JetHawks outfielder learned game late

By ED HARBOUR
Valley Press Staff Writer

Hargrove had spent most of his formative years on the basketball court and discovered baseball somewhat late in life.

"Up until then I lived and breathed basketball," Hargrove said. "My dad was the coach. It was all I knew."

But once he was out on the diamond, Hargrove, now a speedy outfielder with the Lancaster JetHawks, knew he had found his calling.

"My dad was in the Air Force, so we had to move to Germany," Hargrove said. "When we got there, the baseball coach at the base asked me to try out.

"I didn't even have cleats. I was out there in my basketball shoes. I had a good tryout and I realized how much fun the game really was."

At 24, Hargrove is one of the older members of this season's JetHawks team. He also spent 1999 in Lancaster and was with the Lancaster Stealth Fall League team.

His experience on the field, however, is clearly evident.

He has yet to commit an error in the outfield and is batting a respectable .295 with four home runs, including a grand slam.

In his last two-plus seasons, Hargrove has endured a position change, a tough batting drought and a fall league stint, all in Lancaster.

As a member of the Stealth, Hargrove hit .342 in 111 at-bats, all while being tried out as a middle infielder, a switch from the more comfortable outfield spots he'd known.

"It was nice to be here in the fall, just being familiar with the city," Hargrove said. "I was able to help out some of the guys from the other organizations, you know, where to eat and go hang out and with the fans and everything.

"It was a very comfortable experience for me."

Even with the great numbers he put up in the fall league last year, the early season was trying for Hargrove. His early troubles then gave way to a season-ending average of .294.

"There have been ups and downs both ways," Hargrove said. "I didn't have fun the whole first half of the season last year. I was struggling out there, but it all turned around for me in the second half and in the fall league, the game became fun again.

"Sometimes it's just that, a game. You have to take it serious to an extent, but if you're relaxed when you go out there it's a completely different story."

Hargrove was one of many players who struggled during the JetHawks tough 1999 season.

"It was a little more (difficult)," Hargrove said. "It was tough for me because I thought I should be one of the leaders on the team. You know, putting up the big numbers. I really took it hard."

But the former Sacramento State star is undeterred in his end goal, reaching the big leagues.

This season, Hargrove is off to a solid start, prompting some to speculate about a mid-season callup to Class-AA New Haven.

"I'm going to give it a shot until the game of baseball kicks me out," Hargrove said. "(Lancaster) wasn't where I thought I'd be, but you have to play the hand you're dealt. This is the hand I was dealt, so I just have to go out and play."

One area Hargrove sees a need to improve is his baserunning. With faster pitchers and catchers with cannon arms, base stealing has become somewhat of a lost art. But Hargrove still feels he can push his own numbers a bit more, as does the Mariners organization.

"It's something I've been told I need to work on," Hargrove said. "When I'm out there I try to talk myself into it and I just end up talking myself out of it. Mostly I just need to go."

Coming into the game relatively late in life, Hargrove occasionally wonders where he would be developmentally if he'd started playing baseball at an earlier age.

"I've always had that in the back of mind." he said. "But as long as I'm here and I have a chance to play, I'm here to play baseball.

"I really think everything worked out the way it was supposed to."

Uploaded April 27, 2000