Huff's frustration boils over

OAKLAND, Calif. - Aubrey Huff endured five of his balls getting caught either on the warning track or right at the wall in Seattle. In the same series at Safeco Field, he hit a shot that was initially ruled a homer and correctly overruled into a foul ball.

In Friday's series opener at Oakland-Alameda Coliseum, Huff watched another potential homer die on the right-field warning track. Frustration ensued after each near miss, but the Orioles' first baseman didn't officially reach his breaking point until the eighth inning on Saturday night when he had a bloop hit with two men on taken away on a diving play by Oakland Athletics left fielder Matt Holliday.

The normally-reserved veteran whipped his helmet and the continued his tirade in the bathroom in the corner of the home dugout.

"For me, this whole road trip, I felt like I've swung the bat really well," said Huff, who is just 3 for his last 22 and has one homer in his past 80 at-bats. "In Seattle, which is not a good hitter's park, I hit five balls that were probably homers in Baltimore and most parks. If I hit two there, that's one thing. But five? That really [ticked] me off.
"Then finally yesterday, I broke a bat and jammed one off and Matt Holliday, of all people, made a diving catch in shallow left field. We're all human there. I don't care how much I try not to snap, that one got me. That was it."

Huff was held out of the starting lineup in Sunday's 3-0 loss for just the second time this season as Oscar Salazar, whose contract was purchased earlier in the day to replace the injured Cesar Izturis, got the start at first base and went 0-for-4. Huff said he had no problem with getting the day off and looked forward to the mental break with Monday being an off day as well.

Huff was joined on the bench by slumping second baseman Brian Roberts, who sat for the first time this season with Ty Wigginton getting his first start at second base. Roberts pinch-hit in the eighth inning on Sunday and struck out, extending his skid to 2-26 after going 0-for-18 at one point early last month.

"They are probably trying to carry the team themselves and they don't need to do that," Orioles manager Dave Trembley said of Huff and Roberts. "I think it's commendable that they both have that approach, but I just think that everybody goes through it."



(baltimoresun.com)