“Hernandez tutoring Murphy at first base (Major League Baseball)” plus 2 more

Hernandez tutoring Murphy at first base (Major League Baseball)

Posted: 09 Feb 2010 08:00 PM PST

NEW YORK -- Without spoken acknowledgment of having done so, the Mets bid farewell to Carlos Delgado and, in so doing, they committed to Daniel Murphy. For now -- and for as long as it takes for underclassman Ike Davis to potentially displace him -- Murphy is the first baseman in Flushing. He is committed, too -- to his team, to making himself a reliable defender at the other, supposedly cooler corner. For all the uncertainties that will be in place next week when the Mets begin Spring Training, there will be no questions about Murphy's commitment.

He will not emerge from camp as a Gold Glove candidate, despite the recent tutoring of Keith Hernandez, who won enough Gold Gloves to outfit the New Orleans Saints' offense. Chances are Murphy won't have the skills of John Olerud, Rico Brogna and David Segui, each of whom played first base smartly and smoothly for the Mets in the seasons that followed Hernandez's reign.

But no less an authority than Hernandez senses that Murphy can be an asset on the right side of the infield and give the Mets one less reason for pause.

"The way he works and as aggressive as he is, I expect him to be more than adequate," Hernandez said Tuesday evening from the East Coast of Florida, hours after he and Murphy had completed a second session. "Some of what he does already -- playing aggressively and always trying to get the lead runners -- that can't be taught. So he's ahead of the game. Other things he can learn. I'm more than happy to help."

Hernandez's assessment of Murphy's performance at first base -- Murphy started 97 games and played 849 1/3 innings there last season -- was properly qualified.

"Under the circumstances -- he had zero experience there -- he was very decent. I like his hands; you can't teach good hands. I like his aggressiveness. He played admirably."

Murphy's objective is to be an asset at first base, to exceed expectations that seem to overlook his surprisingly effective play last summer after his flawed attempts to play left field. Toward that goal, he enlisted Hernandez's expertise in December. An illness in Murphy's family made pre-holiday sessions impossible. But general manager Omar Minaya, aware of Murphy's desire for tutoring from a master, contacted Hernandez last week. The former Mets captain and now SNY commentator agreed to help and reprise his role of spring 2000.

Then, Hernandez worked with Todd Zeile and was paid for what he knew and imparted. This time, he's working pro bono, though he's being paid in compliments.

"One of the best first baseman of all time," is how Murphy identified Hernandez. "It's an honor to work with him. I want to get as much information out of him as possible."

"Practice makes perfect," Hernandez said. "There are things you can do [during infield practice] when balls are hit to others."

Hernandez, Murphy and Nick Evans, a more experienced first baseman, had two-hour sessions Monday and Tuesday. Nothing fancy -- just footwork and fundamentals. If there's time late in camp and Murphy has progressed, Hernandez will teach him how first basemen cheat. All try, some succeed. For now, footwork and finding the base are the critical factors. Hernandez was taught by his father who was an accomplished first baseman. He began playing the position at age 6, so early that he said the base eventually "felt like part of my body, like an appendage." And Hernandez's left-handedness afforded him advantages at first that are not available to Murphy.

Murphy expects to start almost daily in exhibition games, much as he did last spring when learning left field was his assignment. But before games begin on March 2, he will be taking ground balls the way Larry Bird took free throws -- by the hundreds. The curriculum is more than merely ground-ball retrieval. Murphy must learn about another type of commitment. His aggressiveness and lack of experience occasionally had him chasing ground balls to his right that clearly were the responsibility of the second baseman, a problem that seldom developed when Delgado was playing first base and rarely leaving his narrow comfort zone.

He must adjust to Luis Castillo and his diminished range and to the pitchers' varying abilities to cover first base in a timely fashion. He must learn positioning based in the pitch to be thrown. And perhaps this year, Castillo will even share the information with him. He must learn the tendencies of each infielder's throws, i.e., how a throw from Jose Reyes may tail if the shortstop is rushed, how it may move if Reyes is on the first base side of the infield. Throws across the diamond can be as distinctive as batting stances and disarming too.

Throwing to second base, a play Murphy enjoys making, is more difficult for him because of his right-handedness.

Hernandez won't be a regular tutor. He and his wife, Kai, are celebrating their fifth anniversary this weekend, and he will be at the camp headquarters for SNY telecasts for only 10 games. Most of Murphy's work will come with new infield coach Chip Hale. Hernandez and Hale will talk before camp opens.

