Newspaper Page Text
HOUSTON DAILY JOURNAL
With a grain of Salty:
Braves’ top prospect experiences learning curve
By R. Travis Haney
Morris News Service
MONTGOMERY, Ala. - Jarrod
Saltalamacchia comes packing a
six-syllable, 14-letter surname, a
heap of talent and a knee-jerk
qualifier: He’s only 21.
Ask anyone who’s spent time
around him with Class AA
Mississippi this year, and they’ll
tell you. Sometimes you don’t even
have to ask, and they’ll tell you.
A veteran big-league catcher
who’s been rehabbing his bum
shoulder in the minors?
“He’s only 21,” Eddie Perez
says.
Saltalamacchia’s Class AA man
ager, a guy who spent 13 seasons in
the majors?
“He’s a young guy, 21,” Jeff
Blauser says.
The Braves’ interim director of
player development?
“He is 21 years old,” JJ Picollo
says, “and we tend to lose sight of
that because he’s moved quickly at
a really tough position.”
This is the season when the
switch-hitting catcher’s age - he
Injury to Cox sidelines Georgia Tech's fullback pirns
ATLANTA - Fullback is
a lonely position at Georgia
Tech, with only two of the
burly block-
ers on its
roster.
And a
shoulder
injury start
er Mike Cox
suffered
Wednesday
could mean
the fullback
won’t be a
NOTEBOOK
By ADAM VAN
BRIMMER
Morris News
Service
part of the game plan for
the season opener against
Notre Dame.
Coach Chan Gailey esti
mated Cox’s chances of being
healthy enough to play Sept.
2 at 60 percent.
Georgia's snapper, holder still question
marks; voice of Bulldogs to be saluted
A THENS-If Georgia
/\ is going to have the
X kick-punt
duos in the nation with
Brandon Coutu and Gordon
Ely-Kelso, it will have to find
answers
this month
in finding
its snapper
and holder.
Bo Fowler
hopes to be
the answer
at long
snapper.
The four
year snap
per for
NOTEBOOK
By MARC
WEISZER
Morris News
Service
Greene County pitched him
self to Georgia staff mem
ber Joe Tereshinski Jr. in
February 2005 and now is
competing with Benjamin
Boyd and Jeff Henson for
the job.
“I just called Coach T up
one day and I asked him how
I could walk-on,” Fowler
said. “He told me I needed to
get accepted to school first. I
got accepted and called him
back and showed up after
camp.”
This year Fowler is one
of the 105 players in pre
season camp. Georgia holds
a special teams scrimmage
Saturday morning.
“It will be pretty pressur
ized for snappers and hold
ers,” Georgia coach Mark
Richt said. “We’ll find out
some more then.”
For now, assistant coach
David Johnson said the com
petition “looks to be tight.
All three of them have a
chance.”
Fowler was the center at
Greene County his senior
season for Josh Nesbitt, now
one of the state’s top 15
prospects, and is compet
ing less than an hour from
home.
“It’s living a dream, man,”
Fowler said. “Seeing all these
guys and this great coaching
staff. It’s living a dream.”
turned 21 in May - went from a
statistic and became the qualifier.
And now, because of this year, the
organization’s top prospect will
spend the immediate future trying
to reverse that.
SALTALAMACCHIA WAS INVITED to
Atlanta’s major-league camp for
the first time this year, and he
began with a double, triple and
game-winning three-run home run
in his first five at-bats.
“When Salty walks up there,
that’s how you feel,” Atlanta
manager Bobby Cox said then,
“that he’s going to turn the game
around.”
But he wound up hitting .206
in 17 games before he was sent to
finish the spring with the Class AA
club he’d be joining for the regular
season.
Blauser said, to him,
Saltalamacchia wasn’t swinging
the bat well upon arrival. That car
ried over when the team arrived jn
Pearl, Miss., to begin the Southern
League schedule.
He began the year in an 0-for-13
mini-funk that set the season’s
Cox started 10 games a
year ago and is the only
experienced player at the
fullback position.
Red-shirt freshman Matt
Kamp is Cox’s backup, and
his lack of experience could
prompt the Jackets to play
a tight end at the position
or omit fullback from their
game plan all together.
