Let’s talk about Dan Uggla’s arms.
At least they seem to be arms. They come out of his shoulders, bend at the elbows and extend to his hands, but these don’t look normal. They’re thick, the size of some people’s thighs.
People always talk about Popeye when they’re describing somebody with huge forearms, but there’s not enough spinach in the world to make Popeye’s arms this big. That anchor tattoo would look like a freckle on Uggla.
Paul Bunyan wishes he had Uggla’s arms.
Even compared to NFL players, weightlifters and ’roided up wrestlers, Uggla’s arms are massive, built to swing bats and launch balls into the far reaches of stadiums.
He went deep 36 times last season, but it was an effort that came with much inconsistency and consternation as Uggla struggled in his first season with the Atlanta Braves.
He finished as the team leader in home runs and RBI (82) — the former was a career high, the former a career low — but it took an unbelievable and magical July, which included a team-record 33-game hitting streak, to raise his average from the .173 he was hitting on July 4.
The next day he had two hits and a home run.
That was followed by two hits and another home run on July 6.
His arms continued swinging, and either hits continued falling or home runs continued soaring. It was an unexplainable feat for someone who didn’t have answers for his first-half failure.
The streak finally came to an end on Aug. 14, but in that 33-game span, Uggla captivated a city.
His numbers on July 4: 12 home runs, 29 RBI, 55 hits, .173 average.
His numbers on Aug. 14: 27 home runs, 61 RBI, 104 hits, .232 average.
Uggla’s production leveled off and his average never rose above .237, but he finished with more than 30 home runs for the fifth straight season. He provided the right-handed power the Braves desperately needed, but his numbers weren’t what he or the club expected.
Nearly a year later, Uggla is still trying to figure out what happened last season.
Maybe it was playing with a different team. For the first time since he broke into the majors in 2006, he was in a different uniform than the one he wore with the Marlins.
Maybe the pressure of signing a five-year, $62 million contract extension after he was traded to the Braves affected him — his swing, his game.
Maybe it was changing his uniform number from the No. 6 he wore in Florida to No. 26 with the Braves. (No. 6 is retired in Atlanta; Bobby Cox wore it.)
“What I went through last year, it’s hard to put a finger on it,” Uggla told The Associated Press last week. “I guess somebody wanted me to struggle for three months. Maybe they were testing my character. Who knows? That’s just the way it went down. Who’s to say why or how or what happened.”
Whatever it was, Uggla is determined not to let it affect him again.
He worked out harder in the offseason and somehow packed on even more muscle on his thick — and not overly tall (5-foot-11) — frame. It’s been reported that he came to camp about 20 pounds heavier this spring, although he’ll likely lose about 10 before the regular season.
Uggla is too good to let what happened last season affect him in the future. He’ll be 32 on March 11, and he’s only seven years into a major league career he didn't embark on until until after college and four years in the minors.
He has more power than any other big-league second baseman, one who has averaged nearly 32 home runs and 92 RBI in in his five seasons with the Marlins and one with the Braves.
You want another stat? He’s the only second baseman in MLB history to hit at least 30 home runs in three consecutive seasons, and he’ll be trying to make it six straight this year.
With his determination and those arms, there’s little doubt he’ll get there.
