Your 2006 W.V. Power

[Mass Haas]

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www.hernandotoday.com/spo...5I3NE.html

 

Pro climb continues for ex-Bear Ryan

By MARTY MILLER

Hernando (Fla.) Today correspondent

 

BROOKSVILLE -- It is a long way from pitching for Central High School to throwing for the West Virginia Power of the South Atlantic League.

 

But former Bear Patrick Ryan is applying his trade with the Class A Milwaukee Brewers minor league system and hoping that some day he we?ll be donning a uniform in the big leagues.

 

Ryan, who played his college ball at Embry-Riddle University in Daytona Beach and was drafted by the Brewers in the 15th round of last year's summer draft, is now a middle reliever for the West Virginia Power who play their games in Charleston, W.V.

 

After pitching last summer in Helena, Mont., in Rookie ball, Ryan has moved up a notch in the Brewers system to full season Class A ball.

 

And he says that all he really wants to concentrate on is doing well each time he's called on.

 

"I have no idea about moving up," Ryan said in a recent interview. "I'm not really worried about that because I can't really control that and what they have planned for me. Whenever I get into a game, I just have to worry about getting people out."

 

This year, Ryan has appeared in 10 games as of May 9 and has a 0-1 won-lost record with a 2.65 earned run average while giving up only three walks and striking out 18.

"I've been doing pretty good actually," he said. "It's all the same, whenever you go out there; you have to get people out."

 

As a 15th round draft choice, Ryan right now doesn't get the big push from the organization in making the big league roster in a year or two.

 

"Usually, the time table seems to be five years to be in the big leagues. Since this is my first full season, they are getting to know me like I'm getting to know pro baseball. Now, I pretty much go out and if I put up good numbers, then good things will happen to me. If I don't, then I won't be playing pro anymore."

 

Ryan says that he was a little surprised about living in Charleston. "It's a bigger town than you think,? said the 22 year-old right-hander. "It's bigger than Brooksville and it's a lot better than I thought it would be, I thought it was going to be a lot more country but the people around here are super nice."

"They pretty much treat us like kings. Everyone knows who you are and you get discounts for just about everything. And the host families do absolutely just about everything for you. It's awesome."

 

During the past winter, Ryan got a chance to watch some spring training games and saw it from a different standpoint. "I was watching someone throw in the bullpen and every pitch was at the knees," he said."They don't throw anything above the belt. That's were the consistency comes in with getting the ball down."

 

"If there is one word that separates the minor leagues from the majors it's consistency," he said. "In their game preparations, in what they do in the off-season and even pitch-to-pitch."

 

In his second season of pro baseball, Ryan says the one difference he's noticed from college ball to the pros is the ability of the hitters. "When I was in college, there were one or two guys you had to worry about. But now, it's one through nine in the batting order and you have to make sure that you are on top of your game."

[Mass Haas]

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www.dailymail.com/news/Sp...006051830/

 

Mediocre season weighing heavily on player's mind

Jacob Messer

Charleston Daily Mail sportswriter

 

Some people are their own worst critics.

 

West Virginia Power infielder Ryan Crew is a perfect example.

 

Chicago Sun-Times film critic Roger Ebert, Gourmet Magazine food critic Ruth Reichl and American Idol music critic Simon Cowell couldn't have combined to give Crew a harsher review than the one he gave himself Wednesday after a 3-for-4 hitting performance in a 6-3 loss to the Augusta Greenjackets.

 

It marked his eighth multi-hit game and third three-hit game this season.

 

With that in mind, he was asked if it were his best performance so far.

 

"It was my luckiest performance," Crew said bluntly. "I have been waiting all season to get some quote-unquote lucky hits. I got three of them tonight. Maybe that will get me going.

 

"This is by far the worst stretch or slump or whatever you want to call it of my career."

 

Two of his three singles came on hit-and-run plays that drew cheers from the Appalachian Power Park crowd of 2,731 fans.

 

"He executed," hitting coach Mike Lum said of the 6-foot, 175-pound Crew, whom the Milwaukee Brewers drafted in the 40th round last year from the University of Texas-San Antonio. "That isn't luck; that is skill."

 

An ankle injury to Kenny Holmberg led to a position switch for Crew, who shifted from shortstop to second base in place of his hobbled teammate.

 

Incidentally, Crew has been more productive since Holmberg sprained his left ankle April 28.

 

Crew was 17-for-67 (.254) with four runs and eight RBI in his 17 games before Holmberg's injury. Since his move to second base, Crew is 18-for-59 (.305) with 12 runs and eight RBI in 16 games.

 

His batting average has climbed 24 points during that span, rising from .254 to .278.

 

Yet, he isn't impressed.

 

"Technically, I haven't been hitting all that great lately," said Crew, whom Baseball America calls the Brewers' third-best minor-league shortstop. "It has been the same thing everyday for me -- 1-for-4, 1-for-5, 1-for-4.

 

"Tonight, I finally got the weight off my shoulders because I finally got more than one hit.

 

"So far, it is a very disappointing season for me and for the team also. One game over .500 -- that isn't what we expected. There are a lot of guys in the same situation as me -- doing enough to be decent.

 

"But no one is doing exceptionally great. Once we all get to the point where we should be, things will fall into place."

 

To make matters worse, Crew can't leave the game and his performance at the ballpark.

 

"A lot easier said than done," said Crew, a 22-year-old native of Richmond, Texas. "Unfortunately, I'm the guy who goes home every night and looks at the numbers.

 

"You have a lot more pressure than fans and other people notice. It's tough."

 

Manager Mike Guerrero and Lum want Crew to relax.

 

"He puts too much pressure on himself," Lum said. "He needs to learn to relax and enjoy the game. He is a good player and a good hitter.

 

"Sometimes, you set standards you can't achieve as a player because you set them too high. You do the best you can. He sets his standards way, way, way too high."

 

Guerrero wants Crew to keep his hitting in perspective.

 

"He is one of the guys on the team who hits the ball the hardest, but it has been line drives right at people," Guerrero said.

 

"It's OK to not be satisfied with a single.

 

"But when you hit the ball hard right at people, there isn't nothing you can do about it. There are things you can't control.

 

"He has been swinging the bat great since the beginning of the season. It's just a matter of time before the balls start dropping in for hits. He would do so much better if he would just relax."

 

Crew realizes there is plenty of time to improve his statistics and hone his skills.

 

"When you are struggling, like me, and a lot of the other guys are, you have to know you have (more than) 100 games and (more than) 300 at-bats left," said Crew, who ranked fourth in batting average (.346) and fifth in doubles (19) in the Pioneer League last season when he and most of his teammates played for Helena.

 

"It's a long season."

[Mass Haas]

Originally published in late April and early May...

 

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www.kokomoperspective.com...16&S=1

 

Thatcher, Wooley part of West Virgina Power

Injury leads to local pitchers meeting up in Milwaukee Brewers? single A ballclub

By Steve Geiselman, Sports Editor

Kokomo (Indiana) Perspective

 

(This is the first part of a two-part story on local minor league pitchers Joe Thatcher and Robbie Wooley, both of whom are currently pitching for the West Virginia Power, a single A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers.)

 

Kokomo?s Joe Thatcher had been moving at a solid pace in the Milwaukee Brewers farm system. Last year, he moved up from the independent River City Rascals in O?Fallon, Mo., to the Helena Brewers, a rookie league team in Montana.

 

A hard-throwing relief pitcher, he headed into spring training this year with a load of optimism.

 

?I was in Montana last year for about a month,? Thatcher said. ?Then I moved up to High A in Florida. I was there for the last two weeks of the season.?

 

So Thatcher had every reason to be optimistic as camp broke this spring.

 

?I went home in the off-season, and things were going good,? he said. ?I was in spring training with the Double A team, the Huntsville Stars, and I thought I had a good shot to make the club. But I ended up being the last guy cut.?

 

So he was ready to go back to Florida to the high single A club. But fate had a different plan.

 

?The day before I was ready to go, I slipped in the shower and fell,? Thatcher said. ?I fell and bruised my ribs.?

 

The organization decided to keep him in spring training until he was healthy. Meanwhile, they sent someone else to Florida in his spot, anticipating his rehabilitation would take longer than expected.

 

?A week later I was ready to go,? Thatcher said. ?So they sent me here (to West Virginia).?

 

Thatcher said he anticipates being shipped back to Florida as soon as a spot opens up, although he is enjoying his time along with Robbie Wooley, another local player who is currently with the Power.

 

?We were on the same last year in Montana,? Thatcher said. ?It was really nice when I signed last year to have someone there from my hometown. It helped me get to know the guys in the team pretty fast.?

 

Thatcher and Wooley were at spring training at the same time this year as well.

 

?It was nice to be able to talk with someone over the winter as I was getting ready for my first spring training,? Thatcher said.

 

Right now, Thatcher said he is getting his arm in shape for the season and is ready for whatever the Brewers do with him.

 

?I was all ready to go after spring training, then the injury happened,? Thatcher said. ?It is taking me some time to get my arm back to where I want it. Every time I got out, it feels better and better.?

 

Thatcher said the injury has helped him put things in perspective, especially the uncertainty of minor league baseball.

 

?You have to be patient at this level,? he said. ?I realized I am only one injury away from being moved up or moved down.?

