Your 2003 HD Mavs, Latest: Departing Quotes

[MassBrew]

Daily Press on Jeremy Frost's Arrival:

 

www.vvdailypress.com/cgi-...541,24047,

[MassBrew]

From the High Desert Site:

 

As of Saturday night (6/28), the news was officially announced that Pitching Coach Bill Champion will resign from his position on Tuesday, July 1st. Champion will tend to family business after the recent passing of his mother and will not return to the Brewers' organization in 2003. He will be replaced by John Curtis, who has spent the last two evenings with the team in Lake Elsinore. The High Desert Mavericks wish Champ and his family the best.

 

This is an undated John Curtis update:

Mavs have lost both their hitting and pitching coaches to family issues this month; The Daily Press in Adelanto is sure to have more on Curtis later this week...

 

www.baseballsavvy.com/arc...urtis.html

[MassBrew]

Once again from the Mike Rothstein and the Victor Valley Daily Press:

Neat story on host families (and lack of) here...

 

www.vvdailypress.com/cgi-...921,63112,

[MassBrew]

Daily Press Feature on new Maverick Pitching Coach John Curtis:

 

By MICHAEL ROTHSTEIN/Staff Writer

 

ADELANTO ? More than almost any other ballplayer, John Curtis knows what it's like to be a reporter.

 

He's asked the questions and had to answer them.

 

He's played in Fenway Park and covered the U.S. Open at Olympic Golf Club in San Francisco.

 

The new pitching coach for the High Desert Mavericks led the rarest of double lives ? ballplayer and reporter.

 

And now he comes in as the midseason replacement for retired pitching coach Bill Champion.

 

"I thought I was going to be a journalist when I got out of baseball," Curtis said. "I was a columnist at the Examiner in San Francisco while I was playing.

 

"I used my off-seasons to write. I got out when I was 36 years old but I was a little mistaken where I was going to start. I thought I'd start in a metropolitan daily but they told me I'd had to go to Bend, Ore. to learn the ropes."

 

Instead, Curtis became a freelance writer and a pitching coach for Long Beach in the Western League. All of this came after a 15-year Major League career with five teams. He said he was termed a "crafty left-hander" during his playing days when he compiled a 89-97 record with a 3.96 ERA.

 

Curtis was familiar with Milwaukee Brewers General Manager Doug Melvin from Melvin's days with the Texas Rangers. In the previous off-season he was introduced to Reid Nichols and when Champion announced his resignation, Curtis' name popped up as a potential replacement.

 

"I never had this happen to me in all the years I played," Curtis said. "I never had pitching coaches change midseason. I told (the pitchers) today I didn't want this interruption to be perceived as a slight to them or as a potential roadblock to their progress."

 

And while Curtis is here, he'll continue his writing. Curtis said he's working on a book about the perfect game in baseball.

[MassBrew]

Daily Press Article -- Reid Nichols:

 

www.vvdailypress.com/cgi-...299,52824,

[MassBrew]

Daily Press on Mavs' Announcer Mike Lindskog:

 

Last two years have been tough ones to call for Lindskog

By MICHAEL ROTHSTEIN/Staff Writer

 

Mike Lindskog hasn't been able to use his trademark slogans much lately as the High Desert Mavericks' radio announcer.

 

His home run call ? Shh Bang ? has been used a total of 46 times this year. The 46 home runs are the lowest in the California League despite the fact that the Mavs play in the league's best hitter's park.

 

Lindskog ? a Spokane, Wash. native ? first picked up the home run call his first year in Adelanto after coming from Spokane.

 

While Lindskog enjoys his quick-hitting "Shh Bang" call, he hopes his end-game call is what eventually makes him famous.

 

"Shut the door, baby, don't say a word," resonates after every High Desert victory. With High Desert having a meager 28 wins, Lindskog hasn't been able to pull that call out, either.

 

"I would say I'm a goofy guy and my personality comes out on the radio," Lindskog said Saturday before a game at Lake Elsinore. "I'm not quite balanced. Some of these key phrases, it's not like I sit down one night and think up a bunch of key phrases but if I hear something I like and it sticks with me I'm not afraid to employ that."

 

While this season hasn't offered Lindskog much by way of exciting calls, one stuck out in his mind ? the day Ralph Santana stole home.

 

Lindskog happened to be looking at Santana while he made his break for the plate ? so he saw the whole play develop.

 

He said it was lucky it happened that way, because many times the one-man booth will be looking down for stats between pitches.

 

"My call could have easily been screwed up if I wasn't paying 100-percent attention," Lindskog said. "As I watched him, I was like 'Santana's coming home. He's going to steal home.'"

 

Trying to stay positive, though, during a losing season like this one presents Lindskog with a tough challenge. Lindskog may want to always be objective, but sometimes it presents a problem because he is also a High Desert Mavericks employee, helping to run their marketing department.

 

This season, combined with the last two months of the 2002 campaign, it has been extra difficult.

 

"July and August of last year was a prelude to this year," Lindskog said. "We struggled. Too many blowouts and watching guys play out of position for the last year and a half has been one reason why we struggled.

 

"This has easily been the toughest year to watch but saying that, if I'm going to do this for a career it'll help to prepare me for the roughest of times."

 

Lindskog has been the play-by-play guy for the past three years. When he came to High Desert before the 2001 season, he set out a three-year plan. If he receives another job after this season, it will have gone according to plan.

[DiscoStu13]

Kind of a disappointing article. If anyone has ever listened to Lindskog, he is much more exciting than this article made him out to be.

He has the ability to take a blow out and make it half way interesting. Too bad this profile was pretty uninteresting, the paper can do better than this...

