Your 2006 Nashville Sounds - Latest: Front Office Award

[Mass Haas]

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newsok.com/article/1825624/

 

Nashville's Gwynn had a special teacher

By Bob Hersom

Oklahoman Staff Writer

 

Tony Gwynn Jr. isn't yet the baseball player his famous father was, but he is just as good a person.

 

As the leadoff man and center fielder for the Nashville Sounds, he isn't yet Tony Gwynn Sr., the eight-time National League batting champ who likely will be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame next year.

 

But Tony Gwynn Jr. acts and sounds exactly like his famous father, from the high-pitched voice to the friendly, inviting demeanor.

 

"He's an oustanding person," Nashville manager Frank Kremblas said.

 

"He's a great kid, just a great kid," said RedHawks pitching coach Andy Hawkins, who was Tony Gwynn's teammate in San Diego from 1982-88.

 

He's also Tony Gwynn Jr. again, after a few years as Anthony Gwynn.

 

The name change came five years ago, after Gwynn went 0-for-4 in his first game at San Diego State. His coach said he should go by Anthony Gwynn.

 

"He said he wanted to take the pressure off me a little bit, kind of separate me from my dad's name," Gwynn, 23, said. "I went 2-for-5 the next day and then went on about a 15-game hitting streak right after that."

 

As Anthony Gwynn at SDSU, he earned All-America status in 2003, his third and final season with the Aztecs.

 

His coach in that final college season: Tony Gwynn, who remains the Aztecs' coach today.

 

"He's a fabulous teacher," Gwynn said of his dad. "The thing he had to get used to was that everybody didn't catch on as fast as he did. I think once he learned that he just became an even better coach.

 

"He really keeps it simple. To somebody trying to learn hitting, keeping it simple is probably the best way of going about it, the easiest way to learn. So I've always felt he was a great coach."

 

And a great dad, too. The younger Gwynn said his dad is his hero.

 

"The fact that he played baseball for 20 years is just an extra," Junior said. "He's a great, great person, a great father. We always enjoy our time together. We talk on the phone quite a bit."

 

Junior played college baseball for only one season under his dad.

 

The younger Gwynn, who like his dad bats left-handed, was the Milwaukee Brewers' second round draft choice in 2003.

 

He hit .280 in his first year, in Class A, and stole 14 bases in 16 attempts. He struggled in his second season, batting only .243 in Double-A, but rebounded to .271 last year, in his second Double-A season. He's stolen 34 bases each of the past two seasons.

 

This year, he is batting .333 in his first Triple-A season.

 

"He works hard on all facets of the game," Kremblas said. "He still makes mistakes that all young guys make, which is to be expected. But I'm really impressed with how much improvement he's made since I saw him in Double-A two years ago."

 

Hawkins remembers the junior Gwynn "when he was about this long," or an infant. The Hawkins and Gwynn families later vacationed together in Puerto Rico.

 

"He has greatly improved as a player since I saw him two years ago," Hawkins said, echoing Kremblas. "That young man is a tough out. He has a much better idea at the plate. I'm impressed with him, I really am."

 

And not just as a baseball player.

[Mass Haas]

Link while active for nice photo of Enrique Cruz, Mike Rivera, Nelson Cruz and Wilton Chavez, text follows:

 

www.tennessean.com/apps/p...6604270315

 

Hispanic Sounds have special passion for baseball

By ANDY HUMBLES

Tennessean Staff Writer

 

Playing professional baseball is a dream every Nashville Sound is probably living out, with the additional dream of taking that next step up to the major leagues.

 

But for Hispanic players from countries where baseball is king, the dream seems a bit more intense.

 

''Everyone has passion,'' said Sounds catcher Mike Rivera, from Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico. ''But we love the game. And we have fun.''

 

Rivera is in his 10th season and one of four Hispanic players on the Sounds' opening-day roster. He talks about American-born players who have school, maybe work, and other sports to mix in with baseball.

 

But in places like Puerto Rico or the Dominican Republic, where the Sounds' Enrique Cruz, Nelson Cruz and Wilton Chavez are from, baseball and baseball players have an elevated status. Enrique and Nelson are not related.

 

The stars like Pedro Martinez and David Ortiz ''are like (Michael) Jordan,'' Chavez said.

 

''Baseball is the dream for everyone,'' and the dream that brings so many Hispanic players to a new country, culture, language, customs and food.

 

''And the weather,'' Nelson Cruz offers. ''It's never cold there.''

 

It shouldn't be uncommon to see the Sounds Hispanic players stretching together, speaking Spanish among themselves.

 

''We're comfortable with each other,'' said Nelson Cruz.

 

''Just easier to communicate,'' Rivera said.

 

But becoming comfortable and being able to communicate with American-born players is an additional challenge to Hispanics establishing a place in pro baseball and trying to make the majors, said Rivera, who has played with both the Detroit Tigers and San Diego Padres.

 

''You need to push yourself, because that is going to help establish a relationship with your teammates,'' Rivera said. ''Sometimes you can stick with each other a little too much.''

 

The Sounds are the Class AAA affiliate of Milwaukee, one step below the major league. Hispanic players usually have some time in professional baseball under their belts and have gotten somewhat acclimated, albeit at different levels, to living and playing baseball in the United States, according to Sounds director of media relations and baseball operations Doug Scopel.

 

''Major league teams have things to help them when they first sign, but typically when they get here they've been playing 3, 4, 5, 6 years,'' Scopel said.

 

Background and quotes from --

 

RHP Wilton Chavez:

 

www.tennessean.com/apps/p.../604270316

 

INF Enrique Cruz:

 

www.tennessean.com/apps/p.../604270392

 

OF Nelson Cruz:

 

www.tennessean.com/apps/p.../604270317

 

C Mike Rivera:

Interesting quote about aggressiveness at the plate...

 

www.tennessean.com/apps/p.../604270318

[Mass Haas]

Tony Gwynn obviously a natural topic for the media corps of Nashville's opponents:

 

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www.nola.com/sports/t-p/i...171040.xml

 

Gwynn Jr. learns from an ultimate pro

His father's advice now is paying off

By Bob Fortus

New Orleans Times-Picayune Staff writer

 

After every game, the Nashville Sounds' center fielder calls his dad back home in San Diego.

 

They discuss "every at-bat, pitch for pitch, what happened, what I do, how I felt," Tony Gwynn Jr. said.

 

Said Gwynn Sr.: "That's how you learn."

 

When it comes to baseball, this dad knows what he's talking about, and the son apparently has been paying attention.

 

Gwynn Jr., 23, in his fourth professional season and first in Triple-A, was batting .325 entering Thursday's game against the Zephyrs at Zephyr Field.

 

Gwynn Sr., who played for the San Diego Padres from 1982 through 2001, batted .338 for his career. Eight batting titles, five Gold Gloves, 3,141 hits and 15 All-Star appearances are among his many achievements.

 

Comparisons between father and son are inevitable, but the younger Gwynn said it's way too soon for anyone to make them.

 

"I pretty much block it all out," he said. "I don't even want to get into the comparison until it's due. Right now, it's now even close. He did it for 19 years in the big leagues."

 

Said Gwynn Sr.: "He's handled it great his whole life. Being the son of a major-league player is going to have drawbacks. . . . He's got his own style, his own way of doing things, which is great. I love watching him play."

 

Gwynn Jr. said basketball was his first love.

 

"I played basketball a lot more than I played baseball," he said. "Baseball was really on the back burner."

 

But after his junior year in high school he decided to concentrate on baseball. He accepted a scholarship to San Diego State, where his dad played and now coaches. For the past two seasons of Gwynn Jr.'s college career, he was coached by his dad.

 

"A lot of what I was trying to teach him at San Diego State didn't make sense to him," Gwynn Sr. said. "He didn't have enough experience."

 

Gwynn Jr. said he couldn't transfer the lessons from practice to the games when he was in college.

 

"It was difficult for me to comprehend without professional at-bats," he said. "As soon as I got more and more at-bats on the professional level, everything (dad) said started to come to light."

 

The Milwaukee Brewers drafted Gwynn Jr. in the second round in 2003. He hit .280 in Class A that season, then spent 2004 and 2005 at Double-A Huntsville (Ala.), stealing 34 bases each season. His hitting improved in his second year in Double-A, his batting average increasing from .243 to .271, and his on-base percentage increased from .318 to .370.

 

This season, the improvement is continuing. As the leadoff hitter for Nashville, he had a .368 on-base percentage in his first 18 games.

 

"It's early," he said. "I would seem to think after getting a certain amount of (professional) at-bats, it's around the time it starts to click for most guys."

 

Said Reid Nichols, who heads the Brewers' player-development department as a special assistant to the general manager: "He's done about what we thought he'd do. He's a baseball person. He's done that all his life."

 

Nichols said Gwynn Jr. has a plethora of skills.

 

"He'll make a bunch of fantastic defensive plays," Nichols said. "He works the count. He sees pitches. He's going to be an on-base guy, top-of-the-order guy."

 

In the game Thursday, Gwynn Jr. made a difficult play look easy, covering lots of ground to grab Henry Mateo's drive to deep center.

 

Gwynn Jr., who has stolen five bases this season, said his speed came from his mother, Alicia. She ran track at UCLA and later at San Diego State.

 

"I consider myself a smart base-runner," he said. "I'm not going to blow you away with my 60 time."

 

Gwynn Jr. bats left-handed, saying his learned to hit that way by watching video of his father. Gwynn Sr. threw left-handed, but the son throws right-handed.

 

"I do everything else right-handed," he said.

 

He can do enough on a baseball field to reach the majors, his dad said.

 

"As a parent, I'm proud as heck of him," Gwynn Sr. said. "I'm biased, because he's my son, but I think he's going to be a good major-league player. I'm prouder of the things he's done than what I've done."

 

Said his son: "That's what dad's are supposed to say."

[DHonks]

I should note that while Gwynn jr credits his mother for his speed, his dad was pretty fast in his own right. I know a good friend only remembered him as chubby, but I showed him the stats and he was amazed

[Mass Haas]

Link for Chris Barnwell photo while active, text follows:

 

tennessean.com/apps/pbcs....328/SPORTS

 

Multi-position players deepen Sounds' bench

Five non-pitchers can play in at least five different spots

By MAURICE PATTON

Tennessean Staff Writer

 

Every team in the Pacific Coast League plays under the same roster limit, yet it seems Nashville Sounds Manager Frank Kremblas has a few more players to work with.

