Huff has the stuff at first base

It might be time for all the haters - fans, press and scouts alike - to admit all the hullabaloo over Aubrey Huff's defense at first base was wasted breath.

Huff is doing fine at the position, maybe better than fine. He is picking balls out of the dirt, snaring tough grounders, throwing well and making tough catches. He had one Saturday, overcoming a swirling wind to catch a difficult pop foul by Jason Bay to end the ninth.

An inning earlier, Huff smartly raced to cover second base as both middle infielders chased Henry Blanco's Texas League single to center, preventing Blanco from taking the extra base. That might have saved a run, because Fernando Tatis then doubled.

Huff has committed one error in 29 games. His only deficiency appears to be his range.

In so many words Sunday, Huff said, "I told you so."

"This is nothing new for me. I have to do this everywhere I go," he said. "I have to answer questions in spring training that I can't play defense. I have to prove myself again, and here you are a month later (praising me). It's like this all the time. When I played for Baltimore every day at first base (last season), I made four errors the whole year."

Huff laughed when a reporter asked about all the defensive work he did during the spring.

"Every spring training I have all the coaches put me in the extra group working on defense because they believe what they read," he said. "All you guys write me off as a bad defensive guy and they read it and say, 'OK, we've got to get him out there and work him hard.' "



(sfgate.com)