Jim Goulart

West Virginia Press Release: POWER BRING BACK SIX CONTRIBUTORS FROM 2007 OPENING NIGHT ROSTER ANNOUNCED CHARLESTON, WV (March 30, 2008) - The West Virginia Power, Class A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers have announced their opening day roster for the 2008 season. Infielders John Alonso and Brent Brewer will return from last year's team along with pitchers Jared Sutton, Mike Ramlow, Roque Mercedes and outfielder Caleb Gindl who joined the team for the last two games of the Championship Series against Columbus. Ramlow, Alonso and Brewer are the only three who remained with the team the entire season. Mercedes was sent down to Helena in June after beginning the year in Charleston, Sutton signed a free agent contract and joined the team in May and Gindl was promoted in September after he won the Pioneer League batting title with a .372 batting average in Helena. The roster includes 19 players who finished the 2007 season as members of the Helena Brewers who lost in the first round of the Pioneer League Playoffs and hit .291 as a team during the regular season. There are 26 names on the roster and a corresponding move will be made before the opener on Thursday to cut it down to 25. The roster consists of two catchers, six infielders, four outfielders and 14 pitchers. There are a total of six free agents, three 2005 draftees, six 2006 draftees and eleven 2007 draftees. The Power will play an exhibition game against WVU Tech on Tuesday, April 1 at 7:05 PM. The Power will open the 2008 season at L.P. Frans Stadium against the Hickory Crawdads on Thursday, April 3 at 6:30 PM. Their first game at home will be on Monday, April 7th against the Augusta GreenJackets at 7:05 PM. All listed times are Eastern.

Looks like MiLB.com has updated Huntsville's roster page with what appears to be an accurate roster, especially now that we know Nashville's as well. Huntsville Roster Page via MiLB.com

Sounds Announce Opening Day Roster The Sounds have it all set up to click on a player's name and get a complete detailed player history. Nobody in all of minor league baseball, absolutely nobody, does it better than Assistant General Manager - Communications & Baseball Operations Doug Scopel and the Sounds. Nashville Sounds Roster Notice that veteran minor league RHP Ben Howard was signed on Friday. Here's Howard's career stats, last pitching in the big leagues with Florida in 2004.

The best prediction articles are always those that list "What Should Happen, What Will Happen". Here's one like that.

Huntsville, like 2007, again with a southpaw-heavy rotation -- heck, all lefty. Brae Wright is the surprise here, the 2006 6th rounder was strong in seven games (six starts) late last season at Brevard County, but that's still a quick jump to AA. Hammond, Miller, and Narron are all AAA-worthy, as is likely reliever Dave Johnson, but they'll still be followed closely by management with the Stars. This squad is much different accolade-wise from last April's in terms of high-level position player talent. Of course, that didn't stop last year's team from winning division titles in both halves. We should have the complete roster for you tonight.

