Life in the Bush Leagues
Traveling in the minors with my son
By Tom Nall
I’ve
had a long love affair with baseball since my grandfather introduced me to
the game when I was a young boy. I was seduced by the game long before I met
and married my wife Barb. Both of my parents are deceased, so baseball represents
the longest living constant in my life. I played and coached a little, but
over the years my role was reduced to primarily that of fan. My career as
a fanatic reached its peak in the 1960s and early 70s when as a member of
Wrigley Field’s Original Left Field Bleacher Bums I supported our hometown
Cubs, villainizing umpires and terrorizing opponents.
The most rewarding reminders of the game that brought out the fanatic in me are my two sons. Michael, now 25, was an All Big Ten pitcher at Northwestern, played in the Phillies’ organization, and is currently the pitching coach at U.I.C. T.J., now 24 and also a pitcher, signed a bonus contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers immediately after high school and has played for six years in the minor leagues. So every summer my wife and I load our Dodge pick-up truck and travel the bush leagues of America.
Last summer, T.J. was playing for the Jacksonville Suns, the Dodgers’ Double A affiliate in the Southern League. On a Thursday in June we joined T.J. and his teammates in Sevierville, Tennessee, where the Suns were playing the Tennessee Smokies, an affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals. Sevierville is near the Gatlinburg tourist trap area and at the foot of the scenic Smoky Mountains. Upon our arrival we met T.J. and several players passing time in the hotel lobby. My wife had hugs and kisses for both the familiar faces from seasons past as well as the newly acquired players. A player once quipped “everyone has an aunt just like her” and ever since she’s been known as “Auntie Barb.” As we were exchanging pleasantries, a cab pulled up and deposited Sergio Garcia, who entered the hotel to check in. Sergio, a utility player, had just been “sent down” from Triple A Las Vegas. He had previously put in time with the big league Dodgers so it appears that, sadly, his is a career on the skids. For most of the Suns, however, hope is alive. Double A features young, gifted, and promising talent who merely need their skills refined before reaching the big leagues.
My wife and I decided to relax from our long ride before heading to the 7:00 p.m. game. After a nap we made our way to the stadium. Glen Bott was pitching for the Suns and we grabbed a 5 – 1 lead which narrowed to 5 – 3 as we entered the bottom of the 9th. The Smokies quickly pushed one run across to make the score 5 – 4 and had the bases loaded, but the Suns had captured two outs. Suns’ closer Yhancy Brazoban, who later that season was promoted to Los Angeles, was on the mound and ran the count to 0-2 on batter Skip Schumacher, who then unfortunately lined a single to left. The tying run scored, but the lead run was held up at third base. Just then the throw home by our left-fielder deflected off our catcher’s glove, and because our pitcher was not backing up his teammate, the winning run raced home. The minor leagues exist so that young players learn how to execute the basic fundamentals under pressure: they learn not to groove and 0-2 pitch and to back up home plate on throws from the outfield.
After the game, as always, we took T.J. to dinner, and this evening he brought along teammate Randy Leek. Randy is a 27-year old left-handed pitcher, drafted by the Detroit Tigers after graduating from William and Mary College in 1999, and the following year acquired by the Dodgers in the complicated Rule 5 draft. As we dined we enjoyed Randy’s conversation about his family and growing up in New York City.
Early next morning the phone in our hotel room rang and it was T.J. informing us that Randy had been released! From that moment on my wife and I were known as “the Great Reapers.” Word passed among the superstitious Suns: “Go to dinner with them, and you are dead.” Fortunately, in a few days Randy was picked up by the Cardinals and, ironically, assigned to the Smokies—which meant he had to travel to Jacksonville to pick up his belongings, only to immediately return to Tennessee.
Twelve hours after our surprise wake-up call, my wife and I were back in our stadium seats, this time to watch T.J. pitch for the Suns in a must-win game. T.J. features a four-seam fast ball that tops out at 91 m.p.h., a cut fastball, a sharp-breaking curveball, and a change-up. He is extremely superstitious: for years he has been wearing the same t-shirt (“Save the Manatees”) whenever he pitches; he never steps on a white line; and he pitches with his wallet in his pocket (there’s a picture of his girlfriend in it). After his last warm-up toss of each inning he talks to himself behind the mound and then charges up the hill to face the first batter. Since April he had been a valuable member of the Suns’ pitching staff, ranking in the League’s Top Ten in virtually every significant pitching category including 7th in ERA, with an average of 2.98.
