[新聞] Anderson confident his time will come

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官網新聞 http://0rz.tw/j0EhF 01/27/09 1:15 PM EST Anderson confident his time will come Red Sox first-base prospect could be next big thing at Fenway By Ian Browne / MLB.com BOSTON -- For now, you can consider him a Fenway coming attraction. Already, however, he has a presence about him. Lars Anderson is big, he's charismatic and he's confident. Yet Anderson still manages to come across as humble and worldly, and he seems older than his actual 21 years of age. Anderson is aware of the hype surrounding him, but refuses to let himself get blinded by it. "Expectations lead to big disappointments I think, so I'm just trying to do what I can today and try not to go too big on it," said Anderson. "I'm just trying to take my time and have fun." At the Red Sox's rookie development program held earlier this month, Anderson was the one who stood out among the 12 players in attendance. Perhaps it was because of his bright blond hair or cheerful demeanor, or the fact that he was the first player a swarm of reporters flocked to. The recent success of the Boston farm system has become contagious in the past couple of years, and Anderson is likely to be the next impact position player to come from a tree that has already sprouted Kevin Youkilis, Dustin Pedroia, Jacoby Ellsbury and Jed Lowrie. The left-handed-hitting first baseman, listed at 6-foot-4 and 215 pounds, split last season between Class A Lancaster and Double-A Portland, and was selected as the organization's Offensive Player of the Year, hitting .317 with 18 homers and 80 RBIs. In other words, Anderson has come quite far since being selected by the Red Sox out of high school in the 18th round of the 2006 First-Year Player Draft. "Over the last couple of years, he's really started to mature as a player -- both physically and on the field," said Red Sox director of player development Mike Hazen. "[He] has a great bat, very, very disciplined. He's very mature. And we started to see some of the results when he came to Portland last year. It started to snowball for him from a success standpoint. "He's a tremendous person. He works hard. He's very focused. He's very aware of his situation here in the organization. That's not going to slow him down from sort of taking those next steps in his development." After losing out in the high-stakes sweepstakes for Mark Teixeira in December, one piece of consolation for some of Boston's decision-makers and talent evaluators was simply knowing that Anderson would be waiting in the wings, perhaps by 2010 or '11. "Man, he got a lot of money," Anderson said when asked what his first reaction was when Teixeira signed with the Yankees. "What went through my mind? Like I said, I'm not even in the big leagues yet. I think that he's a great player, let's start with that. "I'm a long way from that position. The position that's filled there is by a pretty good baseball player, Kevin Youkilis. I'm looking to improve myself and we'll go forward from there." While conventional logic says that Youkilis could certainly move to third when Mike Lowell's contract expires in two years and that first base could then become vacant for Anderson, the young slugger won't let his mind go there. "I'll finish up in Double-A and we'll see where it goes from there," said Anderson. "I'm excited. I'm having fun playing baseball. But I think it would be foolish of me to look too far ahead. The key is to stay in the present and work from there." Fun is a word you'll hear more than just about any other from Anderson. "Last year, at the beginning of the year, I was struggling and I wasn't having any fun," Anderson said. "I had a conversation with a friend back home and he said, 'Get back to your favorite time to play baseball, 15 years old or whatever; everything is easier when you have no care in the world. Maybe if the object is to have fun, you'll be successful.' I tried that and I really bought into that, and I was having fun and, lo and behold, success started to come. Once you're successful and you're having fun, it's something you can build on." Off the field, Anderson takes pride in not being consumed by baseball. "I look at as kind of a balance. I love art, I love music -- I love that stuff -- and I also love baseball," said Anderson, a Northern California native. This winter, he made sure to get a break from the game that will surely consume him again when he reports to his first Major League Spring Training in February. "I did some hiking. I went to Maui. My brother lives in Maui. So I went over there for Christmas," said Anderson. "And then just traveling locally. I have a river right by my house, and there's plenty of interesting things to find there." But don't let Anderson fool you with his broad interests. When it is time to play baseball, he is very driven and focused. Goals for 2009? "Consistency, I think, would be a big one," Anderson said. "And having coverage of the entire plate. Having confidence with that. But I don't know if you want to change too much. Just little minor things. I feel like I have a nice base right now to work with and I'm going to keep going with that." And at some point, when the call comes, Anderson could have a stroke that is close to perfect for Fenway, which has always been tailor-made for pure left-handed hitters. "Lars' approach is more opposite field away, which is the true natural swing for him and always has been," said Hazen. "He's conscious of this, but not trying to rush it. You see it with a lot of young, good hitters, of being too conscious of trying to put the ball in the air and trying to hit for power. That's not what we're looking for now, and he knows that as well. "In time, as he gets to know his swing a little bit more, he's going to be able to do that. Everybody talks about a first baseman's power numbers, but we want to see him become an accomplished hitter before we want to see power. We feel, in time, it's going to happen." So will Anderson really be the next big thing to hit Fenway? "Yeah, I guess [some people] have those expectations," Anderson said. "I just want to play." -- ξ 所以我說 ●▃ 這 ╔═╮═╦╮ ∫BJ╯ 就是人生啊 ╠═╮╮║ █》 ╚═╯╰╯ -- ※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.cc) ◆ From: 218.166.48.70