As we have done for several seasons, each affiliate will have a season-long running thread of player profile and feature article links that are not related to game-day actvities (those will appear in the Daily Link Reports). At the end of the season, we have a nice reference thread for all such articles. If a single story is so impactful that it will spurn extensive discussion, we would break that off into its own thread. Link while active, text follows -- (So Jim, what does "Link while active" mean, anyway?) Unless we link directly to a story from MLB.com (which seems to archive for years), in most cases we will copy and paste the contents of newspaper articles and such here, mainly because some newspapers only make their content online for a brief period of time. "Link while active" at least gives readers the choice to click to the direct link if they wish, and at minimum, provides a direct link to the source document. It's worked well for us, and we do run across the occasional site that does not allow copy-and-paste -- literally, the code on the page prevents it. In those cases naturally link-only is provided. Since we always include the author's name and employer, we've never heard from any source upset with us. Stars arriving with plenty of talent Huntsville will have five of Milwaukee's top 10 prospects By BRAD SHEPARD For The Huntsville Times When the Huntsville Stars arrive in town Monday, five of the Milwaukee organization's top 10 prospects according to Baseball America are expected to be among them. Led by Brewers' top overall prospect, outfielder Matt LaPorta, the Stars appear to have the roster to compete for their third consecutive Southern League North Division championship. The Brewers will release the roster Sunday, but Huntsville fans are going to benefit from the fertile Milwaukee farm system yet another season. That system produced four playoff teams last year in the top four minor league classifications. "That's big," said Stars manager Don Money, who is returning for his record fourth year. "And out of the nine opening-day starters for the Brewers, eight came through the organization. "On the scouting side, they're giving us the talent to work with." Huntsville opens the season Thursday against the Mississippi Braves at Joe Davis Stadium. It'll be the first time back since last year's championship series. Then, the Stars were two outs away from a league title before Luis Pena allowed a three-run homer to Sergio Pedroza in a 4-3 loss to Montgomery. Though there are enough players left from that team to provide some familiar faces, there are also plenty of new Stars who carry star potential. The power-hitting LaPorta was chosen seventh overall in last year's draft out of the University of Florida and skyrocketed through Single-A during the latter part of last year. Alcides Escobar - a wizard at shortstop with his glove and a participant in last year's MLB Futures Game - returns for his second season in Huntsville as Milwaukee's third-ranked prospect. Third baseman Mat Gamel (No. 5), outfielder Cole Gillespie (No. 6) and catcher Angel Salome (No. 8) round out the prospects. Salome has five games remaining on his 50-game suspension for testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs but will be back for the second series. "Those are some pretty solid players there," Money said. "There's five of our starters right there. I'm happy with the team on the everyday players' side. They'll be young, that's for sure." The Stars' pitching staff returns three pivotal members of last year's rotation, left-handers Steve Hammond, Derek Miller and Sam Narron. Joining them as southpaw starters are Brae Wright and David Welch. New pitching coach Chris Hook replaces Rich Sauveur, who left Huntsville for a position with the Boston Red Sox Triple-A affiliate in Pawtucket, R.I. Hook said Saturday that while they know who will start games, who is going to close is still an uncertainty. For now, he said Robert Hinton, David Johnson, Joe Bateman and Patrick Ryan would be in the mix. "Right now, we don't come out with a definite closer," Hook said. "That's something Don and I will decide as the season goes on. But we do know who's going to be at the back of the bullpen."

