Gentlemen, Start Your Engines

Let's play two! Games started today for Ponce and my team is either Team 3 or Team C, the league is using numbers or letters apparently interchangeably! In any case, Team 3-C is managed by Darrin Garner, a fielding and baserunning roving coordinator in the Seattle Mariners minor league system. He has been coaching in the Ponce camp for 5+ years and seems to be a very good guy. Team 3-C-Garner split our two games today in 80 degree, beautiful weather. We won the first game 9-6, over the team coached by Detroit Tigers pitching coach Rick Knapp, with them scoring 3 runs in the last inning to make it close. We lost the second game 7-4, falling behind a team coached by Red Sox Minor League Hitting Coordinator Victor Rodriguez 5-1 early and when we closed it to 5-4 going into the last inning, they stretched their lead and put us out of reach. I was 1-4 at bat in the first game and 2-2 in the second game.

The other coaches here this year include: Camp Director Steve Liddle, Minnesota Twins bench coach; Stu Cliburn, Twins AAA pitching coach; Stan Cliburn, a manager for an independent minor league team; Arnie Beyeler, the Red Sox new AAA minor league Pawtucket manager (he was manager at AA Portland last year.) Helping with instruction are: Don Buford, former Oriole and White Sox allstar; Floyd Rayford, former Oriole catcher; and Tom Brown, a pitching and catching coach in the Cincinnati Reds system.

Steve Liddle announced that they would once again have a photographer here all week to "catch the action" although he pointed out that Ponce action is so slow they considered having a sketch artist instead.

The day started inauspiciously for me: in "skills training" at the beginning of the day I was in a group of outfielders fielding fly balls hit by Floyd Rayford. On the second ball hit to me -- a line drive I had to run in for -- I slipped and fell and the ball hit me on the forehead (as you know my "forehead" is a larger than normal target.) On the head, so no damage done (except to my pride.) One of my teammates pulled a groin muscle during infield practice and had to sit out the rest of the day -- two injuries and the games hadn't even started yet!

I mentioned last year that the Red Sox had selected Victor Rodriguez' son, also Victor, to attend a school for budding Major League scouts. This winter young Victor was hired by the Red Sox to be a full-time scout, and has started scouting players in the Dominican Republic.

Victor also said that the Red Sox gave up a terrific young hitter, Anthony Rizzo, in the trade to San Diego to get Adrian Gonzalez. Victor thinks Rizzo, who he said is also a terrific fielder and "great kid", could well make the Padres this year and in the end he may hit with even more power than Gonzalez.

Along with top pitching prospect Casey Kelly going to the Padres to get the established star Gonzalez, it seems to be a case of a bird-in-the-hand for two bushes -- as the Red Sox are expected to win right now, not wait for prospects to develop.

Arnie Beyeler said that Ryan Westmoreland, the Red Sox top prospect who at the age of 19 last year had emergency brain surgery to address a brain malformation, "has made a remarkable recovery." He said every report starting from the week following the surgery had been way ahead of predictions -- and that Westmoreland is hitting and throwing at the Red Sox facility. While there is clearly more therapy needed, Arnie thinks Westmoreland could conceivably be ready to play at the Red Sox short season minor league team in Lowell this summer.