 

***

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www.kokomoperspective.com...D=&S=1

 

Wooley at home in West Virginia

Taylor graduate determined to have fun on the mound

By Steve Geiselman, Sports Editor

Kokomo (Indiana) Perspective

 

(Editor?s note -- This is the second of a two-part story on Robbie Wooley and Joe Thatcher, two Kokomo natives who are playing minor league baseball in West Virginia.)

 

It's a long way from Kokomo, Indiana, to West Virginia. Actually it's only about 300 miles. But for former Taylor baseball player Robbie Wooley it's been a long journey. A journey that has spanned four years - and hopefully won't end soon.

 

Wooley, drafted in the sixth round by Milwaukee in 2003, is currently a starting pitcher for the West Virgina Power, a single A affiliate of the Brewers. In his fourth year of professional baseball, Wooley said that he is learning what it takes to be a good player.

 

?I have finally figured it out,? he said recently via telephone after a day game. ?It takes more than just throwing the ball 92 or 95 MPH. You have to learn the game.?

 

Last season was not a good one, Wooley admits. He didn't feel comfortable with his situation or his performance.

 

?I didn't get off to the best start last year,? he said. ?I had some personal distractions. I felt like I wasn't getting anything out of it.?

 

One of his problems last season was the lack of run support. But, as is the case with minor league baseball, the majority of his teammates from last season have moved on. Most of them are at the next level, with Brevard County Manatees, Milwaukee's high Class-A team.

 

?When you are playing professional baseball, you want to be with a group of guys you have confidence in - last year I didn't always have that,? he said. ?I fit in with this group of guys much better.?

 

The change in teammates has made a difference but more importantly he's made change in himself.

 

?My only goal is to have fun,? he said. ?I said that my only short-term goal on the field is to pitch from out to out. That's all I have to worry about.?

 

Making the transition from high school baseball to professional baseball has changed his outlook as well. Going from rookie league in Arizona to rookie (+) in Helena, Montana to West Virginia, Wooley has traveled quite a bit. But at the end of the day, his eyes and heart are still set on Kokomo.

 

?I told my dad that I don't want to live in a big city,? Wooley said. ?One thing I've learned is that the older you get, the less you miss home. But I love to come back home and see all the people who have been following what I do.?

 

Since he's been in West Virgina, Wooley has met up with Joe Thatcher, another Kokomo native and Power player. Like Thatcher, Wooley said that having a teammate from the same hometown - even though they hadn't met before - makes things easier.

 

?Being a minor league baseball player isn't as easy as some people think it is,? Wooley said. ?At home you are playing for a paycheck but when you are on the road, you are playing for $20 per day in meal money. You don't get your paycheck until you get back home.?

 

Wooley said that he leases an apartment on a month by month basis, which means deposit money up front - even before the first paycheck arrives.

 

?We have a guy on the team whose brother-in-law is Lance Berkman of the Houston Astros (RHP Josh Baker). He said that Berkman told him that one of the biggest differences in the majors and the minors is the travel. Major leaguers fly every where. We ride the bus. We are always on the bus.

 

?When you spend four or five hours on a bus it can cause your elbow to cramp and your shoulder gets tight. It's tough to get out and pitch after that.?

 

Wooley said that for all of the hardships it still isn't something he'd give up.

 

?It not easy but I wouldn't give it up for anything,? he said.

 

http://www.kokomoperspective.com/SiteImages/Article/3354a.jpg

 

http://www.kokomoperspective.com/SiteImages/Article/3304a.jpg

[Mass Haas]

We linked to a prior story when Kenny Holmberg was first drafted last year -- latest from West Virginia below; nice job by the Daily Mail's power beat writer, Jacob Messer...

 

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www.dailymail.com/news/News/2006060523/

 

?I just love baseball'

Jacob Messer

Charleston Daily Mail sportswriter

 

Diane Holmberg didn't watch her son, Kenny, get on the school bus for the first time. She didn't bake him chocolate chip cookies. And she never attended his baseball games to cheer for him.

 

An automobile accident erased those memories and more before they could be made.

 

Kenny's first memory of his mother is of a moment right after the accident that essentially took her from him when he was a toddler.

 

"It isn't easy never getting to know your mom and spend time with her," said Kenny, who is 23 and plays for the West Virginia Power.

 

"A lot of kids take for granted having both of their parents or just their mom or just their dad. They should be happy they have parents who love them and are there for them because something could happen any time."

 

On Sunday morning, June 23, 1985, Diane was driving her children -- 2-year-old Kenny and 5-year-old Brianne -- to the Bible school where she taught in Syracuse, N.Y.

 

A 17-year-old girl slammed her car into the Holmbergs as they pulled out of the driveway of their apartment complex.

 

Diane absorbed the brunt of the broadside collision.

 

Her husband, Dennis, who then managed the Syracuse minor-league baseball team, was on the road with the club in Pawtucket, R.I. The phone in his hotel room rang about 8:30 a.m.

 

A New York state trooper informed him that his wife and children had been in a wreck.

 

"How are my children?" he asked.

 

"The children are fine," the officer said. "Just some bumps and bruises."

 

"What about my wife?" he asked.

 

"I can't comment on that," the trooper told him.

 

Dennis rushed home to Syracuse's Upstate Medical Center, where his wife was unresponsive and motionless, her head and neck stabilized by a halo.

 

She suffered a skull fracture that caused severe brain damage from which she never has recovered. Hooked to a ventilator and feeding tube, she remains semi-comatose in a long-term care facility in Norwalk, Conn., where her father and brother live nearby and visit daily.

 

She is 54.

 

"I'm glad she is in a place where people care about her and love her," Kenny said. He last saw her at Christmas. They watch videos and look at pictures together during his visits.

 

"And I tell her I love her," he said. "She knows my presence. She is smiling. It really makes me feel good that she is happy. But it's still really tough."

 

Kenny said the only thing he remembers about the accident is being transfixed by the rubber knob on a window crank that had been knocked loose. He clutched it, and then glanced at his mother, who lay against the steering wheel with her head against the window.

 

"That was probably my earliest memory," Kenny said. "I don't remember ever doing anything with her besides that."

 

Love at first sight

 

Dennis met Diane on his birthday, during a baseball game he was coaching on Aug. 2, 1978.

 

"It was love at first sight," said Dennis, who now manages the Auburn Doubledays in the New York Penn League.

 

After the wreck, doctors told him recovery would take at least one year and probably two, if it happened at all.

 

"They said 50 percent of bodily functions usually return in the first year, then you build on that in the second year," Dennis said. "It has been 21 years now, and she probably isn't even at 10 or 20 percent."

 

The Toronto Blue Jays, wanting to ease the family's plight after the accident, moved Dennis from their Triple-A affiliate in Syracuse to their Single-A club in Dunedin, Fla. Diane's parents -- Nardin and the late Lillian Duncan -- lived in Clearwater at the time and could help him with the children.

 

In Florida, Kenny had a circle of surrogate mothers including his best friends' mothers, Donna Banks and Sally Pachik, and his grandmothers, Opal Holmberg and Lillian Duncan.

 

Opal, who had raised four children, quit her job in New Columbus, Ga., and moved to Florida to care for her grandchildren over the next eight years.

 

"I was worried about the kids," she said. "So, I decided to start a new life. I became a mother again."

 

She also was a batting-practice pitcher for Kenny when he still was in diapers.

 

"He always carried a bat and ball around the house," she said. "He was tiny. The bat was bigger than him."

 

Baseball was in his heart

 

Sally Pachik recalls her daily drive home from her job at Bank of America in Palm Harbor. She saw the same thing each summer day: Kenny shagging flies, fielding grounders or taking cuts at Palm Field.

 

"It was 100 degrees in the shade, and there he was, day in and day out," she said. "I used to ask him, ?What makes you do that? What drives you that doesn't drive other boys?' He always said, ?I just love baseball. Baseball is in my heart.' ?'

 

When Kenny turned 5, Dennis started taking his son to work with him. Kenny loved it.

 

"Whenever I went to the ballpark," Kenny said, "I had a smile on my face the whole day."

 

Watching the players and doing everything they did, from hitting in the cage and throwing on the side to sitting in the dugout and eating in the clubhouse, he learned the game's intricacies and the nuances.

 

"I saw the right way and the wrong way to do things on and off the field," Kenny said.

 

Some players made a special effort to treat Kenny with kindness. One was Carlos Delgado, the New York Mets' superstar first baseman.

 

"We would kid him a lot," Delgado said through team spokesman Jay Horwitz. "The other Spanish-speaking players and myself would teach him words in Spanish so he could talk to us."

 

There were others, though, who made Kenny the butt of practical jokes. They once placed him inside a bat bag and loaded it into the luggage compartment under the bus for a 10-minute commute from the hotel to the ballpark.

 

"The guys picking on you and messing with you, it comes with the territory," he said. "I would be hitting in the cage or throwing on the side, and I would hear guys say, ?There's no way this guy isn't going to play professional baseball one day.' They were trying to be cute and sly.

 

"But you know what? It was true. With all of the work I put in, I knew I would make it. I could have been like other kids. I could have gone home and played video games or watched television. But my priority was baseball. The field was my haven. I could go there and I would feel happy and I wouldn't worry about anything else."

 

Kenny became a star wherever he played.

 

He was an all-conference selection each year of high school and college -- two years at Palm Harbor University High; two years at Dunedin High, where he also was an All-State pick; two years at St. Petersburg Junior College; and two years at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, where he also was an All-America pick.

