Date Posted: 8/6/2007

RENO-- Times have changed and so have the meanings of many words. To be sick now is a good thing.

So it makes perfect sense that Reno Silver Sox left fielder Kane Simmons entrance music comes off a CD called "The Sickness," by hard-rock group Disturbed.

Although the name of the song the 23-year-old Simmons, of Chattanooga, Tenn., actually hears when he comes to the plate is "Voices," it somehow seems more fitting to say that the hard-hitting, free-swinging Belmont University (Nashville) product is playing pretty sick right now.

The rookie leads both the fourth-place Silver Sox and the Golden Baseball League with 13 home runs and is carrying a .339 batting average through 31 games. Simmons also has 37 runs batted in and a .719 slugging percentage since getting a phone call from Sox skipper Les Lancaster.

"He's brought some life to this team for being a rookie," Lancaster said before a Reno-Orange County game last week. "He comes in swinging. He's still learning the game - especially when he faces good pitching staffs. He's trying to make adjustments. He's got a lot of raw talent that needs to be harnessed."

BY MIKE HOUSER

Related Links:
 • Full Article at NevadaAppeal.com
 • Golden Baseball League