 

That's because five Nashville non-pitchers can play at least five different positions, at least four of whom the second-year Sounds skipper would feel comfortable plugging in at six different spots.

 

Such flexibility makes the Nashville bench seem a little deeper, according to Kremblas, particularly in games against fellow National League affiliates ? such as the Iowa Cubs, who arrive at Greer Stadium today to begin a four-game series as part of an eight-game homestand.

 

By rule at the Class AAA level, games that involve at least one American League affiliate are played with the designated hitter. Games between two National League farm clubs are played with the pitcher in the batting order.

 

"With DH games, it's not that big a deal, unless an injury occurs," Kremblas said, regarding the effect of multi-positional players. "With a 'National League' game, you may want to double-switch or pinch-run for a catcher late in a game. Fortunately, with Vinny (Rottino) being able to catch, you can do that because you still have two catchers left."

 

Typically, most managers are very hesitant to leave themselves without a catcher in a late-inning situation because of the potential for injury. However, the Sounds carry veterans Mark Johnson and Mike Rivera at the position in addition to the young Rottino, who has already seen action this season at both corner infield positions, both corner outfield positions and behind the plate after entering pro ball as a shortstop.

 

Rottino might be the most movable Sound, but he's hardly the only one that has been on the move. Through Nashville's first 16 games, six of the team's 13 non-pitchers had played at least two different positions.

 

Many of the current Sounds have been versatile players throughout their careers.

 

Chris Barnwell started at all four infield positions last season after arriving in Nashville from Double-A Huntsville. Jermaine Clark started at second base, left field and right field for the Reds last year. Corey Hart played all three outfield positions and first base while earning PCL all-star honors last season. Zach Sorensen, currently on the disabled list, played all four infield positions and center field at Class AAA Salt Lake (Angels) last year.

 

"I think that was a factor that definitely worked toward our advantage," said Scott Martens, the Milwaukee Brewers' business manager for player development and minor-league operations. "Look at the roster we have in Milwaukee. We have a great deal of flexibility up there with Corey Koskie, who can play third or first; (and) Bill Hall, who is the super-utility guy and worked out in the outfield during spring training. Some of that carried down to here as well.

 

"It's always helpful to have that kind of flexibility so that if you ever have a need up in Milwaukee ? especially us being in the National League, where you do a lot of substituting late in the game ? it adds another dimension."

 

Being able to play different positions at the Triple-A level doesn't just help the Sounds. It's also beneficial to the individual players as they're being evaluated for potential promotions, either with the Brewers or with another major-league club.

 

"If they get called up, they may be that 23rd, 24th, 25th player on the roster," Martens said. "A lot of times, that's the role they fill, where they have to be able to play a couple of different positions or come into the game and pinch-hit, that kind of thing. It helps prepare these guys for the role they may have in Milwaukee."

 

Roster depth

 

Though Nashville Manager Frank Kremblas has only 12 defensive players, the versatility most of them boast makes his possibilities endless.

 

C ? Mark Johnson, Mike Rivera, Chris Barnwell, Vinny Rottino

1B ? Mark Johnson, Mike Rivera, Brent Abernathy, Chris Barnwell, Jermaine Clark, Corey Hart, Brad Nelson, Vinny Rottino, *Zach Sorensen

2B ? Brent Abernathy, Chris Barnwell, Jermaine Clark, Enrique Cruz, *Zach Sorensen

3B ? Brent Abernathy, Chris Barnwell, Jermaine Clark, Enrique Cruz, Corey Hart, Mark Johnson, Mike Rivera, Vinny Rottino, *Zach Sorensen

SS ? Chris Barnwell, Jermaine Clark, Enrique Cruz, Vinny Rottino, *Zach Sorensen

LF ? Brent Abernathy, Chris Barnwell, Jermaine Clark, Nelson Cruz, Tony Gwynn, Dave Krynzel, Corey Hart, Brad Nelson, Vinny Rottino, *Zach Sorensen

CF ? Jermaine Clark, Nelson Cruz, Tony Gwynn, Dave Krynzel, Corey Hart, *Zach Sorensen

RF ? Chris Barnwell, Jermaine Clark, Nelson Cruz, Tony Gwynn, Dave Krynzel, Corey Hart, Brad Nelson, Vinny Rottino, *Zach Sorensen

*?disabled list

[Mass Haas]

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tennessean.com/apps/pbcs....328/SPORTS

 

Rottino brings more than a bat

He can play infield, outfield and catcher

By MAURICE PATTON

Tennessean Staff Writer

 

Baseball saved Vinny Rottino from a life of selling drugs.

 

Before the Wisconsin native attended a free-agent tryout camp held by the Milwaukee Brewers, Rottino ? a former standout at NCAA Division III Wisconsin-LaCrosse ? had enrolled in pharmacy school at the University of Wisconsin.

 

"Truth be told, I didn't really enjoy my time in pharmacy school," said Rottino, now in his fourth year of pro ball after signing a contract with the homestate favorites. "I probably would have done something else anyway."

 

Fortunately for him, he didn't have to go searching for an alternative. The former chemistry major (graduating with a 4.0 grade-point average) has been making the grade coming up through the Brewers' organization. This is after earning D-III All-America honors and finishing third in the 2002 voting for national player of the year. Over his first three seasons as a pro, Rottino hit .303 ? including a .304, 17-homer, 124-RBI campaign at Class A Beloit in 2004.

 

But it's not just his offense that has him on the Milwaukee radar. Last year at Double-A Huntsville, Rottino played first and third base, left and right field, and caught, and then did virtually the same thing after his Aug. 23 promotion to Nashville.

 

"He adds a dimension in that he can play infield, he can play outfield, and he's also experimenting with doing some more catching," said Scott Martens, the Milwaukee Brewers' business manager for player development and minor-league operations. "He gives us some flexibility late in the game, when you're trying to make some moves as a manager."

 

A shortstop coming out of Wisconsin-LaCrosse, Rottino said it was strongly suggested that he broaden his horizons as he considered his professional prospects.

 

"I had no other choice," he said. "I think they kinda set me in that role at the outset. They signed me as a catcher, even though I'd never caught before.

 

"I take the mindset of 'Do what they tell you,' try to embrace it. I take groundballs everywhere, flyballs. I think it'll help me get to the big leagues, being a versatile player, being able to backup at different positions."

 

What Rottino doesn't embrace is the age-old "Jack of all trades, master of none" concept.

 

"I don't see it as a negative at all," he said. "It keeps you fresh, playing the different spots. I feel comfortable everywhere. It keeps me on my toes. I can't get complacent at any one spot."

 

Already this season, Rottino has caught, played first, third and in the outfield for the Sounds ? though he's struggled a bit offensively (.235, 1 home run, 11 RBIs through 18 games).

 

The slow start hasn't diminished him in the eyes of the Brewers' brass.

 

"For Vinny to do what he did, coming in as a virtual unknown, signing out of a tryout camp, being a homegrown talent ? I think there are a lot of people in Milwaukee and the state of Wisconsin pulling for him," Martens said. "With all that said, Vinny's best attribute is probably his work ethic and the way he approaches the game. He's a tremendous worker. He does everything you ask out of him. There aren't many people out there that are working harder than Vinny."

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

www.nashvillecitypaper.co...s_id=49752

 

Sounds treat autographs as a sign of the times

By Nate Rau, Nashville City Paper Sports Correspondent

 

High on the list of ?signs you?re a real celebrity? is having a stranger ask you for an autograph on a napkin, a photograph, a piece of paper or, in the case of the Nashville Sounds, a baseball.

 

Signing autographs comes hand-in-hand with being a professional athlete. More so than any other sport, autograph seeking is as much a part of the baseball experience for many fans as peanuts, crackerjacks or the seventh-inning stretch.

 

Fans know what it?s like to seek an autograph before or after a game, but Sounds players said it?s more than a little surreal to have strangers in search of their John Hancock.

 

?The way I look at it, it?s an honor,? first baseman Brad Nelson said. ?Something?s wrong when they don?t want it any more.?

 

Outfielder Tony Gwynn said that while there are times it can be bothersome to sign for fans, he looks at it as an honor.

 

?It?s one of those things where, when you grow up, you?re hoping to be able to sign autographs,? Gwynn said.

 

And while the Sounds said they enjoy signing, there are some rules that come with autograph-seeking.

 

The first misconception fans have is that players are free to sign during warm-ups before games. This is usually not the case. Although players don?t seem to be breaking a sweat before a ballgame, the stretching exercises combined with simple mental preparation make the time preceding first pitch important.

 

?My thing is I?ll sign as much as they want after a game,? infielder Brent Abernathy said. ?Before a game, we?re getting ready to play, to do our job, and fans need to be respectful of that.?

 

The second rule is fans should ask for no more than two items to be signed at one time.

 

?Two per person because you don?t want people coming up with 10 different things, because then you?ll never get home for your personal life,? Gwynn said.

 

Abernathy, who has over 200 games of big league experience, said players are skeptical of fans who show up with shopping bags full of baseballs and cards to be signed.

 

?You wonder, ?What?s this guy going to do with all this stuff??? Abernathy said.

 

And while not a single Sounds player could even make an educated guess as to how many autographs they give out over the course of a season, Gwynn has one autographing memory he?ll never forget.

 

?Probably the weirdest thing I?ve ever signed is a woman?s chest,? Gwynn said. ?Seriously though, signing for a fan is an honor. It?s a chance to interact with them and almost every player I know is happy to do it.?

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

www.reviewjournal.com/lvr...10121.html

 

Krynzel's career regains traction after spinout

Offseason motorcycle wreck doesn't faze Brewers prospect from Green Valley

By MATT YOUMANS

LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL

 

Speeding around the track with no fear, Dave Krynzel was in the middle of a motorcycle race. A split second later, his life was temporarily turned upside down.

 

"I was coming out of a turn, I looked down and there were four bikes behind me," he said, "and right when I looked up I was on the ground. I flipped over the bike and the first hit was on the shoulder.

 

"It happened so fast that I don't know how it happened."

 

The high-speed crash occurred Nov. 9 on a track south of Las Vegas as Krynzel was trying to enjoy some time off from baseball. He got more time off than he wanted.

 

Krynzel, who was wearing a helmet, boots and full protective gear, broke his right collarbone.

