Spring!

"You can't wear that hat," John says.

I pull my Miracle hat off my head and look at it. "What's wrong with this hat?"

"No Miracle stuff at spring training. They want you to wear Twins Cities stuff only."

"Yeah, at least until 4:00," Chuck chimes in helpfully.

I shrug. "I'm not on the Twins payroll," I point out. "I can wear any hat I want. I can even where my Everblades hat if it pleases me.

"Where is my Mike Cudyer bat?"

"They don't make them," John says.

"Yes, they do, and Skippy was going to get me one."

"Skippy left," he says helpfully.

"I know. Probably out of fear of reprecussions for not get me a Mike Cudyer bat."

Ah...the joys of start of Spring Training. There is grass on the berm. Not all of the seats are in yet. You can jump off the patio into the trash compactor there is no fence there yet. They were bolting green padding onto the walls even as the players were taking the field.

As always, it's a bit of a three ring circus and I can't be at all the rings at the same time. This bothers me.

"I need to be cloned," I tell one of my friends.

"You need a posse," he counters as he attempts to stop his six year old from braining another kid with an aluminum bat.

Players running back and forth, especially Santana who seemed to be trying to run over as many people as possible; a long term game of "Find Frankie" which was not proving difficult, just follow the autograph seekers; kids saying "Mister, can I have an autograph," even when they don't know who the "mister" in question is.

Corey turns one kid down with a "later". He seems unhappy with that. "But I said 'sir'". Another kid is on his cell phone telling everyone back home in Minnesota that "Joe Mauer flipped me a ball!"

I find Kevin Slowey. I lose Kevin Slowey. Anna finds me.

"Where's Santana?"

"That field I think," pointing to the one behind my back as I try to find Slowey again. "Just look for the path of mown down people."

"Where's Torri Hunter?"

Dear god, I can't even find my boys and she wants me to keep track of her boys too?

"Where's you son?" I counter.

"Over there, why don't you take a picture of him?"

"I already did, he's in the second base cluster shot."

"Oh..."

I found Justin Morneau in the batting cage, first thing. This saved him from having to find me. I found Justin, my season ticket rep, in the gift shop. I told him where I wanted to sit, he told me he'd see what's available and get back with me. I had to rearrange my initial idea because they've moved the netting.

I find Slowey again the bullpen.

"Kevin, I need an autograph."

"Yeah, okay, after we're done." Except he snuck out through the dugout while I was trying to change film. I really need to get a digital.

I think the autograph seekers who are taking whoever they ran into instead of trying to get the guys they wanted were having better luck. I mean given that the same four guys were chasing Frankie around the whole time...

The weather was a nice sunny 82 degrees, if was amusing talking to everyone again, and I guess I did rather enjoy tailing Slowey all over the park.

Ah well...

In any case...Pictures, pictures, pictures:

American League MVP

How many second basemen do we need on this team?

Carlos Silva

Catching prospect Jose Morales

The Real Deal, whose new spring training job appears to be driving Francisco Liriano around in the golf cart.

Batting practice with Joe Mauer

Found! Kevin Slowey

You left me home alone to go to spring training?

Duh!

Sara-Sox

(I had promised some baseball/autograph stories, so here we go...)

One of the problems inherent in following the Gulf Coast League as much as I have the last two years is that it cuts down on my travel in following the Fort Myers Miracle. I do need to try to work more FSL road trips in, it's not like the stadiums are all that far away.

I see a lot of Ed Smith Stadium with the GCL boys, but it's not quite the same as seeing it during a FSL game. Attendance at both is questionable, but the people watching the GCL games are usually hiding up in the rafters, while the people for the FSL games are more or less down in the stands.

Ed Smith was built in 1989, and frankly, is not quite in keeping with the types of facilities built during that time. Originally the Chicago White Sox were using it for spring training, the Cincinnati Reds took it over in 1998, moving from Plant City. During the interum, the Boston Red Sox, who relocated to Fort Myers in 1993, took over the stadium for their High A Affiliate, apply named the Sarasota Red Sox, which operated for 11 years in the facility, with 2004 being their last year in the league.

