DENVER — It was about a month ago. Dan Uggla and Braves hitting coach Larry Parrish were discussing Uggla’s epic slump. Uggla had heard hitting tips from countless well-meaning fans, broadcasters, players and others for weeks on end and perhaps listened too intently to a lot of it.
“He was just trying to do too much, be too much, be what he wasn’t,” Parrish said. “Trying to be perfect and hit the ball all around the field. And one day we just talked about, ‘Just be Dan Uggla. You’ve got your part of the plate that you command, so when they come in there, take advantage. And go back to being you, instead of trying to be something you’re not.’”
Whether that conversation triggered a change in his approach or merely coincided with an eventual resurgence by the Braves second baseman, Uggla, Parrish and the rest of the Braves are just thankful.
Uggla is back to being Uggla.
He hit two home runs Tuesday night off Ubaldo Jimenez in a 12-3 loss to the Colorado Rockies. There wasn’t much else to recommend about the Braves’ performance, but Uggla extended his hitting streak to 11 games and moved into the team lead with 17 home runs.
He became the first player to hit two homers off Jimenez in a major league game.
After batting .173 with 12 homers, 29 RBIs and a .241 on-base percentage in 86 games through July 4, Uggla was 14-for-41 (.341) with five homers, eight RBIs and a .438 OBP in the next 11 games, through Tuesday.
After slugging .327 in his first 86 games, he was slugging .805 during the hitting streak.
During what was far and away the worst slump of his career, Uggla said he never stopped believing he would snap out of it. He never hid from reporters after a particularly bad game and never said anything about the boos he got at Turner Field, other than to say he’d have booed, too, if he were a fan.
“If you stay humble, keep working hard, stay positive and just do everything you can for your team, go out there and play the game the way it’s supposed to be played, as long as they keep throwing you out there, I believe that it can turn around,” Uggla said after Tuesday’s game.
“Obviously my numbers probably won’t be what they have been in the past, but I’m still in position to hit 30 [home runs]. The RBIs and runs scored will probably be down, the average and slugging and all that other [stuff].
“But I’m not in it to try and pad my stats for the back of my baseball card. I’m here to try to win a World Series with these guys, and I feel like we’ve got the team to do it.”