[squarepusher]

I've gotta say, except for Brad Nelson, the Mavs totally got the shaft this year... in ALL areas. Hopefully the organization will move Housman, Sarfate and/or Parra up to Adelanto in the near future.

[MassBrew]

From the July 11th Daily Press in Victorville, CA:

 

Candelaria's defense improving through experience

By MICHAEL ROTHSTEIN/Staff Writer

 

SAN BERNARDINO ? Six times, Scott Candelaria had a ball hit to him on Wednesday night.

 

Six times, the third baseman retired the Inland Empire batter.

 

He highlighted a two-night defensive surge for High Desert, along with Ralph Santana's spectacular inside-the-glove toss to Brad Nelson against the 66ers on Tuesday.

 

"This team is a good defensive team," Candelaria said. "We just haven't been able to score enough runs to put that defense to work to make it a factor in a close game."

 

High Desert had committed 100 errors in 88 games entering Thursday's finale against Inland Empire.

 

During Candelaria's defensive night Wednesday, he snared a line drive from Greg Jacobs in the first inning and quickly threw the ball to first baseman Froilan Villanueva to nab Dustin Delucchi and end the first inning with a double play.

 

Candelaria also has the fourth-highest batting average on High Desert (.296) and had seven errors entering Thursday.

 

"I'm trying to work on defense a lot being a utility player," Candelaria said. "I've got to be able to play other positions other than first base and third base. I need to learn to play outfield.

 

"It's been part of my focus this year."

 

Part of High Desert's solid defensive output may stem from the 19 games the Mavericks have played against Inland Empire. High Desert has faced only one team more than that ? Lake Elsinore (24 times). High Desert will have faced Inland Empire 24 times by Sept. 1.

 

This leads to sharper instincts with the players.

 

"We've played these guys enough to where we know where they hit the ball," High Desert Manager Tim Blackwell said. "(Candelaria) is paying attention."

[MassBrew]

Daily Press Article:

Awesome job by the Mavericks' players who particpated in this event -- nice to read about...

 

www.vvdailypress.com/cgi-...995,11767,

[MassBrew]

Michael Rothstein of the Daily Press always does a nice job introducing us to the newest Mavericks...

 

Stout chooses baseball over golf

By MICHAEL ROTHSTEIN/Staff Writer

 

ADELANTO ? When newly-signed High Desert pitcher Danny Stout finished up his eligibility at Southern Mississippi in 2000, he figured his baseball career was over.

 

Undrafted and unsigned as a free agent, Stout transferred closer to his Pensacola, Fla., home to finish up his degree.

 

Attending the University of West Florida, Stout considered joining the Argonauts golf team. The idea came after Stout played well in a two-man professional scramble. The right-hander played with PGA Tour pros Joe Durant and Heath Slocumb.

 

But to play, Stout needed to change his schedule and his degree program in sports management. After speaking with his pro golfer friends, Stout realized he needed sponsorships and cash to become professional. Stout had neither.

 

So his decision became clear ? stick with baseball.

 

"I had the opportunity to try out for some independent leagues and threw real well," Stout said of his tryouts, which garnered him a slot in the now-defunct Texas-Louisiana League. The league transformed into the Central League after the 2001 season.

 

Stout spent his first two-and-a-half years in independent baseball as a reliever before becoming a starter for Jackson (Miss.) on June 18 and an eventual all-star.

 

"My manager never let me know that anyone had come to watch me throw," Stout said. "I came out in my next start and had one of my better starts. Someone was there at that game and the manager called me in the next day and said my contract was purchased by Milwaukee."

 

In his only appearance as a Maverick, Stout picked up his first affiliated victory in 4 1-3 relief innings Tuesday.

[MassBrew]

Daily Press on LHP Derrin Ebert:

 

www.vvdailypress.com/cgi-...464,97751,

[MassBrew]

Geoff Fisk is a Victor Valley Daily News writer in High Desert and covered the few games that beat writer Michael Rothstein did not. He wrote this in his column today, which reminded me that there was a reason (beyond convenience after the Brewer games were complete) that it was worthwhile to listen to the Maverick kids try to do their best, even if results were poor:

 

Keeping it positive

by Geoff Fisk

 

The 2003 season was one to forget for the High Desert Mavericks. Highlights are few and far between in a 42-98 season, and after Monday's season-finale, I expected a quick, mass exodus of players to the Mavericks Stadium parking lot.

 

But that's not what I found. Most of the players stuck around well after the contest, enjoying themselves and not looking like a group that had suffered through a last-place season.

 

Some of them were nice enough to share their personal highlights from 2003:

 

JOHNNY RABURN, UT ? "I would have to say playing all nine positions in one game (which Raburn and Scott Candelaria did Aug. 27). That was a great opportunity. We played every position but pitcher and catcher this year anyway, and it was something special to be a part of."

 

BRIAN FOSTER, C ? "I've never seen a team that got along so well. That might have been what was wrong. Nobody was ever down anyone else's throat. We were like a big family. You always hear how it's good for a team to gel, but sometimes you have to have that fire."

 

TODD WEST, 2B ? "For this season, it was how well we got along as a team. We always found a way to make things into positives. You have to do that. If you're not a good sport, it'll be a really long season."

 

SCOTT CANDELARIA, UT ? "I actually had a lot of fun playing here. Everyone played hard to the end. There weren't a lot of wins, but this year was one of the most fun times I've had in baseball."

 

TIM BLACKWELL, MANAGER ? "Bobby Bystrowski's first half (the closer was the Mavs' lone All-Star), Kade Johnson and Daryl Clark getting off to a tremendous start, and (starting pitcher) Chris Saenz coming on in the second half. It was nice to have Derrin Ebert do well for us, and getting (Milwaukee No. 1 prospect) Brad Nelson back was nice, even though I know he wasn't 100 percent to go."