After the pre-game ceremonies, the Suns were held scoreless in their first inning. How can I explain what happened next? I’ll do it quickly. After five innings the Smokies led the Suns 9 – 0. As T.J. said after the game, “I threw batting practice.” The Suns went on to lose 10 – 7.
Dinner after the game was quiet. Players who have reached this level of professional baseball are mentally tough. In the lower minors they come to understand that they will experience temporary failures and that it is important to adjust, maintain confidence, and quickly bounce back. The lower minors help eliminate not only the less talented, but also those who cannot respond to the daily pressure.
Jacksonville, Florida is large enough to support an NFL franchise, but in baseball the city is relegated to Double A stature. Its newly-constructed baseball stadium opened for the 2003 season and was named the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville, the first sports facility to be titled “Grounds” since the New York Mets played in the Polo Grounds in the early 1960s. It has 6,000 stadium-style chairs and accommodates a total of 11,000 fans. Taking a cue from the major leagues, the Suns installed twelve luxury boxes and four sky decks, each of which have private seating. Like Wrigley Field in Chicago, The Baseball Grounds is the franchise’s main attraction. During the 2004 season the Suns drew 420,000, easily surpassing the previous year’s record total of 360,000. This represented the fifth highest attendance figure in all Double A baseball, averaging 6,276 fans per game.
Friday evening, a large crowd was in the stands and T.J. was starting for the Suns in an effort to break the team’s losing streak. The leadoff hitter dropped down a bunt single, the second hitter got an infield hit, and the third hitter doubled in two runs. Three batters and T.J. was down 2 – 0. However, he struck out the next five batters and went on to have a stellar performance. The Suns won!
Despite being a former high school coach and T.J.’s
father , I offer him virtually no advice.
I realize he knows a hell of a lot more than I do.
We met up with the Suns on July 5th in Raleigh, North Carolina as T.J. prepared to face the Carolina Mudcats. He was superb; tossed a shutout and the Suns won 6 – 0. After the game T.J. informed us that he was selected to play in the Southern League’s All Star Game the following Tuesday in Chattanooga, Tennessee. We were excited for him, and decided to return home for a few days and rejoin him in Chattanooga, in time of course, for the All Star Game.
This All Star game was dedicated to the memory of Dernell Stenson. Dernell was a member of the Chattanoogo Lookouts in 2003, played in this All Star game last year, and afterwards was promoted to the Cincinnati Reds. Last November while playing in the Major League’s Arizona Fall League, Dernell was tragically murdered. Just prior to the beginning of the game Dernell’s mother, wife, and two-year old son were introduced to the crowd and hs brother, Thomas, walked to the mound and threw out the game’s ceremonial first pitch. I was certain this was an emotionally moving pre-game ceremony for T.J., as he and Dernell were close friends and teammates in the Arizona Fall League.
After two days of festivities in Chattanooga the game itself proved to be anticlimactic. T.J.’s East Team scored eight runs in the second inning and cruised to a 10-6 victory over the West. In All Star games like this, pitchers usually throw only one inning each in order to allow the fans the opportunity to see all pitchers on the All-Star roster. As T.J. charged out of the bullpen to pitch the top of the fifth, I repositioned myself in the stands for the best photo opportunities. The first batter flew out to left field on a 2-2 count. The second batter grounded out on the first pitch as did the next hitter. That was that. Three up, three down on seven pitches. I barely had time to snap pictures. That evening T.J. and his girlfriend Robyn celebrated with his teammates and their wives and girlfriends. Barb and I walked back to our hotel, enjoying a lovely southern evening at the end of another minor league season.
Tom Nall is the chairman of the History and Social Studies Department at St. Viator High School in Arlington Heights, Illinois. T.J. Nall is currently pitching in the Pacific Coast League for the Las Vegas 51’s, the Triple A affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers.