVDs to watch on their laptops Now all that information is in the palm of their hands can do it on their time they have to be here or they have to be behind a desk watching a laptop They can be at home on the airplane or even in their locker" Rock ies video coach Mike Hamilton said Red Sox reliever Mike Timlin said he sure the trend is a good one the game for us pitchers? he said only so much you can do to get the guys out These guys have a better idea and a better like we invented the wheel We figured if you can watch music videos by rock roll and by country why you watch at bats by San rancisco and pitches by Jason Brian Jones Rockies assistant video coordinator understanding You have to rely on your catchers You had to before New York Mets manager Willie Randolph said he have a problem with a player analyzing video but it have been for him Randolph a former All Star preferred extra batting practice to extra film sessions 1 think its overrated per sonally but just Randolph said from a dif ferent The Rockies have download ed video clips into the iPods of 14 players so far or the hit lers store every at bat and download performances of upcoming pitchers A 60 gigabyte iPod can hold roughly five seasons' worth of a at bats Pitchers can get all their performances along with at bats Jones has permission to take iPods from lockers to update them and when the Rockies are on the road he compiles DVDs of their play and loads video onto the iPods when they return home take care of it all Jones said just takes a few min utes like putting a song on from After seeing what the Rock ies were doing the Marlins left town with their own iPod ideas never heard of lorida pitcher Dontrelle Wil lis said of storing starts on the iPod man that would be Rockies second baseman Jamey Carroll overheard Hamilton talking about the concept at spring training and showed up the next day with his video iPod ready for it to be stocked with footage put movies on Carroll said want to save all the space for The club buv the iPods for the players a $399 investment for the 60 gigabyte model (the 30 gigabyte version costs $299) The Rockies have however purchased five iPods for general manager Dan and several scouts minor league hitting coordinator Jimmy Johnson has an iPod filled with video of players in the farm system If a player is struggling Johnson can compare his swing from the past with his current swing and fix it accordingly The iPods came in handy before draft too way the scouts could compare a prospective draft pick in North Carolina with one in Hamilton said have a real good comparison The game is so visual now This helps" The small screen size 25 inches been a prob lem either or seven guys sit around and watch Hamilton said if you watch it yourself not that much different from watching a large Boston slugger Trot Nixon said he watches standard video when he needs to but obsess over analyz ing his swing something feel right I'll look at the video or ask some of the teammates that have played with me for a long he said seen guys go back to the vid eo after every at bat I was guilty of doing it at times but I was only upsetting myself more and more: at that pitch the umpire called Why did I do this do got to go out and play right field got to leave it Jones thinks his iPod idea soon will be used across col lege and professional sports always trying to figure out the easiest way to help our he said the old days when you had a VCR you had to go through so much tape Now so much easier and por table You have to search for two hours to find that one swing on that one DETROIT TIGERS DUANE BURLESON Associated Press ijf JB teMM Detroit starter Kenny Rogers has helped lead the Tigers to 43 wins already this season match ing their total from three years ago next win will be his 200th Pitching led Tigers newest toast of city After horrid 2003 owner Mike Hitch vowed to fix team Associated Press DETROIT Brandon Inge avoid Detroit Tigers fans at gas stations restaurants or in his neighborhood or a change a good thing been a place gone where I had someone say something like guys are doing great Keep it said Inge third baseman the past people even come up to me And if I did make eye contact with fans it almost looked like they were disgusted with Anger slowly turned into apathy when Detroit's streak of losing seasons started 12 years ago but a sleeping baseball town has woken up and the buzz about the Tigers across Michigan is palpable The Tigers have been among best through more than a third of the season after being one of the worst the past dozen years losing an AL record 119 games in 2003 Detroit has had sole posses