Nick Adenhart and a Tee Ball Game in Tennessee.
So its Opening Day for the minors, but like every other baseball fan, my mind is on Nick Adenhart. I won’t rehash the events, they are familar to everyone by now. But I want people to know that there were some Angels that did play tonight, and it was a good thing for me that they did. My four year old’s tee-ball team this year is the Angels, and I get the privilege of being an assistant coach. So I slipped on my Angels jersey and my son got into his matching one, #21, and I helped him pull his socks up high. “Just like Varitek, right daddy?”
I watched 9 little boys and 2 little girls all about four years old, run out into the dirt, jump around in the dugout, and have a blast just being there before the game even began. I watched Little Angels and Little Dodgers ( we do interleague early in tee ball), hit and run, most of the time in the right direction. I watched alll the infielders dive for the same ground ball all at once, joined seconds latter by the hustling outfield, all disolving into a cloud of dust and laughter. The sun was out, the grass was green, and all was right with the world.
And I imagined Nick Adenhart, maybe six or so, playing in his backyard, at the park, dreaming of being in the Majors. I imagined his backyard dissolving, houses and trees replaced by screaming fans. Patches of dirt and bumpy ground replaced by well manicured grass and warm California air. And I pictured a six year old winding up to throw, only to watch a grown man deliver a perfect strike over the plate. I’m sure to Nick’s parents it must feel like only yesterday he was just a kid in the backyard.
Most of us have imagined ourselves in his position, so few of us ever think of the amount of hard work and dedication it took to get there. But he did get there, for too brief a time, but Nick Adenhart made it. From a group of giggling kids all the way to Anaheim. Way to go Nick, we’ll save a seat in the dugout for you.
Road To the Show
I still think Opening Day should be a national holiday. No mail, no school, and free tickets for everyone! But thats just me. The minors kick off soon as well, I won’t be able to attend the home opener for the AA Tennessee Smokies, but I’m planning on attending at least one game opening weekend against the Birmingham Barons. One of the things I have loved about watching minor league ball, is seeing players in the Show a couple of years down the road. Even if its just a cup of coffee, even if they’re not superstars, they were there. One of my biggest baseball thrills was pulling a Greg Briely card from a baseball card pack in 1989. Who’s Greg Briley? He was a Chattanooga Lookout I loved watching at Engel Stadium, and he had a baseball card, that’s all that mattered to me.
There’s plenty of prospects coming in the Southern League this year, hopefully I’ll get a look at some SALY and Carolina Leaguers, but some of the Southern Leaguers I’m looking forward to seeing:
Yonder Alonso/Carolina: I believe he’s starting in the Flordia League, but he’ll be AA bound before long.
Gordan Beckham/Birm.: Highly touted SS looked good in Arizona
Clay Zavada/Mobile: Relef pitcher had a 0.51 ERA last season
Jeremy Papelbon/TN: His brother plays ball somewhere……………
Matt Camp/TN: I loved watching Camp last season, a good, hard nosed guy who where’s his socks up high.
Who knows, I may never see these guys in the Show, but maybe I’ll get the excitment of busting open a pack of cards with my son and seeing one of them show up. Just over the past few seasons, here’s a sampling of players that were exciting to watch, just at Smokies park:
Dan Uggla: UGGGGGGGGGGGGGG! Was always a fan favorite here.
Miguel Montero: D-Backs, great catcher, should be starting.
Russell Martin: Dodgers, saw him a few times when Jacksonville visited.
Yunel Escobar: Braves, slick fielding and fast, he wasn’t hard to remember.
Cameron Maybin: Marlins, whne Carolina visited, Maybin made everyone else on the field look like they were in slow motion.
Who knows who I’ll see this year?
Minor League Promo of The Year #1
The minors have the majors beat by a mile when it comes to promo nights. Well most of them anyway, The hometown Smokies seem to just Xerox last seasons promo schedule every year. The Quad Cities River Bandits on the other hand, have this creative promo thing down. Each home game a local radio station, WXLP 97x, will choose eight fans to watch the game from the berm area, nestled next to the Mississippi River, in a van they bought on Craigslist for $500.00. The radio station is going to clean up the van, give it a paint job, and make it fit for human occupation.
I think they should refuse to clean the interior of the van for the duration of the season. Let the cups and hot dog wrappers pile up. Let the nancho cheese get dug into the carpet real good. Then on the last “Fireworks Friday” of the year, blow it to kingdom come. The River Bandits can feel free to add that last bit to their promo schedule, they just have to promise to send me tickets.
Ah, ballpark food…………….
I am a big fan of ballpark food. I’m a big believer that the right hot dog, some peanuts ,and nachos with atomic orange cheese can make any game better. There are some great specialty offerings among the minors. Greenville’s got deep fried cheesecake, Charleston’s got the “Elvis.” A tasty hot dog bun that holds a bannana, peanut butter and honey. But that guy in the pic above? That man had better have his affairs in order, because if he eats any amount of that burger, he will not make out of the park alive.
The Tigers affiliate in Michigan, the Whitecaps, is offering up the 4 pound $20.00 “treat” this year. This well planned out gourmet offering is made up of:
– 5 beef patties
- 5 slices of cheese
- A cup of chili
– Plenty of salsa and corn chips, all on an 8 inch bun.
Oh, and its 4,800 calories. And if you eat it in one sitting you get a free t-shirt, hopefully available in xxl in order to accomadate your now bloated belly. Again, I don’t think I’ve ever attended a baseball game that I didn’t consume at least one hot dog, and I’ve taken at least 2-3 years off of my lifespan because of dollar hot dog nights. But I hope the Whitecaps have extra trashcans around or at least have an “air sickness bag” night.
What’s a “Razor Shines”?
Why Razor Shines? Beacuse that card, a 1986 Topps pulled from a $9.99 Wal-Mart variety pack , may very well be the greatest baseball card I have ever owned. Razor only played four seasons with the Expos, and spent the better part of sixteen seasons in the Minors. In fact, “The Razor” has over 500 wins as a minor league manager. He is now a third base coach for the NY Mets. It’ll have to be through the mail, as I live a long way from New York, but I will get that card autographed before the season is over. Razor Shines in that card makes an Expos uni look intmidating, something I never thought possible.
Last season at smallball.mlblogs.com, I spent the year writing about the Red Sox mainly, with some road trips and assorted baseball oddities here and there. Living in east Tennessee and not caring about college football or women’s basketball pretty much puts me in the middle of nowhere major league wise. Three hours to Cincy or Atlanta sure, but the AA Smokies are only about 40 minutes away and there are plenty of low A to AAA clubs within easy driving range. I grew up watching AA ball in Chattanooga at Historic Engel Stadium. I love the Bigs, but my best baseball experiences have been in $5.00 seats eating $1.00 hot dogs and watching guys who might not ever see the ”Show”. I plan on concentraing on the minors this season, hopefully getting in some visits to parks I’ve never been too to see the heart and soul of the game I love. The minors is the best of what baseball has to offer day in and day out, just like someone like Razor Shines.
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