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Do IT this week: Layering
Young Aeros learn trying to change luck is fun
By Stephanie Storm
Beacon Journal sports writer
Published on Thursday, Apr 16, 2009
Aeros outfielder Nick Weglarz and first baseman Beau Mills approached manager Mike Sarbaugh after Monday night's game ended after midnight seeking his opinion on their new hairstyles.
''Hey Sarby, what do you think?'' they asked.
Weglarz's bright-red hair was styled in a Mohawk. Mills' dark hair was missing a large swath right down the middle.
Frustrated with slow starts at the plate, they were looking for something, anything, to help change their luck.
Although Weglarz was batting .133 with just two hits in his first five games, he had at least drawn seven walks for a solid .409 on-base percentage. In the same span, Mills had just one more hit for a .143 batting average.
Enter an electric shaver.
''They asked me earlier if I had any ideas and I said, 'You should shave your heads or something,' '' Sarbaugh said as the players left his office to go
show off their heads to others. ''But I didn't really mean it.''
After receiving a handful of the laughs they were looking for, Weglarz and Mills went ahead and shaved their heads the rest of the way, settling for the completely bald look.
The results have been excellent for Mills, the Indians' first-round draft pick in the 2007 draft out of Lewis-Clark State. However, Weglarz, who entered the season ranked by Baseball America as the Indians' third-best prospect, is still searching for a new good luck charm.
After a night off Tuesday because of a rainout, the Aeros earned a 4-1 win over the Altoona Curve on Wednesday morning at Canal Park.
Mills broke out of his slump, going 3-for-4 with an eighth-inning double.
''That was good to see,'' Sarbaugh said. ''Especially the last one, the drive the other way that just kept carrying. I think it was a fastball, and he kept his hands inside the ball really good.''
With the Aeros headed to Bowie after the game to begin their first road trip of the season, perhaps what Weglarz needs now is simply a change of venue.
Weglarz, the Tribe's third selection in the 2005 draft, entered the season on a baseball high after having recently spent time with Team Canada in the Olympics last summer and more recently with the Canadian team at the Word Baseball Classic.
''Being a part of the Olympics was pretty special,'' Weglarz said. ''Any time you get a chance to play with the stars like I did, you try to incorporate little parts of things they do into your game.''
Since joining the Aeros, the patience that allowed Weglarz to rack up 71 walks last season at Class-A Kinston has begun to elude him. He has already struck out nine times in 19 at bats after going 0-for-4 Wednesday with four strikeouts.
''He'll be fine,'' Sarbaugh said. ''He just needs to keep working.''
For the record, Sarbaugh meant working on his game, not on finding some other crazy way to change his luck.
Newcomer makes debut
Newcomer Carlton Smith, who joined the team Tuesday, made his first appearance with the Aeros in Wednesday's game, tossing 11/3 innings of scoreless relief.
''He started last year at [Class-A] Kinston, but he's going to be a bullpen guy,'' Sarbaugh said of Smith, who missed the last week of spring training and the first few days of the season with an injury.
''We have to build him up in innings a little bit, so he'll stay there and then be our long guy, which we lost when Ryan Edell went up to Triple-A [Columbus].''
Stephanie Storm can be reached at sstorm@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Indians and Aeros blog at http://www.ohio.com/tribematters.
Aeros outfielder Nick Weglarz and first baseman Beau Mills approached manager Mike Sarbaugh after Monday night's game ended after midnight seeking his opinion on their new hairstyles.
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