“Normally when you
have enough time like this,
it makes it easier,” Gailey
said. “When we get to actu
al game plan, we’ll have a
much better idea of where
Michael is (health-wise)
and we’ll make adjustments
from there.”
Georgia Tech is deep
and experienced at tight
Punters Gordon Ely-Kelso
and Brian Mimbs are work
ing as holders along with
Rowdy Francis who Johnson
said “is doing a great job.
Brandon really likes him,
too. It’s a matter of getting
him more reps. All three are
very capable.”
Gant joins injury list: Senior
Ray Gant, Georgia’s most
experienced defensive tack
le and a candidate to start,
injured his right shoulder in
Thursday morning’s practice
and said he was scheduled to
visit a doctor on Thursday
evening to learn the extent
of his injury.
Gant took part in the
Bulldogs’ first full pads prac
tice in the morning and was
in a sling before the after
noon practice. He said he
thought he had a subluxed
shoulder.
“You never know on the
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tone. He dove in and out of larg
er slumps and wound up batting
.197 through June 28, striking out
roughly a quarter of the times he’d
come to the plate.
He pressed, perhaps, because
he saw what 22-year-old Brian
McCann - in Mississippi just a
year ago - was doing in the majors.
The Braves’ everyday backstop is
still hitting close to .350 and he
made the National League All-Star
team in his first full season.
Or, because of the organiza
tion’s catching logjam, maybe
Saltalamacchia thought himself
into a hole because he considered
this year an audition for other
major-league teams. After all, high
ly touted third base prospect Andy
Marte was stuck on the depth
chart behind Chipper Jones, and
he wound up being dealt for Edgar
Renteria last winter.
Regardless, the woeful start
wasn’t something anyone antici
pated from someone so highly
thought of, both inside the organi
zation and out.
“It was a little bit unexpected,”
end. Four players - Mike
Matthews, George Cooper,
Wayne Riles and Colin Peek
- are sharing snaps this
preseason and Gailey said
he would feel comfortable
using them at fullback in
certain situations.
THE KING AND THE DUKE:
Georgia Tech’s Mansfield
Wrotto no longer plays on
Jon Tenuta’s defensive unit,
but the defensive coordi
nator still calls Wrotto by
his nickname on the prac
tice field: The Duke of
Brookwood.
Wrotto played defensive
tackle for Tenuta for three
years before moving to
offensive tackle this spring.
The nickname’s origins lie
shoulders,” Richt said.
“Ray’s had a history of that
messing with him and he’s
always been back relatively
soon.”
Gant’s absence would be a
blow to the interior defense
that will be without reserve
Marquis Elmore for at least
a couple of weeks. Elmore
will have arthroscopic sur
gery on his right knee and
expects to be out “two to
three weeks.”
Starting offensive guard
Chester Adams also sus
tained a hip pointer but
could return by Saturday.
“You’re going to have
those kind of things,” Richt
said. “If you start getting
those season-ending things
that really is cause for more
concern.”
Much thrown at fresh
man tight end: Freshman
See QUESTION, page 8B
LLumar
WINDOW HIM
Does
i°okfnrnm
AFTER.
SPORTS
in Wrotto’s refined English
accent - he is a native of
Liberia. The Brookwood ref
erence is to his high school
in Gwinnett County.
Wrotto has a more regal
nickname for Tenuta.
“Tenuta’s a king,” Wrotto
said. “He gets things done.”
DEPTH EMERGING UP FRONT:
Offensive linemen LeShawn
Newberry and A.J. Smith
have taken advantage of
some nagging injuries to
their peers and impressed
the coaching staff with their
play.
Newberry worked exten
sively at right guard this
week with Nate McManus
and Jacob Lonowski missing
time because of bumps and
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Christopher Dale Bruner
Wanted for violation of probation (for failure to
report and to pin as instructedl
LKA: Haynesville, Jefferson,
Warner Robins
i|
King Edward Cannon Jr.
Wanted for aggravated stalking bench warrant
LKA: 700 block of Loop Road,
Vidalia
Cesar Cervantes
Wanted for violation of probation (Dili)
LKA: 100 block of Creek Cove Trail,
WR
.JH :
Jose Consuelo
Wanted for violation of probation from
State Court
LKA: 200 block of Tabor Drive,
WR
00036875
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Picollo said. “We thought he’d go
to the Southern League and jump
right out of the gate.”
The four home runs he had in
the first half - just one more than
he had in 34 at-bats in big-league
spring training - all came before
May 2.
“It’s a big jump from A-ball to
here. I’m not so sure he real
ized that,” said Blauser, Atlanta’s
everyday shortstop through most
of the 19905. “I think he realizes
it now. He hasn’t had a whole lot
of failure.
“I think he realizes now that
these guys don’t care what he hit
last year (.314, 19 homers in Class
A). They don’t care about what the
articles in Baseball America say.
They don’t care about the publicity
he’s gotten - period.
“If anything, that makes the
bull’s-eye on his back a little bit
bigger. If you’re going to be in that
situation, you’d better be prepared
for it.”
BLAUSER SAID HE saw a young play
er stampeding around inside his
own brain, “constantly tinkering
bruises.
“I thought he was one of
the bright spots,” Gailey
said of Newberry following
Tuesday’s practice.
Smith’s play has been
more subtle. He works with
the second team at tack
le but has not escaped the
notice of offensive line coach
Joe D’Alessandris.
“It’s been very encour
aging to see LeShawn and
A.J. step up early in camp,”
he said. “Depth is always
important on the lines, and
we’re feeling more and more
comfortable with those two
in there.”
RODERSON STILL IN FLIX:
Avery Roberson continues
to compete with Jahi Word-
Edward Perette Buffington
Wanted for aggravated stalking
LKA: 1000 block of Fcagin Mill Road,
WR
David Carrillo
Wanted for violation of probation (for DL'l!
LK A: 100 block of Sandy Run,
Bonaire
Hee Jin Chough
Wanted far violation of probation State
Court Ispeeding)
LKA: 100 block of Cherokee Forest
Trail, WR
-
Lulalio Luis Cruz
Wanted for violation of probation (for ter
roristic threats or acts)
LKA: 900 block of Southern Avenue,
WR
SATURDAY, AUGUST 12, 2006
with his swing and trying to right
the ship.”
After a half-season of overthink
ing, a jammed left wrist - a well
timed injury, if there’s such a thing
- informed Saltalamacchia it was
time for a break. Doctors told him
to take it easy for a few weeks.
As much as he says he wanted
to play, the mental pause did him
no harm.
Unable to swing because of the
wrist, Saltalamacchia spent time
in the bullpen tracking pitches
from the mound to the plate. He
watched and worked on his timing.
He relaxed.
With a clearer head and a fully
functional wrist, he’s returned to
hit .396 with five home runs in the
19 games since July 14.
Was the time off the key? To
hear others tell it, absolutely.
“You can’t keep beating your
self up,” Blauser said. “I think it
allowed him to step back, clear his
mind, to re-evaluate where he was
and what he was trying to do.”
To hear him tell it, partially.
See CURVE,page SB
Daniels for a starting cor
nerback spot. Roberson is
also taking snaps at safety.
He could end up at either
place - or both - by the time
the season starts.
“We’re working him both
places and just seeing where
is going to be the best,”
Gailey said.
INIIRY REPORT: Wide
receiver Calvin Johnson
sat out Thursday’s prac
tice with his injured leg.
Johnson, the Atlantic
Coast Conference’s pre
season player of the year, is
expected back by Monday
at the latest, Gailey said.
Starting cornerback Kenny
Scott also missed practice
with a minor foot iiyury.
Juan Cabrera, aka Romeo Sontay
Wanted for violation of probation from
Stale Court
LKA: 100 block of Wall Street,
WR
Moises Carrillo,
aka Moises Patistan DeDois
Wanted for violation of probation (for drinking
underage)
LKA: 100 block of Sandy Run,
Bonaire
Hector Conego
Wanted for bench warrant from Superior Court
LKA: 100 block of Dixie Trail,
WR
Jermichael Cordon Daniels
Wanted for aggravated assault, burglary,
armed robbery
LKA: 1300 block of Ennis Drive,
WR
5B
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