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Fowl Ball! Weekly report on the Ducks
Now, in returning to his long-time home state, it is obvious that there is still a strong bond between the man known as "Fonzie" and the local baseball fans that come out to see him play at Citibank Park. "There are five to six-thousand people here every night who cheer and yell for me every time I come up to bat," says the former big league all-star, "It really is hard to explain what a great feeling that is to have so much support." Alfonzo admits he even had first game jitters during his home debut as a Duck after looking up at the stands and seeing so many people wearing jerseys with his name or number. The new Ducks' third baseman said that being able to meet and speak with a few fans and sign autographs for some kids helped him get settled in. "These people did not forget about me so I try to never forget about them," Alfonzo says, "They knew me from when I played for the Mets and now the same people still want to come watch me play; how can you not appreciate that." On the field, however, Alfonzo struggled during his first three weeks as a Duck, barely able to keep his batting average around .150. Just as Carl Everett had previously mentioned, Alfonzo also found it hard to be ready for the season without having a full spring training for the first time in twelve years. "It is difficult in this league because there is such a short exhibition schedule," Alfonzo says, "The first few weeks of the season still felt like spring training for me, except unfortunately spring training doesn't count and in this case these games did. The only thing I could do was just push my body to get ready as soon as possible." So it came as little surprise when Alfonzo began to get hot right around the same time Everett was starting to hit the ball. Over the last three to four weeks, Alfonzo has possibly been the Ducks best hitter having raised his overall average to a respectable .280 after batting close to .400 since late May. Alfonzo never had any doubt that he would come around soon despite his slow start. If anything, he was more concerned with proving both to himself and everybody else that he was finally healthy and over his past injury problems. "My legs were sore early in the season but then they started to get better little by little each week and thankfully my back has not bothered me for a long time so I actually feel really good," says Alfonzo, "Now I have been able to focus on getting my timing the way it should be as well as correct any mechanical issues and go from there." Intere stingly, Alfonzo's hot streak also coincides with a decision by manager Dave Lapoint to move the third baseman from the second spot in the batting order down to the seventh spot. "Batting Fonzie seventh was originally a move made to help him relax since I felt like he might be pressing too much," Lapoint explains, "It was only supposed to be a temporary switch but with the way he is hitting right now we are going to stick with it until there is a reason to make a change." It is also obvious how the team's results and overall level of play got better as Alfonzo started to perform. "There is a lot of talent on this team and when you have so many good players it is never just one person that is the reason for a win," says Alfonzo, "That is why it is called a team; we all get along well and on the road we all stay together. This is a great group of veterans and young guys who always play hard and always want to win."
Considering how long he has been around and by looking at his major league numbers- more- than 1,500 games, 1,532 hits, 146 home runs and 744 RBIs- it comes as somewhat of a surprise that Edgardo Alfonzo is still only 33-years-old. He and probably still has a few good years left in him. "I am still a young guy and I feel like I can still play this game for awhile," says Alfonzo, "I have always been a fighter and I always will be, so I will never give up on trying to get back to playing at the level I used to be at, no matter whether it is here or in the big leagues." After the Ducks' past two games which saw Alfonzo go a combined 5-for-6 at the plate, which includes a grand slam home run and a total of five RBIs, it certainly seems like the old Fonzie is back in New York.
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