The last two seasons, Ed Smith has hosted the FSL's Sarasota Reds, probably more in keeping with the number of spring training facilities in the state that also house the teams rookie league and High A league affiliates.

(It should be noted that the Red Sox would LOVE To move their High A affiliate into Fort Myers, but the Fort Myers Miracle affiliated with the Minnasota Twins, who beat the Red Sox into town by a year, and hold the territorial rights to the area. So the Red Sox have little recourse.)

My last FSL trip to Ed Smith was in 2004. At the time, their parking fees ($1.00) and admission prices ($5.00) were lower than the cost of a Fort Myers Miracle game, but their concessions prices more than made up for the difference. The stadium was "okay"...not really anything to write home about. City of Palms park is laid out along the same site lines, but the ammenities as CoP are better.

In any case, I'd gone over for a two game stint, April 30th and May 1st, with Francisco Liriano and Scott Baker being the starters respectively. (May 1st was the game I finally fell in love with Baker, as he pitched an absolute clinic out there.)

I'd gotten there early...with out of town games I always leave some leeway time for things like traffic and getting lost, and was able to more or less pick my own seat (not that I'd noticed it ever being a problem in that stadium) and watch the Miracle take some warm up practice. I sat next to the visitor's dugout - naturally.

A group of Cub Scouts moved into the section with me, and as they were coming in the they were all talking "We're going to cheer for the Red Sox!"

Anyway, I had a question so I got then Miracle coach Jose Marzan to come over and he stayed to sign some autographs for the kids. I'd also brought a bunch of Miracle pocket schedules which I handed out to the kids that had nothing to get signed. Sortly there after, Travis Bowyer, Brent Tamburrino, Jesus Marchan and quite a few of the other guys came over and was signing too.

Travis, of course, had to be Travis and gave me a hug when he came over, which set the kids off with "Is that your mom?" "Oh no!" Travis says "She's my girlfriend," and of course had to do the whole girlfriend skit for the delight of the stadium. I'm mentioning this because I believe it played a part in what transpired later. But that was just Travis, you know, playing the way he does.

But the kids had a great time and got just about everything they could think of to get signed, signed, no matter how inappropriate it was. We even talked one of the adults into getting his University of Miami hat signed by Hurricanes alumni Danny Matienzo.

The end result being that by the time the game started, they kids had totally forgotten about the Red Sox and were chanting "Let's go Miracle!" or at least "Let's go Miracles!" as the kids were want to do, not realizing that it's Miracle, singular, not plural.

Liriano pitched 4.2 innings, giving up three runs on nine hits, all earned and striking out six. Not quite the stellar numbers he put up for the Twins this last season, but...he was just learning.

Frankie was relieved by Travis Bowyer, who came bounding out of the bull pen and up onto the mound with much enthusiasm. He finished off the fifth inning, walking the first guy (why must he always do that?), before ending it on damage control.

It was in the next inning that "the problem" occured. This guy comes down from over the dugout and says "That guy promised my daughter a baseball and she doesn't have one yet and she's up there crying."

I said "That GUY just got onto the mound and couldn't have promised your daughter anything." Knowing Travis, it wouldn't have surprised me if he'd promised a kid a baseball, but then, he'd usually give them one right away, not wait until later. I honestly don't think anyone "promised" him anything.

Besides this guy was cheering for the Red Sox. Why couldn't he go over and ask THEM for a baseball?

"Well then, maybe it was the guy that was up before him."

"Frankie speaks no english, so unless your daughter speaks spanish, I don't think he promised her anything."

"Well, she was promised a ball and she's up there crying."

"Sorry. I don't have any balls and I can't help you." I don't care if I was there supporting the team, I certainly don't have control of the team's balls.

And if you want your kid to have a baseball so bad, try spending $5 and buy her one.

Yeah, I know. What can I expect from Red Sox fans? I guess the whole Blow-Sox blow up over Dougie Mientkiewicz and his baseball didn't surprise me. Friggin' Bostonians, always gotta have a ball.

