With infielder Tony Gsell being the last player to make the Patriots out of tryouts that actually stuck with the team for a whole season back in 2003, expectations weren't all that high going into the event, but the team ended up signing two players that they intend on bringing with them to Spring Training in Lakeland, Florida this year.

While the team signed catcher Ryan McDermond, the biggest news was that the club also signed Jim Burt, Jr. Burt, the son of the former New York Giants lineman, was brought into camp to audition after being released from the New York Mets organization just days earlier.

"There's no organization in independent ball that I'd rather be a part of than this one, so I'm definitely really excited," said Burt, just minutes after being informed that he'd be headed south with the rest of the team.

Players with varying degrees of experience could be found on the field at Commerce Bank Ballpark in Bridgewater, with players like Leon Feingold and Pat DiNizio being excellent examples of that.

For the 32-year old Feingold, this was his first time stepping on a professional field since 1999, when the Newark Bears brought him to Spring Training. Now working in Manhattan in the real estate business, he talked about the ironic way he ended up with the Cleveland Indians organization back in the mid-90's.

"The first time I went to a tryout, I was the first player at that time to ever be signed by the Kingston Indians out of their open tryout. That was right after college, so I've been through this before. When you've got a lot of eyes on you, you know you need to make an impression. I actually threw really well and I had a lot of movement, but the location was not there at all. In a very short audition like this, you need to be spot on in order to get picked up."

Feingold wasn't picked up this time, but the same may not be true for 50-year old Pat DiNizio. The New Jersey native, and lead singer of the New Jersey rock group "The Smithereens," is filming a documentary for ESPN entitled "7th Inning Stretch" that's set to air on July 12th. DiNizio has been working with the Patriots since last season, and will be headed down to Spring Training with the team with the hopes of getting into an actual game later on in the season.

"We don't know when that's going to happen, but that's the dream," DiNizio said.

The rest of the hopefuls were comprised of players just out of college, but there were a few people there who hadn't touched a ball since Little League. A tall and skinny 23-year old right-hander fit this bill, throwing about 20 pitches in front of Patriots manager Sparky Lyle and Bears pitching coach Pete Filson, who have nearly 30 years of combined Major League experience. No pressure there.

"You could be one of those 7-11 guys, in when you're up seven or down eleven," Filson said to him with a smile. "I'd keep your day job."

Lyle was slightly more complimentary, "I was just glad we had our insurance paid up. Actually, you didn't do that bad."

When pressed about whether the kid should stick to his day job, Lyle was quick to reply with, "I think that's safe to say."

When your new day job is covering the team for the Hunterdon County Democrat, you really just hope that your arm can recover in time to meet your deadline.