As we anxiously await roster details -- Link while active, text follows: New ballpark a big change from Watt Powell days By Mike Whiteford Charleston Gazette Staff writer In its 56-year existence, Watt Powell Park offered a picturesque setting, the occasional Baseball Hall of Fame prospect and the trains and their accompanying whistles that lent a Norman Rockwell touch. The new Appalachian Power Park, by contrast, has gained a quirky distinction for the 90-year-old warehouse architecture that rises above the outfield fences, not to mention the ballpark's ability to attract fans in record-setting numbers. Another, more baseball-oriented difference between the two parks has emerged in recent years. Unlike Watt Powell, three-year-old Appalachian Power Park lends itself to home runs, gives outfielders less room to roam and, in baseball parlance, is a hitter's park. On most evenings, soft breezes waft toward left field, facilitating the flight of fly balls. In right field, atmospheric forces generally work in favor of anything lofted skyward. Those conditions, combined with the ballpark's modest dimensions, have contributed to a goodly number of batted balls bouncing on Smith and Morris streets in the past three years. Last year, West Virginia Power hitters ranked second in the 16-team South Atlantic League with 128 homers, and other statistics corroborate the park's reputation for offense. Meanwhile, the subject of Charleston's current ballpark occasionally has come up for discussion recently in Maryvale, Ariz., a Phoenix suburb where the Power is conducting spring training. The Power's first-year manager, Jeff Isom, is unfamiliar with APP and is relying on his coaches, John Curtis and Jim Lett, for information about his summer home. "The pitching coach,'' said Isom, referring to Curtis, "says it's a small park.'' It certainly favors offense, says Curtis. "It's very much a hitter's park,'' Curtis said by phone this week from Maryvale. "Balls fly out of there, especially early in the year. Mistakes are going to be hit, and they're gonna go. Our ballpark is not very forgiving.'' In our Watt Powell years, each new Charleston manager began the season by acknowledging the park's reputation as a power hitter's graveyard, an expansive place where heavy air and Mission Hollow breezes worked to the pitcher's advantage. At the start of each new season, the managers would try to rationalize by saying their hitters favored line drives and were fleet of foot and, thus, perfectly suited to taking advantage of Watt Powell's vast outfield gaps. Forget the home runs, the managers would say. Our guys will hit lots of doubles and triples. Back then, we media folks suspected that our Major League parent organizations, knowing of Watt Powell's reputation, were reluctant to send their promising power hitters to Charleston, lest they lose confidence and swing too hard in such a challenging yard. As a result, we suspected, our teams generally lacked a real home run threat. Isom, an upbeat Indiana native, managed last season at Helena, Mont., Milwaukee's short-season Class A of the Pioneer League, and won a division championship with a 48-28 record. Many of the Helena players have been assigned to Charleston and are, of course, familiar to Isom. Like any good manager, Isom is full of spring optimism and, citing offensive numbers compiled by his players last year, expects his team to take advantage of Appalachian Power Park's friendly confines. "From what I understand, it's going to play perfectly for the hitters we have,'' he said from Maryvale. "I wouldn't say they have monster power, but we have guys who last year at Helena had a lot of doubles. I would think that some of those doubles would end up being a few more home runs.'' He's also realistic. "But it's going to be a first full season for a lot of the players,'' he added, "and it takes time to learn how to play a full season. It's going to be an adjustment for them.'' Curtis, a baseball lifer who pitched 15 seasons in the majors, knows all about the differences between Watt Powell and Appalachian Power Park. As a Red Sox prospect in the 1970s, he pitched against the Charlies and remembers Dave Parker, Richie Zisk, Charlie Howard, Rimp Lanier, John Jeter and others. In those days, Watt Powell played host to Class AAA baseball, where the hitters were older, stronger and more physically mature. Even then, said Curtis, it was a pitcher's park. "Everything stayed in the park there,'' he recalled. "I remember Watt Powell very well. Dave Parker was about the only one who made it look small.''

Indy players are "acquired" by MLB organizations in that their contracts are bought out from the independent league club -- certainly this fee is not extravagant, and indy league teams never stand in the way of these buyouts, as it's a source of pride for the indy organization. However, the indy team does retain the player's rights should the player be subsequently released by the affiliated club. The only point I'd disagree with thus far is that most indy players have had stints in affiliated ball. The actual number is probably closer to only 20%, if that. There are currently eight independent leagues based in the U.S., with some (Atlantic, Can-Am, Northern, Frontier, American Association) being considered more advanced that others (Golden, South Coast, Continental). At best, think West Virginia (maybe on a good day). On average, think Helena (without the high draft pick talent).

If they do, it won't be by choice. From our interview article with Nashville's Chuck Valenches: BF: Your Assistant GM and Communications Director, Doug Scopel, has done an amazing job with the Nashville web site. We link to your pre-game interviews, media notes, and the post-game summaries all season long. MLBAM (MLB Advanced Media) has done a fine job of their own, streamlining minorleaguebaseball.com and the audio operations there. Is there a reason that your full game play-by-play audio has yet to be included in the MLBAM archived package? CV: That is a situation that should be corrected this year. We butted heads with BAM over the years on the issue. We felt that BAM would not link our games because we would not pay them to host our site. We felt we had a better site than what they could provide us and we were extremely happy with it. Alex from Streamline Technologies, the designer of nashvillesounds.com does, I think, the best job on websites in minor league baseball. Our site is responsive to our local fans needs and we don't give up so much revenue. I personally also had an abiding fear that if BAM were to get a monopoly on minor league sites, we would soon see a fee attached to the internet broadcasts. Besides, we had no problem drawing listeners just by using nashvillesounds.com. I am happy to report that we had a chance to speak with BAM at the Winter Meetings and worked everything out. It is now (and they say always was, oops) really an issue of providing them with a line they can call in. So, fans, if they don't want to go directly to nashvillesounds.com, can link via minorleaguebaseball.com. BAM does one thing that we did not do which I am looking forward to, archiving all our games online, so fans can go back to a game they missed and listen to it in its entirety. The Sounds website will still archive interviews and highlights along with game stories and other useful info.