Hernandez's objective is for his student to be as comfortable as possible, to have a sense of where the base is, so he can run to it and track throws. He knows it won't be easy; so does Murphy. The position no longer is where aging sluggers are assigned, the Mike Piazza experiment in 2004 proved as much. Hernandez didn't work with Piazza. What was the point? Piazza was a catcher. He blocked balls in the dirt. Catching a baseball wasn't as instinctive as blocking one for him.

Murphy played third in college and in the Minors. He played second base in the 2008 Arizona Fall League. The Mets thought so much of his work at those positions, they moved him to left. Now he's a first baseman, for better or worse. He wondered if he would have retained big league status last summer if he hadn't made the move.

The Mets are convinced his bat will keep him in the big leagues and in the lineup. They'd like to believe his glove will help in that regard.

Marty Noble is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

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Math tutoring center moves into library for evening hours (The Lumberjack)

Posted: 09 Feb 2010 07:53 PM PST

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Two locations, 21 tutors, 59 hours per week plus $4,600 of new funds equals a new future for HSU's math tutoring lab. The math lab, located in the Behavioral & Social Science building (BSS) room 302, will be open nearly 40 hours per week. The math lab will now also be open in the evenings in library room 208.

The transformation did not occur overnight; rather it had been the ambition of Stuart Moskowitz since he took over as director of the math lab three semesters ago. In the past the math lab was available to students roughly 15 to 20 hours a week with what seemed to be never enough tutors, let alone time. "We would just get swamped," said Tyler Belarde, a first year grad student at HSU and tutor at the math lab for two years. Funding simply wasn't there. Historically, the collaborative effort of the Math Department and Carmen Colunga, Coordinator of the Tutorial Center, is what financially supported the math lab.

Realizing that the range of students coming in for help reached far beyond the Math Department, Moskowitz began to lobby for more money to improve the math lab. "We are helping not just math students," said Moskowitz in regards to the number of students coming into the math lab. When President Rollin Richmond attended a Math Department meeting in Fall 2009, Moskowitz was clear in his intentions for the future of the math lab: more tutors, more hours, more availability.

Just months later the math lab has successfully achieved this goal. The essence of this accomplishment was irrefutably the additional funds of $4,600. The money was distributed from a lottery fund. Contrary to base funds, which are state approved funds, lottery funds are often referred to as "one time only funds" as the money is fleeting and fluctuates from year to year. This year Humboldt State was allotted a total of $854,000 in lottery funds. According to an email from HSU's Budget Office, the money is distributed into five general categories: Pre-doctoral program $5,000, Access and Academic Development $63,779, Teacher Recruitment $72,240, Future Scholars $30,000 and General Initiatives $682,981.

"There are many things that are important on this campus," said President Richmond. When asked why the math lab was allotted additional funding in a time of such dire budget issues he said, "The importance of mathematics is in everybody's lives." President Richmond explained that lottery funds are intended to enhance the basic educational opportunities at HSU. Upon discussing other possible uses for the lottery funds President Richmond spoke of working with the Art Department in creating a database with digitally-available photographs of artwork. He also expressed an interest in creating a Native American mentoring program, in an effort to improve the dropout rate among Native Americans.

Even within the first month of school the math lab has received a warm welcome. Belarde, who said he will continue to tutor as long as he is a grad student, said that even the late night library hours have been busy. "I don't think as many people would make the trek," said Belarde in reference to the convenience of the library's location. Moskowitz found a central location that is already frequented by students so students would not be discouraged by a long walk across campus to the BSS building late at night,
True to its origin, the availability of the math lab may be as short-lived as the funding that is currently supporting it. At the moment Randi Darnall Burke, Dean of Students, is working with Mosowitz and the Math Department to incorporate the additional money into our base funds. Until then, if you are struggling with any math equation, don't hesitate to make use of the tutors available to you at the math lab.

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Mets Start Tutoring Session at First (New York Times)

Posted: 09 Feb 2010 06:41 PM PST

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Given their many question marks these days, the Mets might wish that Keith Hernandez could suit up again in orange and blue. Alas, Hernandez now spends his days in the television booth, writing books and shuttling between his homes in Florida and Sag Harbor, N.Y.

But that does not mean his 11 Gold Glove awards are going to waste. This week, he began tutoring Daniel Murphy, the team's presumptive starting first basemen this season. Murphy took over at first base last year after Carlos Delgado had season-ending hip surgery. Murphy was a work in progress in 2009, unafraid to field his position, but overly aggressive at times.

