Rockets star takes batting practice with Double-A Mississippi http://www.myplainview.com/APTexas/parsed/stories/D8C19AG00.shtml By JOEDY McCREARY AP Sports Writer The Associated Press Tracy McGrady could've been a slugger. Or so he insists. The Houston Rockets' All-Star forward is notorious for bragging about his baseball skills, and he backed up the talk Tuesday night by warming up with the Double-A Mississippi Braves. McGrady homered twice during batting practice before he worked on his curveball on a bullpen mound. "Just because I'm a basketball player, people don't think I can play baseball," McGrady said. "That's all it is, letting people know I've got skills, and I'm not just a basketball player. I?ve got other talents." McGrady, who is 6-foot-8, at first appeared out of place in the batter's box, but seemed to grow more comfortable after making solid contact on his first few swings and flashing occasional power to the gap in left center field. After he connected for a 390-foot homer to left center, some of the Mississippi Braves jokingly accused him of corking his bat. Later, he lined his second homer into the left field bullpen. "They were telling me I couldn't hit it out," McGrady said. "I wasn't saying anything, because I know I can. It's all confidence, man. I know what I can do when I get out there, and I don't think I ever lose it." McGrady said he played high school baseball but gave up the sport to focus on basketball after he developed arm trouble, He said he's "always in the batting cage." He worked on his fastball and his curveball with pitching coach Kent Willis in a 20-minute bullpen session. "You could tell he's been around the game," said Willis, who also served up both of McGrady's homers. "This guy showed a little pop." McGrady was a guest of Tim Bennett, a local businessman whose sports management company helped lure the Braves affiliate from Greenville, S.C., to this suburb of Jackson. Team officials said Bennett and McGrady grew up together about an hour southwest of Orlando, Fla. "Right now, it's just a dream, and I'm trying to live a dream by coming out and interacting with these guys," McGrady said. 图片︰ http://i.a.cnn.net/si/2005/basketball/nba/08/16/mcgrady.bp.ap/p1.mcgrady.jpg --

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