Zelous lost to the #1 seed by three votes -- did you do your duty? Oh well, thanks to all who did. Callix Crabbe is up against the very cool Devin Drag (as in bunt) in the Sweet 16. Vote Callix!

Huntsville has joined the MiLB.com family of web sites. Well, at least the upper banner is OK. If we lose the very detailed game summaries, this is a big loss. Hopefully, that won't be the case.

Yeah, and some kid named Thatcher is sure entrenched on that Padre staff...http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/tongue.gif Also, congrats to R.A. Dickey, technically not a Rule 5 Pick from the Brewers (actually from the Twins, who signed him to a minor league deal after the season). He looks to have an important role on the Seattle Mariner pitching staff this season as a Rule 5 guy.

Hopefully we'll have full reports for you by the end of the weekend on this. Final decisions are still being made, and while we work with the front offices of the affiliates to obtain the information, we also respect the fact that these various staffs have to wait for the Brewers to give them a final "OK" to release the information. We have a long history here at Brewerfan in working with the affiliates in this way, as we certainly don't want to jeopardize our status with them by getting them "in trouble" with the parent club. We'll do our best to give you more than just names, meaning some analysis, surprises, etc. Keep in mind that some of the kids are also getting released this week, as we've already seen posted, and we certainly don't want to jump any guns on that. Considering that the minor league seasons begin Thursday, and each squad is playing some sort of exhibition on Tuesday and/or Wednesday, the kids you'll be hosting will be arriving in town any moment. EDIT: By the way, the 2007 Player of the Year in the entire organization was one of the last-minute almost "afterthoughts" last year. Hey, West Virginia needs a third baseman -- Taylor Green, you've never played it before -- well, just do your best!

Here's the MLB.TV link for the game: http://mlb.mlb.com/mediacenter/index.jsp#20080327 You may not need a subscription to pull up the archive -- now obviously, the kids were scattered throughout the game, particularly the middle and late innings, but for instance, if you want to see Taylor Green (a walk) and Caleb Gindl (line single) in consecutive at-bats, it's easy to find because it's exactly at the two hour mark. Here's the Gameday Link -- using this, you may find it easier to move to particular points of interest in the game.

Nashville Site: PHOENIX -- The Nashville Sounds won their game against the Sacramento River Cats (AAA-A's) by a 10-4 margin on Wednesday afternoon at Papago Park. OF Laynce Nix drove in three runs on three hits, including a double, and Vinny Rottino blasted a home run and collected hits in all three of his at-bats. Brad Nelson, Russell Branyan, and Mel Stocker all posted two knocks apiece during the Sounds' 16-hit attack. On the hill, Robert Hinton started for Nashville and struck out three batters in three scoreless frames. David Johnson followed and allowed three runs on seven hits over his 2 2/3 innings. Erasmo Ramirez allowed a run in two innings before Mitch Stetter closed out the contest with 1 1/3 scoreless innings of work. The Sounds (4-4-3) participate in intrasquad games on Thursday before resuming their spring slate by hosting the Portland Beavers (AAA-Padres) at Maryvale Baseball Park on Friday afternoon.

We need to remind readers of the Draft Forum as well, especially this type of year. This link will take you to an excellent Jack Z. article there; this thread will be locked here, any discussion will take place at the Draft Forum.