sion of first place in its division for 34 days entering game after being atop the divi sion alone for just eight days from 1994 2005 according to the Elias Sports Bureau good to have a payback time" said former Tiger star Willie Horton a special assis tant to president and general manager Dave Dombrowski is about believing and these guys walk around like listening to Eye of the from the old movie in their heads the biggest key in base ball is pitching and got some great arms young and The Tigers have had the low est ERA in baseball for much of the season The staff is led by 41 year old Kenny Rogers and rookie fireballers Justin Ver lander and Joel Zumaya Verlander headed into the weekend series on the road against the Chicago Cubs with a 7 4 record and a 332 ERA Zumaya is averaging more than one strikeout per inning out of the bullpen with a fastball that tops out at 102 mph seen two pitchers that young relied on like they are Rogers said Rogers been too shal by either He became the second AL pitcher to win his ninth game and the fastest Detroit pitcher to reach that total since rank Tanana in 1988 The crafty left hander is scheduled to go for his 200th win Sunday at Wrig ley ield where he could be the 10th active pitcher to reach the milestone Signing Rogers to a $16 mil lion two year contract last winter was the latest in a line of moves Dombrowski has made that are no longer criticized After winning 43 games three years ago a season so embarrassing that owner Mike Hitch said he was compelled to write big checks to fix his mess Dombrowski sparked a rebuilding process by giving catcher Ivan Rodriguez a $40 million four year contract lot of people thought I was crazy to come here and some people thought the Tigers were crazy to sign said the 34 year old Rodriguez The decision also was made to fire Alan Trammell after three seasons in the dugout and to bring Jim Leyland out of retirement to manage this season Leyland said he has reached one of his goals by making the Motor City care about baseball again think the organization has a pulse Leyland said I think home free If the Tigers can manage to play 500 baseball the rest of the season it might not be good enough to beat Chicago in the AL Central But that type of steady play the rest of the way could earn the wild card spot The Tigers been to the postseason since 1987 Willie Randolph New York Mets manager Associated Press BROWN BRADY nn I CHAPEL HILL NC Durham Bulls shortstop BJ Upton the No 2 overall pick in the 2002 amateur draft was charged riday with drunken driving The Tampa Bay prospect was stopped by Chapel Hill police about 3:30 am for Upton recognize the serious ness of this the major league team said in a state ment "We will continue to monitor this situation as the judicial system runs its The 21 year old player is batting 270 with five home runs in 66 games this season A traveling 51 mph in a 30 mph zone according to a police re port He had a blood alcohol level of 011 percent The le gal limit for drivers in North Carolina is 008 Upton was released on a written promise to appear in court the report said Devil Rays and BJ If you know of another local player in the minor leagues call sports editor Kevin Price 706 571 8590 with his name and where he is playing 1901 Manchester 322 5076 William Harper IV MD ACS CCTI 1021 Talbotton Koad Columbus GA 31904 (706)243 3727 Hrs9 5 Mon ri wwwharperurologycom fJA MILT ON 5250 Veterans Parkway EQUIPMENT Brown invites all his friends and former customers to see him for the BEST BUY on a NEW or USED CAR or TRUCK! 322 8888 x71 96 or 1 800 868 1585 Bill Heard Chevrolet think overrated personally but just me from a different June Is Health Month GOL NEW COBRA HS 9 DRIVERS I IN STOCK NOW STORE HOURS Mon Sat 9 6 GUARANTEED LOWEST PRICES 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Tl 1 1 a Jr VW 4 LOCAL PLAYERS IN MINOR LEAGUES BATTERS Name Local tie Org Team Class Avg AB HR RBI SB Doc Brooks Central Rockies Modesto A 238 223 53" 9 34 4 Adam Coe Russell Co Braves Orlando Rookie 000 0 0 0 Garrett Groce Columbus Devil Rays SWMich A 290 207 60 3 25 16 Colby Rasmus Russell Co Cardinals Quad Cities A 310 252 78 8 38 15 Brandon Monk Phenix City Braves Rome A 214 168 36 1 16 0 BeauTorbert Central Astros Salem A 333 192 64 1 19 10 PITCHERS Name Local tie Org Team Class SV ERA IP BB SO Edwin Jackson Shaw Devil Rays Durham AAA 2 7 0 605 640 32 55 Kasey Kiker Russell Co Rangers Spokane A 0 0 0 000 00 0 0 Tony Pierce CSU Independent Pensacola 2 2 6 132 132 10 27 Cory Rasmus Russell Co Braves Orlando Rookie 0 0 0 000 00 0 0 Steven Register Shaw Rockies Tulsa AA 1 5 0 458 762 27 37 3111.