Saro Sarkisian
GLENDALE -- Well it's that time of the year again. Time to take the
day off from work and head out to the ballpark, with a cold beer in
one hand and a hot dog in the other.
Major league baseball's opening day will take place Sunday, and for
three local players, it's their chance to leave their mark on the
American pastime.
JIM PARQUE
Former Crescenta Valley High pitcher Jim Parque begins his fourth
season with the defending American League Central Division champion
Chicago White Sox.
Parque, 25, finished with a 13-6 record and 4.28 earned run average
last season. which Both were career bests, and his win total was 12th in
the American League.
Parque, who was an All-American at UCLA in 1997, started the first
game of the 2000 American League Division Series against Seattle, where
he allowed three runs and six hits.
With the acquisition of starting all-star pitcher David Wells, Parque
could get some help in the bullpen.
GREG ZAUN
Greg Zaun, 29, of the Kansas City Royals, who graduated from St.
Francis High in 1989, comes off a career-best seven home runs, 33
runs-batted in and 64 hits last season.
Zaun, who begins his seventh season in the majors after playing for
four teams -- Baltimore, Florida, Texas, Kansas City -- hit a two-run,
game-tying pinch-hit single against Toronto in last year's season opener.
Zaun hit his first career home run against Yankees pitcher Roger
Clemens on April 14, 1996, and was a backup for Texas catcher Ivan
Rodriguez for 21 games in 1999.
The Royals, who finished in fourth place in the American League
Central Division, will open their season against the Yankees on Monday.
MARK LORETTA
Shortstop Mark Loretta, who graduated from St. Francis in 1989, batted
.281 with seven home runs and 40 runs-batted in in his seventh season
with the Milwaukee Brewers last season.
The former 1993 Northwestern University Big-10 Conference Most
Valuable Player, finished second in on-base percentage (.392) for
National League lead-off hitters, trailing only New York Mets outfielder
Rickey Henderson.
Loretta has a career .292 batting average and had a 12- and an 11-game
hitting streaks last season.
The Brewers, who finished third in the National League Central
Division, will open their season at Dodger Stadium Monday.