Link while active, text follows: Scouting a scout at the National Classic Jim Seimas, Santa Cruz Sentinel Jack Zduriencik, 57, rattles off names with excitement, like he's a youngster flipping through his collection of baseball cards: "Paul Snyder, Huey Alexander, Howard Haak, George Genovese, Larry Doughty ..." All five men are a part of a predominantly unknown but important fraternity -- they are or were baseball scouts, the behind-the-scenes men who help assemble the talent fans see in Major League Baseball. "A lot of those guys are past now, but they are legends in the scout world," said Zduriencik, the Milwaukee Brewers' special assistant to the general manager for player personnel. "There are a lot of good scouts in this industry. And there's a lot of good scouts who have passed away who left their mark on baseball." Zduriencik, who has held a front office job with the Brewers the past eight years, is now in his 25th year of scouting. And he's one of the game's greats. Last year, Baseball America magazine named him the Major League Executive of the Year, marking the first time the publication has given the award to a non-GM. Zduriencik is one of dozens of scouts in Los Angeles this week to scout talent at the 16-team National Classic, which features five of the nation's top-25 ranked teams by Baseball America, as well as local powerhouse Aptos High. Zduriencik, his balding head cleanly shaven, looks like a regular fan at the National Classic. He's decked out in a Hawaiian shirt, blue jeans and running shoes. He chews tobacco as he exchanges tales with a swarm of coaches from Seminole Ridge High in Florida, a state he recently visited while on a scouting excursion. He doesn't carry a radar gun, but he's got a Blackberry, and it seemingly never stops ringing. Once it's his wife, other times its other Brewers area scouts giving him updates and clarifying their schedules. Zduriencik will see dozens of games over a four-day span here. Zduriencik doesn't need to comb through a media guide to know which players he wants to see. When he watches Aptos play, he already knows about pitcher/infielder Kevin Eichhorn, speedy center fielder Bobby Crocker and several other stars on other teams -- he saw them at the Area Code Games in Southern California last summer. Or maybe at another showcase, like the AFLAC All-American Game. Zduriencik was an international scout with the Los Angels Dodgers and now works as a national scout, flying all over the country. "I was in Atlanta over the weekend, in Tennessee prior to that, Florida prior to that," he said. One of his many duties is to coordinate schedules with his regional scouts. Regional scouts mostly drive and they rack up anywhere from 25,000-35,000 miles a year attending high school and college games. He was once one of them, and is also a former minor league player and high school and college coach. Most scouts have a baseball background. Their pay is based off their experience level, and scouting salaries start around $35,000 and can reach six figures. Zduriencik is now a higher-level guy. The National Classic is being staged at four ballparks, and Zduriencik will visit them all in one day and repeat this trend for the entire tournament. There are plenty of pro prospects to see. Orange Lutheran pitcher Garrit Cole, an AFLAC All-American pitcher who throws in the high 90-mph range, is among those competing in the event. He's projected to be a first-round pick. "I started at 8:30 a.m. and I'll probably get back to the hotel at 10:30 p.m.," he said. This is a daily ritual, and after the tournament he'll head off to another and repeat the cycle. And on the rare occurrence he makes it back home to Milwaukee to be with his family, he'll bring his work home with him. It's a job that keeps him busy nearly year-round. "I have a very understanding wife, Debbie," said Zduriencik, who has been married 25 years. "She's tremendous. She understands what the job is all about and when we got married she knew I was a baseball guy. "But she's a baseball fan, When she sits in Miller Park [in Milwaukee] and the players run on the field, she realizes her husband had some responsibility for these guys. It's kind of exciting for her as well." The Brewers are on the rise, and look to be contenders for the National League Central Division title. Zduriencik and his scouts are a key factor in the Brewers' rise. They helped single out the players who display big-league potential. Just look at the Brewers' youth-laden roster of stars: outfielder Corey Hart [11th round of 2000], shortstop J.J. Hardy [second round of 2001], first baseman Prince Fielder [first round of 2002], second baseman Rickie Weeks [first round of 2003], budding ace Yovani Gallardo [second round of 2004] and third baseman Ryan Braun [first round of 2005]. The goal is to single out and evaluate talent as much and often as possible. And the wear and tear it puts on the body is fierce, Zduriencik said. "When I get home I'm excited, but I'm also very tired," he said. Sometimes sleep is compromised. Other times, it's a healthy diet that falls by the wayside. "You have to be careful, and quite honestly most of us aren't," he said. "We get absorbed in this thing and it's kind of addicting. You want to see and get to the next player and see as many players as you can. When the day is said and done, you have to be smart on how you do things." Zduriencik comes and goes from his perch along the first base line while the Mariners play. Few scouts often stay for the duration of a game -- there's too many games and players to see. They fill out charts on specific players and document their skills based on the positions they play. "Players are what they are," he said. "Just because a guy is 6-foot-5, doesn't mean he's going to be better than a guy whose 5-11. Players are players and all you're asking them to do is go out and show what they can do. Whatever their skill sets are regarding the positions they play, it's our job to project how they're going to be major leaguers down the road somewhere." Evaluating high school and college players is a different process, he said. "When you look at these kids, you have to realize they're an unfinished product. It's not like looking at a kid whose in his third or fourth year of college. When you look at a high school kid, there's more room to project because, chances are, three, four, five years from now he's going to be considerably larger than at this time." Scouts usually band together at games. When looking at pitchers, most are perched behind home plate with radar guns in hand. But a pitcher's velocity is one of many things scouts are looking at. "Size is important, arm action, velocity ..." Zduriencik said, trying to play down the velocity thing. "As youngsters, Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine were registering at 93 mph. They became great big league players because they had a breaking ball. They had great command, learned how to spot things, stayed healthy ... What is pitching? Pitching is upsetting hitting. If a pitcher has other things he can do to upset timing, that's very important." On position players, scouts look at size, arm strength, fielding ability, and quickness he said. They're also looking for guys who can swing the bat. But they always don't get big results when checking out highly-rated prospects. "If a guy strikes out three times, what does that mean?" Zduriencik said. "He's a bad player? No, he had a bad day. So you go back to your area scout and he may tell you [later on] that he's going off like crazy." A team will try and get as many looks at the same player as it can leading up to the June draft. Often, scouts from rival organizations are at the same events. While they band together at games and socialize with each other, they never mention who they're looking at or what they think of a player. It's like the movie "Fight Club." First rule of scouting -- never mention who you scouting. "I'm not going to talk about players," Zduriencik said. "We all do what we can to get the edge and beat the other guy. That's what it is, a very friendly, competitive natured business, if you will." And Zduriencik is one of the best at it in the game.

Link while active, text follows: Caffeinated and recharged, Rogers stumps for Stars Mark McCarter, Huntsville Times A little dash of Blue Oyster Cult, two liters a day of Diet Mountain Dew, a paratrooper's steely nerve, a sci-fi hero's name and the sort of relentless enthusiasm and work ethic that would make the Energizer Bunny moan, "Dude, slow down. Chill out." All that thrown together, stirred and shaken, is the concoction that is Buck Rogers, 46, the new general manager of the Huntsville Stars. It is a week until the Stars' 2008 season opens. Get ready. Based on his previous reign at Brevard County (Fla.) and other stops in baseball, Huntsville's about to see something new. Heck, base that from the one month here, considering (1) Rogers has offered Roger "The Rocket" Clemens a job as assistant mascot and (2) he enticed more than 100 people to the ballpark for a spring-cleaning project. What fuels this guy? In answer, he grins and hides his 20-ounce Diet Mountain Dew - though let's don't underestimate the value of caffeine overload and slap-happy 16-hour work days in creating a philosophy of, "Hey, why not try it? It might work. It might be fun." "It's passion," Rogers says, sitting at his desk at Joe Davis Stadium, lapsing into stories in a voice left raspy by sinus woes and oozing a contagious enthusiasm. "It's realizing every day when you get up that you're part of something special," he continues. "There's two percent of this country that really loves its job. To get up in the morning and don't consider it work, don't watch the clock. ... I'm in that two percent. And out of that two percent, how many people get to go to a stadium? It's a playground." His straight name is Eugene, though he was "Geno" to most of his pals while growing up in Neenah, Wisc. Then, on Jan. 5, 1983, on his first day in Army basic training, another Rogers in his platoon pronounced him "Buck," to avoid confusion. Buck Rogers, like the comic book spaceman. "It kinda stuck," he says. Then, the realization: "I worked at Space Coast Stadium (in Brevard County, Fla.) and now I'm doing this Rocket City stuff. You can't script this." His office walls tell much of his story in frames. There is a modest bit of baseball clutter. There are posters from 1980s rock bands like Kansas, Blue Oyster Cult and Deep Purple. His wife Babs - who also works for the Stars and is mother of their two daughters, Breann, 20, and Holly, 18 - took him to a Blue Oyster concert on their honeymoon. There is memorabilia from 14 years in the Army airbone, where he made nearly 70 parachute jumps, including one in 1989 "into Panama to get (dictator Manuel) Noriega." Taking over the struggling Stars franchise may be his most dangerous leap yet. A hand-of-fate incident helped precipitate Rogers' decision. On Jan. 19, he was driving a truck, helping former Brevard employee Kylee Hanish move to Huntsville to work for the Stars. It was well before the Huntsville GM job was on Rogers' radar. With snow hitting north of Atlanta, they changed their plan and took I-20 West. As they approached Alabama, Brevard team chaplain Donnie Legg called, concerned for Rogers' safety. He said a quick prayer. Ten minutes later, Rogers saw an eastbound SUV swerve out of control. A passenger cartwheeled out of the SUV. Rogers pulled over and rushed to the victim, who was lying on the interstate. It was a teenage girl, her face mangled, a leg broken, her breathing stopped. His Army medical training came back to him. He was soon joined by a passerby who was an EMT. They got the girl breathing again. Before an ambulance arrived, a surgeon driving past the scene stopped. The girl's life was saved. The injured girl, whose mother recently called Rogers, is recovering well after multiple surgeries. It was a "life is too precious, too short" epiphany for Rogers, who was led to make a change in his career. "Our situation in Brevard was getting to where it wasn't fun any more," he says. "There's too many bitter old men in the world. I don't want to be one. I want to go somewhere where I can have fun, be happy, surround myself with people who are creative." So, it's time to uncap another Diet Mountain Dew. Time to come up with another half-inspired, half-silly brainstorm. The season grows closer. Time to go to work. Which means, in the mind of Buck Rogers, time to have fun. NOTE -- from Jim (Mass Haas): I had been aware of Buck's story on the interstate for several weeks, but knowing that Mark McCarter could put it into words so much more nicely than I could have, I held off. Nice job, Mark. Way to go, Buck! The legend grows...

