2012 Lexington Legends Update: Moving On

NOV 3rd, 2013-Baseball is a beautiful game. It's a play in nine innings on green diamonds and dirt fields, a traveling show making appearances worldwide. There's simply nothing quite like it.

But it's not all peanuts and Cracker Jack. There are parts of the game at the professional level which are hard to accept; the worst of these necessary evils is the premature end of a player's career.

Every year, dozens of players are handed their walking papers. Sometimes, they're players who have been in the game for years and never made it to the top; often, they've been pros for little more than one or two seasons. For many reasons, reasons which are moot from the player's point of view, they are sent home with the pieces of their broken dreams crammed into their equipment bags. Veteran or rookie, none are immune to the dreaded Unconditional Release.

Now that the 2013 season has drawn to a close (congratulations to the Red Sox; they certainly earned it), some of the boys who graced our field here at The Bank have suffered this very fate. The needs of the organization, and so on and so forth. Hardly matters when you're the one who's been told that your services are no longer needed. Some of this will be old news for you folks, but I like to catch up with the guys when I am able. (Note: some of these players were released before the 2013 season began.)


Batters:

Jay Austin, CF
2013 Stats: none

Drafted in 2008 by the Astros in the 2nd round, Austin was a speedy outfielder who stole 54 bases in 2010 with the Lancaster JetHawks. However, he bounced between Class A Lexington and High-A Lancaster from 2011-12 and never truly seemed to progress with the bat. While he may still catch on with another team, his chances are now limited at best. He's a 23 year-old OF with no time above High-A; he'd have a long road ahead of him, if he came back now.

James Howick, SS
2013 Stats: none

A 21st round pick in 2011, Howick had a great deal of trouble adjusting to pro pitching. At times he seemed out-matched in the field, as well. One thing I noted about him, however, is that he could do the little things very well; hitting the runner over or laying down a bunt was well within his ability. I still feel like he could have progressed into a reliable utility infielder, but without his being able to produce offensively he won't get that chance with the Astros.


Zach Johnson, 1B
2013 Stats: 62 games, 232 PA, 12 R, 16 2B, 2 3B, 5 HR, 27 RBI, .271/.339/.440

Now here's one that I don't understand. Johnson was a bonafide run producer (38 2B, 15 HR, 108 RBI with the 2012 Legends), and he drew a lot of walks without sacrificing ABs or becoming too passive with the bat. He handled first base adeptly and I figured he'd at least project as an above-average DH in the Majors. With Houston now in the AL, he could have been a useful bat to have in such an anemic lineup. Just can't figure that one out. (Timothy De Block and the fine, fine crew at The Crawfish Boxes have info on this move on their August 9th podcast.)

Jordan Kreke, 2B
2013 Stats: none
(Obtained via trade with Atlanta prior to the 2012 season)

A 13th round pick by the Braves in 2009, Kreke appeared to be on his way to developing into a useful and steady glove off the bench. As often happens with middle infield specialists, the glove was willing but the bat was weak (apologies, Jordan). I felt like he could have been utilized a bit more than he was, but while his 49 PA in Class AAA Oklahoma City were promising (.273 BA, .347 OBP), he was a victim of the number crunch; younger players coming up, and no real place for him on the ML roster. I would like to have seen what he could have done with even half a season at Triple-A.


Pitchers:

Tanner Bushue, RHP
2013 Stats (Low-A Tri-City ValleyCats): 3-4, 5.14 ERA, 13 G, 7 GS, 49 IP, 40 HA, 28 ER, 7 HRA, 13 BB, 40 K, 5 HBP

What The Heck, Bobby? reported on Bushue's voluntary retirement a few days ago. I know that he had struggled with injuries as far back as 2011 (strained hip, if I remember correctly), and it seems that he never was truly healthy after that. His overall numbers and peripherals weren't all that bad (7.3 HA/9, 2.4 BB/9, 7.3 K/9), but what concerned me about him was his slight build. Bushue has a smallish frame, especially for his height, but I think he'd be a great asset in the 'pen. He's still only 22, and if he chose to come back (assuming he is healthy, again) I think most any team would be lucky to have him in their system. Bushue had one of the best curves I've ever seen come through Lexington, and he could change speeds well.


Dayan Diaz, RHP
2013 Stats (AZL Cubs, Daytona Cubs, Tennessee Smokies): 3.00 ERA, 13 G, 5 GF, 21 IP, 16 HA, 7 ER, 9 BB, 29 K)

Diaz had an explosive fastball and a hard-breaking slurve, and lit up the radar gun at The Bank on a regular basis. A mid-to-high 90's heater will make you stand up and take notice. He pitched with the Cubs organization in 2013 but struggled with injuries for much of the season. If he could get his health back on track, he'd certainly be worth a second look. At 24 now, however, the numbers game is not working in his favor.