 

He believes God led him to Embry-Riddle, where the Eagles made back-to-back NAIA World Series appearances. He made the All-World Series team both years and won the Golden Glove award last year.

 

"I could have gone to other schools," said Kenny, who hit .374 as a junior and .342 as a senior. "I had other opportunities. But I was sent there to make my teammates and the program better."

 

Finding the answer

 

At Embry-Riddle, Kenny finally found an answer to a question that had haunted him throughout high school and junior college.

 

"I wondered, ?If there is a God, why would he take this woman who is a strong Catholic, goes to church and wants both of her children to grow up in a religious background?' ?' he said.

 

Embry-Riddle Coach Greg Guilliams suggested he look at Matthew 5:45 in the Bible.

 

"That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust."

 

Kenny called that "the truest thing" he ever heard.

 

"Bad things happen to good people, bad things happen to bad people, good things happen to bad people and good things happen to good people," he said. "That's just the way life is."

 

Kenny has a strong spiritual side, but he is a different person when he plays baseball.

 

On the field, his buddies say, Kenny's style is playing hard, getting dirty and talking trash.

 

"He is the guy you love as a teammate but hate as an opponent," said Bryan Banks, who has been both in their two-decade friendship.

 

Just ask Chris Pachik, a former Pasco Hernando Community College pitcher who faced Kenny when the friends were Suncoast Conference rivals.

 

"He wouldn't look at me or talk to me," Pachik said. "He called me the enemy."

 

Pick up the 2006 Baseball America Prospect Handbook, which rates and evaluates the top 30 prospects for each of the 30 professional teams. Open it to the Brewers' section. Look for Kenny's name on that list. It isn't there. But those who know him best think it should be.

 

"Nobody knows who Kenny is," Pachik said.

 

Kenny ranked first in the Pioneer League in slugging percentage (.623), first in on-base percentage (.450), second in batting average (.372), third in RBI (51) and fourth in home runs (12) with Helena last year, which was his rookie season in professional baseball.

 

Baseball America mentioned him among those who had "the best pro debut" and called him the best defensive player among the Brewers' minor-league prospects. But he wasn't among their top 30 prospects. In fact, he is ranked the organization's third-best second-base prospect.

 

At 5 feet, 9 inches and 175 pounds, Kenny understands the experts. He isn't an above-average defender, hitter, runner or thrower -- and those are his own words. He doesn't have the size, strength or speed of his peers.

 

"I'm not loaded with the most talent," said Kenny, whom the Brewers selected in the 22nd round last year. "I don't possess all of the tools. But I can compete and play with anybody. I know that."

 

Power Manager Mike Guerrero agrees.

 

"There are three tools you don't show, and those are the three tools he has," Guerrero said. "One, heart. Two, a willingness to work. Three, guts. Nobody sees those tools, but sometimes they are the most valuable tools."

 

All the doubters do is give Kenny more motivation.

 

"Do they know what's inside of me?" he asked. "Do they know what I have been through? No. For that simple reason, I just believe in myself. I know what I can do, and I know I can make it happen."

 

Milwaukee scout Charles Aliano, who signed Kenny, calls him "the epitome of the Great American Dream."

 

"He is proof that if you work hard, you can achieve your goals," Aliano said. "That is exactly what he has done up until this point."

 

More challenges

 

This is a tough time for Kenny, who was placed on the Power's disabled list Monday because of inflammation in his left Achilles tendon.

 

He suffered a high ankle sprain April 28 and was on the disabled list from April 30 through May 19.

 

He hit .308 with four homers, eight RBI and 15 runs in 20 games before the injury compared to .200 with no homers, no runs and one RBI in four games after it.

 

Although the South Atlantic League club will miss his offense and his defense, it might miss his presence more.

 

Kenny has established himself as a team leader and the clubhouse comedian.

 

"He has a lot of knowledge, a lot of heart, a lot of willingness and a lot of guts," Guerrero said. "It's contagious."

 

Given his mental and physical toughness, Kenny likely will return from the disabled list better than ever.

 

"It's no big deal," he said. "I'll bounce back from it."

 

Considering the obstacles he has overcome, no one expects anything less.

 

Edit: Removed inactive photo links

[Mass Haas]

West Virginia Press Release:

 

The West Virginia Power, Class A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers will be represented by three players and a coach at the 47th South Atlantic League All Star Game.

 

Today, catcher Angel Salome, third baseman Mat Gamel, right fielder Lorenzo Cain and hitting coach Mike Lum were named to the South Atlantic League Northern Division All-Star team. The 47th Annual South Atlantic League All-Star Game will take place on Tuesday, June 20 at Classic Park in Eastlake, Ohio.

 

Angel Salome, regarded as one of the top prospects in the Brewers minor league system is hitting .305 through 55 games with seven home runs and he is the team leader in RBI with 43. Salome has two of West Virginia's three game-winning hits at Appalachian Power Park this season.

 

Mat Gamel is the team leader in home runs with nine. Gamel is hitting .284 with 41 RBI through 54 games. He had a nine game hitting streak earlier in the season and is hitting .368 at home.

 

Lorenzo Cain has enjoyed a nice start to the season with the Power. A year after winning the batting title in the Arizona League, Cain is hitting .300 on the year with three home runs, 22 RBI and seven stolen bases over 52 games.

 

Power hitting coach Mike Lum has helped Power hitters boast a .278 team batting average which is the best in the South Atlantic League. They are one of only five teams in the league with 500 or more hits, their 521 hits are third most. They have scored 272 runs, which ranks sixth in the league, and they are averaging nearly five runs a game.

[Mass Haas]

Hometown article on Manatee reliever Robert Hinton:

 

Link while active, text follows --

 

www.heraldtribune.com/app...00508/1006

 

Ex-Ram Hinton cruising

BY BARBARA KLEMT BOXLEITNER

Sarasota Herald-Tribune CORRESPONDENT

 

Riverview High graduate Robert Hinton is progressing efficiently through the Milwaukee Brewers' minor-league system.

 

A pitcher for the high-Class A Brevard County Manatees, Hinton has moved up a level yearly since being drafted in 2004. The right-hander was converted from a starting pitcher to a reliever last year at low-A West Virginia, where he was a South Atlantic League All-Star selection.

 

"They are projecting me moving up through the system quicker as a reliever," the 21-year-old said recently before a game with the Fort Myers Miracle.

 

"As a starter you can set your own pace," he said. "Basically you don't try to overpower them (batters), and you just try to keep your team in the game. Whereas if you're coming in relief in a tight situation, they can't score."

 

Hinton entered this week with a 2-3 record, one save, four holds and a 3.21 earned run average in 17 appearances. Most of his work has been in the seventh and eighth innings.

 

"He has done an outstanding job for us," said Brevard County pitching coach Fred Dabney, previously the Charlotte Rangers pitching coach.

 

Hinton is trying to develop his fastball, which he said he didn't throw much during high school and college, when he relied on the breaking ball. Last year the velocity of his fastball topped out at 93 mph, he said, and it has been 90 mph this season.

 

"At times there's a difference between being able to throw a strike and to command the baseball," Dabney said. "The biggest thing is getting him to command both sides of the plate, the far side of the strike zone, which is away to a righty (batter). From here up, he's going to have to be able to command the fastball and have the slider."

 

"What they want to see me be able to do is not just to throw strikes, but to throw strikes where I want to," Hinton said. "That's the big jump to make it on to the next level."

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

www.news-journalonline.co...061806.htm

 

Holmberg fights injuries

By SEAN KERNAN

Daytona News-Journal Staff Writer

 

Editor's note: This is one in a series of Sunday features profiling area players in the minor leagues.

 

Kenny Holmberg was as prepared for his professional baseball debut last season as a player could be. Not only did he grow up around the game tagging along with his father, veteran minor-league manager Dennis Holmberg, but the spunky infielder had played two years at Embry-Riddle that helped transform him both on and off the field.

 

However, there is no preparing for what Holmberg has had to do for much of the first half of the 2006 pro season with the West Virginia Power of the South Atlantic League. Two injuries have forced the energetic player to the bench or the first-base coach's box. That may be closer to his eventual destination in years to come considering the small percentage of minor-leaguers that actually get to the big leagues, but not right now.

 

No, Kenny Holmberg is a player, and a darn good one at that, despite not having any of the standout tools scouts covet.

 

But sitting on the bench after starting the year hitting .308 with four homers, eight RBIs and 15 runs in 20 games before spraining an ankle April 28 hasn't been Holmberg's idea of fun.

 

"I haven't dealt with it all that well," the 23-year-old second baseman said in a telephone interview. "It's a different way to come to the ballpark when you have to come for treatment and then sit and watch your teammates play and there not being any significant way you can help them win."

 

Holmberg came off the disabled list May 19, but tendinitis had settled into his Achilles and after one week in which he hobbled around he returned to the DL. On Friday, the Power activated the 5-foot-10, 180-pound infielder again, and he hopes things will be better.

 

"I'm probably the only guy in the clubhouse who doesn't want (next week's) all-star break to come," Holmberg said. "I've had enough time off. I need to get my timing back down and get some (at-bats)."