 

"It could have been a lot worse," the Green Valley High School graduate said. "I was pretty lucky."

 

Krynzel recovered in time to join the Milwaukee Brewers' spring training camp, and his career is back on track.

 

The 24-year-old returned to his hometown this weekend with the Triple-A Nashville Sounds, making a positive impression by boosting his batting average 40 points to .310 in the first two games of the series against the 51s at Cashman Field.

 

Krynzel, batting second and playing left field, went 1-for-3 with a double Sunday as Las Vegas ripped Nashville 15-5 behind a strong start from right-hander Chad Billingsley. Krynzel also was hit by a pitch, but that did not compare to the pain resulting from his off-field accident.

 

"I thought I was a motorcycle racer, but obviously not. I'll stick to baseball now," said Krynzel, who went 4-for-5 with an RBI and two stolen bases Saturday to lead the Sounds to an 8-2 victory.

 

"I got back up. I'm playing again and feeling good. It didn't really stop my career or anything."

 

Krynzel was a sophomore when he helped Green Valley win the state title in 1998. Two years later, Milwaukee drafted him in the first round, 11th overall, and he signed for a $1.95 million bonus.

 

He slowly worked his way up the organizational ladder and reached the major leagues in 2004, hitting .220 in 16 games for the Brewers.

 

Krynzel took a minor step back last year, playing only five games in the majors. He hit .256 with 11 home runs, 51 RBIs and 24 stolen bases to help the Sounds win the Pacific Coast League championship.

 

"I like to look at the black and white, and the numbers are going to tell all, and last year I didn't have good numbers," he said.

 

The 6-foot-1-inch Krynzel, who bats and throws left-handed, went into this season ranked by Baseball America as the Brewers' 22nd-best prospect, slipping 12 spots from the previous year.

 

But he's planning on his seventh professional season being a turning point for the better.

 

"It's definitely hard work. I'm working on everything every day," he said. "It definitely is a full-time job and I never knew that. I thought it was just a game.

 

"We're not at home much during the season. In the offseason, you take a little break and you've got to get back working. The whole offseason plan is to get bigger, better and stronger."

 

The motorcycle crash interrupted his plans last winter. After seven weeks of waiting for the injury to heal, he changed doctors and was told he needed surgery, which he had Jan. 12. He said the Brewers issued him a small fine for the incident.

 

"It was not fun to sit there with a broken bone," he said. "That's kind of a negative thing for me. It was the first time that I had to sit there and not do anything, the first time I really got rest in the offseason.

 

"There was a lot of pain and a lot of struggle with what's going to happen."

 

Krynzel, who has three homers and 10 steals in 11 attempts, is not worrying whether the Brewers will give him another shot.

 

"I'm one of the few people who get to wake up every day and go play a game for a living right now," he said. "I work and just really enjoy it.

 

"It's baseball, it's fun and this is what kids grow up and want to do. At this point in my life, I'm having fun."

 

Photos by Ralph Fountain, Las Vegas Review-Journal

 

Dave Krynzel, a Green Valley High product, bats for the Nashville Sounds against the 51's Sunday at Cashman Field.

 

http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2006/May-15-Mon-2006/photos/sports.jpg

 

Dave Krynzel, right, looks toward Nashville Sounds first-base coach Gary Pettis after walking in the first inning against the 51s Sunday.

 

http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2006/May-15-Mon-2006/photos/krynzel.jpg

[Mass Haas]

Link for Justin Thompson photo, text follows:

 

www.nashvillesounds.com/n...ewsId=1952

 

Thompson Serves As Mentor For Sounds Hurlers

by Rick Kubitschek

 

When people think about the most important part of a ball team, several things come to mind: a solid pitching staff, a guy who can hit the longball, or a coaching staff that understands their players and the game.

 

All of these are essential parts of a ballclub, but most people forget the importance of seasoned veterans ? guys that can help mature the young talent and still produce when they?re called upon. Sounds left-hander Justin Thompson is that guy.

 

Thompson is the veteran on the Nashville pitching staff. He is currently 33 years old and has 16 seasons of professional baseball under his belt. With such a young pitching staff surrounding him, Thompson hopes to teach them a thing or two about the game.

 

Even though it?s only a little over a month into the season, it?s apparent he?s filling that mentor role for the guys. The team has given him the nickname, ?The Clydesdale,? because he is the oldest and wisest member of the ?four horsemen,? the nickname given to him earlier this season by the remainder of the Sounds starters ? prospects Ben Hendrickson, Dana Eveland, Zach Jackson, and Dennis Sarfate.

 

Thompson got his start in professional baseball when the Detroit Tigers selected him in the first round of the June 1991 free agent draft. He spent the next four years in the minors before being called up to pitch for the Tigers.

 

It was a tough first few years for Thompson. The team was losing and he was trying to find his place in the organization. ?The clubhouse was always very quiet,? said Thompson. ?It was tough for a first-year guy ? having everyone keeping to themselves.?

 

Everyone knows what it?s like being the new kid in town. You aren?t quite sure about how things run and you are trying to figure out what your role is going to be in this new place. Most ballplayers look to that seasoned vet on the team for advice and to help them make it threw their first couple of years. Thompson didn?t have that guy on the team to teach him things such as: what?s the best way to prepare for a game, how do you bounce back after a nine-run-15-hit outing, and how do you make it to the majors?

 

The baseball movie ?Bull Durham? took this type of mentoring to a more comedic degree when Crash Davis tried to teach Nuke LaLoosh the finer points of being a professional baseball player.

 

?You have fungus on your shower shoes. You?ll never make it to the show with fungus on your shower shoes,? Davis, played by Kevin Costner, said in his famous speech to Tim Robbins? character. ?Win 20 in the show and you can let the fungus grow back and the press will think you?ll colorful, but until you when 20 in the show it just means you?re a slob.?

 

Thompson might be trying to teach the finer points of baseball now, but it is something he had to pick up on his own. He never had a Crash Davis to tell him to hold the ball like an egg or how to give interviews.

 

When he was called up, Thompson was tossed into a Tigers pitching staff that housed 12 guys in their 20s. Guys were a couple of years younger then him or just a few years older. They didn?t have that veteran on the team that the rookies could lean on when times got tough. The whole team was growing up together and they had to learn through their own mistakes.

 

?It made me grow up fast,? said Thompson. ?I had some hard lessons but it forced me to learn fast also.?

 

One of those hard lessons is also one of his favorite memories. On September 18, 1996 at Tiger Stadium, the Tigers were playing the Boston Red Sox. Thompson faced off against Roger Clemens. That day, ?The Rocket? struck out 20 batters, accomplishing something that has only been done three times.

 

?That?s one of the most memorable parts of my fist year,? Thompson stated. ?Needless to say, I lost.?

 

Thompson tries to preach to the young guys that you can?t win every game. You aren?t always going to step out on the mound and blow the other team away. Sometimes the other team is going to blow you away.

 

Thompson tells the guys, ?Every outing is a learning experience. Whether you get hit or through a no-hitter, there is always a lesson that can be taken away from your outing. Did you throw too many breaking balls or leave the ball too high in the zone? There is always something you can look at and improve on.?

 

While some teammates like to help guys during the game and point out errors in their swing or delivery, Thompson likes to wait until after the game to give pointers.

 

?I try not to talk to the guys when it?s their turn to pitch,? Thompson said. ?Game day is supposed to be the fun day. I?ll try and work with the guys during their off days.?

 

Thompson learned from an early age that baseball is supposed to be fun. He has always just played the game and enjoyed it. This is something he has carried with him throughout his career and tries to pass on to the younger players.

 

?I want to teach the younger guys as much as I can,? Thompson said. ?But most of all, let them know to have fun with it. It?s just a game.?

 

When players get to the Triple-A level, they are extremely talented and most of the time they know how to do their job, whether it is striking people out, fielding ground balls, or hitting the longball.

 

Sometimes, though, the physical part of the game takes over and players forget about the mental part. ?These guys are so young and talented that they just go out there and win,? said Thompson. ?It won?t always be that way, though.?

 

It can be tough to bounce back after a bad outing or recover from an error that kept you on the mound longer then you should have been, but all of this happens and players need to be able to deal with it and recover quickly.

 

?The guys here are very talented,? Thompson said. ?I just want to give them as much help with their mental game as I can.?

 

A seasoned vet like Thompson has been banged around a few times but has also been at the top of the game.

 

In 1997, Thompson had the opportunity that most ballplayers only dream about. He was selected to pitch in the MLB All-Star game for the American League.

 

?I found out I was selected one day as I was sitting down in the bullpen,? Thompson stated. ?I heard it over the P.A. system and my body just went numb.? He pitched the fifth inning and didn?t allow a hit.

 

Playing professional for the past 16 years, Thompson has seen every situation that might come up in a game and has an abundant amount of baseball knowledge that any rookie would be lucky to have access to.

 

?Everyone wants to make it [to the Majors] as bad as anyone else,? Thompson said. ?If a young guy can learn from my mistakes and I help him get up, then I feel like I?ve helped the team.?

[Mass Haas]

Link with several photos, text follows:

 

www.nashvillescene.com/St...dex.shtml#

 

Ballpark Frank

Nashville Sounds players and staff line up for Q&A about the game of summer

by Kay West, Nashville Scene

 

?Baseball is so boring.?

 

Here are some possible responses to that inane statement, commonly uttered by people who wouldn?t know RBI from ERA or Triple A from AA: 1. Roll your eyes, shake your head and have another beer. 2. Say ?Bless your heart? and have another beer. 3. Have pity on the people who admit to such ignorance, take them out to a ballgame and try to explain the immeasurable intricacies and timeless wonders of the only one of the big four sports that is not played to a clock. Let them buy the beer.

 

On April 14, the Pacific Coast League champion Nashville Sounds opened their 2006 home season at Greer Stadium, the 29-year-old ballpark that will in 2008 be replaced by a sparkling new downtown facility designed to look old. Yes, Greer really is old, it?s shabby, and, reportedly, its visitor?s clubhouse is the scourge of the league. But the 2005 team?the guys on the field, the ones on the bench and the ones toiling behind the scenes?rose above all of that to produce some of the franchise?s most exciting ball in its storied history. One month into the five-month season, the 2006 edition was off to a fast start, atop the standings in the American North division.

