PHOENIX -- Oakland A's third baseman Eric Chavez played most
of last season with a sore throwing arm, but appeared in 160 games
and won his sixth Gold Glove Award. This season, he plans to do
less, but with even better results, he said on Monday.
It will mean staying away from throwing extra balls, and maybe
taking a couple days off in August, Chavez said at the Papago Park
complex, where the team is doing their spring training.
"This spring, I won't throw a lot," he said. "I just will get
ready for throws in the game and that's it."
Chavez is so eager to start he showed up at the training
facility two days before the position players were scheduled to
report.
When the A's were struggling in the early part of last season,
Chavez participated in extra practice in May. Because he was the
only third baseman available, he took all the throws from that
position.
"I threw probably 100 balls," Chavez said. "That's when it
started to go downhill. I I got nervous. What if I can never throw
the same again?"
Extra swings are a different matter for Chavez. He wanted to
participate in the World Baseball Classic in order to get some
batting practice.
Chavez has a history of slow starts. He had a batting average of
only .194 last April and has a career batting average of .248 for
that month.
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