TEMPE, ARIZ. — There were no nightmares, no endless replays in his head of the Manny Delcarmen fastball that missed his bat on that fateful suicide-squeeze attempt in Fenway Park last October.
Angels shortstop Erick Aybar reported to camp Friday with a clear conscience, determined not to let his ninth-inning miscue in Game 4 of the American League division series against the Boston Red Sox mar his second full season in the big leagues.
"It took some time to get over it -- that always happens when you're trying to do your job and you don't accomplish it," Aybar said through an interpreter. "It does stay with you for a bit. But I also understand that it was just one at-bat, it's in the past, and the only thing I can do now is keep working hard to get the job done. It's a new year. I'm concentrating on the right things."
The Angels and Red Sox were tied, 2-2, when Aybar came to the plate with Reggie Willits on third and one out.
With a 2-and-0 count and the Angels perhaps on the verge of a win that would send the series back to Anaheim for a decisive Game 5, Manager Mike Scioscia called for a squeeze play.
Aybar, whose 12th-inning, run-scoring single the night before had given the Angels a 5-4 Game 3 win that staved off elimination, whiffed on a nasty, high-and-tight fastball, and Willits was tagged out in a rundown.
The Angels lost the game -- and series -- in the bottom of the ninth.
"Things happen in a player's career that are not always positive, and the only way to achieve in this game is to handle the downsides," Scioscia said. "You're going to make more outs than you will get hits. Some plays aren't going to get made. You have to handle that, and he's got a good makeup. Erick will be fine."
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Busy winter
Aybar, a slick-fielding shortstop, played 66 winter-league games in his native Dominican Republic, batting .343 with 45 runs batted in and 48 runs.
Hits were not his only goal, though. After drawing 14 walks in 346 at-bats in 2008, Aybar, who usually bats ninth, tried to become more selective and focus on his short game in winter ball.
"I worked hard on taking my walks, bunting in different situations, a little bit of everything," Aybar said. "I think I accomplished what I needed to accomplish."
Aybar, 25, hit .277 with three homers, 18 doubles, 39 RBIs and 53 runs in 98 games last season. Scioscia said he should be judged on his entire body of work, not his last at-bat.
