Baseball in Fort Wayne

Posts Tagged ‘New York Yankees’

Earlier this month, former Fort Wayne Wizard, Bobby Scales made his Major League Debut after more than a decade in the minor leagues without as much as one at-bat in the MLB level. At the time, the call-up was expected to last mere days as he filled in as a utility infielder during some injuries. When Aramis Ramirez dislocated his shoulder, Scales got the assurance of a longer look.

And apparently, the stars remain in alignment. He got called up when staff ace, Carlos Zambrano went down to injury. Then he got an extended stay when Ramirez got hurt. That same day, Cubs GM Jim Hendry traded Joey Gathright to the Orioles in return for Ryan Freel - which could have meant Scales was on his way back to Triple-A Iowa. However, Freel was damaged goods, bowing out to a hamstring injury the night he was to make his Cubs debut.

Scales first career hit came off of reigning NL Cy Young Award winner, Tim Lincecum. Since then, he’s proven he belongs in the Majors. And others are starting to take notice.

Coming into today’s game, Scales led National League rookies in batting average and on base percentage with a .429 mark in both categories. After today’s game in which he went 2-4 with a walk and two runs scored, he’s hitting .444 with a .474 OBP . He’s also slugging .833.

Oh, and by the way, he now has a six-game hitting streak; just one short the longest for a Cubs player to start a career since Jerome Walton did it back in 1989. As you might remember, Walton was named the National League Rookie of the Year that year.

On May 12th, Scales hit his first Major League home run against the visiting San Diego Padres, the team who drafted him in the 14th round back in 1999. Scales was as surprised as anyone, and appeared humbled while keeping things in perspective as he was interviewed following the game:

That home run was a pinch hit. His first career pinch hit was a triple.

Scales persistence has almost become this season’s equivelant of last season’s Josh Hamilton Story. Bloggers who don’t even typically blog about baseball are lauding Scale’s character. It’s become an inspiring story of hope and redemption. And through it all, Scales remains grounded yet confident in his abilities:

“I don’t know how long I’m going to be here, so go ahead and get one mark on the board,” said Scales . . . I knew for a fact that I could play here. That never wavered. Whether you get opportunities or not, that’s not up to me. There are guys I know — good players that had better numbers than me — who never got a chance for whatever reason.”

I am glad that Bobby Scales stuck it out. From people I have spoken with and even some of the commenters of this blog have told me that he is genuinely one of the nicest guys anyone will ever meet and is certainly deserving of what he is achieving right now.

But I remain fixated on that statement, “who never got a chance for whatever reason.” Maybe it’s the cynic in me, but when I hear this story, tremendous as it is, I wonder if Scales (and those others of whom he speaks) would have been up four or five years earlier had baseball not been in the midst of the now infamous “steroid era”.

Scales probably was not inferring the injustice of that era, and I am not trying to put words into his motuh, but I think specifically to another former Fort Wayne Wizard, Dan Naulty, who was man enough to come clean about his experiences with HGH and the like:

I had cheated my way right onto the team that year by using steroids, human growth hormone and amphetamines. I was watching my so-called friends leave big-league camp, beginning another grueling year in the minors, while I kept sticking needles in my butt and patting them on the back as they were dismissed. . . I took a roster spot of another athlete who was competing naturally. This causes a domino effect on all the levels below – someone loses their job and the financial security of that job. Then they’re on to another small minor-league town where their children have to move schools again. Their wives are being put through another disappointing year of loneliness while their husband keeps trying to make it to the major leagues.

Naulty was a member of the 1999 New York Yankees World Series team. As fate would have it, that was pretty much the end of his big league career. If you want to read more about Nautly’s experiences, click here. It’s a fascinating story that is simply overlooked or swept under the rug by pretty much all the sports talking heads in mainstream media.

So forgive if I think of all the “Bobby Scales” of the baseball world when I read about all the “Dan Naulty” like players that also inhabited it. I think about how many had given up their dreams of hitting the Major Leagues because they weren’t quite good enough to crack the roster of a team that probably had players who took shortcuts. Not to mention the veterans who got pushed out the door in favor of up and coming sluggers with less experience but much inflated exuberance.

We’ll never know how many players were juicing and we’ll never know how many other players missed out becuase of the shortcuts those other players too, but watching Bobby Scales makes me smile. I suspect we’ll see more like him in the coming years. Last year saw the White Sox bring up 30-year-old DeWayne Wise and there may be others of which I have no knowledge. Could it be that the youth movements might now require a little more seasoning?