 

Holmberg is anxious to pick up where he left off last season, his first as a pro. Milwaukee selected him in the 22nd round of the 2005 first-year player draft and he made quite the pro debut, hitting .372 for the Helena Brewers. That was good enough to lead all of Milwaukee's minor-leaguers and finish second in the Pioneer League. He also was first in the rookie league with a .450 on-base percentage and .623 slugging mark. He smacked 12 home runs, not counting the two he hit in the opening game of the league's championship series, drove in 51 runs and scored 40 more in 207 at-bats.

 

Not bad for a player who by his own admission has no plus tools. However, Power manager Mike Guerrero says there are other tools Holmberg has that you can't measure with a stopwatch.

 

"There are three tools you don't show, and those are the three tools he has," Guerrero told the Charleston Daily Mail. "One -- heart. Two -- a willingness to work. Three -- guts. Nobody sees these tools, but sometimes they are the most valuable tools."

 

Now Holmberg just wants to stay healthy for the second half of the season so he again can show what he can do.

 

"You can't think about how well you did last year because the moment you start thinking about that you'll realize it doesn't matter anymore," Holmberg said. "It's 2006."

 

And Kenny Holmberg still has half of a season left to play ball in 2006.

 

ONE ON ONE

 

Staff writer Sean Kernan talks with Kenny Holmberg about life on and off of the field:

 

Have you been fined yet in Kangaroo Court, and if so, for what?

 

I fined myself after I had to come out of a game because I couldn't run after I told the manager that I could run.

 

How are the post-game spreads?

 

So far not so bad. It's usually hot dogs, hamburgers, chicken, spaghetti or chili. But we usually go upstairs to a restaurant on the concourse -- the Power Alley Grill -- to get something to eat after most games. They give us a 20-percent discount.

 

What type of housing do you have in Charleston?

 

We have a house. I have four roommates. I got lucky and got the whole upstairs -- a bathroom, loft, cable TV, separate air conditioner and tons of closet space. There's definitely enough room up there for two people, but it's just me. It's great.

 

You have a reputation for being funny. What type of humor is your specialty?

 

It's pretty much just smart-aleck humor. Just kind of being the goofball that I am. When I play, I wipe that off though. I'm real serious.

 

What's the best thing to happen to you since you became a professional baseball player?

 

Making the playoffs last year (with the Helena Brewers) and hitting two home runs in the first game. I probably won't ever do that again.

 

What's the worse thing that's happened?

 

Probably losing to (manager) Tom Kotchman and (player) Colby Overstreet last year in the Pioneer League championship. Colby was on Oklahoma City and they beat us (Embry-Riddle) for the (NAIA) national championship, and then he got me again in the Pioneer League title. So he got me twice last year.

[Mass Haas]

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Gamel getting it done

Jacob Messer

Charleston Daily Mail sportswriter

 

Ask West Virginia Power Manager Mike Guerrero about Mat Gamel, and he gets excited because of the potential he sees in his player.

 

Gamel has talent, Guerrero said, but lacks experience.

 

When Gamel gets that, Guerrero said, "watch out."

 

"He's raw because he doesn't have the experience of other guys," Guerrero said of the 20-year-old Gamel, a 6-foot, 205-pound third baseman who is in his second season of professional baseball.

 

"I think he will be a really, really exciting player once he gets all of that experience behind him. I would like to see where he is at three years from now. I would be willing to bet money he is pretty close to the big leagues."

 

Gamel is one of three Power players who will appear in the 47th annual South Atlantic League All-Star Game tonight at 7:35 PM (6:35 Central) at Classic Park in Eastlake, Ohio.

 

The others are catcher Angel Salome and outfielder Lorenzo Cain.

 

Hitting coach Mike Lum, who helped Northern Division runner-up West Virginia (39-30) finish the first half with the league's highest team batting average, also was chosen.

 

"It's an honor (to be selected)," Gamel said.

 

He is an all-around talent who can hit for power and average, plus can run fairly well for his size.

 

Gamel finished first among his teammates in slugging percentage (.485), first in homers (nine), first in triples (three), second in doubles (19), second in RBI (44), third in hits (75), fourth in batting average (.286), fourth in walks (22) and fifth in runs (32).

 

"I have just been working hard," said Gamel, whom Lum has helped improve his approach and refine his swing. "That's pretty much it."

 

"He has a pretty good approach at the plate," Guerrero added.

 

On the other hand, Gamel also was second in errors (25) and third in strikeouts (51).

 

"I don't know," Gamel said when asked to explain the abundance of errors. "We have always been told that errors are going to happen. You just have to limit them. I just need to take more groundballs and concentrate more."

 

"On the defensive side, he has the ability," Guerrero added. "He makes great defensive plays out there. But he also makes easy errors. But that's part of the (learning) process in this game."

 

The Milwaukee Brewers drafted Gamel, who bats left and throws right, in the fourth round last year despite the fact that his only standout seasons came in his senior season at Bishop Kenny High School (.420 batting average and eight homers) and his sophomore season at Chipola Junior College (.446 batting average and 64 RBI), both of which are located in his home state of Florida.

 

Gamel is the Brewers' No. 26 minor-league prospect and their third-best at his position, according to the 2006 Baseball America Prospect Handbook.

 

Gamel, a Jacksonville native, initially attended Daytona Beach Junior College but transferred after one season for personal reasons.

 

Chipola Coach Jeff Johnson welcomed Gamel into the Indians' lineup and offered him an opportunity to play -- an opportunity he didn't receive at Daytona Beach. Gamel made the most of it, leading the Indians to within one game of the Junior College World Series.

 

Gamel posted a .327 batting average with two triples, five homers, 15 doubles, 34 runs and 37 RBI in 50 games with the Helena (Mont.) Brewers of the rookie Pioneer League last season, his first in professional baseball.

 

"It's up to him," Guerrero said of Gamel's ascension through Milwaukee's farm system. "We are trying to teach him the adjustments he needs to make offensively and defensively. If he can take that information and process it in his mind and use it on the field, then the sky is the limit for him."

 

West Virginia Power third basebman Mat Gamel gets some kudos from teammates after hitting a home run earlier this season. Gamel is one of three Power players who, along with hitting coach Mike Lum, is taking part in tonight?s South Atlantic League All-Star game in Eastlake, Ohio.

 

http://www.dailymail.com/images/gamel0620.jpg

[Mass Haas]

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Another Sally all-star game here? Perhaps

By Mike Whiteford

Charleston Gazette Staff writer

 

In gaining approval to host this year?s South Atlantic League All-Star Game, officials in Eastlake, Ohio, had a built-in advantage.

 

Eastlake, home of the Lake County Captains, is less than an hour?s drive from Cleveland, making it easy for the two all-star teams to visit Jacobs Field and be recognized at Monday night?s Indians-Cubs game.

 

Tonight, the Northern and Southern division stars will compete in the league?s 47th all-star game beginning at 7:35 Pm (6:35 Central) at 7,000-seat Classic Park in Eastlake. The West Virginia Power representatives are catcher Angel Salome, third baseman Mat Gamel, outfielder Lorenzo Cain and batting coach Mike Lum.

 

Attracting an all-star game to one?s city is much like attracting a convention. The city submits a bid, specifying such things as the ballpark, hotels, restaurants and other perks, and hopes for the best. Next year?s all-star game is scheduled to be played in Rome, Ga.

 

With its new East End ballpark and its distinction as an outstanding convention city, Charleston seems like a logical candidate to host a South Atlantic League All-Star Game.

 

?I?m sure we could put together a really nice package,?? said Charleston deputy mayor Rod Blackstone, ?and with the new ballpark, we can be more competitive for the game than we were before. I don?t see any problem. I think it?s a great idea.??

 

Charleston has not played host to the SAL game since 1989 ? three seasons after it joined the league ? when a crowd of 6,500 jammed Watt Powell Park, many of them seated in the wooden bleachers that extended far down the third-base line in those days. Paid attendance for the game was 7,318.

 

?All-star games are increasingly big business,?? said Blackstone, ?and that?s partly because of the attractiveness of minor-league baseball in general. More and more major-league fans are following their minor-league affiliates on-line.??

 

In the 1989 game in Charleston, Gov. Gaston Caperton threw out the first ball, the North won 14-4 and future major leaguer Reggie Sanders, who played for Cincinnati?s Greensboro affiliate, earned MVP honors by rapping out a single, double and two triples. Fans chanted ?Reggie! Reggie!??

 

To gain approval to host the game, the city and the Wheelers paid the league $30,000.

[Mass Haas]

South Atlantic League All-Star preview article:

Mat Gamel participating in the home run derby...

 

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

 

Box score and game log links available via this link later on:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...mp;lid=116

 

The game is not available via MiLB.TV.

 

Live and archived audio of the game:

 

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

[lexi881]

FYI - The All-Star game will be broadcast on TV by Comcast - Channel 54 in Jacksonville (FL) - Audio is available through the Captains Baseball link at via the internet at www.welw.com/

 

 

?The South Atlantic League and the Lake County Captains have announced that the 2006 South Atlantic League All-Star Game at Classic Park on June 20th will be televised live on Adelphia Cable of Northeast Ohio and in eleven states across the Southeast on Comcast / Charter Sports Southeast (CSS).

 

The game will be shown to over 350,000 homes in the greater Cleveland area on Adelphia Channel 15. In addition, CSS will provide a live broadcast of the game to 4.5 million households across the Southeast, including SAL markets in Asheville, NC, Augusta, GA, Charleston, SC, Columbus, GA, Greenville, NC, Hickory, NC, Lexington, KY, Rome, GA, and Savannah, GA.