In a conference call with reporters Tuesday, Hernandez said he had been teaching Murphy how to use his feet better around the bag, how to pivot more effectively and when to reach for ground balls in the hole.

"The bag becomes a part of you, it's like an appendage, you move, it's there," said Hernandez, who tutored John Olerud and Todd Zeile in years past. "You get into a comfort zone."

Hernandez said he had the luxury of playing first base as a youngster, while Murphy had to learn on the job at the major league level. Despite that, he said he liked that Murphy was unafraid to charge for ground balls and try to throw out lead runners.

"I thought he did remarkably well last year," Hernandez said of Murphy. "I would rather he made the mistakes aggressively."

Still, no matter how much time Murphy spends with Hernandez, looming in the minor leagues is Ike Davis, perhaps the Mets' best position prospect. Davis has more power than Murphy and fields left-handed, often an asset at first base. He hit .309 for Class AA Binghamton last season, did well in Arizona last fall and will probably start the season at Class AAA Buffalo.

That means that Davis could challenge Murphy at first base before the 2010 season is over — and Hernandez might have a new pupil next winter.

CITI FIELD RENOVATION The Mets have seemingly made more changes to Citi Field this off-season than to their roster. All were cosmetic — think more blue and orange in and around the ballpark — but none were about to affect the course of a game. At least until Tuesday, when it was revealed that the Mets will chop in half the 16-foot wall that shields a sliver of straightaway center field — otherwise known as the area that houses the Home Run Apple. When the Mets begin the 2010 season April 5 against Florida, that fence, 408 feet from home plate, will stand 8 feet high. The modification was first reported by The Daily News.

None of the dimensions will change, and, just as significant, neither will the heights of any other outfield wall. It's still 15 feet 8 ½ inches in left field, 18-6 ½ below the right-field overhang and 11 feet on either side of this new notch. So, why did the Mets decide to change such a modest section?

According to a club spokesman, it had nothing to do with promoting a more home-run-friendly environment or increasing the visibility of the Apple — not that it popped up much last season, anyway. The Mets, rather, wanted to make the heights "more uniform" by reducing the obtrusiveness of that 16-foot rise.

Even though some metrics, like park factor/index, show that Citi Field actually favors home runs, it has developed a reputation around baseball as a pretty stingy place. Fueling that perception is its combination of high walls and cavernous dimensions, especially in the gaps, which sapped more than a few potential homers in 2009 from David Wright. Among the 16 National League ballparks, Citi Field ranked 11th in home runs yielded per game, 1.60.

The Mets, destroyed by injuries and flummoxed by a bewildering power outage from Wright, hit 95 home runs last season — 49 at Citi Field. That was the fewest in baseball.

Any uptick in home runs for 2010 was going to come from a consistently healthy lineup (already, Carlos Beltran is facing an uncertain return) or an improved offense. Aside from Jason Bay, whose 30-to-35-homer potential should translate well to Citi Field, the Mets will enter this season with familiar faces — and not ones known for power — at first base, second base and catcher, all positions that could have been improved over the off-season. Those moves would have been more than cosmetic. BEN SHPIGEL

ATHLETICS RELEASE TAVERAS Outfielder Willy Taveras has been released by the Oakland Athletics, eight days after he was acquired from the Cincinnati Reds with infielder Adam Rosales for infielder Aaron Miles and a player to be named.

Taveras was designated for assignment immediately after the Feb. 1 trade. The Athletics owe his $4 million salary, but that would be reduced by the $400,000 minimum if another team signs him.

Taveras hit .240 with a home run and 15 runs batted in with 25 stolen bases for Cincinnati last season. (AP)

HENDRICKSON STAYS PUT The left-hander Mark Hendrickson agreed to a one-year contract with the Orioles that guarantees him $1.4 million after pitching well out of Baltimore's bullpen last season.

Hendrickson, 35, went 6-5 with a 4.37 earned run average in 53 games last year. He was most effective in relief, going 4-0 with a 3.44 E.R.A.(AP)

TORREALBA SIGNS WITH PADRES Catcher Yorvit Torrealba and the San Diego Padres completed a one-year contract that guarantees him $1.25 million.

Torrealba, 31, figures to share playing time with Nick Hundley, who started 71 games last year and hit .238 with 8 home runs and 30 R.B.I. Torrealba spent the last four seasons with the Colorado Rockies and batted .291 with 2 homers and 31 R.B.I. last year. (AP)

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Tutoring

Wednesday, February 10, 2010