San Diego Padres posses the next great power-hitter. His name: Terrmel Sledge. So says the San Diego Union-Tribune. There are a couple obstacles to overcome. Injuries, and a relatively advanced age for a rookie MLB player.
One month shy of his 30th birthday, Sledge appreciates that his time is now or that it might be never...
Sledge joined the Padres last January in one of the most lopsided trades of Towers' tenure. Still rehabbing from a 2005 hamstring operation, Sledge was a relative afterthought in the deal with Texas that featured first baseman Adrian Gonzalez and pitcher Chris Young. When Sledge subsequently sustained a calf injury in spring training, his chance to make an immediate impact evaporated.
Though he would recover to swat 24 home runs for Triple-A Portland, Sledge describes his entire 2006 experience as “a long spring training.”
“At this time last year I was like 210 pounds and I hadn't seen major league pitching in over a year,” he said. “So it was a tough year. I couldn't work out. It was like I was carrying 15 pounds of bricks in a backpack.”
Sledge has since shed those bricks, and returned to his preferred playing weight in the low 190s. He credits multisport cross-training for his leaner look and claims to have found the quick first step that had been missing from his game.
Sledge experienced a minor brush with anabolic steroids in the minor leagues. An over-the-counter brush with Andro nixes his international baseball thanks to USADA rules; however his MLB career is in high gear.
As his game evolved in the minor leagues, Sledge began to drive the ball more and run less. He suffered a significant image setback when the United States Anti-Doping Agency detected traces of androstenedione derivatives in a 2003 drug test, but a two-year ban from international competition did not directly affect his domestic career.
“I don't want to get back into that,” Sledge said of his steroids experience. “The situation was over-the-counter. You look at my body frame back then to now, and my numbers, it's obsolete.
“Let's just say I've had a lot worse happen to me outside of baseball. It was my mistake. You learn from your mistakes.”
Really love google, very fine website.I am looking for something else, but cool site.
Posted by: christian louboutin online | 05/16/2012 at 11:11