[Mass Haas]

Charleston Gazette:

 

Power?s Gamel shines in Sally All-Star win

 

EASTLAKE, Ohio ? West Virginia Power players figured prominently in the North?s 4-0 victory against the South in Tuesday night?s 47th annual South Atlantic League All-Star Game.

 

A paid crowd of 7,017 attended at Classic Park, home of the Lake County Captains of the Northern Division.

 

Power third baseman Mat Gamel went 2-for-4 with a double and RBI while right fielder Lorenzo Cain drove in a run despite going hitless in two at-bats for the North. Gamel, who also scored a pair of runs, was the only player for the North with multiple hits. The Power?s other North All-Star, catcher Angel Salome, went 0-for-1.

 

Cain struck the first blow for the North in the bottom of the first inning with a run-scoring groundout for a 1-0 lead.

 

In the fourth, Gamel led off with a double and scored on Mark Ori?s sacrifice fly for a 2-0 advantage. Gamel gave the North some breathing room in the eighth with a one-out, run-producing single for a 3-0 edge. Gamel came around on a groundout by Steve Lerud of Hickory for the final run.

 

Nine North pitchers combined on a three-hitter with reliever Aaron Thompson of Greensboro picking up the win with an inning of perfect ball and two strikeouts. North hurlers stranded five baserunners, including three left in scoring position with two outs. The North also turned two double plays.

 

South starter Jo Jo Reyes of Rome took the loss, allowing an unearned run and one hit in two innings with four punchouts and no walks. Only two of the North?s runs were earned as the South committed a pair of errors.

 

The South Atlantic League is off again today for the all-star break. The Power, which finished the first half in second place in the Northern Division, begins the second half with a four-game homestand against the Kannapolis (N.C.) Intimidators. The Power and Intimidators, who finished the first half in last place in the Southern Division, will square off at 7:05 p.m. Thursday (6:05 Central).

[Mass Haas]

Mat Gamel Shines in Home Run Derby as well:

Link, text follows --

 

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

 

Legends catcher edges Gamel in final round

 

EASTLAKE, Ohio -- For the first and last rounds, the South Atlantic League Home Run Derby resembled nothing so much as a pitchers' duel. Two hitters qualified for the second round with one home run apiece, and the event was won with two.

 

Lexington Legends catcher J.R. Towles, who had been suspended by the team briefly earlier this month, won the Derby with two homers in the third and final round. But it was the second round that caught the attention of the crowd at Classic Park.

 

Mat Gamel of the West Virginia Power, who advanced past the first round with only two homers, wowed the crowd with 15 second-round blasts. A left-handed hitter, Gamel sent several moonshots over the right field fence, even cleraing an auxiliary building that was 20 or 30 feet beyond the fence. He struck that building several times.

 

But while Gamel hit more homers in that one round than Towles hit during the entire competition, Towles outhomered him, 2-1, in the final round. And with each hitter entering the round with a blank slate, that was all that mattered.

 

Gamel hit first in the last round. When it was Towles' turn, he took his time and let the tension build before striking the derby-winning blow; he didn't hit his second homer of the round until he was one swing away from a tiebreaker.

 

"I definitely prefer being second," Towles said. "That way, you know what you have to beat. When I got down to two outs, I was worried we'd have a tie."

 

His next-to-last swing produced a deep fly ball that died on the warning track. His All-Star teammates, cheering on the Derby participants, rose to their feet when the ball was hit. They sat back down in disappointment after a local high school player caught it at the wall.

 

"I caught it off the end of the bat, but everyone cheered, so I thought I got it," Towles said.

 

There was no doubt about the next swing. Towles' homer ended up deep in the left field bleachers.

 

Towles has eight home runs this season, but did not homer even once during his high school career.

 

"I don't have a lot of power," Towles joked.

 

On this day, he had enough.

 

MiLB.com Game Story:

Includes this text --

 

While pitching truly ruled the day, it was West Virginia third baseman Mat Gamel, the runner-up in the pre-game home run derby, who took home MVP honors. He doubled and scored in the fourth and drove in the North's final run with a single in the eighth.

 

"Anytime you can contribute, it's a plus," said Gamel, the only player to collect multiple hits, "even though this game wasn't of the utmost importance."

 

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

 

All-Star Game Box Score:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_sanafx_1

 

All-Star Game Game Log:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_sanafx_1

 

West Virginia's Mat Gamel contributed two hits, an RBI and two runs scored. (Photo by John M. Setzler Jr./MLB.com)

 

http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/images/2006/06/20/52n8LfHv.jpg

[Mass Haas]

If you click on "Video feature" here, you can skip to the 2:30 mark and see a brief highlight and interview with Mat Gamel.

 

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

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

www.wvgazette.com/section...2006062137

 

Ford getting job done as Power starts second half

By Nick Scala

Charleston Gazette Staff writer

 

Through the first month of the South Atlantic League season, Darren Ford was struggling and frustrated.

 

He was promoted from rookie ball to Class A to be the West Virginia Power?s leadoff hitter, where the team could exploit his speed. Trouble was, though, the 20-year-old outfielder wasn?t getting on base enough to take advantage of that speed.

 

On May 3, 25 games into the season, Ford?s on-base percentage stood at just .273, one of the lowest figures on the team among the starters, and he had drawn just three walks ? worst among the regulars ? while striking out 27 times.

 

Since then, though, Ford has flourished.

 

Since May 3, Ford?s on-base percentage has been .399, much more befitting a leadoff guy. He now leads the Power with 26 walks, his 45 runs is tops on the club and ninth in the league, his batting average has climbed from .242 to .283 and his 32 stolen bases are good for third in the Sally League.

 

He?s still striking out more than he?d like ? Ford?s 73 whiffs rank fifth in the league ? but his strikeout-to-walk ratio, indicative of a hitter?s eye and patience, has improved from 9-to-1 on May 3 to 2-to-1 (23 walks, 46 Ks) since.

 

The difference? It?s part mechanics, part comfort level, part confidence.

 

?They switched my batting stance about five, six weeks ago,? said the Brewers? 18th-round draft pick in 2004. ?My hands were dropping low, they got me to bring them up to a good hitting position. Now I?m not swinging at bad pitches, and I?m trying to be more patient at the plate.?

 

Power hitting coach Mike Lum, who worked with Ford on his mechanics, said the outfielder was simply going through growing pains as he climbed the professional ladder.

 

?It?s all part of catching up to the league,? Lum said. ?He had a slow start, everything was a little new at this level, and he was putting pressure on himself. Now he?s gained confidence and become more comfortable with himself, and with the league.

 

?He?s getting a much better read on the pitches and making better choices. In the early part of the season he led this league in swings-and-misses. He?s not doing that any more.?

[Mass Haas]

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Elkins native glad to be playing closer to home

Jacob Messer

Charleston Daily Mail sportswriter

 

Kyle Pawelczyk must feel like Lucky Starr, Hank Snow and Johnny Cash.

 

Like the title of the chart-topping hit they all sang, it probably seems like he has been everywhere, man.

 

Here is a list of the Elkins native's stops during his junior college and professional baseball careers:

 

Marianna, Fla.

Tempe, Ariz.

Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Provo, Utah.

Evansville, Ind.

Fort Wayne, Ind.

Now, Pawelczyk (pronounced pa-WELL-check) can add one more town to that list: Charleston.

 

Obviously, the West Virginian couldn't be happier.

 

"It's always good to play at home," said Pawelczyk, a 6-foot-5, 180-pound left-handed pitcher who is the latest addition to the West Virginia Power roster. "This is the closest I have been to my house.

 

"Everybody who is from my hometown and everybody who has read about me in the papers here can come see me pitch and see us play."

 

Pawelczyk didn't pitch Thursday, as West Virginia split a South Atlantic League doubleheader with Asheville in front of an Appalachian Power Park crowd of 5,537.

 

The Power won the first game, 5-1, behind the pitching of Will Inman (no runs, three hits, 10 strikeouts and one walk in five innings) and the hitting of Kenny Holmberg (2-for-4 with three RBI).

 

The Tourists won the second game, 9-5, in extra innings, thanks to a six-run 10th. Chris Cook's grand slam in that inning proved to be the difference after the Power scored two runs in its final at-bat.

 

As for Pawelczyk, his niche on the Power pitching staff has yet to be determined.

 

"I'm not really sure what my role will be," said Pawelczyk, who throws four pitches -- a two-seam fastball (87-91 mph), a four-seam fastball (87-91 mph), a curveball (76-81 mph) and a changeup (78-81 mph). "They will get me in the games and see what I can do, then we will go from there."

 

Pawelczyk was drafted by the Seattle Mariners in 2000 (25th round, 746th pick) after his final season at Elkins High School. Then, he was selected by the Montreal Expos in 2001 (11th round, 322nd pick) after his first season at Chipola College.

 

But Pawelczyk didn't sign with either team.

 

Next, he was drafted by Anaheim in 2002 (third round, 84th pick) after his second season at the Florida junior college and agreed to a contract with the Angels, receiving a $460,000 signing bonus in the process.

 

Pawelczyk had accepted a scholarship from Louisiana State University and would have played for the Southeastern Conference perennial power if he hadn't signed with the Angels.

 

The left-hander was a starting pitcher in his first two seasons (2002 and 2003), compiling a 4-6 record and a 4.91 earned run average with 74 strikeouts and 54 walks in 77 innings during stints with Angels' affiliates in the Arizona, Midwest and Pioneer leagues.

