Written By Sam Ekstrom
It was a tough first week for Oswaldo Arcia: only three singles, no RBIs, no home runs for the Venezuelan slugger in his first six games.
After a day off Tuesday that gave the whole team a chance to clear their collective heads, Arcia responded with a towering home run to right-center field that landed in the flower bed above the scoreboard and led to an energetic fist pump as the 23 year old rounded first base.
Perhaps the change in fortunes was because of the new haircut he got that most closely resembled a mohawk. Hey, anything to change your mojo, right?
Or maybe it was the adjustments Arcia made with the coaches during the pregame. “He was out early working on his swing,” said manager Paul Molitor after the game. “Tom [Brunansky] was tweaking a few things, trying to get him to use his lower half a little bit better and some things like that.”
Feeling ambitious after hitting the difference-making home run, Arcia agreed to conduct his postgame press conference in English, even after second basemen Brian Dozier chided him in Spanish but ran away before someone would make him translate. “He needs the practice!” Dozier shouted as he scampered away.
Arcia told reporters he tightened up his swing Wednesday and felt good at the plate. “Before today, a lot of swinging too hard, a long swing,” said Arcia. “Today was more short.”
Nothing can stop Arcia now. He’s got a new haircut. He’s a got a new swing. He’s making reporters laugh. He’s practically unstop– … What’s that? He’s not in today’s lineup? Oh.
His dominance will have to wait another day.
Sam Ekstrom is a staff writer for Cold Omaha at 105 The Ticket and a play-by-play broadcaster in Burnsville, Minn. Hear him on 105 The Ticket Sunday mornings from 8-10 a.m. on “The Wake Up Call.” Follow him on Twitter @SamEkstrom for further insights.