 

You don?t have to know the game to enjoy an afternoon or evening at the park; there?s something about baseball that brings out the kid in all of us. In the words of L.A. Dodger Roy Campanella?the first black catcher in Major League history, three-time National League MVP and member of the Baseball Hall of Fame, ?You gotta be a man to play baseball for a living, but you gotta have a lot of little boy in you, too.? For baseball fans and novices, some questions for and answers from the 2006 Nashville Sounds Boys of Summer.

 

FRANK KREMBLAS, Manager

 

Why do baseball coaches wear a uniform? I don?t know. I guess it?s tradition?baseball is all about tradition.

 

The Sounds lead the league in stolen bases. Who?s fastest? Jermaine Clark is leading the team. Corey Hart is really fast, but in a 60-yard-dash, Dave Krynzel wins every time.

 

Which players should fans not get too attached to? Of pitchers, we?re likely to see Dana Eveland, Zach Jackson and Dennis Sarfate go up. Position players?Tony Gywnn Jr., Nelson Cruz, Hart.

 

Is it harder to play ball or manage ballplayers? Play ball, definitely. You have to be so strong mentally, you have to resist being results-oriented, especially as a hitter, because of how hard it is to hit a ball.

 

GARY PETTIS, Hitting Coach

 

Is hitting the ball the hardest thing to do in baseball? Yes, it is. It looks so easy from the stands, the ball looks like it?s coming in so slow. But in reality, in pro ball, you have less than three-tenths of a second to decide?swing or not? Chances that someone who is unskilled or untrained can do it are slim to none.

 

What is the key to hitting home runs? Timing and leverage. People think that it?s the arms, but it?s not. You get your strength from your legs, and that gives you leverage.

 

Which players have the legs and timing to hit lots of home runs this year? Nelson Cruz, Corey Hart, Mike Rivera, Brad Nelson and Vinny Rottino.

 

You were a five-time Gold Glove winner during your Major League career. What does a Gold Glove look like? A glove that?s painted gold.

 

STAN KYLES, Pitching Coach

 

How fast is a fastball? A Major League fastball averages about 89-90 mph. But with a fastball, it?s the placement. The hardest pitch to hit is a well-placed fastball.

 

Why is a struggling pitcher sometimes left in the game? At this level, it?s not always about results, but how they are developing. A young pitcher sometimes has to be given the opportunity to work the problem out. Sometimes, we just might not have anyone in the bullpen available for that situation.

 

Is thinking too much bad for a pitcher? It?s not the thinking so much as the worrying. Just before they go into the game is a critical time; if they are apprehensive about doing poorly, that can affect their performance. They have to be able to live with the consequences of a bad pitch.

 

Is it hard for a pitcher to shut out all the noise and focus? It?s easy to focus on the batter; it?s harder to focus on the glove. The successful pitchers are the ones who hardly see the batter, they focus on the glove. It?s just a high-level game of catch; play catch with the catcher, and everything else will take care of itself.

 

JUSTIN THOMPSON, LHP, Starter

 

Did you start out as a starter? Yes, until I got a bunch of injuries, then they sent me to the bullpen. I had four surgeries in one year. This is my first year as a starter since 1999.

 

Do you brush off the catcher very often? No. When you battle the catcher, you battle yourself.

 

In your 16th pro season, how are you pitching? My arm is pretty raggedy. I try to spot my fastball good and confuse them with my breaking ball. It?s all smoke and mirrors.

 

ALLAN SIMPSON, RHP, Reliever

 

Why is it called a bullpen? I don?t know. I?ll bet no one in the bullpen knows either.

 

What kind of reliever are you? I?m a middle reliever. I set up for the closer. I usually come in when the game is close and go about two innings. I?m very aggressive. I throw fastballs.

 

What?s the fastest you?ve ever thrown? My fastest was 99 mph. I usually hit 91-93, and I?ll touch 95 on occasion.

 

MARK JOHNSON, Catcher

 

If pitchers aren?t supposed to think too much, does the catcher have to think more? Yes. I wish I could do all the thinking for them.

 

What is your pet peeve when it comes to pitchers? Shaking me off. If they have a better idea, that?s fine. But if they shake me off just to do it, that pisses me off, especially the young pitchers who think they know everything.

 

What is the hardest pitch to catch? A good knuckleball.

 

When you argue with the umpire, what is guaranteed to get you kicked out of the game? Anything with a ?you? in it will get you tossed.

 

CHRIS BARNWELL, Infielder

 

What are the hardest balls to catch? On the infield, balls hit extremely hard to first or third?there?s no time to react. Flyballs are hard?you can look stupid really easily.

 

What is the hardest position to play? Catcher, definitely. Physically it?s really tough, and mentally, his brain never gets to take a break.

 

How does the perception in the stands differ from the reality on the field? Everything looks so slow from the stands, and everything happens so fast on the field. Good ballplayers slow the game down by being ready, having your glove where it?s supposed to be, and being where you?re supposed to be.

 

TONY GWYNN JR., Outfielder

 

What do you think of this stadium? A lot of other stadiums look old but they?re new. This one looks old, and it is.

 

Is catching a fly ball harder than it looks? (Laughs)The best way to gauge how hard it is, watch how many are caught in the stands, even with people wearing gloves. You have to position yourself. By the time a fly ball gets to the top of its flight, you know where it will come down.

 

What if you lose a ball in its flight? If you lose it, don?t panic, you?ll lose focus. Just stay calm, and you?ll find it.

 

JEFF PAXSON, Trainer

 

What does a trainer do? I?m the caretaker of the player?s body. My main focus is shoulders and elbows, and preventative maintenance on an older guy with multiple surgeries.

 

Who are the fittest players on the team? Chris Barnwell, Vinny Rottino, Tony Gwynn Jr., Nelson Cruz, Dave Krynzel.

 

What?s the worst on-field injury you?ve seen? Last year, when the piece of the broken bat pierced (pitcher) Rick Helling?s forearm and stuck there.

 

J.R. RINALDI, Clubhouse and Equipment Manager

 

What do you do? I take care of everything in the clubhouse?I unlock it every morning and lock it up every night. I?m in charge of uniforms, equipment, and I cook the post-game meal.

 

Do you personally wash all the uniforms? Yes. I have two 50-pound washers, one regular washer and two 50-pound dryers.

 

Do players get to request a number? They can choose from what numbers are available in their size. I tell them, in the big leagues, you get it all. In the minors, you get what you get, so keep your mouth shut and be happy to be here.

 

KEN THOMAS, Stadium Operations Director

 

How many light bulbs are there in the scoreboard? There are 180,000 15-watt bulbs, but the biggest things are the drivers. They drive the lights that make the special effects on the scoreboard. When the drivers go out, we?re in trouble.

 

What are the messiest nights of the week? Thirsty Thursday is bad, because people get drunk and spill beer. Faith Fridays and Fireworks Saturdays because they are our biggest crowds. The snow cones with the syrup and the nacho cheese are the hardest things to clean up.

 

What is your policy on kicking people out? You have to do something pretty bad. I caught a guy peeing over the fence behind the concourse one night. We gave him a strong warning and told him not to do it again. But two strikes, you?re out.

 

RICKI SCHLABACH, Director of Ticketing

 

What is the best cheap seat? Anything in general admission, or use a ticket discount. You have to work pretty hard to pay full price for a ticket here.

 

What is the best deal? The Family Fun Pack. Four best available tickets, four hot dogs, four drinks and 25 percent off a souvenir, for $48.

 

What?s the easiest way to buy tickets? Go online and print it out at home; you never have to talk to anyone.

 

JOHN LAWRENCE, Usher

 

Are the little kids a pain in the neck? No! The little kids are great!

 

What about their parents? That can be a problem. They are having fun and think they can use the ushers as babysitters. They need to be responsible for their children, and be alert for foul balls.

 

DAVID CHEATHAM, Beer Vendor

 

What?s the best way to get your attention? So many people know me, they just yell, ?Hey David!? But if not, ?Hey, Beer Man? will do.

 

Where is the best drinking section? I?d have to say over on the first base side, behind the visitors? dug out.

 

MARK LAWRENCE, Food & Beverage Director

 

What is the most popular concession item? Barbecue nachos?tortilla chips, cheese sauce, barbecue, sour cream and jalapeños. They go great with beer.

 

When is the fastest time to go to the concession stand? Right after the game starts.

 

How much beer do you go through on Thirsty Thursday? We did 43 kegs the first one this season. My record is 70.

 

OZZIE, Sounds Mascot

 

What is Ozzie? A cougar.

 

What do children do that annoys Ozzie? Pull his tail, poke him and kick his leg.

 

What is Ozzie?s record on the Icee Base Race? Three wins, 5,000 losses.

[Mass Haas]

First-time in the big-league stories are always fun, but especially when it's written in Alaska -- good stuff here, even if Mabeus now needs to wait another couple of days:

 

Link while active, text follows:

 

www.peninsulaclarion.com/...w005.shtml

 

SoHi grad makes Major move

Chris Mabeus picked to pitch for Brewers

By JEFF HELMINIAK

Peninsula Clarion

 

When Chris Mabeus? son, Boston, started kindergarten this past year in Sacramento, Calif., his family had to fill out an introduction card.

 

One of the items on Boston?s card said the 6-year-old had moved 14 times since he?s been born.

 

The moves came as a result of his 27-year-old father chasing a dream of pitching in the Major Leagues through minor league cities across the country since 2001.

 

Sunday, Mabeus finally got the news he?s been chasing since he was old enough to realize what baseball is. He was told during the seventh inning of a game at Triple-A Nashville that he was being called up to pitch for the Milwaukee Brewers.

 

Mabeus, a 6-foot-3, 215-pound right-hander and Soldotna High School graduate, immediately went to the clubhouse to call his wife, Ann, a 1998 SoHi grad.

 

?She wasn?t able to speak when I told her,? Mabeus said by cell phone from Nashville on Sunday night. ?She was screaming and crying.

 

?I?ve been on the bus in the minor leagues forever. You jump on the day you sign. It could end with never making a stop in the big leagues. I?m fortunate to have this happen. It?s been a long, windy road.?

 

Mabeus? next call was to his father, Rodney. Mabeus said that since the day he was able to speak he?s wanted to play in the big leagues. He said he has always dreamed of calling his father and saying, ?Today?s the day I?m a Major Leaguer.?

 

That didn?t stop Mabeus from having a little fun with his dad.

 

?Can you apologize to your son Steve?? Mabeus started the call.

