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Clones traffic cop in the dugout
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del.icio.usGuadalupe Jabalera coaches at first base for the Cyclones, and he also works with the hitters.
When the Cyclones are in the field during a game, he also has another duty.
Look into the Brooklyn dugout, near the home plate end.
You’ll see manager Edgar Alfonzo, and standing near him are pitching coach Hector Berrios and Jabalera.
While Berrios is relatively still while making notes and charting pitches, Jabalera seems to be a manic traffic cop, with a caffeine overload.
Jabalera waves his arms to move outfielders side-to-side or in-and out. He also signals with his hands to the infielders.
“Everything I do is from Edgar [Alfonzo],” said Jabalera. “We talk in the dugout and he decides … and I do the signaling.
“We have spray charts on the other team and the charts tell us where each players usually hits the ball,” Jabalera explained.
But there is more to the equation than spray charts.
“The scoreboard [score] determines how we play,” said Jabalera.
“We also watch how our pitcher is throwing, and we always check the wind. Sometimes outfielders forget to turn around to check the flags behind them.”
Jabalera is relatively still in the early innings of a game, but in the later innings of a close contest, he can resemble a Times Square cop directing cars when the traffic lights are out.
“We want to win, and we also want to teach the players to think for themselves,” he said.
“So, in the early innings, we try to let them think for themselves and figure out where to play a hitter. But in the later innings of a close game, I do more signaling, because at this point we want to make sure we win.”
Thus, when a game is close in the final innings, look at the Brooklyn fielders and note how they’re playing a hitter.
See if you can mentally move them before Jabalera starts waving his arms.
©2007 The Brooklyn Paper
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