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Daryle Ward watched--and mimicked--many batters' swings before finding his own. |
By TODD JACOBSON
WASHINGTON--Daryle Ward got a firsthand glimpse of big league life growing up as the son of former major leaguer Gary Ward, but Ward did more than copy his dad.
The Nationals' back-up first baseman emulated everyone.
"Ever since he was 3 years old and I was in the minor leagues I would take him to the ball games and when we came home he would go through the whole lineup and do what they did that night," Gary Ward said.
So when Gary Ward played in Texas, his younger son could've been mimicking Buddy Bell.
When Ward was with the Minnesota Twins, it could've been a young Kent Hrbek.
In New York, it might've been Don Mattingly.
"Everyone," said Daryle Ward, grinning and offering an explanation of where his swing took root. "I wanted to be like everyone."
But he especially wanted to be a big leaguer like his dad, which is why he dragged around his dad's bat and it's why he hung around each clubhouse his dad's job took him through, absorbing as much as he could.
"You get exposed to it at a really young age," Daryle Ward said. "It's an advantage that a lot of people don't get to have. You are talking about as a 3 or 4 year old kid and I am traveling all over the country."
When he got older, he spent summers with his dad when it didn't conflict with his own Little League games, but vacation meant more baseball.
It wasn't unusual for Ward to step into the batting cage against major league talent.
"Charlie Hough used to throw us batting practice in Texas," Ward said, laughing when recalling the pitcher's notorious knuckleball. "I didn't hit many of those."
But he hit plenty--just like he has done this season with the Nationals.
After two seasons in Pittsburgh, Daryle Ward won a job with the Nationals this spring because of his swing and he has made himself an invaluable member of Washington's bench with his timely power punch.
Entering yesterday's game, Ward was hitting .291 with five homers and 11 RBIs, but he's done most of his damage as a pinch-hitter. He has three pinch-hit homers and eight RBIs.
He always had plenty of power, which explains some of the tape-measure shots he has hit with the Nationals.
He's twice reached the rare air of the right field upper deck at RFK Stadium--but those shots don't compare to the homer he hit into the Allegheny River outside PNC Park in Pittsburgh.
He's not unlike his dad, a two-time all-star who hit 130 homers in 1,287 big-league games. The pair are the only father and son duo to hit for the cycle. Gary Ward did it in 1980. Daryle Ward did it in 2004 with the Pirates.
"I have always hit like this," Ward said. "It's coming at a limited playing time so it's kind of exaggerated a little bit. Before I would have moments in my career and somewhere along the line mentally I wouldn't have the same focus but I am a little older now and a lot more mature and I am not going to have that this year anymore."
Gary Ward has watched almost every one of his son's home runs this season via satellite from Riverside, Calif., and just like he did years ago, honing his son's swing from the dozens of players he impersonated, Gary Ward still offers tips from afar.
"We talk about just about everything," Daryle Ward said. "My swing, he pretty much taught me from since I was little, and he tells me about just the mental aspect of the game. He still continues to improve my game mentally. That's a big advantage."
Just like it was growing up.
Injury report
First baseman Nick Johnson has a lower back strain, an MRI revealed yesterday, and could play this weekend against the Orioles, but the news wasn't quite as good for right-hander Tony Armas Jr.
Armas has swelling in his right forearm and received a cortisone shot from team physician Ben Shaffer. He'll rest for three days and be re-evaluated by team medical officials.
Armas was not scheduled to pitch this weekend against the Baltimore Orioles.
To reach TODD JACOBSON:
Email: tjacobson@freelancestar.com