 

After playing out his father?s uncertainty, Mabeus said: ?Can you say sorry to Steve because you?ll have to miss his high school graduation because you?ll be getting a plane ticket to come to Milwaukee??

 

The family immediately started freaking out and searched for plane tickets to Cincinnati, where the 23-21 Brewers start a three-game series today.

 

Mabeus then called his father- and mother-in-law, Paul and Shirley Zobeck, and discussed moving Ann and the family from Sacramento to Nashville.

 

?Well, Chris, you know Shirley and I are ready to drive that van,? Paul said. ?But what are you calling for during the game? You?re not calling from the bullpen, are you??

 

At that point, Mabeus finally let on, ?I?m in the airport, getting ready to go to Milwaukee.?

 

Mabeus spent the first six years of his pro career with Oakland, advancing to Triple-A Sacramento, before he was placed on waivers and signed by the Brewers on May 16.

 

?I knew if I kept plugging away, something good had to happen if I kept throwing the way I did,? Mabeus said.

 

This season, Mabeus was 0-1 with a 4.58 ERA in 12 relief appearances for Sacramento, holding opponents to a .219 batting average. On Friday, Mabeus pitched a scoreless inning in his lone appearance with Nashville.

 

The Brewers finished with a .500 record last season for their best mark since 1992. Fueled by young players like Rickie Weeks and Prince Fielder and veterans like Geoff Jenkins and Carlos Lee, the team had designs on getting into the playoff race this year.

 

The team has been beset by injuries to right-handed pitchers, though. Franchise cornerstone Ben Sheets continues to be bothered by a sore right shoulder and fellow starter Tomo Ohka also is on the disabled list with shoulder problems. Veteran right-hander Rick Helling, who would have been a candidate to take over for Sheets or Ohka, is rehabbing his injured elbow on the disabled list.

 

Ben Hendrickson struggled in the starting rotation for the Brewers, going 0-2 with a 12.00 ERA. After giving up six runs without recording an out in a loss to the Minnesota Twins on Saturday, Hendrickson was sent down in favor of Mabeus.

 

Mabeus said he is not sure what the Brewers have in mind for him.

 

?I don?t know and I don?t care,? Mabeus said. ?If they want me to catch in the bullpen, I?ll do it.?

 

When he acquired Mabeus, Brewers general manager Doug Melvin called him a strike-thrower who can pitch an inning or two late in the game. At the time, Melvin said the Brewers? bullpen is pretty strong and he couldn?t imagine calling him up unless an injury occurred.

 

Melvin has had an interest in Mabeus before. He was one of the players considered by Milwaukee in a 2004 trade where the Brewers acquired outfield prospect Nelson Cruz and big-league reliever Justin Lehr from the A?s instead.

 

Mabeus becomes the second player from the central peninsula to make the Major Leagues, joining Marshall Boze. Boze also pitched for the Brewers, accumulating 32 1-3 innings in 1996.

 

?Marshall was actually a member of the same church as I was,? Mabeus said. ?He could have been on the cover of Sports Illustrated to me. All I ever wanted to do was something like that.?

 

Mabeus said it is a long shot for somebody from Soldotna to make the Major Leagues. He gave credit to the American Legion Twins, Soldotna Little League, Soldotna High School and the Peninsula Oilers for making his dream possible.

 

?Without those things, I would be working as a teacher or a banker right now,? Mabeus said. ?They allowed me to do what I really wanted to do.?

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

www.al.com/sports/huntsvi...amp;coll=1

 

Tony Gwynn Jr. showing more signs of good ol' Dad

Contact Mark McCarter at markcolumn@aol.com

Huntsville Times

 

NASHVILLE - He is batting .310. He has become numbingly consistent. He even has two home runs, an awesome display of power - for him.

 

"The earliest I've ever had two home runs," Tony Gwynn Jr. confessed, sounding as amazed as if he'd found a dolphin doing tricks in the training room Jacuzzi.

 

"It used to be flares to the left,'' said teammate Brad Nelson, doing the appropriate hand motion of a baseball taking an abrupt nosedive. "Now he's turning on it. It's coming off his bat a lot harder.''

 

So, finally, a breakout year for the career of Anthony Keith Gwynn Jr.?

 

"That could be overdramatic right now,'' Gwynn laughed. "You have to understand it's only May.''

 

Gwynn was sitting in the third base dugout of the Nashville Sounds, his current employer. In three hours, he'd begin another typical night - two hits in five at-bats. Ho-hum.

 

His average is more than 50 points higher than his .257 average over two seasons with the Huntsville Stars. But maturity, not magic.

 

"I'm getting more experience, more confidence,'' Gwynn said. "I trust myself a little more. The things that are coming out of that I've always shown signs of being able to do. It's just better this year than it has been any other season.''

 

Said Gord Ash, the Brewers' assistant general manager, "He's more relaxed, more mature, more prepared at the plate than he was.

 

"Sometimes," Ash continued, "when guys come out of college, especially with his pedigree, the expectations are higher. He may have done that to himself to some degree.''

 

About that pedigree...

 

His father, Tony Gwynn, won eight National League batting championships. He had 19 seasons in which he batted more than .300. He is 17th all-time with a .338 career average.

 

Next summer, he seems a lock to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.

 

Just don't tell Tony Sr. that.

 

"It's funny, we just had our first conversation about that last week when we were in Las Vegas,'' Tony Jr. said. "It was kinda weird talking about the Hall of Fame, him getting prepared for it just in case it happens. I'm pretty sure it's going to happen, but he's one of those guys who says, 'It's not happening until they say my name, blah blah blah.' "

 

The spotlight that comes from being Son of An Immortal hasn't been a negative.

 

"That was the one thing I knew, if I was going to choose to play baseball, that was something I was going to have to deal with, regardless of how good I was, how bad I was,'' Gwynn said. "It was always going to be there. It was something I decided at an early stage wasn't going to be something I would have a hard time handling. And it hasn't.

 

"I enjoy talking about my father. He played 19 years in the big leagues. He was really good at what he did. Why wouldn't I want to talk about it?''

 

Now, at .310, the ball leaping off his bat, Tony Jr. finally getting to the point he needed to be, the comparisons are getting easier to talk about, too.

[1e Corbeau]

An interesting story about "Faith NIght" at minor league parks across the nation. This practice originated in Nashville five years ago and GM Glen Yaeger is intereviewed. I know there was a bit of discussion about this last summer or the summer before.

 

Also, an un-named Sounds player is heard speaking to the attendees of Faith Night in the audio.

 

Link with audio and photos while active; text follows:

www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5434639

 

Baseball Teams Woo Christian Fans to Games

 

by Audie Cornish, NPR

 

Faith Night has long been a popular promotion for minor league baseball parks -- particularly in the South. Looking to capitalize on local church-going fans, more than 40 teams in minor league baseball and football have added Christian rock concerts and bobble-head dolls of biblical characters to their game-time entertainment.

 

The formula has worked well in Nashville, where the concept first started, and it's now being called up to the majors.

 

Rev. Ryan Bennett is director of Faith Night for the Nashville Sounds, a Triple-A baseball team. On Faith Nights, he also offers sermons outside of the team's Greer Stadium. One recent sermon featured a parable drawn from former Red Sox infielder Bill Buckner's infamous error, when a ground ball rolled between his legs just as the long-suffering Sox were on the verge of winning the 1986 World Series.

 

"I think we have all been there," Bennett tells his flock. "I think we have all been at a time in our life, at some time or another, where we felt alone. Well, hear the good news. Jesus promised that when you feel alone, you're actually not, because 'my promise to you is that I will always be with you.'"

 

But Faith Night fans aren't just in it for the baseball allegories. These events feature special performances by Christian rock groups. There are also raffles for bobble-head dolls in the image of Moses and Jonah. Later this season, there will be a stadium-wide Bible giveaway. And the events often include a team player, in full uniform, offering testimonials about their faith.

 

And of course, there's the game.

 

A Big Draw for Fans

 

Since the Nashville Sounds started up five years ago, their program Faith Night games have been among the top-10 most-attended each season. Organizers say it's because of people like Methodist pastor Jacob Armstrong, whose church group on one night was 80-plus strong, taking up most of the section behind home plate.

 

"In some ways, it's icing on the cake, because the majority of the night is spent at the baseball game," Armstrong says. "I know several families [who] have invited friends, and it's a non-threatening way to come to a church group. And then maybe they will come to church again."

 

This summer, at least two Major League Baseball teams are working on adding a Christian Faith Night to their rosters. But will a Bible Belt, minor league promotion work at big-league prices? Baseball fan Jack Crawford of Talahoma, Tenn., says it will be a tough sell.

 

"It's a bigger deal to go to a major league game and see the stars," Crawford says. "While some people may think that a faith-based night would be very nice in some circumstances, others may not. And they feel like other people's faith may be shoved down their throat."

 

That's exactly what Faith Night founders are trying to avoid.

 

'Beer Today, God Tomorrow'

 

"As much as I think it would be great for the kingdom-building aspects of what we do and the ministry side, you are not going to see a preacher down on home plate with a Bible, preaching to the crowd," says Brent High.

 

High is the CEO of Third Coast Sports, which contracts with more than 40 other minor league teams on similar promotions. He says it's not just baseball clubs; two NFL football teams and another three NBA basketball clubs have contacted him about holding Faith Night programs.

 

"I just don't anticipate it offending a non-Christian fan at any point," he says of the Faith Night promotions. "It hasn't happened yet, and I don't see us adding anything that would do that. Because ultimately, as soon as we do that, the teams lose interest."

 

That's why Faith Night performances are scheduled before or after the official game, held off to the side or on stadium concourses. Bible giveaways are handled through a redeemable coupon system at the gate. And if you don't want a Moses bobble-head doll, just say no. Nashville Sounds General Manager Glen Yaeger says it's a balancing act.

 

"We do 'Thirsty Thursday' on Thursday nights. Its beer today, God tomorrow," Yaeger says. "It's managing the expectations of your fan base."

 

Big League Debut

 

The Major League baseball teams working with Third Coast Sports are taking vastly different approaches.

 

Derrick Hall, executive vice president for the Arizona Diamondbacks, says his team has "shied away from a Faith Night."

 

"That's not something we think is appropriate for us," Hall says. "But we absolutely have no problem selling group-discount rates to a [faith-based] group."

 

The Diamondbacks have booked just one game with Third Coat this season, which Hall calls nothing more than a group sale opportunity.

 

Meanwhile, the Atlanta Braves have set up several dates with appearances by Christian pop-groups such as The Afters, and their own pitcher, John Smoltz, as a guest speaker.

 

Derek Schiller, a senior marketing executive for the Braves, says research shows many of his team's fans are religious.

 

"This is just a way to apply ourselves and create an experience that would be good for those types of fans," Schiller says.

 

Both teams say they have dabbled in marketing group sales to churches, but nothing as elaborate as the original "Faith Night" model. These summer games are just a test, says Schiller, because in the end, it's all about the ballgame.

[Mass Haas]

You can now vote for the AAA All-Stars (up to 25 times) -- Tony Gwynn, Mike Rivera, and Nelson Cruz deserve your love:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...ballot.jsp

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

www.nashvillecitypaper.co...s_id=50293

 

First baseman?s first baby comes first

By Nate Rau, Nashville City Paper Sports Correspondent

 

To hear Graham Koonce tell it, being a slave to the game of baseball or its schedule was no longer in the cards. Two weeks ago, Koonce was signed by Milwaukee and given the starting first base job for the Nashville Sounds. But the path that led him to Music City included a two-month hiatus from the game he loved, a time where retirement was a consideration. In March, Koonce was in spring training with the New York Yankees, who told the veteran first baseman he would be headed to their Double-A affiliate in Trenton, N.J. Later that day, Koonce received a phone call from his pregnant wife Aubrey, who was calling from the hospital in California. Aubrey told her husband that doctors were going to induce labor and she would have their first child sometime in the next 24 hours. Koonce was faced with a conundrum.

 

Baseball or family?

 

To Koonce, 31, it wasn?t a choice at all. Major League Baseball teams give players 72 hours leave for events like the birth of a child. That wasn?t enough for Koonce, so he went to the Yankees and asked for his release. Then he called Aubrey to say he was on his way home. ?It was shocking,? Aubrey said. ?I was in labor and you have your husband call you at the hospital and say, ?I asked for my release.? I was like, ?Oh my gosh, we don?t have a job.?? And Koonce himself knew the risk he was taking, forfeiting a paycheck and a chance to play for the most illustrious franchise in American sports. But being there for the birth of his first child ? a beautiful baby girl named Addison who is now 11 weeks old ? outweighed the honor of wearing a Trenton Thunder uniform. ?For my first child, I didn?t want to come back three days later,? Koonce said. ?So I wanted to go home, spend a couple months with my new baby and my wife. ?It?s been a total blessing.?

 

?She?s my everything?

 

Koonce said he felt like he ?owed? his wife after she?d been by his side through the peaks and valleys of his professional career. The couple has been together nine years, married the past five. Over that time, Koonce has accomplished a great deal ? including a cup of coffee with the Oakland A?s in 2003. ?It?s really cruel to put your wife and family through this lifestyle,? Koonce said. ?Having to pack up every five months and move everything and relocate. It takes somebody very special to stick with you and support you and be by your side the entire time. Fortunately, I have somebody who does that. She?s my everything.? For her part, Aubrey said her husband makes more of her sacrifices than she does. Plus, she knew what she was signing up for when she married him five years ago. ?I think he feels worse than I do about it,? Aubrey said. ?Being married, you make sacrifices. I?ve always supported him. When I met him, this is what he did and I told him, ?If you want to do this for the next 20 years, I?ll support you.??

 

No help wanted

 

Still, it was bittersweet for the Koonces while they raised Addison and waited for somebody, anybody, to call for the bulky 6-5 power hitter?s services. Aubrey likened this offseason, which saw several of their baseball friends struggle to find work, to the Great Depression. After all, Koonce has big-league experience, has crushed the ball wherever he?s gone, and was the Pacific Coast League?s Most Valuable Player in 2003. Yet the phone didn?t ring. ?It was difficult, so many of our close friends were free agents and not getting calls,? Aubrey said. ?You start to think, ?What next??? Koonce said the possibility he already played his last game crossed his mind. ?For me personally, there were a few times where it did cross my mind and I talked to my wife about it,? Koonce said of moving on from baseball. He listed becoming a firefighter or finishing his degree and becoming a physical therapist as his options.

 

Music City comes calling

 

The Milwaukee Brewers had an opening in their organization for a Triple-A first baseman after Brad Nelson got off to a stumbling start and was demoted to Huntsville. Milwaukee signed up Koonce, who?s already had an impact. He hit two homers in the team?s win over Albuquerque on Sunday. In the past three months, Koonce has gotten to be there for his wife and newborn and he?s landed on his feet as a ballplayer, too. ?It?s been great, everybody here from the staff to the coaches to my teammates,? Koonce said of playing for the Sounds. ?I?m so grateful for my opportunity. Everything has really worked out for the best.?

[Mass Haas]

Link for Vinny Rottino photo, text follows:

 

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Rottino Proves That With Hard Work And Confidence, Anything Is Possible

by Rick Kubitschek

 

The road to professional baseball is never a certain path or an easy one. Some players get drafted right out of high school, some attend college and proceed to get drafted, and yet others find more indirect routes into professional baseball. The only thing that is certain about the road to professional baseball is it takes talent and lots of hard work.

 

Vinny Rottino knows all too well that the road to professional baseball is a bumpy one and takes lots of hard work and dedication. Rottino paved his own way into professional baseball by working hard and believing that anything is possible.

 

Rottino played baseball for St. Catherine?s High School in Racine, Wisconsin. He graduated in 1998 and, despite being one of the best ball players on his team, he remained under the radar of the division one schools. Knowing that he had the talent to play baseball at a higher level, he attended the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, a Division III school, to work on his game and get an education.

 

Rottino doesn?t regret attending UW-La Crosse over a more prestigeous baseball university or not getting drafted right out of high school.

 

?It?s a big change, being 18 and living at home in high school to being a pro or lost in a sea of people,? said Rottino. ?You all of a sudden have to be responsible for your decisions, and that can be difficult. I know I wasn?t ready for that kind of responsibility.?

 

Rottino used his time at UW-La Crosse to fine-tune himself, as a person, and as a ballplayer. He worked hard on and off the field.

 

During his stint at UW-La Crosse, he never received anything less then an A. He graduated with a 4.0 and a degree in chemistry. His hard work also allowed him to excel on the field.

 

He finished his college career as the Eagles? all-time leader in at-bats (587), hits (199), runs (129), and doubles (50). He also holds the single season record for most home runs, 15. Rottino was the best at everything he worked at and he thought he was everything a professional team would want in a player.

 

?I had heard from several scouts that I was going to be drafted,? said Rottino. In his mind, he had already started to plan for a life in professional baseball.

 

Draft day came and passed and Rottino was without any takers. ?I was really disappointed,? Rottino said. Even though he was not drafted, he still held onto the hope that he might get picked up by a team as a non-drafted free agent.

 

With the hope of signing as a free agent, the dream of playing professional baseball was still very much a reality for Rottino. That option came and passed just as the draft had. The idea of playing professional baseball was starting to look more and more like a hoop dream, rather than a reality.

 

While his dreams of playing professional baseball lay in limbo, Rottino decided to continue his education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He enrolled in the pharmaceutical school and was ready to continue his higher education.

 

Even though Rottino was getting ready to embark on a new phase of his life ? one that didn?t center around baseball, that didn?t mean the game was completely out of the picture.

 

?I was always concerned about baseball,? said Rottino. While getting ready to attend UW-Madison, he decided to give independent baseball a chance. Rottino started playing for the Racine Kiwanis of the Land O? Lake League.

 

The independent leagues are a place where ballplayers go for one last shot at getting signed by a major league organization. Rottino knew he had the ability to still play ball and the independent league allowed him to continue to put a jersey on every day. Like most players in the league, Rottino still had that hope, in the back of his mind, that some major league organization would see his ability and sign him.

 

That hope of getting signed by a major league organization came true thanks to Rottino?s can-do attitude and a little help from Kiwanis head coach Jack Schiestle, a former Mets scout.

 

Schiestle knew the talent Rottino possessed and set up a tryout with the Milwaukee Brewers. The Brewers saw Rottino?s ability and potential and decided to pick him up before another team found him. Rottino became a member of the Brewers organization on February 3, 2003. Rottino?s dream was finally coming true.

 

?If you believe in something hard enough, it will come true,? said Rottino. ?I just tried to improve a little bit every day. Imagine if you do that everyday how great of a ball player you will become.?

 

Rottino?s daily improvements had made him into a better ballplayer and helped him achieve his dreams. He has gone from a non-drafted college player to a force to be reckoned with in the minor leagues.

 

Coming into the 2006 season, he was ranked as Milwaukee?s 28th-best prospect by Baseball America and during the 2004 season was selected as the Brewers? Minor League Player-of-the-Year.

 

Rottino has never thought of himself as a great ballplayer or expected to be the best.

 

?I don?t set goals for myself,? said Rottino. ?I just stay focused on what?s going on between the lines during the game and everything will work out.?

 

He knows that if he just continues to work hard and do what he has been doing everything will fall into place.

 

It hasn?t taken long for everything to fall into place for Rottino. During his four-year pro career, he has moved through the ranks of the minor leagues with extreme speed. He hasn?t spent more than one season in any of the levels he has visited.

 

Along with flying through the ranks of the Brewers? minor league system, the major league club has been keeping an eye on him. Milwaukee gave Rottino a chance to prove himself during the last two years in the Major League Spring Training Camp.

 

?Last season I was really star-struck,? Rottino stated. ?Coming into this year?s spring training, I realized I could hit these guys.? He was going up against guys he had seen giving interviews on ESPN and guys he had learned to respect for everything they had accomplished. His first spring training was to get the jitters out and get comfortable with the idea of playing with the major leaguers, and this year, he felt like one of them.

 

At such a young age of 25, Rottino already has the work ethic and the attitude of a 10-year veteran. He already has the understanding that confidence and hard work helped him get to where he is and will continue to help him reach his dreams of playing ball every day in the major leagues.

 

?It?s a blessing to just be putting on the uniform everyday,? Rottino said. If he keeps up his intense work ethic and improves at the rate he has been, the uniform he will be putting on just might say Brewers across the chest.

[Mass Haas]

Link for Nelson Cruz photo, text follows:

 

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Sounds go the extra miles

Playing in PCL means plenty of travel required

By MAURICE PATTON

Tennessean Staff Writer

 

It just never has really sounded right: The Nashville Sounds of the Pacific Coast League.

