"These are the parameters of the interview, provided by solicitous Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez: no questions about the environment, nothing about politics and definitely do not bring up Russia's space program. In interrogating a slugging second baseman who's occasionally stumped by the postgame 'What pitch did you hit?' question, the guidelines are helpful. Uggla admits that he's not always certain if he has just clobbered a fastball or a changeup. 'He's a ballplayer,' Gonzalez says, grinning at the thought of his favorite workingman's big leaguer. 'Stick with baseball.'"
--From SI.com piece on Uggla, "Don't Ever Change, Dan Uggla," June 30th, 2008.
Dan Uggla is a player often categorized as a strikeout, or home run/doubles hitter. A power guy, Dan has slightly improved his rather anemic defense since joining the Braves in the 2010-2011 offseason. A couple of weeks ago, braveswire.com described Uggla as "hustling" in an infield that includes the glove man Andrelton Simmons and the solid anchor of Freddie Freeman. Don't get me started on the third base situation though.
While with the Marlins, before being airbrushed into a Braves uniform, I really couldn't stand Uggla. He and the other eight singles hitters in Florida's lineup killed the Braves. And the thing is, now that he's with the Braves, I only cautiously like the guy. You can bet that the minute he leaves the Braves I will go back to disliking him. Something about him is reliably unreliable...
Ahhh, Defense again. Uggla's defense was, well, uggla last year. (Sorry, couldn't resist.) Leading the NL in errors with 15, he also had a 33 game hit streak. Very polarized statistics.
http://www.blowoutcards.com/forums/ttm-auto/189375-dan-uggla.html
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