So the guy starts hanging over the railing, trying to get the attention of someone in the dugout to give him a baseball. I mean, bad enough when kids stand at the rail and beg, but this was a grown adult!

Finally an usher comes and makes him move.

Man...how rude is that? If you're such a big Sox fan, why would you want your kid to have a scuzzy baseball from the Miracle anyway?

It would have been nice if they Miracle had wooped up on the Sox for that game, but that would have to wait until the following night, as the Miracle blew a ninth inning lead with Justin Olson on the mound, to lose 6-4.

The next night, I had gotten my ticket and was waiting for the gates to open when the guy at the box office called me over again and gave me a baseball.

"What's that for?" I asked him.

"Well, you were here early last night, and you're here early tonight and you came all the way from Fort Myers to support your team. I wish some of our fans were that loyal."

I did NOT give that baseball to a kid.

Under Construction

The baseball use of the dutch word "berm", that is, a grassy hill on from which you can watch a baseball game, isn't found in wikipedia or other online resources.



Considering the one at William H. Hammond stadium doesn't look very grassy, perhaps it's a good thing. However, my cat would think that's one HECK of a sandbox they're building there.



The back of the berm, which still has a ways to go. There also will be new deck seats behind the berm. No work, that I could see, on the relocation of the visitors bullpen.



The new first two rows will hold the dug out seating, which isn't in place yet. The dugout box seats will be available to season-ticket holders with priority given to fans who have owned season tickets the longest.



There will be a new net, which includes a tighter weave, making it easier to see through. However, the new net will not have a backdrop, so sitting behing the netting will not protect you from foul balls that might get up over the netting.

Some discussion with the Miracle staff that the old timers are going to like that. They sit behind, or under, the netting to be protected because they're not fast enough to get out of the way of balls that might be coming towards them.



You can see where this extends "the pit" seating out a bit. The county is spending just less than $2.1 million for the new seating and other ballpark improvements. There will be around 400 new seats at Hammond Stadium.



The roof is off the stadium and in the parking lot.



Evidently, there was a small accident in which a portion of the roof fell on the dugout of the adjacent practice field and also caused damage to the bleachers. More things to fix before spring training opens.



A long line for single game tickets.



Dick Mingo teaches pitching at the Twins youth clinic. Mingo coached high school baseball for 33 years following his professional career.



Twins 1st rounder and pitching prospect Kyle Walrop (left) was one of the minor league players helping out at the clinic.



T.C. Bear was also helping out - to the delight of the youngsters.

Twins prospects receive season ending honors

Several of the Twins prospects were named to the Minor League season end All-star teams as reported by Baseball America.

Danny Hernandez, who spent the season with the Appalachian League Elizabethton Twins was named to the Rookie team.

1st baseman Eric Lis and pitcher Yohan Pino were both named to the Low A team, Kevin Slowey was named to the High A team and Pat Neshak made the AAA All-star team.

Slowey was also named to the Overall Second All-Star team, while pitcher Matt Garza was named to the Overall First All-star team.

Hernandez was 1-1 with 18 saves, with a 3.81 ERA and issued only 9 walks in 28 innings pitched. There is no doubt that Hernandez has earned a promotion to Beloit, and if he keeps up the sterling work, he could well make it to High A ball by mid-season of 2007.

Pino has gone 6-0 with a 1.67 ERA in 21 games of relief in Venezuelan Winter Ball this year. He struck out 23 batters, and allowed just 16 hits in 27 innings of work. While with the Snappers in 2006, Pino had a 14-2 record with a 1.91 ERA. In 121 combined innings between the Midwest League and the Venezuelan Winter League he has a 1.86 ERA with 122 strikeouts and has a 20-2 record.

With Barry Zito's signing by the Giants being cited as the sort of money two time Cy Young winner Johan Santana can expect to earn once he makes it to free agency in 2008, many prospect watchers are considering Pino to take over his place on the Twins roster. Pino will start the 2007 season with High A Fort Myers, but expect him to get on the fast track through the minors.

