|
An
Independent Impact
by Mike Ashmore
August 3, 2006 - Hunterdon County Democrat
Back in 2005, with the Trenton Thunder down 2-1 in the
best-of-five Eastern League Northern Division Series to the
Portland Sea Dogs, manager Bill Masse entrusted his team's
season with starting pitcher Calvin Maduro.
Maduro kept his squad in it, going seven and a third strong
innings and allowing two runs on eight hits. But his team
was down 2-0 going into the eighth inning. Portland brought
in Jim Mann to shut the door with two outs in the bottom of
the eighth, but he allowed a game-tying two run home run to
Bronson Sardinha.
Mann was left in to face Michael Coleman in the bottom of
the ninth, and Coleman promptly deposited an outside
fastball over the left field fence to send the series to a
decisive fifth game.
The relevance of that game to the 2006 version of the
Thunder is three of the players who played key roles in that
2005 playoff game had experience in independent baseball.
Maduro spent some time with the Newark Bears of the Atlantic
League, where he was a teammate of Coleman. Jim Mann, the
pitcher who gave up the longball to Coleman, had pitched for
Nashua Pride of the same league earlier in the season.
Three players on the current Thunder roster; Justin
Christian, Vince Faison and Scott Patterson have all played
in different independent leagues for varying amounts of
time. A fourth, pitcher Gerardo Casadiego, was just called
up from Single-A Tampa after Justin Pope went on the DL with
a sore shoulder.
Christian's story is one of the more intriguing ones you'll
find in minor league baseball. Undrafted after spending time
at three different colleges, he signed with the River City
Rascals of the Frontier League and played there for parts of
2003 and 2004 before signing with the Yankees after hitting
.450 in 120 at-bats for the Rascals.
"(River City) gave me an opportunity to play out of
college," Christian said. "I knew when I was in
indy ball that I'd have to put up extremely good numbers to
get an opportunity, so it was exciting to get the chance to
go to the Yankees."
Now, he's the single season stolen base king in Trenton, his
48th stolen base eclipsing the mark set by Kevin Thompson in
2003.
Faison, selected 20th overall by the San Diego Padres in
1999, spent five seasons in their organization and another
year with the Mariners before starting the 2005 campaign
without a job from an affiliated team. With nowhere else to
turn, he signed with the Central League's Jackson Senators.
"It was kind of tough at times," Faison said.
"I'd never been released before, being a first round
pick. I just went at it like it was affiliated ball, just go
out there and put up some numbers and show people what I can
do."
Whether it's independent baseball, the minors, or the big
leagues, some players feel very lucky to have a spot
anywhere, something Faison can certainly attest to.
"The right rear tire blew on my Expedition, it was just
a freak thing," said Faison of the car accident on his
way to Jackson that sent his SUV tumbling down the highway.
"I think God was looking down on me, and it wasn't my
time."
Time is something that Scott Patterson spent way too much of
out of affiliated baseball. Undrafted out of West Virginia
State, Patterson threw his first pitches in professional
baseball for the Gateway Grizzlies. One of 12 teams in the
Frontier League, Gateway was where Patterson went 8-3 with a
2.92 ERA during his first year with them in 2003.
That standout season earned him a Spring Training invite
from the Seattle Mariners in 2004.
"It was really good there," Patterson said.
"I was hoping I could stick around, but they didn't
have any room."
After splitting the next two years between Gateway and the
Lancaster Barnstormers of the Atlantic League, Patterson's
numbers this year as Lancaster's closer saw clubs scrambling
to make room for him. The hard-throwing righty was 2-0 with
14 saves for the Barnstormers, posting a microscopic ERA of
just 0.78
The Orioles offered him a spot in Single-A, but it was the
Yankees offer of a spot in Double-A Trenton that has
Patterson enjoying the benefits that come with being in
affiliated baseball.
Whether they've gotten a second chance in baseball or a
second chance in life, the Thunder are once again counting
on a handful of players rescued from independent ball to
rescue their season.
Thunder outfielder Vince Faison; picture courtesy of Mike
Ashmore
|