 

He split time as a starter and reliever in his third season (2004), posting a 3-3 record and an 8.47 ERA with 35 strikeouts and 24 walks in 34 innings at Provo.

 

The Angels released Pawelczyk last year during spring training. He caught on with the Evansville Otters of the independent Frontier League, where he compiled an 0-1 record and a 4.91 ERA with 14 strikeouts and 14 walks in 18 1/3 innings.

 

The San Diego Padres signed Pawelczyk in February. He appeared in seven games with their Midwest League affiliate at Fort Wayne, Ind. He posted a 1-0 record and 5.56 ERA with six strikeouts and eight walks in 11 1/3 innings.

 

San Diego released Pawelczyk, who then returned to Evansville. He compiled a 1-2 record and a 2.84 ERA with 25 strikeouts and five walks in 19 innings.

 

His performance with the Otters this summer caught the attention of the Milwaukee Brewers, who signed Pawelczyk on Monday and assigned him to West Virginia on Wednesday.

 

"It's really nice to get back into it," Pawelczyk said of playing minor league baseball with an affiliated team again. "I missed it -- the camaraderie, the atmosphere. It's a great group of guys. It's a joy to be here.

 

"It's hard to get back (from an independent league). It takes a lot of work and a lot of dedication. You have to work your butt off and, hopefully, you get a door opened for you like I did."

 

The 24-year-old Pawelczyk suffered a setback in 2003, when he had surgery to repair partial tears in the rotator cuff and labrum in his pitching shoulder.

 

"It was really hard because I didn't know how I was going to come back from that," said Pawelczyk, who was a Class AAA All-State first-team selection at Elkins in 2000 after posting a 9-1 record with an 1.48 ERA and 126 strikeouts in 67 2/3 innings during his senior season. "There is a 50-50 chance you won't come back from that.

 

"It takes a lot of hard work in rehab. Mentally, it drains you because your arm was healthy and then it isn't. Some guys come back fast; some guys come back slow.

 

"It took me almost two years to get back to where I was. My velocity wasn't there and my control wasn't there. I just had to get back to what felt right for me."

 

In addition to help from Chipola College Coach Jeff Johnson, Pawelczyk attributes his comeback to the Frontier League.

 

"They let you do what you want to do and what you think you need to do," Pawelczyk said. "That helps you because you can get back to what feels right to you.

 

"They are behind you and they help you out, but with an independent league team you are more on your own when it comes to working on stuff. But if they see something going wrong with you, they will help you."

 

For Kyle Pawelczyk, of Elkins, his baseball travels finally have gotten him back to the Mountain State.

Charleston Daily Mail Photo: Craig Cunningham

 

http://www.dailymail.com/images/Pawelcz0707.jpg

[Mass Haas]

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Power-pitching Garrison back in Jersey

Hun graduate to take mound vs. Lakewood on Thursday

By: Justin Feil, Princeton Packet Assistant Sports Editor

 

One year out of The Hun School, Steve Garrison will make his first appearance in New Jersey as a professional baseball player.

 

Garrison is scheduled to start on the mound for the West Virginia Power, the Milwaukee Brewers' Single-A affiliate, when they play at the Lakewood BlueClaws Thursday. It's an early highlight in his brief professional career.

 

"I'm going back to Jersey," said Garrison, who is 3-3 with a 2.83 earned run average. "I'm excited to go back. I'm going to see all my buddies. It's nice to see my family and friends. I'm real excited about that. The first team I pitched against was the team from Lakewood."

 

Garrison wasn't alone when he made his first start in Single-A, and he will certainly have a big following in the stands Thursday. He expects many friends from Hun, and from his hometown of Ewing.

 

"They've been great," Garrison said. "They came down to my first start in West Virginia. They drove down early in the morning to watch my first outing. I have the best friends. They had cheers for me. They were so loud. It was really, really great that they came. I have the best friends and they're behind me. It helps to know I have true friends I can count on when need them."

 

Garrison made many of his closest friendships in his four years at Hun, when he was developing into one of the state's top pitchers. Both his friendships and his experiences in baseball helped when he reached the pro level.

 

"Hun was the best thing I could have done," he said. "All the people I met, and all the true friends I met. It was great.

 

"It was a big jump for baseball. I think the competition, the practices we went through and work ethic that Coach (Bill) McQuade and Coach (Dan) O'Dea and the others helped me learn, it's helped me throughout my career. I know nothing comes easy. If you work hard, you might be able to do it."

 

Garrison is excited to have the opportunity to show what he can do at the Single-A level after enduring a year of Rookie League ball in Arizona. Rookie ball was his reward for being selected by the Brewers in the 10th round of last year's amateur draft.

 

"It was pretty tough," Garrison said. "You had to wake up and be on the bus at 5:30 and get to the park at 6. You played a game every day in the morning, then you have the night off. But it's too hot to do anything or you're too tired of the sun by then. The second half of the summer, it was a good change because it got so hot that they moved games to night games. But we had practice at noon in the blazing heat.

 

"I met a lot of good people there. The coaches helped me a lot. The biggest lesson I got was the pitching coach helped me learn about the transition between high school hitters and pro hitters. There's a big difference between the tendencies a high school hitter has and a pro. A high school hitter, you can blow an 88 to 90 mile per hour fastball by them. The pro guys, they see them all the time. They love them. You have to think ahead."

 

Garrison's adjustment to the pro pitching was quick. He put up solid numbers. He went 2-2 with a 2.89 ERA in 34 innings with 28 strikeouts and just five walks. It was the adjustment to the professional lifestyle in the rookie league that was more difficult.

 

"It was pretty tough," he said. "I had to keep telling myself it's baseball and it's fun. We'd only get 15 to 30 people in the stands at games. It was mostly family. It was tough."

 

Garrison went to the instructional league in the fall for some additional work. The Brewers fine-tuned his mechanics, including changing what side of the pitching rubber from which he threw. In October, he returned to his Ewing home and worked at Diamond Player Development in Hamilton until February when he reported for mini camp and then spring training. He wasn't thrilled when he began his second summer with the Brewers back in Arizona in extended spring training.

 

"I got down in the dumps," Garrison said. "I was frustrated with myself. But I said, I'm young. I had to forget about it. I'm with the guys my age. I wasn't behind. I still have lots of my friends there. I tried to go have fun and play.

 

"It was a lot more fun than last year. I knew everybody. I knew how to eat and stay in shape. Last year, I would order Chinese food from the Golden Egg Roll every night. I got lazy and out of shape. This year, I wanted to get into shape. I wanted to get out of Arizona."

 

An injury in the Power's starting rotation opened a spot up, and Garrison can still recall that late-May call he got from his pitching coach who gave him little more than 12 hours to get ready for a 6 a.m. flight to West Virginia to join the Power.

 

"It was a little shock," Garrison said. "I didn't know it was possible I could do that. I was very happy. I was very lucky. To get to West Virginia and everything, it's baseball again. It's a lot more fun. All my friends are here. It's a little pain on long bus rides, but it's not that bad. I'm having a lot of fun. I'm enjoying it again.

 

"It definitely wears on you," he added of Arizona. "Even this wears on you. It's so much better than Arizona. It's so nice to be able to know I'm where I wanted to be. This is where my goal was for spring training. It helps that all the hard work pays off. It's nice to see I can compete. My confidence is starting to go up. I'm really happy I'm on the East Coast again."

 

Garrison has pitched well since joining the Brewers' Single-A team. In his last start, Garrison was the tough-luck loser of a pitchers' duel. In six innings of work, he allowed just two bunt singles that were followed by an error in a 1-0 loss to Lexington (Ky.) Saturday. He struck out eight.

 

"It's definitely tough," Garrison said. "It's fun competing. It's fun watching yourself grow and watching yourself get more mature. It's fun growing up in this kind of business. In Arizona, you're facing Dominican guys from high school who are free swingers trying to hit it as far as they can. Now, you're facing top rounders from college and high-prospect high schoolers.

 

"It's tougher, but it's more fun. You get to step up to the challenge. It's fun to compete with them. You try to give them the opposite of what they expect. You try to make them make the mistake. You try to get them to be off balance. It gets you to raise your level to the competition. I love to compete. It's pitching. I love it."

 

His call-up has helped affirm that he made the right decision out of high school. Garrison, who would have played for College World Series finalist North Carolina at Chapel Hill, never regretted his choice even in the hottest days of Arizona.

 

"When I saw Chapel Hill in College World Series, I thought that would be fun to be in," he said. "But I'm so happy to be where I am now. I feel so privileged. I'm living a dream. Playing professional baseball is what I wanted to do. I never wanted to do anything else. I'm very happy."

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

www.pressofatlanticcity.c...1093c.html

 

N.J. homecoming

Class-A outfielder from Vineland plays in front of family in Lakewood

By SUSAN LULGJURAJ, Atlantic City Press Staff Writer

 

LAKEWOOD ? Darren Ford raced to the outfield wall. He had both eyes locked on the ball that flew off the bat of Lakewood BlueClaws John Urick.

 

With a loud thump, the West Virginia Power center fielder ran into the advertisement-filled wall at First Energy Park and barely missed the ball. His mother, Carla Ford, jumped to the edge of her chair.

 

?Are you all right, baby?? she yelled from nearly 300 feet away.

 

It didn't matter that Ford couldn't hear her. Carla, along with the 10 other family and friends, were worried about their star.

 

?If I could, I would be on the field right now running over to him,? Carla said. ?Even though he's not going to tell me if anything is wrong, but I talk to him everyday and I know when something is the matter.?

 

Ford, a Vineland High School graduate, walked off the field at the end of the half inning and gave his mother sitting five rows behind the visiting dugout a reassuring look even though he did hurt his back on the play.

 

It's just part of the job of a mother of a minor-league baseball player. Along with unwavering support, an ear to complain to and, when possible, a home-cooked meal.

 

?It doesn't matter where he is,? said his mother, who also blows kisses to her son as he rounds the bases. ?I'll be there.?

 

Ford was promoted to the leadoff hitter of West Virginia this year, the single-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. Ford, an 18th-round pick in 2004, has the type of speed and defense for a center fielder that clubs salivate over, the only problem was he didn't have the bat to match.

 

After 25 games with the Power, the 6-foot-1, 195-pound Ford had a .273 on-base percentage. For a leadoff hitter that was drastically low.

 

?Early in the year I was trying to get on base and not being patient enough,? Ford said. ?We tinkered with my stance a bit, started with my hands lower. Every player is going to have on and off days. You just have to learn how to overcome the off days.?

 

Since then, Ford raised his OBP 61 points to .334. While he is currently mired in a 7-for-40 slump, which has dropped his average to .260, he is still getting on base via the walk. Once he's there, he changes to the tempo of the game and becomes a serious threat with his 38 stolen bases, which is fourth-best in the South Atlantic League.

 

?That's one thing you need to be a leadoff hitter, great speed,? said West Virginia manager Mike Guerrero. ?He's learning the strike zone and getting on base. He's becoming a good leadoff hitter with knowledge.?

 

But even though his average isn't where he would like it, Ford is still putting up respectable numbers. He has 54 runs, which is tied for first on the team with roommate Lorenzo Cain and 10th in the league, 33 RBIs, 15 doubles, two triples and a homer.

 

?On this level you try to help the players out to make adjustments. You want to make them better not just for this level, but for the big league level if they get there,? Guerrero said. ?All the guys here are like diamonds that you are trying to polish.?

 

While Ford is playing Lakewood this week, he is relishing the opportunity to play in New Jersey. Besides saving cellular phone minutes by having his family on hand, he has never gotten the chance to play in his home state on the professional level. However, the best part about being close to home is the time he spends with his family, especially his sisters Janine, 24, and Marianna, 15.

 

Though his mother and friends visit Ford once a month, many times his sisters can't make the trip. But more than that he's worried about not being able to watch over them.

 

?It's hard because I want to know what they are doing at all times,? Ford said. ?I have to be a big brother and look out for them, but they know too every time I go away I have to go for baseball. I have to do something about my life.?

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

www.sptimes.com/2006/07/1...e_th.shtml

 

Clothes don't make the Class A pitcher

Central grad Patrick Ryan's comfort zone is on the mound, chasing a spot in the majors, not slaving away in a retail store

DAVID MURPHY

St. Petersburg (FL) Times

 

Patrick Ryan had a real job once.

 

At Aeropostale this past offseason.

 

Problem is, Aeropostale is a clothing store, not a baseball diamond.

 

The hours are earlier. The workplace isn't outside. And unless you've got a thing for folding pants, the competitive juices are rarely flowing.

 

"It was brutal," said Ryan, a former Central standout who is now a pitcher in the Milwaukee Brewers organization. "I never want a real job."

 

He just might be able to pull it off.

 

So far this season, Ryan has been one of the biggest surprises on the West Virginia Power, a Class A affiliate of the Brewers. He is the team's go-to middle reliever, and through Tuesday was 5-1 with a 1.60 ERA in 25 appearances.

 

Though there is no telling when - or if - he will get his next minor league promotion (the Brewers high-Class A team plays in Brevard), Ryan certainly hasn't hurt his cause this year.

 

"He's demonstrated here that he can pitch in this league and with a few more refinements he can easily make it to Brevard," Power pitching coach John Curtis said.

 

That's pretty impressive, considering Ryan originally wasn't even supposed to be playing Class A ball this season.

 

Selected in the 19th round of last June's draft, he played 17 games in 2005 with the Brewers' rookie league team in Helena, Mon. His numbers were respectable - 0-0 with a 3.15 ERA - but when spring training broke this year, he was slated to spend another season in Helena.

 

At the last minute, though, Power manager Mike Guerrero decided he needed another pitcher, and Ryan was the choice.

 

"It was kind of a 13th-hour decision," Curtis said.

 

And it has worked out for both parties.

 

Ryan, who said he arrived in Helena last year wearing shorts and flip-flops only to find it was 40 degrees and raining, is enjoying life in Charleston, W.V., where the Power plays its home games. He's engaged to his college sweetheart, and he's taking advantage of every opportunity he gets.

 

For those who knew Ryan in high school, none of it comes as a surprise. Mike Ellison, who was an assistant coach at Central during Ryan's career there, remembers the list of goals the pitcher used to keep in his wallet during college.

 

"Of all the kids I have ever coached, he is probably the most motivated," Ellison said.

 

Former Central coach Gary Buel remembers the first time the "portly little smart-a--" named Patrick Ryan walked onto his baseball field as a freshman. He had awful mechanics, Buel said, and was in horrible shape.

 

But he had determination.

 

One day, Ellison and a few pitchers were working in the bullpen when Ryan announced he was going to play professional baseball.

 

"We all got a little chuckle out of it," Ellison said. "But he was serious."

 

After his senior year at Central, Ryan attended junior college because "nobody wanted me." He eventually landed at Embry-Riddle, where he underwent a physical transformation, dropping from 228 to 195 pounds and revamping both his diet and workout routine.

 

As a senior he helped Embry-Riddle reach the NAIA World Series, and in June was drafted by the Brewers.

 

Now, he is waiting to see where the next step will take him.

 

Ryan said he has no idea what lies in his future. Though the velocity of his fastball is below average, Curtis said Ryan has movement on the pitch that is reminiscent of Yankees closer Mariano Rivera's famed cutter.

 

Still, the development of prospects is a finicky business, one that no player will ever completely figure out. So many factors, from a team's strengths and weaknesses to its depth to its health, are involved in the decision-making process that it is best to ignore it completely.

 

"If you start worrying about that stuff, your mind isn't in the right place," Ryan said.

 

Besides, as long as he isn't folding clothes, life can't be too bad.

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

www.dailymail.com/news/Sp...006072029/

 

Power's Yost proves he can play

Jack Bogaczyk

Charleston Daily Mail Sports Editor

 

Ned Yost isn't only a manager's son. He's the manager's son.

 

So, when the Milwaukee baseball farmhand and son of Brewers Manager Ned Yost spent almost the first month of the South Atlantic League season batting under .200, some Appalachian Power Park regulars put two and two together and came up with a nepotism theory.

 

Well, it turns out Yost not only can hit but also can play. The West Virginia Power first baseman plays the game the way it's supposed to be played. He's a professional, and not just because he's being paid.

 

He plays like he's been around the game his whole life ... he has, of course.

 

"I've always thought it's been an advantage," Yost said, when asked whether being a Major League skipper's son raised expectations or helped him grasp what it takes. "I've been around the game and the ballpark since I was so young, it has to rub off.

 

"When my dad was a (bullpen, then third base) coach in Atlanta (1991-2002), and since he's been managing in Milwaukee, I've gotten a chance to meet players, be around the clubhouse and just observe. You see how they act. You see how they prepare.

 

"You learn a lot just by watching them."

 

Not every kid gets to be a bullpen catcher for the All-Star Game, which Yost was in 2000 at Turner Field in Atlanta. The night before, at the Home Run Derby exhibition, Sammy Sosa won. Yost was a catcher.

 

Yost, 24, also is a good listener. He often is the first Power player in the batting cage daily, and he takes the instruction and tips from hitting coach Mike Lum about "staying back, seeing the ball better, maintaining proper mechanics."

 

On May 3, Yost was hitting .188. After a big May (.366), he has maintained his consistency at the plate, and is batting .297. He recently had a club-high 13-game hitting streak, and was over .300 until going 0-for-7 in Monday's 16-inning loss at Lexington.

 

As the Power opens a four-game home series tonight against Lake County, Yost seems to have settled in. He batted .302 in his pro debut last season at short-season Helena, and said a possible reason for his success there was some keen observing, again.

 

Yost attended three colleges, transferring from Georgia (a redshirt year and two seasons) to Dallas Baptist (Division I independent) to Division III power Wisconsin-Oshkosh. He was primarily a catcher in college.

 

Last spring, after his senior year at Oshkosh, he chose to sign with Milwaukee instead of waiting to be drafted (a fifth-year senior can do that), although Cincinnati and Florida also showed interest. He reported to extended spring training in Arizona in late May.

 

"Those extra 2-3 weeks I was there (before the draft signees, including many of his current Power teammates) came in gave me a chance to get my feet wet and get the feel of the difference between college and pro baseball," Yost said.

 

"It can be a tough adjustment. And when the (Pioneer League) season started, I think it helped me. It was quite a difference from Division III college ball. I think signing early definitely played a part in my season last year.