 

But since the dissolution of the American Association following the 1997 season, and the ensuing realignment of the 30 Class AAA minor league baseball teams into two leagues, that phrase has been uttered on numerous occasions.

 

And it never has really sounded right.

 

On top of that, though, there's the fact that Nashville and Memphis both appear more geographically suited to the East Coast-based International League. In terms of driving distance, nine of the other 15 PCL cities are located farther from Nashville than the farthest IL city.

 

However, as strange as it sounds and looks, the consensus is that it's not a situation that the powers-that-be in minor league baseball intend to change anytime soon.

 

"They told me I'm just making it an issue," said Dave Chase, general manager of the Memphis Redbirds, who made their first trip of the season to Nashville on Monday night as the two teams opened a four-game series at Greer Stadium.

 

"They've never gotten up at 4 a.m. to make a flight to Sacramento."

 

In all likelihood, in order for a revamping of the leagues to take place, a lot of stars would have to align. Both teams' general managers and the farm directors of their respective major league affiliates ? the St. Louis Cardinals and the Milwaukee Brewers ? would have to rally enough support within both the PCL and the International League for the change to even reach a state of discussion, and the move would have to be approved by Minor League Baseball.

 

"It affects so few farm directors, that it doesn't seem to be an issue," Chase said. "You'd have to see some mechanism for discussion, and there doesn't seem to be."

 

"Trying to get everybody in baseball to agree is another thing, too," said Scott Martens, the Brewers' business manager for player development and minor league operations. "It's interesting, but I think a lot would have to happen to get people to move forward."

 

Among the reasons for the eight-team American Association's demise at the time was the lack of variety in opponents and the desire to create a Triple-A World Series between the two league champions.

 

While there's been talk of reviving the Association as a 10-team league, nothing has gained any momentum.

 

Meanwhile, the World Series, which as a best-of-five series ended in 2000 after three seasons in Las Vegas due to a general lack of fan interest, is set to return as a one-game event in Oklahoma City this September.

 

"You hear about bringing back a third league, going back to the American Association," Martens said. "I think if you polled a number of different people, there's, geographically, a lot that could be done. In an ideal world, you'd have it set up where you don't have to travel east to west."

 

Despite being the easternmost team in the PCL, the Sounds' chances of moving to the International League will likely be impacted ? adversely ? by the impending new stadium.

 

"With Nashville getting a new park, it's going to make the PCL less likely to want to let them leave," Chase said.

 

Of the six Triple-A teams within less than 500 miles of Nashville, though, the Sounds play only one ? Memphis. Louisville is closer than the Sounds' in-state rival, and Indianapolis, Columbus, Charlotte and Toledo are all reasonable bus rides.

 

"Logistically, we spend a ton of money traveling to and from the West Coast," said Nashville assistant general manager Chris Snyder.

 

"With the late games, with radio ? it's really difficult."

[Mass Haas]

Four Sounds named PCL All-Stars

JEFF LOCKRIDGE, the Tennessean

 

Sounds Manager Frank Kremblas called four players into his office after Tuesday's game to spread the good news.

 

Kremblas told outfielders Tony Gwynn and Nelson Cruz, catcher Mike Rivera and starting pitcher Ben Hendrickson they were named to the Pacific Coast League All-Star Team. The PCL releases its full list of all-stars at 1 p.m. Thursday.

 

The AAA All-Star Game between the PCL and International League is set for July 12 at Fifth-Third Field in Toledo, Ohio.

 

"You just get to go there and have fun and enjoy it, I guess," Hendrickson said. "It's always nice to get rewarded ? to be one of the top guys. They all deserve it. They're having great years."

 

The fans, club managers and composite media ballots from each team are used to select the 13 "starting" members for the all-star teams (eight position players, a designated hitter, two starting pitchers, two relief pitchers).

 

Each group's ballots counts for one-third of the players' vote total. Gwynn led the fan voting for outfielders and Rivera led for catchers. The PCL selects 15 reserves and each of the 16 PCL teams has at least one all-star.

 

***

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Four Sounds named all-stars

By Nate Rau, Nashville City Paper Sports Correspondent

 

Nashville Sounds manager Frank Kremblas gathered pitcher Ben Hendrickson, outfielders Tony Gwynn and Nelson Cruz and catcher Mike Rivera into his office after the team?s 3-2 victory over Memphis on Tuesday.

 

Kremblas informed the foursome they would be representing the Sounds in the July 12 Triple A All-Star Game in Toledo, Ohio. Also headed to Toledo will be Sounds pitching coach Stan Kyles, who will coach the Pacific Coast League?s pitchers for the game. Last year Nashville only had one all-star, outfielder Corey Hart. This is the first Triple A all-star appearance for Gwynn, Cruz and Rivera. Hendrickson played in the game two years ago as a member of Indianapolis Indians.

 

?I just wanted you guys to know that you?ve been named to the All-Star team, congratulations,? Kremblas told the players, before telling Gwynn and Rivera they would be starters for the PCL.

 

The rest of the PCL roster won?t be officially announced until Thursday. Being named to the all-star team is an honor, but players also could use the extra rest after three months of playing every day. Rivera, in particular, said he could benefit from the time off.

 

?I?ve just got to go there and have fun and enjoy it, I guess,? Hendrickson said. ?It?s always nice to get recognized as one of the top (28) guys in the league.?

 

The Sounds had a pair of players not named to the roster who seemed to have a chance. Starting pitchers Dana Eveland (3-3, 2.01 ERA) and Dennis Sarfate (6-3, 2.87) have both pitched well this season.

[Mass Haas]

Just as Dana gets recalled...

 

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Pitching horses hope to ride into major sunset

By Nate Rau, Nashville City Paper Sports Correspondent

 

For Ben Hendrickson and Dana Eveland, the 2006 season has very much been a series of challenges.

 

The Nashville Sounds? top two starting pitchers have had to live up to the hype that follows any highly-touted prospect, a category under which both Hendrickson and Eveland certainly fall. They?ve had to deal with the challenge of undergoing an audition for their dream job on the game?s biggest stage, as both had turns at securing a spot in the Milwaukee Brewers rotation.

 

Hendrickson and Eveland have also faced the challenge of living up to their self-given nickname ?The Four Horsemen,? which also comprises Nashville?s other two talented starters, Zach Jackson and Dennis Sarfate.

 

Jackson is currently in the Brewers? starting rotation, trying his hand at filling the role that neither Eveland nor Hendrickson could earlier this season. Eveland started five games for the Brewers, while Hendrickson started three. Both had an earned-run average over 7.00 before they were demoted back to Nashville.

 

Since returning to the Sounds in May, Hendrickson and Eveland have been nothing short of dominant as they tried to regain the form that has earned them all the hype, all the expectations and the nickname.

 

As it stands now, Hendrickson (7-2) has the best ERA in the Pacific Coast League at 1.77 and Eveland (3-3) is behind by just a hair at 1.78.

 

?It?s been alright, we haven?t gotten anybody out in the big leagues, but we got plenty of guys out down here,? Hendrickson said.

 

Both pitchers said part of the problem has been their lack of opportunity in Milwaukee. The Brewers have had two spots open in their rotation since starters Ben Sheets and Tomo Ohka went down early in the season. Pitcher after pitcher has tried his hand, but for the most part those spots in the rotation have not been up to snuff.

 

Eveland said he would have liked a longer stint to prove he could fill the void.

 

?It?s tough to just go up there and all of a sudden be right in it,? Eveland said. ?You?ve still got the nerves every time you pitch up there. Give us a little time up there and it might be a different story.?

 

Veteran hurler Rick Helling was on a rehab assignment in Nashville when he was asked his thoughts of Nashville?s Horsemen. Helling said all four had the talent to be successful big league starters, but in his mind Eveland and Hendrickson were trying too hard during their Milwaukee starts.

 

?A lot of guys think they have to do something more once they get up,? Helling said. ?They try to do too much. You don?t have to do that. You?re good enough to be here, or else they wouldn?t have called you up in the first place.?

 

Pitching for the Sounds has been a different story. The 25-year-old Hendrickson was named to the PCL All-Star team and Eveland, 22, pitching in his first full season at the Triple-A level, has been mostly dominant.

 

Hendrickson said they gave themselves the nickname because they recognized very early how successful they had a chance to be.

 

?If one guy goes out ? and threw the ball well, then I have to see if I can throw it as well,? Hendrickson said. ?It?s a ?Now I?m trying to top him? kind of thing.?

 

?It definitely helps your confidence,? Eveland said of pitching in the league?s best starting five. ?Your teammate goes out and throws so well against a team and you think, ?Now that team ain?t got nothing against us.? Watching another teammate builds my confidence.?

[Mass Haas]

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Sounds' Gwynn making fantasy reality

By Jim Masilak, Memphis Commecial Appeal

 

Tony Gwynn Jr. has a major edge on the competition in what can be a cutthroat business.

 

Whenever the Nashville Sounds outfielder needs advice -- whether in terms of preparation, strategy or execution -- all he need do is pick up the phone and call his famous father and Hall of Fame namesake.

 

What's the most priceless pearl of wisdom former San Diego Padres star Tony Gwynn has passed on to his son?

 

"Running backs," the younger Gwynn said Thursday afternoon after taking batting practice at AutoZone Park. "He's big on running backs. He says people put too much stock in big-name quarterbacks, and that you should always load up on running backs. You know they're going to get the ball."

 

Fantasy football?

 

This is what perhaps the greatest pure hitter of his generation, a man who hit .338 over 20 big-league seasons, spends countless hours talking about with his 23-year-old son, one of the top prospects in the Milwaukee Brewers organization?

 

Absolutely.

 

"He got me into fantasy football, and I got to my league championship last year under his tutelage," said Gwynn, recently selected as a starting outfielder for the Pacific Coast League in Wednesday's Triple-A All-Star game in Toledo. "I had a major advantage because I had him as my strategic adviser. With him on my side, I figured I couldn't lose. And I didn't."

 

Despite showing plenty of promise in his brief professional career, Gwynn, a second-round pick by the Milwaukee Brewers in 2003, knows he has a long way to go to reach his father's level.

 

While Gwynn is still eagerly awaiting his first big-league call-up -- he's hitting .300 with two homers and 30 RBI in 81 games for the Sounds -- he is also looking forward to graduating to the upper echelons of the fantasy game.