Lis hit .326 with the Snappers in 2006, including 16 home runs will bringing in 70 runs. He scored 69 runs during the year for Beloit, with 4 stolen bases. Lis looked impressive in Fall Instructional as well, and is well suited to take over for Brock Peterson as a Miracle corner man.

There's little I can say about Slowey that I haven't already said. He spent the first half of the year with the Miracle, record a 4-2 record with a 1.01 ERA and issued only 9 walks in 89 innings pitched. He struggled a bit originally in AA, and ended up with a 4-3 record, a 3.19 ERA and 13 walks in 59.1 innings pitched. He struck out 151 batters between Fort Myers and New Britain, 3 less than Garza's total, and about 6th overall in minor league baseball. Slowey is expected to start the season in AAA Rochester, but might well find a way onto the Twins pitching staff before the season is over.

Neshak made the Twins roster by the end of the season. He posted a 6-2 record with 14 saves in Rochester, a 1.95 era and allowed 14 walks over 60 innings. There's no doubt that he'll become a staple in the Twins bullpen for the coming year.

Garza sped through the minor league system, posting a combined 14-4 record with a 1.99 ERA between Fort Myers, New Britain and Rochester. Following a shakey first outing with the Twins near the end of the season, Garza seems to have solidified. He'll be looked at for a place in the Twins rotation for 2007, a rotation that will need some solid arms following Francisco Liriano's Tommy John surgery and the Brad Radke's retirement.

Not picked for an All-star team was pitcher Oswaldo Sosa, but much like Pino, he's been having an outstanding winter season over in Venezuela. Sosa is 5-0 with a 2.30 ERA in the Winter League. He went 9-7 for the Snappers with a 2.75 ERA. Sosa struck out 95 batters in 117.2 innings for Beloit. He earned a promotion to the Ft. Myers Miracle last season where he went 4-1 with a 2.08 ERA. Sosa, who pitched 34.2 innings for the Miracle in 2006, may start the season in Double A. Certainly, he'll be given a look with consideration for moving him that pitching staff.

Although major league pitchers and catchers don't report for spring training for another 41 days, one notable catcher, Joe Mauer, is in Fort Myers, going through Winter workouts. Mauer is a resident of Fort Myers, were he is less known than he is in the Twin Cities and does not attract a crowd when he goes out. Twins short stop Jason Bartlett is also among the players, getting into early work outs down at the Lee County Sportsplex.

"There’s something driving these players, the fact that they’ve been to the playoffs and they haven’t been to the big game," former Miracle coach and current director of Latin American development Jose Marzan said of the players that are in town early during a recent article in the Fort Myers News Press. "The guys are here early because they want to get ready for the season. It’s not only for individual accomplishments but it’s also because they want to take it to the next level.”

But no worries Twins fans, both Mauer and Bartlett will in the Twins Cities for the opening of Twins Fest on January 26th. Slowey, Garza, and Neshak are also schedule to appear. More information on Twinsfest can be found here.

In other news, the Twins inked pitchers Sidney Ponson and Brad Voyles to minor league deals with invitations to major league camp. Both pitchers will be given a shot at making the major league pitching staff. Ponson's acquisition has drawn some concern from the fans, as his recent numbers have not been strong.

"This is an opportunity for him to compete for one of our rotation spots with a host of others, and he is still just 30 years old," Twins general manager Terry Ryan said in an article on Twinsbaseball.com. "It wasn't too long ago that he threw well over 200 innings. We feel like we are a good fit for him and I thought it certainly was worth taking a shot at bringing in a guy that has the Major League experience that he has."

While it should be noted that many of players brought in to try out for spots in spring training don't make the team or even stay with the organization, the Twins have have had some success bringing in pitchers in the past. Most recently, Dennys Reyes emerged as one of the best left-handed relievers in the league for the club after struggling to find a fit with other teams.

Minor League pitchers and catchers are still nearly two months away, and winter league baseball has ended.

Fort Myers locals are reminded that the Twins will be holding 11 baseball clinics for the area youth, with the first two being held this Saturday at the Lee County Sports Complex.