 

"Signing early was a tough decision. My dad and I talked about it, and I could have waited, and I felt I would have been drafted. But the Brewers were interested, made me an offer, and so I went ahead and signed. As I look back on it, it was a good thing for me."

 

It's pretty apparent Yost loves the hitters' park that is Appalachian Power Park. The Mississippi-born first baseman is batting .348 at home, and only .253 on the road. The right-handed-hitting Yost has 35 of his 44 RBI at Power Park, too.

 

"It will be good to get home because we've been on the road an awful lot," Yost said. "It's tougher in other ballparks, and I think that's one reason we haven't played as well (11-14 SAL second-half start, after 39-30 first half).

 

"We're getting close to 100 games now (94) and that's more than most of us have ever played in a season. I think it might be a little bit of that, too, but we always seem to be in the game, and I think we'll be around at the end in the race."

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

www.wvgazette.com/section...2006072036

 

Inman: Man in control

Power pitching prospect racking up nice numbers

By Mike Whiteford

Charleston Gazette Staff writer

 

When Power right-hander Will Inman delivers a pitch, hitters sometimes seem tentative.

 

From his vantage point in the dugout, Power pitching coach John Curtis has noticed.

 

?Based on the swings the hitters are taking, I don?t think they?re picking up the ball very well,?? said Curtis, who pitched in the big leagues for 15 seasons.

 

A deceptive motion can be a wonderful asset for a pitcher, particularly if he follows it with a 90-mph fastball at pinpoint locations and a good curveball. Thus far, the 19-year-old Inman has been doing precisely that.

 

Although he missed five weeks because of an injury, his numbers this season have been eye-catching:

 

His earned-run average is 1.13 for 14 games, including 11 starts; he has not allowed a run in his last 21 innings;

in 56 innings this season, he has struck out 69, surrendered just 42 hits and issued only 11 walks; he has not allowed more than three hits in any of his last four starts.

 

In Charleston?s 19 years as a South Atlantic League member, the club has averaged nearly one future major-league pitcher for every season, ranging from John Courtright and his one-inning relief stint with the Reds in 1995 to Trevor Hoffman and his likely Hall of Fame career.

 

Rarely, if ever, has a Wheeler, Alley Cat or Power pitcher achieved Inman?s statistical dominance, and he?s doing it with only one season of professional experience ? at Helena of the Pioneer League last year ? and, unlike many of his Class A counterparts, he went straight from high school to the professional ranks and thus did not benefit from collegiate experience.

 

Inman?s blend of youth, control, stuff and mindset make him a good candidate to eventually take the final step up the professional baseball ladder.

 

?He?s a definite prospect,?? said Curtis. ?Everybody who has seen his early development projects him to be a starter.??

 

For now, Inman has been baffling Class A hitters with fastballs on the corners, two-strike curveballs and an exaggerated shoulder turn and arm angle that pose an additional challenge for a hitter. ?You don?t see the ball until he?s in his release position,?? said Curtis.

 

Whether more experienced hitters in future seasons adapt to the deception will be a factor in Inman?s continued development, of course.

 

In the meantime, he and Curtis also have been tinkering with a two-seam fastball that tails away from left-hand hitters, as well as a changeup. But his command of the fastball is the foundation of his early success.

 

?He can pretty much ?dot the I? when he?s right,?? said the Power pitching coach.

 

Added catcher Angel Salome: ?His control is kind of perfect right now.??

 

A 6-foot, 200-pound native of Dry Branch, Va., near Martinsville, Inman used his God-given talent to set a Virginia high school strikeout record with 599 in 252 innings and rarely allowed a run in four years.

 

He was Milwaukee?s No. 2 selection (taken in the third round) of the 2005 draft and, after a shaky beginning, continued his success at Helena, where he finished with a 6-0 record, a 2.00 ERA and 58 strikeouts in 45 innings.

 

In one of his first appearances at Helena, however, he was roughed up for four home runs and seven runs in one inning. He made the mistake of thinking that the hard-throwing approach he used in high school would be enough to overpower professional hitters.

 

?I learned real quick,?? he said, ?that the philosophy I had in high school wasn?t as dominant [in pro baseball] as it was in high school.??

 

Once he learned that lesson, he began his development as a pitcher.

 

?For a youngster, he has terrific control,?? said Curtis. ?He can spot his fastball on both sides of the plate. He gets his fastball up there at 90-92 [mph]. And when you combine the terrific control with the deception in his delivery with his arm angle, he?s intimidating.??

 

Inman?s season in Charleston was disrupted by a shoulder injury, which kept him out of action from May 21 through June 24. Since then, his pitch count has been somewhat limited, though he?s expected to throw between 85 and 95 pitches in Saturday night?s scheduled start against Lake County at Appalachian Power Park.

 

In addition to his velocity, control, command, competitiveness and deceptive delivery, Inman is a severe self-critic who sets high standards for himself.

 

?He?s a nice little package right now,?? said Curtis.

 

Charleston Gazette Photographer: Chip Ellis

Power pitcher Will Inman works on fielding bunts during pregame drills Thursday.

 

http://www.wvgazettemail.com/images/stories/Inman.jpg

[Mass Haas]

That Will Inman article can give you chills if you get too excited -- wow.

 

Interesting note -- now in 103 pro innings, Will Inman has allowed five home runs -- four came in that one inning mentioned above in Helena last year.

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

www.dailymail.com/news/Sports/200608027/

 

Power's Cain nears record

Michael Dailey

Charleston Daily Mail sportswriter

 

With apologies to Robert Redford and Roy Hobbs, West Virginia Power outfielders Lorenzo Cain is looking more and more like the real "Natural."

 

While most newcomers to professional baseball struggle with the day to day grind of minor league baseball, as well as the change from aluminum to wood bats, Cain has excelled at what may be the most difficult thing in athletics: hitting a baseball.

 

Cain, the Brewers' 17th-round draft pick in the 2004, made an impressive splash into professional baseball last season, winning Most Valuable Player honors in the Arizona Summer League.

 

In 50 games with the Arizona Brewers, Cain batted .356 with five homers, five triples, 18 doubles, 37 RBI, 45 runs, and a league best 73 hits, while developing into what Baseball America deemed the eighth best prospect in the league.

 

Now in just his second pro season, Cain is at it again by punishing South Atlantic League pitchers for a league-leading 122 hits entering tonight's 7:05 PM (6:05 Central) home game against Columbus.

 

Cain is batting a team high .300, good for sixth in the SAL.

 

At his current pace, Cain, who enters tonight's game having hit safely in 12 of his last 13 games, including five multi-hit games, could eclipse the Charleston Class A club record of 150 hits in a season, established by then Charleston Wheeler and Cincinnati farmhand Bobby Perna in 1992.

 

Making Cain's accomplishments even more impressive is the fact that he's only played organized baseball for four years.

 

"A lot of people aren't aware that he's only been playing baseball for four years," said former Major Leaguer and current Power hitting coach Mike Lum. "For a guy who hasn't played baseball very long, to do what he's done is really incredible.

 

"He's a very dedicated individual. He's willing to learn, and he's a very good athlete. For him to do what he's done in just four years, kind of shows off his athleticism."

 

While other may marvel at his rapid progress at the plate, Cain is just doing what comes naturally.

 

"I've just been trying to make progress," said Cain, a 6-foot-2, 183-pound outfielder. "I've tried to play well in each league that I've been in. I don't know what it is.

 

"I've just hit well since high school. I'm trying to stay on that pace and keep going."

 

The main things that Cain would like to improve upon as a professional are more patience at the plate and an increase in power numbers.

 

"I need to be more disciplined at the plate and try to cut down on my strikeouts a little bit," said Cain. "I'd also like to bring my power numbers up from where they are, but I'm just hoping that will come along as I keep playing and developing."

 

Another aspect of Cain's game that needs improvement is facing a steady dose of off-speed pitches in the SAL.

 

Having speedy leadoff man Darren Ford ahead of him in the lineup helps cut down on the number of breaking balls he sees, but Cain has still seen a steady dose of curves and changeups.

 

"If he (Ford) gets on, I'll see fastballs," said Cain, "but most of the time pitchers try to stay away and throw more curveballs and change ups to me. A lot more than I saw in Arizona, I can tell you that.

 

"To tell you the truth, I'm still trying to adjust to all the curves and changeups I'm getting. I just try to get them to throw me that fastball.

 

"Just throw me that fastball and I'll jump on it."

 

Lum said Cain's adjustment to off speed pitches is just part of the learning process that all good hitters must overcome.

 

"He's a young hitter in the development stage," Lum said. "He has a lot to learn and he's learning it. I've always thought that to become a good big league hitter, hitters have to have at least 1,500 at bats in the minor leagues and maybe 2,000 at bats.

 

"That develops their hitting skill and their learning curve.

 

"It will take him some time. What he's done so far is incredible. It's on the job training for him and once he gains some more experience and a feel for what he's trying to do at the plate, I think he's going to be a fine, fine Major League player."

[homer]

That's a great Cain article. Nice to see he specifically mentioned that he needs more patience at the plate and hitting for more power - the two things that really jump out on the stats page. He's rapidly becoming one of my favorite prospects.

[Mass Haas]

As hined at in August 9th's Link report, use this link, then look on the left hand-side and click the video link for Around the Minors from Charleston, WV.

 

There's a video interview with Angel Salome (not a lot of nuts-and-baseball talk, but still fun to see), and a chat with the Toastman that's fun also.

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...a/more.jsp