Well, today was another day of Spring Training at the Maryvale Baseball Complex in Arizona. The parent Brewer club had the day off today, so I continued to interact with the Brewers’ minor league players.
I continued to interview a variety of the players, including Angel Salome, Mat Gamel, Brendan Katin, Chuck Lofgren and Lorenzo Cain.
I couldn’t believe how well-chiseled that both Salome and Katin are. I thought I was witnessing a body-building contest when I saw these two. They appeared to be more than just baseball players with their physiques. However, on the field, they displayed why they are talented prospects in the Brewers’ system. Katin was able to belt a few out in batting practice. Both have been in Nashville before and of course, like everyone else, they are seeking a spot for the parent club in the future.
Lofgren came over to the Brewers from the Cleveland Indians and is excited to look forward to a new opportunity with Milwaukee. He feels fortunate to be working with Sounds’ pitching coach Rich Gale, who is helping Chuck perfect his delivery and to prepare him to be in the starting rotation for the Sounds when the season opens up in a couple of weeks.
Today, the Sounds played the White Sox’ Triple-A affiliate, who play in Charlotte, North Carolina and go by as the Charlotte Knights. Former Yankee First Baseman, Christ Chambliss was there as the Knights’ skipper. Although I never brought this up to Don Money, it was back on April 14, 1976 when the Brewers were hosting the Yankees at County Stadium in Milwaukee. Money hit what was an apparent game-winning grand slam home run and the Brewers thought they had a win. However, unbeknownst to almost every umpire on the field, Chris Chambliss called time out while the pitch was being delivered and the first base umpire accepted Chambliss’ request for time. The first base umpire conferred with the umpires, who reversed the call and disallowed Money’s home run. Don would settle for a sacrifice fly and a run batted in and the Brewers wound up losing the ballgame by two runs. You can imagine the frustration felt by Money.
Angel Salome had a two-run single in the game and Brewers’ promising lefty pitching prospect, Zach Braddock, pitched the ninth inning and did allow a run in the inning. However, except for a double, the three outs were easy flyballouts and Braddock showed a lot of promise as Rich Gale urged him to try to keep his pitches down and he did after giving up a one-out double in the 9th inning.
Lorenzo Cain was also very gracious as he was happy to chat with me during my interview with him. Last year, Cain missed most of the season when he tore an ACL in his knee as he dove after a flyball. He mentioned to me how great he felt and is just happy to be back on the ballfield. By the way, you can listen to these interviews at www.nashvillesounds.com.
Last but not least, the day ended on a personal positive note for me when two of my childhood friends and I got together for the first time in many years. We all lived on the same block in Brooklyn, New York City, where I grew up. My two friends have lived out here in Arizona for many years. We ate at a restaurant in the Westgate outer mall, which also features jobling.com arena, where the Phoenix Coyotes of the National Hockey League now play. Right next door was the University of Phoenix Stadium, where the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals play. Glendale appears to be growing like weeds.
Tomorrow, I look forward to visiting the major league club and hope to speak with the likes of former Sounds’ players Prince Fielder and Ryan Braun. That should be fun
Tomorrow, I will be on the radio for three interviews. You can tune in to hear a report at 9:30AM Central Time on WJJM, 94.3FM with Jeff Haslett, 104.5 The Zone at 4:05PM Central Time with George Plaster and Willy Daumic and 105.9 The Rock with Joe Elvis at 5PM Central Time.
I hope you all had a nice day and as always, thank you so much for reading.
– Stu Paul
- Posted on March 25, 2010 at 1:34 am
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