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Fowl Ball! Weekly report on the DUCKS
An interesting twist to the all-star game experience was that a large majority of Haverbusch's teammates at the event were from the two teams involved with the Ducks in the heated division race which had just ended a few days before. The situation certainly must have made for some interesting conversations among the rival players. "Yeah, there was a lot of discussion about it among those of us from the Ducks, Newark and Bridgeport," said the Ducks outfielder, "I specifically talked to some of the guys from Bridgeport and we were all saying that neither one of us won a game for what seemed like the last month. So the topic definitely came up a bunch of times but it was all just part of the fun." While there were a total of nine Ducks selected to the all-star team, the most from any team in the league, more than half of the players decided not to attend. However, not accepting the invitation was never an option in Haverbusch's mind as he knew he wanted to participate right from the beginning. "For me personally, the main reason I wanted to go is simply that the whole experience is fun," Haverbusch says, "You are competing against these guys for six months or so, you're banging heads, taking them out while running to second base, they are throwing inside or hitting you, but now you get to see your opponents on a personal level. You get to meet some guys who you don't already know and hang out with others you might have played with in the past; it really is all just in good fun." Haverbusch was not the only Duck to impact the game as all three of his teammates also played a part in the North Division's win. Outfielder Ray Navarrete hit a two-run single in the fifth inning which turned a one run deficit into a lead which the North team would not surrender. Ducks starting pitcher John Halama and reliever Ben Grezlovski each threw a shutout inning in relief during the game. Halama struck out two batters in the fifth inning while Grezlovski did not allow a hit during his appearance in the seventh. The other Ducks who were voted to the all-star team but did not attend the game were Edgardo Alfonzo, Carl Everett, Danny Graves, Jose Offerman and Pete Rose, Jr. Now that the fun of the all-star game is over, Haverbusch believes the Ducks have to turn the page and focus on the second half although it will not be easy to completely forget the frustration of losing the division by one single game. "It is hard to erase the image of seeing the team we were playing (Newark) celebrate right in front of us," Haverbusch says, "They announced it during the last game of the series once they had clinched the division and that was hard to swallow but we need to move on." Haverbusch feels that the key to success for the Ducks in the second half can be summed up in one word: consistency. According to Haverbusch, "we have a lot of guys with a lot of talent who have, you could say, underperformed or been sporadic throughout the first half in every facet of the game." On a personal level, even though he is on pace for over 70 RBIs and has eight home runs, which is only one less than he had for the entire season last year, Haverbusch expects more out of himself in the second half. "I'm not happy at all with my first half, actually I thought it was bad to be honest with you and I am the first one to put on that list for wildly inconsistent," states the former Pittsburgh Pirates draft pick, "I know I am a .300 hitter, I will think that until I die and I have hit .300 too many times to be satisfied with myself when I am hitting .265 or something like that. I am really hoping to get back to that level during the second half." Extra Innings:
• The Ducks have stormed out of the gates winning their first four games of the second half in convincing fashion. Playing the opening series against the league-worst Road Warriors is certainly a bonus for a team that is looking to build momentum, but manager Dave Lapoint does not care who his team plays against at this point. "The players have to do the same thing no matter which team it is on the other side," Lapoint says, "I have been saying for weeks that we need our starting pitchers to come out and be aggressive in keeping the other team off the scoreboard for the first two or so innings and if that happens we will be difficult to beat." In the first four games, Long Island has only allowed a combined 10 runs, which is a far cry from the way the pitching staff was performing for most of the first half. The team is aware that they will need to keep up this level of play if they are to continue winning when playing a higher quality opponent. "We know it is going to be tough, so there can't be any letdown," says Lapoint, "We have to approach every game with the thought of winning, that is the only way we are going to have a chance.
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