The two-hour clinics require no registration and are open to boys and girls ages 5 to 16. Twins instructors will teach hitting, fielding, and throwing at each clinic. Parents are encouraged to participate with their sons or daughters in the sessions.

The first clinic starts at 10 a.m and runs until noon, the second clinic starts at 1 pm and runs until 3 pm. More information on the youth clinics can be found at Twinsbaseball.com.

Caravaning in the sub-tropics

The Minnesota Twins have announced what, in effect, amounts to the Twins Caravan efforts in South West Florida, the annual free youth clinics. 11 clinics are scheduled for each Saturday starting on January 13 and continuing one through February 10th.

While the coaching staff for the clinics was not formally announced, look for some of the local Twins coaches such as Milt Cuyler, Rick Knapp and Eric Rasmussen to be in attendance as well as the cast of local players (::cough::cough:: Tommy Watkins) who always seem to show up to help out at these functions.

There is no pre-registration, the Clinics are free and open to boys and girls between the ages of 5 and 16, irregardless of skill level. Hitting, fielding, and throwing will be taught at each clinic, and parents are encouraged to join their children on the field.

There are two clinics on January 13, 2006, the first from 10 a.m. until Noon, the second from 1 until 3 PM. Both those clinics along with the Challenger (children with handicaps) Clinic on February 10, will be held at William Hammond Stadium at the Lee County Sportsplex on Six Mile Cypress.

The remaining 8 clinics are as follows:

Jan. 20  10 a.m. to 12 p.m.  Cape Coral (TBA)
         1 p.m. to  3 p.m.  Fort Myers Little League, Deleon
Jan. 27  10 a.m. to 12 p.m.  Buckingham Little League
        1 p.m. to  3 p.m.  Lehigh Little League
       Noon to 2 p.m.      Centennial Park, Fort Myers
Feb. 3   10 a.m. to 12 p.m.  Desoto County Little League
        1 p.m. to  3 p.m.  Charlotte County Little League
Feb. 10  10 a.m. to 12 p.m.  San Carlos Little League

Locations addresses and contact numbers are as follows:

Jan. 13 & February 10 (Challenger)
Minnesota Twins/Lee County Sports Complex
14100 Six Mile Cypress Parkway
Fort Myers, FL 33912

Jan. 20
Jason Verdow Memorial Park
801 Se 27th Street Cape Coral, FL 33990
Art Avellino - 239-772-4232

Fort Myers Little League
Sam Fleishman/Deleon Community Park
1750 Matthew Drive Fort Myers, FL 33907
Don Overhouser - 239-872-7787

Jan. 27
Buckingham Little League
9800 Buckingham Road
Fort Myers, FL 33905
Pat Shannahan - 239-33-8355

Lehigh Little League
1400 West 5th Street 33936
Darrel Willis - 239-823-6126

Feb. 3
DeSoto Little League
Speer Recreation Center
185 West Winifred Street
Arcadia, FL 34266
Tara & Matt Anderson - 863-990-0529

Charlotte County Little League
Harold Ave Recreation Center
Port Charlotte, FL 23400
Lou Agusto - 941-629-6552 or 941-629-0114

Feb. 10
San Carlos Little League
18215 Three Oaks Parkway
Three Oaks Park Fort Myers, FL 33912
Todd Backster - 239-989-5868

It should be noted that Jeff Smith will NOT be at the clinic scheduled for January 13th, as he will be holding his annual baseball camp at the Community School of Naples. Visit GCL Twins or phone 239-659-6543 or 239-269-8742 for additional information on the Jeff Smith Professional Baseball Camp.

The clinics will take us pretty much up until the start of Spring Training in February. Major League pitchers and catchers will arrive on Sunday February 18th, with the first workouts scheduled for Monday, February 19th. Position players report on February 23, with the first full-squad work out taking place on Saturday, February 24.

The twins have invited minor league catchers Korey Feiner, Jose Leger and Jose Morales to Major League spring training. Free agent infielder signee Ken Harvey has been invited to camp as has Gil Velazquez and Tommy Watkins (New Britain/Rochester) and Glenn Williams (Rochester).

Outfielder Josh Rabe, who appeared in 24 games for the Major League Twins last season was also invitied. Rabe was removed from the 40-man roster earlier this year and outrighted to Rochester, where he spent most of last season.

Pitchers invited to camp include free agent signees Carmen Cali, Mike Venafro, and Jeremy Cummings, as well as Jason Miller and Australian Tristan Crawford, who have both been playing in the Twins minor league system. Also on the list of invitees, is the Twins second round pick in 2005, Kevin Slowey.

Aside from the major league coaching staff, the following coaches will also be at major league spring training: Tom Kelly, Tony Oliva, Phil Roof and Terry Steinbach, as well as National Baseball Hall of Famers Rod Carew, Harmon Killebrew and Paul Molitor.

The Twins have signed short stop Nicholas Papasan, who was their 24th round (726th overall) pick in the 2006 June Draft. He's been scouted as having an excellent bat with surprising power for his size (5'9", 175 lbs). He'll be joining the GCL Squad this season, where he may end up being switched to second base.

Josh Taylor mentioned on his blog Taylor's Twins Talk the signing of Jesus Carnevales from Puerto Rico and Jae-Hyung Jang from South Korea. Both are expected to join the GCL Twins for extended spring training. There is little information forthcoming, I guess I'll just wait for the media guide.

Speaking of the GCL, for a league that was close to being disbanded at the end of the 2005 season, it sure has become lively. Both the Baltimore Orioles and the St.Louis Cardinals have opted to field GCL teams this season, bringing the number of teams in the league to 15. The Toronto Blue Jays were considering joining the League as well. The addition of the Orioles means that I'll get to see a few more games this year, as the league will be play every other Sunday now as well.

Unfortunately, it means the boys will not get as much time off as they had last year.

Meanwhile the Appalachian League will operate with only 9 teams this season, as Pulaski was unable to drum up any interest once the Blue Jays pulled out.

I have been in an organizational mood of late - very strange since anyone who knows me will tell you I've never been organized a day in my life. In any case, I've gotten all of the 2006 photos for the Twins and the Miracle into albums and tagged. There is something in the range of 1,500 of them (not counting spring training pictures). I've now started working on 2005. What this means is that if I have your address (like Vicki Harrington) I've finally dug out and sent the photos that I was supposed to send back in oh August...September...

If I don't have your snail mail address (Leavitt, Buenrostro, Parmelee) and you'd like to e-mail it to me, I'll be happy to drop said photos in the mail to you. Otherwise, you'll have to look me up at spring training.

No, sorry Eli. No photos for you until I get an autograph.

The baseball portion of this blog is now being duplicated on Blog Spot: Rookie Whites. If you'd like to exchange links, please let me know, links will appear on the Blog Spot location not on Xanga or Myspace.

I've also been doing some hockey blogging through the offseason at Live Journal for the entertainment challenged.

Finally, there was article in the Naples Daily News which related to lefty shooters on the ECHL Florida Everblades and the ratio of lefties to righties in hockey in general. What I found interesting about it was the a number of Canadians in the Twins organization - Justin Morneau, Rene Tosoni and Jon Waltenbury -- all bat lefty even though they they seem to be otherwise right handed.

Everblades president Craig Brush advanced the following theory in the article: "Your top hand on a hockey stick is your strong hand, so if you start playing hockey when you're a little boy, if you're right-handed you're going to shoot left-handed and if you're left-handed you're going to shoot right-handed. All three of my kids are right-handed, Matt played baseball first, he shoots right-handed, the other two shoot left-handed. If you played baseball first, like a lot of American kids do, and you learned how to hit right-handed then you'll shoot right-handed, whereas if you surveyed Canadians, there would be more lefties."

Could all the lefty batting in the Canadian contingent stem from playing hockey first? It's an interesting thought. Perhaps I need to have a chat with our neighbors from up north during spring training this year.