Nathan Pettus, RHP
2013 Stats: none

Another player with whom Father Time caught up, Pettus had his struggles with the 2012 Legends. While his overall numbers weren't great, I felt like he was a valuable middle reliever and occasional short man. His 37 walks in 63 innings tended to come back and bite him, but he was most certainly a fighter on the mound.

Scott Zuloaga, LHP
2013 Stats: none

Zuloaga is on the voluntarily retired list, having dealt with injuries throughout 2012. A lefty sidearmer, he pitched in only 5 games with Lexington. Personally, I'd love to have a port-side submarine slinger in my 'pen. He's only 23, so he could potentially sign on with another organization (assuming he's healthy). Again, the numbers game is against him.


This was just a tiny bit about the 2012 Legends who are no longer in the game. Some of it may come across as a little too frank for some folks, and I can understand that. I'm as big a fan of the game of baseball as anyone you're likely to meet, but sometimes the game can be cruel. There's no real way to sugarcoat a player's release or retirement. Every player who turns pro is aware of this fact, and for many of them there is a deep-seated fear that they harbor: the fear that their career will be cut far shorter than they ever imagined. That, unfortunately, is the nature of professional baseball. Some players are advanced, others are released, and sometimes there's no obvious reason for either transaction.

Whatever happens for these former pros, we wish them all the best in their future endeavors. If I could offer them any advice (if they were desperate enough to ask me), I would remind them that they are all far more than just baseball players; they all have their whole lives ahead of them, and I hope that they find success and happiness in whatever the future brings.

This Is The Business We Have Chosen

JULY 9th, 2012-We're halfway through the season, and things have been about what I expected they would be.

3B Matt Duffy, putting a hurt on the ball.

The team as a whole has been reasonably successful, playing some pretty exciting games and more than holding their own in what has turned out to be a somewhat competitive division. Players have come and gone, been promoted, demoted, released (we still miss you, Tyler), injured, all of what you'd expect to see in a typical baseball season. Several of the players I've known and hosted while here have gone up the chain (Jason Chowning and Alex Todd, for starters), new players have come to take their place on the roster (happy to see one of my personal favorite players Mitchell Lambson joining us), and business has been pretty much "as usual", as they say.

The Moon Man, firing away after a great hustle play

Business. I've never gotten used to hearing that word associated with baseball. Somehow, it doesn't sit well with me.

I've never been naive enough to think that, at this level, it's not first and foremost a business. But when you get to know these kids, when you learn about their lives off the field, what they're like when they're not "being ball players", you can't get totally accustomed to the fact that, in the end, their status as a professional baseball player is strictly subject to the whim and will of the parent organization. The "big club". Somehow, "big club" is a very appropriate nickname for a Major League team...after you've been released, you probably feel like you've just been smacked over the head with one.

CF Drew Muren just knocked the crap out of this ball. Trust me. 

Anyway, I continue to take hundreds upon hundreds of photos at every game I attend. It sometimes gets to feeling too much like actual work (which it shouldn't because I love doing it), and when it does I back off a bit. But I spend countless hours working on those photos, and sometimes a player will thank me for taking them. In the end, besides the fact that I feel like the time spent by these young men in professional baseball is worthy of remembrance, I do it for them. At the last potluck I was able to print some 200 of these photos out to distribute to the boys. Many of them were very grateful to have shots of themselves playing this game, and I imagine they seldom get to see prints of their own unless someone is asking them to sign one, but I love being able to do this for them. I genuinely feel that it's a small gesture, considering all they give back to the fans. And yeah, I like the feedback I get when they see the pics, too.

RHP Murilo Gouvea waits for the call. 

I say all this because I feel that minor league baseball players have so much asked of them by their team and their fans: they're paid peanuts for what they do, they endure eternally-long road trips and have to share space with 2 or 3 other players just to be able to afford a place of their own, and honestly they are given little in return when you think about it. Consider: after all they do to make their way in pro ball, only one in 11 will ever step foot on a major league field for even one at-bat, one inning, one play. That's a lot of work for such long odds. But they do it, and every year another 1500 or so new faces fight for their place in the game, veterans keep working toward their dream, and some are just praying for one more game, one more inning, one more moment in the sun.

Now I'm not mentioning the photography bit because I think what I do deserves any sort of praise. I love doing it and I'll keep on doing it as long as God allows. But in a small way, it affords me a tiny window into the life of a player, a look into who he is instead of what he does, and it brings me that much closer to the game I love and the players I respect.

Flame-throwing prospect RHP Dayan Diaz. If you don't know
about him yet, you will.

Simply put, while one player may be here for the long haul, another may disappear without warning. We all remember the ones who make the All-Star Games, who lead the league in homers or who win batting titles, but let's not forget the ones who are here and gone before we knew them.

Let's not forget that the business can be harsh and unforgiving. Keep that in mind the next time one of your favorites leaves the diamond, perhaps for good. Remember what it meant to him, and what he meant to you. And it won't seem like such a business, anymore.


Find more Legends photos in my 2012 Lexington Legends Flickr set. I'll be adding to it all year.