35 individuals showed up at camp today as the Beach Bums opener their third spring training and second under manager Jon Cahill! Spring training is my favorite time of year...you hear so much hype about each player and this is the first time to see them in action on the field. The talent across the board in the Frontier League this season may set up for one of the best summers in league history and it certainly starts right here in Traverse City where 54 games and the All-Star Game will be contested. Throughout spring training I will be posting updates on players and events during practice as well as running play-by-play (Its not my radio voice but my radio fingers) from the doubleheader at Gary next Tuesday in a date I deemed Tuesday of Champions. Below is the first of the spring training updates...
One of the beauties of the turf at Wuerfel Park (which is beautiful if you haven't seen it) is the ability to play immediately after rain. Rain fell overnight and into the morning but was not falling when practice opened at 9:30 am. A steady drizzle developed into a steady rain, but still the team continued on with its morning conditioning and defensive drills on into batting practice. While the rain did eventually force the team inside during the second round of batting practice (to prevent baseballs from getting waterlogged) in the morning around 11am, spirits were high as was the excitement of the day.
The afternoon session will feature an intrasquad game everyday where the pitchers throw live to the hitters. The rain had stopped and again with the turf there is little turnaround time needed so it was out for the fun...I was keeping score and the Blue team defeated the Gold team by an 8-5 margin in a seven-inning game (I just made up those two team names). Pitching for the Blue team was Ryan Gehring, who worked three innings...Brett Bostelman who saw two innings of work, and Jacob Cook who tossed an inning...Rory James threw an inning for each side...On the yellow team was David Nathanson also working three innings, Jeff Williams for a deuce, and Jared Locke for an inning.
Highlights from the game included a diving catch in left center field by Damon Lessler on a blooper (Lessler was playing second at the time)...Offensively Steve Young started things out with a homer over the fence in right field while batting left-handed against David Nathanson. Yes I said Steve Young hit a homer...He also stole a couple bases, walked, singled, and hit a rocket to third that was caught.
Other offensive highlights included Mike Goetz who connected on an opposite field double off the wall in left in his first at bat. Mike Epping posted four hits, two stolen bases, and a pair of RBI. Among his hits were an infield single and a triple into the right center field gap, something we hope to see many of during the year. Brad Roblin doubled, singled, and stole a base while Pat Perry, an All-Star in the Can-Am League last season, posted a pair of run scoring hits including an opposite field double to left. The only other homer of the day came off the bat of Ryan Kottke, a towering blast to left.
On tap for day two is media day plus hopefully some nicer weather...Enjoy...I'll talk to you then...
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