Michael Brantley 2-for-2 Wednesday, 4-for-5 on the spring. Cole Gillespie and Brendan Katin also in action. Box Score -- apparently Thursday's game against the Cubs will be pitched entirely by minor league camp kids.

Adam McCalvy of MLB.com with the story

Nice article, link while active, text follows: Rottino stays upbeat BY PETER JACKELRacine Journal Times Tuesday, March 25, 2008 Imagine being confined to the cramped quarters of a submarine, cruising the depths as you do your best to keep your superiors happy. Through it all, you know that so much is going on way there above the waves, but you just have no way of knowing what it is. "Yeah, I would agree with that 100 percent," Vinny Rottino said when presented with that analogy. "I was kind of in the dark for the last couple years as far as what they wanted me to do, my role." Rottino was still in the dark on Good Friday, when he was weight lifting at the Milwaukee Brewers' spring training complex in Maryvale, Ariz. He hadn't seen his name on the lineup card for the previous couple of days, spring training was drawing to a close and there was ample reason for the catching prospect to feel concerned about his future. And then Brewers manager Ned Yost poked his head in the weight room with words that have numbed so many athletes fighting for jobs over the years. "Hey, Vinny, we need to see you in the office," Yost said. Rottino was an honor student at St. Catherine's High School and UW-La Crosse, but it hardly took a genius to assume what this was all about. "I was kind of mad," he said. "That was my first reaction. When I was called into the office, I was like, 'OK, here we go again.' " But this story is not about an inspired young athlete starting to be phased out of his dreams after so much effort, as you might expect. Instead, it's about a Major League organization validating this former undrafted free agent as a legitimate prospect and evaluating him as far more than just a cup-of-coffee type of guy down the road. And when Rottino walked into a conference room and saw Yost, general manager Doug Melvin and assistant general manager Gord Ash, anger quickly made way for elation. The Brewers genuinely want him, he was assured. And it could be sooner rather than later. "What they said about me was actually great news," he said. But it got better. Ted Simmons, Yost's new bench coach who was an eight-time All-Star catcher, had taken an interest in Rottino during spring training. And after the conference, Simmons made a point of pulling him aside. "He said, 'You could look at this as the worst day of your life right now, but I assure you this is the best day of your life and the best day of your career,' " Rottino said. "He said, 'You're going to catch every day in the big leagues very soon.' " Will that come to pass or will it play out as just another broken promise in the cold, hard world of professional sports? Time will tell, but Melvin was quoted as saying after Rottino's demotion that he considered him to be the top catching prospect in the Brewers' organization. When reached for this story, Melvin didn't appear to back down from that bold statement. "Well, he's close to the big leagues and we're going to let him catch on a regular basis to let him learn a little bit more about the position," Melvin said. "He's made great strides at that position and, while we know he can play first and the outfield, he's in agreement, too, that he would like to learn to catch and try to get to the big leagues. "You look around in baseball and catching is a very weak position all through the game. So we've decided to continue to work with Vinny and we think he's more than just a 35-game-type catcher. "So if he can grasp the defensive side of it and working with pitchers, we feel we potentially have a guy who could be more than just a part-time catcher." Legendary Brewers broadcaster Bob Uecker, a former catcher with the Milwaukee Braves, spoke with enthusiasm about Rottino during the Brewers' radio broadcast Saturday. "He does everything adequately already and he's only going to get better," Uecker said. What's most encouring is that, for the first time, Rottino has a defined role with the Brewers. Instead of the somewhat ambiguous role of a utility man that was supposed to represent his only shot to the major leagues, Rottino is now a man with a position and a man with a future. "From what they told me, I do all the fundamentals really well," said Rottino, who turns 28 April 7. "I've gotten really smooth at receiving, I've gotten to be a very good blocker with a lot of hard work and sweat and throwing … that's why they made me a catcher in the first place because I have a good release. "The game experience is really all I need at this point." Offensively, Rottino tailed off at the end of spring training with finish with a .241 batting average, two doubles, one triple, one home run and five RBIs. But he feels his bat will come along, as well, in his new role. Yogi Berra once said, "How can you think and hit at the same time?" And Rottino feels the same way. "I was actually hitting the ball pretty hard and having some good at-bats the first few weeks and then I just wasn't swinging the bat that well," he said. "I think I was hitting close to .300 and then I had an 0-for-4 game. So with only 20 at-bats, that will obviously hurt your batting average. "But when I'm catching, I just feel that I hit better, for some reason. When I'm playing other positions, sometimes I think too much about hitting. Well, when you're catching, there's no time to think about hitting." So for the immediate future, Rottino will report back to the Brewers' Class AAA farm affiliate in Nashville and wait for a phone call. Considering Brewers' starting catcher Jason Kendall will be 34 in June and that potential backups Eric Munson and Mike Rivera are hardly established major league players, Rottino might not have a long wait. And while he's waiting, he will finally be at peace. "I'm in the light," he said. "I'm not in the dark anymore with my career."

Nashville Site: PHOENIX -- The Nashville Sounds defeated the Salt Lake Bees (AAA-Angels) by the score of 5-2 on Tuesday afternoon at Maryvale Baseball Park. For the second straight day, Major League pitchers worked the early innings from the Nashville mound. Yovani Gallardo started for the Sounds and threw 3.0 scoreless innings. Eric Gagne followed and allowed a run in his lone inning of work. Left-hander Lindsay Gulin followed and allowed one run over four frames before Luis Pena closed out the game with a scoreless inning, striking out two of his three batters faced. Russell Branyan had an RBI double for Nashville and Hernan Iribarren added a hit and two RBIs to the offensive effort. Brian Munhall drove in a pair of runs as well. Nashville (3-4-3) travel to Papago Park on Wednesday for their third and final spring meeting with the Sacramento River Cats (AAA-A's).

Huntsville Site: Mat Gamel slugged a two-run home run and drove in three runs, as the Stars played to an 8-8 tie with the Midland RockHounds, the double-A affiliate of the Oakland Athletics, Monday in Maryvale, AZ. Huntsville now has a spring record of five wins, two losses and a pair of ties. Yohannis Perez added two hits, including a triple, and knocked in two runs, while catcher Angel Salome singled and doubled and drove in a run. The Stars collected 11 hits, four of which were for extra bases. Steve Hammond made his second spring start and allowed two runs on five hits over four innings and 68 pitches. He struck out two and walked three and was followed by veteran Melqui Torres, who gave up two runs on two hits and three walks over an inning and two-thirds.

RHP Justin Barnes, recently released by the Royals' organization, has signed with New Jersey of the independent Can-Am League.

Apparently Matt is also doing an MiLB.com journal, which should hit a wider audience. Send him an email.