 

"We aren't in the same league," said Gwynn, who who was given the night off as the Sounds completed a three-game sweep of the Redbirds with a 5-3 win. "My dad, he had two big-money fantasy leagues he was in that I couldn't afford. I had to stick with my Triple-A league."

 

Perhaps not for long.

 

"He'll play in the big leagues, no question about that," said Redbirds manager Danny Sheaffer, who played against the elder Gwynn in the big leagues. "Tony could run when he was younger ... but I don't think Tony ever looked like this kid. He's your (quintessential) leadoff hitter."

 

Gwynn, who played collegiately for Tony Sr. at San Diego State, shares more than a name with his father.

 

He also boasts a sweet, lefthanded swing and speaks in a similarly gregarious, high-pitched tone. And, like his father in his younger days -- Tony Sr. was drafted by the NBA's San Diego Clippers on the same day he was chosen by the Padres -- the 6-0, 185-pound Tony Jr. is an athlete.

 

His 21 stolen bases, for instance, rank second on a Nashville club that leads the PCL with 134 swipes.

 

"When he was my age, he was an athletic guy. He could have been a leadoff guy, but when he came up (the Padres) had Alan Wiggins," Gwynn said. "Me, out of the gate, I'm a leadoff guy. I try to get on by any means necessary because I don't have the luxury of handling the bat the way he did. In this situation, I guess that's not a bad thing. He hit .300 19 straight years, and not many guys do that."

 

Having grown up in major-league clubhouses, Gwynn is eager to make it back on his own merit.

 

He's part of an impressive collection of prospects, along with Rickie Weeks, Prince Fielder, Nelson Cruz and Corey Hart, that makes Milwaukee's farm system the envy of many.

 

"It's a really exciting time for the organization," Gwynn said. "This is my first year in Triple-A and being in a beautiful park like this reminds you that you're a little bit closer now. It just makes you hungrier to get where you're going."

 

Photo by Nikki Boertman/The Commercial Appeal

Tony Gwynn Jr. has the hitting stroke and the speed on the basepaths needed to be a successful leadoff hitter in the major leagues. Redbirds skipper Danny Sheaffer thinks he'll make it one day.

 

http://mas.scripps.com/MCA/2006/07/07/7d1m_o.jpg

[Mass Haas]

Nashville Site:

Link for Nelson Cruz photo, text follows --

 

www.nashvillesounds.com/n...ewsId=2049

 

Nelson Cruz Finishes 3rd In Home Run Derby

 

TOLEDO, Ohio -- Fifth Third Field was on center stage Monday night, playing host to the Triple-A home run derby, and many of minor league baseballs top sluggers.

 

Electrifying the Fifth Third Field crowd with home run after home run off and even over the leftfield scoreboard, Cleveland Indian top prospect Andy Marte was crowned the 2006 ProMedica Health System Triple-A Home Run Derby Champion.

 

Marte belted 10 long balls in the first of three rounds, propelling the 22 year old into the second round along with Toledo?s own Ryan Ludwick (6), Nelson Cruz (4) of the Nashville Sounds, and Luke Scott (3) of the Round Rock Express, Scott defeated former Hen and current Durham Bull Kevin Witt (3) in a sudden death shootout to advance.

 

Ludwick put fans on their feet in his second round home run showcase, bombing seven home runs, including several over Monroe St. The seven dingers put Ludwick into the finals along with Marte.

 

The Bisons slugger was able to blast another 13 home runs, electrifying the Toledo crowd once again. Cruz and Scott failed to advance, with Cruz nailing four homers, and Scott hitting three of his own.

 

Home runs were hard to come by in the final round for Ludwick, even after a fast start. Ludwick blistered five homers putting the pressure on the young Marte. The slugger responded in a big way bombing six home runs, with four outs remaining.

[Mass Haas]

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Sounds still riding momentum

By Nate Rau, Nashville City Paper Sports Correspondent

 

Since becoming the Triple-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers prior to last season, the Nashville Sounds have worked to earn the respect of the rest of the Pacific Coast League.

 

Last year, the Sounds hovered around first place throughout the season before eventually winning the PCL American Northern Division. The team then went on to win the PCL Championship, giving Nashville its first Triple-A crown.

 

And the Sounds have followed up last year?s banner year by holding down first place throughout the first half of this season. The Sounds will celebrate their successful first half at tonight?s Triple-A All-Star Game in Toledo, Ohio, where Nashville will be well represented.

 

The Sounds have three players and one assistant coach taking part in tonight?s festivities. Last year only one Sound, Trent Durrington, was selected to the team. Tonight, outfielders Tony Gwynn and Nelson Cruz, pitcher Ben Hendrickson and pitching coach Stan Kyles will represent the Sounds.

 

?It probably does say something about us and the success we?ve had,? manager Frank Kremblas said. ?All those guys deserved it.?

 

Not included in the game will be catcher Mike Rivera, who was promoted to Milwaukee last week. Shortstop Chris Barnwell was having a stellar season before he was promoted earlier in June and likely would have gotten all-star consideration as well.

 

?Barny would have gotten some consideration but it would have been tough because there are so many shortstops,? Kremblas said. ?I?d rather have guys get called up than [be elected to the All-Star team].?

 

Since the beginning of the 2005 season, Kremblas and his staff have seen two Nashville stars become everyday starters with the Brewers in first baseman Prince Fielder and second baseman Rickie Weeks. Additionally, reliever Jose Capellan has been entrenched in the Brewers bullpen and outfielder Corey Hart has been in Milwaukee since late last season.

 

?I?m always happy when guys get promoted. That?s what we?re here to do,? Kremblas said. ?It says we?re doing something right.?

 

***

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All-Stars an honor for Sounds

Hendrickson joined by Cruz, Gwynn

By MAURICE PATTON

Tennessean Staff WriterT

 

TOLEDO, Ohio ? For the second time in three years, Ben Hendrickson is in uniform for the Triple-A All-Star Game.

 

And while it's not the ultimate goal for the Nashville Sounds starting pitcher, it's hardly an insult.

 

"It's great being in the game; it's all the best players in your league," said the 25-year-old, who is one of four Nashville players selected to the Pacific Coast League team for tonight's contest, along with catcher Mike Rivera and outfielders Nelson Cruz and Tony Gwynn.

 

However, Rivera's contract was purchased by the Milwaukee Brewers last week and he will not participate.

 

"It's a great honor to be in that group of guys," Hendrickson said.

 

Hendrickson started for the International League in the 2004 event, part of a campaign in which he went 11-3 with a 2.02 earned run average for Indianapolis and was named the IL's Most Valuable Player as well as the Brewers' Minor League Pitcher of the Year.

 

After going 1-8 for the Brewers that same year, though, the Minnesota native struggled to a 6-12, 4.97 ERA finish with the Sounds in 2005.

 

"I'd rather be in an all-star game than have another deal like last year," he said.

 

"It didn't go as planned. My numbers weren't very good. I struggled with my command. But now I'm back to where I was in '04 and even better. I've just got to keep it going."

 

All things considered, though, Hendrickson would swap a Triple-A All-Star Game appearance for a major league roster spot. The right-hander, who made four appearances (three starts) with the Brewers in May and posted a 12.00 ERA, was passed over last week for a callup in favor of fellow Sounds starter Dana Eveland.

 

The two had fairly comparable statistics ? Hendrickson has a 1.84 ERA with 67 strikeouts in 83-1/3 innings and is 7-3, while Eveland had a 1.78 ERA with 74 strikeouts in 65-2/3 innings with a 3-3 record at the time of his departure.

 

"It's always your goal to get up and stay up," Hendrickson said. "But it's great for Dana; he deserves it. I've just got to keep doing what I'm doing. Hopefully, I'll get my chance again, too."

 

According to Sounds pitching coach Stan Kyles, it's not just physical performance that Hendrickson needs to concentrate on when he makes that return to the majors.

 

"With Ben, he still has to understand that it takes a total commitment," Kyles said. "He does it all on instinct. For a young pitcher, I've never seen a guy with as good pitching instincts as he has. But he's got to understand the other things it takes for him to get to that level and continue the success he has had here.

 

A lot of it is preparation and strength and the will and desire to not be denied.

 

"When he reaches that, and I believe he will, he's going to be a hell of a big league pitcher. I'm still waiting on him to step up to the plate and say, 'I'm going to take full responsibility for my career, from this point on.' "

 

Toward that end, Hendrickson knows what he didn't do previously at the major league level and is ready to take steps to address those shortcomings.

 

"It's a mindset," he said. "It's like I didn't pitch the same. It's like I'm afraid to shake off the catchers up there. Down here, I shake all the time. If I go up (to the Brewers) and throw to Mike (Rivera), I'll shake and he'll go right to the pitch I want to throw. It's like a comfort thing. I don't work with those (major league catchers) very often. I think I threw to Damian Miller once and to Chad Moeller maybe three times. I've thrown to Mike plenty of times."

 

For now, though, he's going to focus on doing what he needs to do where he is ? and tonight, that's at Fifth Third Field.

 

"I just have to go out and have fun," he said. "I've got family coming in from Minnesota, and it'll be great to see them. It's just going to be a fun time."

[Mass Haas]

6:05 Central Time on ESPN2:

 

MiLB.com's AAA All-Star Game Page:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...;fext=.jsp

 

Live Gameday, box score and game log links available via this link later on:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...mp;lid=112

 

The game is available free via MiLB.TV:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c.../video.jsp

 

Live and archived audio of the game:

If archived, be sure to select July 12th as your date...

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c.../audio.jsp

[bullox]

Ben not looking very good out there...he comes in in the 3rd, immediately gives up a laser shot single. Next batter hits a laser to 3rd, could've been a force at 2nd. Howie Kendrick misses the play at 2nd, runners at the corners, no outs. Next batter, Ben spikes one about a foot before the plate, both runners advance on the wild pitch, one run in.

 

Then he gets a K and a pop out in foul territory. Next batter, HR. 3-0 IL, all runs given up by Ben. Next batter Ks.

 

1 IP, 2 hits, 3 runs, 1WP, 1HR, 2K. (unofficially)

 

Next inning, 1BB, 1 hit.

 

updated unofficial line: 2IP 3H 3R 1WP 1HR 1BB 2K.

[Tisko]

Did Buck Martinez just randomly mention Russell Branyon?