Mike Cameron of the Padres probably needs to be checked by an optometrist. Cameron has misjudged at least four balls in the twilight this season. He’s also not making as many of the spectacular plays that have made him a three-time Gold Glove award winner.
Obviously, he is not tracking the ball as well as he used to.
Manager Bud Black excuses Cameron’s misplays by saying that Darin Erstad normally missed one ball per homestand because of the twilight when he played for the Anaheim Angels. That was Erstad. He’s the same guy who misjudged a fly ball in the twilight this year in Anaheim during his first game back with the Chicago White Sox.
Cameron was not losing balls in the twilight last season. He also seemed to be getting better jumps on the ball in 2006.
Let’s just hope this is an early-season bump in the road; not a developing pattern.
In the meantime, the Padres should have Cameron’s eyes checked out; just to be sure there is no lingering impact from the brutal collision he had in the Petco Park outfield with then New York Mets’ teammate Carlos Beltran in August 2005.
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