Baseball in Fort Wayne

Posts Tagged ‘Arizona Fall League’

A few days ago, I reported on some of the performances of former Wizards in the Arizona Fall League. MiLB did the same today.

Padres’ vice president of scouting and player development, Grady Fuson had encouraging words for many of the recent Wizards. Selected, relevant portions of the article are below:

[Jeremy] Hefner was in Arizona to work on converting his slider to a curveball, a pitch the Padres think will prove a more than capable complement to his fastball.

Outfielder Brad Chalk, 22, was in Arizona to refine his swing. Chalk hit .275 in 104 games at Class A Fort Wayne last season with a .354 on-base percentage.

The most improved position players were outfielder Danny Payne…

The Padres also handed out a new award that recognized the player who exemplified leadership among his peers. The recipient was outfielder Brian Joynt, who hit .304 as a third baseman with Lake Elsinore but will likely end up in the outfield.

Pitcher Nick Schmidt, the Padres’ No. 1 Draft pick in 2007 who missed the 2008 season after having elbow surgery, is pitching in the Dominican instructional league.

Pitcher Matt Bush, the former No. 1 Draft pick who made the conversion from shortstop to pitcher in 2007, had a sore triceps and was shut down before the end of instructional league. He’ll be ready for Spring Training.

Some other players mentioned – such as Outfielder Blake Tekotte, infielder Edinson Rincon and pitcher Gary Pointer – are young talents who have not yet played above Low-A ball and may be on their way to Fort Wayne as part of the innagural TinCaps sqaud that begins play in April 2009.

Each year as the Major League Baseball season comes to a close, teams start looking toward the next season. Presumably, that process begins with the teams’ prospects and where they will fall into place come the end of Spring Training.

Each August, Major League clubs determine which prospects will go to Arizona to take part in the Arizona Fall League. Most are Double-A and Triple-A players, but a Class A player may sneak through from time to time. The idea is that key players will be able to receive additional instruction and practice to accelerate their ascent to the Majors and perhaps even jump them a classification along the way.

Eacy year, many of the AFL participants are former Fort Wayne Wizarrds. However, this year’s class includes a couple local ties.

Jarrod Parker earned the distinction of the Arizona Diamondbacks’ Most Valuable Pitcher from the team’s field coordinator Jack Howell:

Parker’s slider has progressed to the point that farm director A.J. Hinch considers it the best in the organization.  Combine that with his unanimously-named best four-seamer in the organization and his veteran-like command, and you have one of the best pitching prospects in all of baseball.  This Most Valuable Pitcher Award will be the first in a long line of honors for the promising youngster; he’d better clear some room on his mantle [source: futurebacks.com (scout.com subscription required)].

Eric Wedge earned an historic disction this year when he was indcuted into the AFL Hall of Fame. He “became the first member of the Hall of Fame to be inducted for his Major League success as a manager but whose AFL experience was solely as a player [source: MLB.com]. He is also the first former AFL player to have gone on to become a Major LEague Manager.

“I take that as a great honor,” Wedge said before the ceremony. “I was done playing by the time I was 30 years old because of problems with my legs and elbow, but that gave me an opportunity to start managing, and I’ve had the chance to manage some fantastic young ballplayers.”

Former Wizards Danny Payne, Brian Joynt also took part in the AFL and garnered club honors. Payne was named the most improved player; hitting over .300 and leading the team with 21 walks whild putting up some good defense. Joynt earned a leadership award, who went from the cusp of being cut in extended Spring Training to putting together solid numbers at Lake Elsinore and having a chance to be San Antonio’s starting first baseman next season. The award “encompasses everything: desire, professionalism, leadership on and off the field, everything [source: MadFriars.com (Scout.com subscription required)].

Kellen Kulbacki likley would have been on the roster had he not injured his shoulder during the playoff run in Lake Elsinore. Instead of getting playing time after an tremendous 2008 that saw him hit .332 with 20 dingers after getting promoted from Fort Wayne, he’s reahabbing. He’s expected to be fully recovered in time for Spring Training.

Other former Wizards taking part in the AFL this year were Greg Burke, Mike Ekstrom, Wilton Lopez, Kyle Blanks, Mike Baxter, Chad Huffman and Sean Kazmar.

Tonight was the last game we’ll ever see the Fort Wayne Wizards take the home field in Fort Wayne. It was also likely the last professional baseball game we’ll ever see played in Memorial Stadium; which is slated to be demolished in 2009 shortly after the yet-to-be-named Fort Wayne team takes the field for the inaugural season at the ballpark at Harrison Square.

The stadium first fielded Wizards in 1993 as an affiliate of the Minnesota Twins organization. Future Twins, such as Torii Hunter, LaTroy Hawkins, Matt Lawton, Luis Rivas and Michael Cuddyer broke in their gloves while playing in the Summit City. In 1999, the Wizards became affiliates of the San Diego Padres. Since that time, future Friars like Sean Burroughs, Jake Peavy, Josh Barfield, Chase Headley and others kicked up dirt at Memorial Stadium. To date, 69 former Wizards players have made it to the Major Leagues – with many others sure to follow. And, for you trivia fans out there, here’s some:

• The last out in Memorial Stadium history was made by Danny Payne at 10:03PM Eastern.
• Former Norwell High School standout and Silverhawks prospect, Jarrod Parker dominated the Wizards through five innings of one hit ball. The Wizards offense came alive immediately after his departure . . . too bad they were already down 17 to 0.
• The last game at Memorial Stadium took place the same night that Major League Baseball first instituted instant replay availability.
• Dinger the Dragon faced off against former Wizard’ mascot, Wayne the Wizard in the Mascot Race. You would think one would finally win. Nope. They tied and therefore they both lost. Amazing.
• Olympian Gold Medalist, Lloy Ball threw out the ceremonial first pitch.
• My family came home with eleven softy balls, one Memorial Stadium replica and two bags of free potato chips.

And now, there is little else to do but turn our attention to the Major Leagues as the playoff races take shape. By early September, we may know the new name of the team and quite possibly have the opportunity to purchase (or receive) the new branded merchandise by the holiday season. And who knows, maybe I’ll publish another book during Spring Training! These are all some small milestones to help us endure another winter where following the Arizona Fall League just doesn’t quite cut it.

Oh, and there’s always this little vignette for Memorial Stadium that I put together. I’ll post a photo gallery tomorrow night.

It’s been a wonderful year. Thank you to the Wizards for keeping us entertained and providing me with the opportunity to take batting practice at Memorial Stadium, view an occasional game from the best seats in the house and so much more. To all those I have met and met up with at the Castle, I hope to see you downtown next season. I’m already looking forward to helping kick off a new era in Fort Wayne baseball history on Opening Day at Harrison Square.

Note: the music that accompanies the vignette is “The Last Song” by Thousand Foot Krutch. It’s a hidden track on their cd, “The Flame in All of Us” on Tooth and Nail Records.

Fort Wayne native, Eric Wedge joins the Philadelphia Phillies’ shortstop, Jimmy Rollins, as Arizona Fall League’s 2008 Hall of Fame induction class. The former catcher played for the Fall League’s Tucson Javelinas in 1993 as a member of the Colorado Rockies’ organization. After finishing with the league’s best record, the Javelinas lost a three-game championship playoff to the Tempe Rafters.