Maybe – as far as baseball and the new “steroid free” era are concerned – 30 is the new 27!

More Bobby Scales:

• Bobby Scales makes Cubs debut after 11 seasons in minors (Chicago Sun Times)
• Bobby Scales: What Major League Baseball Should Be About (Bleacher Report)
• Bobby Scales’ Inspirational Story (Bleacher Report)
• Bobby Scales in the house for Cubs  (Chicago Tribune)
• Bobby Scales weighs in on big-league experience (Chicago Tribune)

 Related BBIFW Posts on Bobby Scales:

• Bobby Scales MLB Debut
• Bobby Scales Called Up
• Bobby Scales Debut May be Coming
• Bobby Scales Going to New York…as a Cub
• Spring Training Report: Estranged Friars
• Former Wizards Likely to Debut in 2009 – Part I
• Cubs Invite Scales and Rivas to Spring Training
• ‘zards Alumni

As expected, Chad Moeller was sent back to Triple-A after filling in for Posada and Molina while they were injured. But that’s not to indicate he didn’t show the team – and other teams – something during his brief stay.

In fact, was impressive. Over his six games this season, he’s hitting well over his career .226 average at .350. He’s produced 5 runs on 7 hits and 3 walks while driving in 3 runs. He even hit a home run and had a .425 OBP during his stint.

True, one week does not a season make, but Moeller flashed some signs that he can get the job done given the right situation. They Yankees may have even kept him up for a longer stint if their bullpen wasn’t in dire need of help. With the pressing need for extra relievers, there was no longer a spot for Moeller.

However, Moeller is out of minor league options so another team can claim him off waivers. I don’t know that there are many teams out there that would provide a more ideal situation than where he currently is, but I gotta think there are some who are at least considering it.

All that said, Moeller has said he would accept an assignment back to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (Pa.) if he clears waivers. “They’ve treated me way to well here to go somewhere else,” Moeller said [source: NJ.com].

The New York Yankees saw their primary backup catcher, Jose Molina injure his left hamstring during last night’s game. Molina had been filling in for starting catcher, Jorge Posada who is dealing with injury woes of his own. The two injuries could land a call-up for former Wizards catcher, Chad Moeller.

Molina had to come out of the game in the eighth inning for pinch-runner Wilson Betemit as the Yanks’ tried to mount a rally against the rival Boston Red Sox.

The Yankees will make a roster move to bring in another catcher for Monday’s game at Tampa Bay — likely Triple-A backstop Chad Moeller — but have not yet decided if Molina will need to go on the 15-day disabled list [Souorce: MLB.com].

Moeller, 33, was the subject of a handful of similar stories this spring that praised him as the classic veteran catcher who is content to fill the desired role.

Moeller has been in this situation before. He’s not going to be a starter in New York, but the Yankees want him around to fill in if need be . . . It means I’ve been doing it a while,” Moeller said. “For me it’s a good thing. It means they haven’t told me to go home yet. Situations are always out there and you have to find the one that fits. This one, it seems to fit so far. I don’t know how it’s going to play out and I don’t have to. I don’t know where I’ll be at the end of the season . . . you just don’t know where you’re going to be and you just go out and try to do the best you can.” [source: The Citizens Voice]

Moeller, the eight-year major league veteran has a .224 career average, but a .282 average in the minors.

Moeller was selected by Minnesota Twins in the 7th Round (187 overall) of the 1996 draft. While in Fort Wayne during the Wizards 1997 season, the backstop hit .289 with a .386 on base percentage. He scored 58 runs with 111 hits in 384 at-bats. He also had 9 home runs and 39 runs batted in while swiping 11 bases and drawing 48 walks.

He’s spent time in the big leagues every year since his debut in 2000, including time with the Dodgers and Reds last season. He has also been on the Major League roster of the Diamondbacks and Brewers.

UPDATE: As expected, the Yankees called up Moeller, who was inserted in the Yankees’ lineup on Monday, making his New York Yankees debut. “I just never know,” Moeller said. “I just thank the Lord every day that I get to do something I enjoy and as long as he wants me to keep doing it, I’m just going to keep going. When my body says stop, it’ll probably be a clear answer.” In four at-bats, he had a hit, a run and two strike-outs.