Good morning!
Cacti Park in West Palm Beach was less than half-full on the final weekend before the teams headed north. Backbirds flitted from seat to seat and ushers ignored fans sneaking closer to the field. Kids played on a patch of lawn down the third base line and grownups lounged on a grassy slope between the bullpens.
A USA Today readers’ poll rated it the best spring training venue in Florida. Home to the Houston Astros and Washington Nationals, admission is $15 and $10 for seniors on Tuesdays.
The first thing you hear coming through the gate is“Cold beer! Really, Really, Really Cold!” Fans who prefer soft drinks can go to the customer service booth, sign up to be a designated driver and get a coupon for a free bottle of water or large soda.
In the fourth inning the racing presidents enter from an outfield gate and try not to bump their oversized heads. Calvin Coolidge, William Taft and Herbert Hoover jogged to the first base dugout in 50-pound costumes and greeted fans on the concourse.
Baseball memorabilia was for sale on the concourse behind home plate— $645 for an autographed Freddie Freeman baseball with the World Series logo, $540 for a Miguel Cabrera autographed baseball, $685 for an autographed Mike Trout batting helmet, and so on. Baseball fans will buy anything. After the Red Sox won the World Series in 2004, management sold small plastic boxes filled with infield and outfield dirt.
Each spring I bird dog players who aren’t established big leaguers and might make the roster. Last year Nationals outfielder James Wood transferred his spring prowess into a regular season that produced 31 home runs. This year he leads the National League in plate appearances, runs, walks, strikeouts, and is third in home runs with 13.
Two players caught my eye this spring albeit for different reasons, Nationals infielder Jose Tena of San Cristobal, D.R., and Astros infielder Xavier Neyens of Everett, Washington. Tena was dealt to the Nationals by Cleveland at the ’24 trade deadline with two other minor leaguers for outfielder Lane Thomas who’s now with the Royals.
I watched Tena play in three games. On March 5 he reached base four times and hit a home run off Justin Hageman in a 7-5 win over the Mets. Three days later he hit a two-run blast off Astros pitcher JP France that was the difference in a 3-1 win. The third time was against the Marlins and he struck out twice swinging, including once with the bases loaded. Tena’s mostly been DHing for the Nationals this season and is batting .276 with two home runs, but has struck out 23 times in 76 at bats.
Thomas, meanwhile, was in a 1-for-20 slump and batting .200 (15-for-75) for Kansas City.
The 19-year-old Neyens was a can’t miss kid and Gatorade Baseball Player of the Year his junior season at Mount Vernon High School. The Astros took him with the 21st overall pick in last year’s draft and inked him to a $4.12 million signing bonus.
High school players can take heart knowing even slick fielding prospects have bad days. On March 18, Nevens started at shortstop in a rookie game against the Nationals and made two errors in the same inning. Now he’s playing for the Class A Fayetteville Woodpeckers and batting .286 with six home runs in 89 at bats, according to baseball-reference.com.
During the aforementioned 3-1 Nationals win on March 8, Houston right-hander Hunter Brown struck out nine batters in four hitless innings. A Houston fan standing next to me looked at the scoreboard and saw Brown’s pitch speeds were between 96 and 98 mph. “He’s throwing too hard,” he said.
On the drive north I saw a Dodge Charger with vanity plates that said “Hemi God” and a Dodge Ram with South Carolina plates that said, “Where the Revolutionary War was won.” A cardboard sign wedged into a fence on an overpass on the New York Thruway showed a crown with a line drawn through it.
After a late lunch at the Bennington Pizza House, I tuned into the game and listened to Houston beat Boston, 9-2. Hunter Brown got the win, allowing one run and striking out eight in six innings. Three days later Houston put him on the IL with a Grade 2 right shoulder sprain. The Houston fan knew what he was talking about, Brown hasn’t pitched since.
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The UMass baseball team will conclude the regular season this weekend with a three-game home series against Central Michigan. At this writing the Minutemen are 17-27 and 12-18 in the MAC and appear destined for a seventh place finish. Only the top six teams qualify for the tournament May 20-24 in Avon, Ohio, at 5,000-seat ForeFront Field, home of the Frontier League’s Lake Erie Crushers.
The Minutemen lost 16 of 18 games between Feb. 28 and April 7, including an 18-17 nailbiter at Akron on March 15 in 50-degree weather under cloudy skies. The two teams combined for 33 hits and 19 walks in the four-hour marathon.
The season’s silver lining was beating UMass-Lowell, 11-10, at Lorden Field on May 5. UMass took River Hawks pitching deep seven times, including two blasts apiece by Gavin O’Brien and Ryan Kolben. O’Brien’s solo home run tied it in the seventh inning, and Kolben’s solo blast in the eighth inning was the game winner.
At this writing UMass trailed sixth place Ball State by 2-1/2 games (3 in the loss column) and would need to sweep the Chippewas and root for Bowling Green to sweep the Cardinals to sneak into the sixth place.
The softball team fared slightly worse than its hardball counterparts. The Minutewomen tied for eighth in the MAC with a 10-17 record and were 19-30 overall. The MAC softball championship wrapped up last week in Akron where the ZIPs won their first-ever MAC title.
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When a 23-1 longshot wins the Kentucky Derby and the show horse pays $36.80 it’s not a run for the roses, it’s animated roulette — no handicapping needed. The best way to forget about it is to focus on the Belmont Stakes three weeks hence in Saratoga. As for today’s Preakness Stakes, how can I not bet Chip Honcho? John Dobrydnio promises he’ll have Belmont picks for you, he just needs time to recoup from the Derby.
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SQUIBBERS: The N.Y. Post’s Jon Heyman reported that before leaving New York for Baltimore, Pete Alonso told the Mets’ cold-hearted GM David Stearns: “When my career is being evaluated for the Hall of Fame years from now, you’ll still be fiddling with your formulas.” …. Bobby Cox, dead at 84, was ejected from the equivalent of one major league season. Years ago I sat next to him at Pro Player Park in Miami. Noting the distance from the dugout to home plate I wondered if they could hear him. “Oh, they can hear me,” he said assuringly. … The UConn softball team defended its Big East title last week beating Creighton, 8-3 and played No. 4 Texas A&M in the opening round of the NCAA regionals that began yesterday in College Station. … Mollie Hemingway writes that Samuel Alito aspired to be MLB commissioner before he took a seat on the Supreme Court. … Alex Bregman’s father is running for governor of New Mexico. Sam Bregman is one of three Democrats on the June 2 primary ballot. … If Springfield sports columnist Garry Brown was still alive he’d have added this ballplayer to his list of all-time favorite sports names: Nationals outfielder Fenwick Trimble on his list of all-time favorite sports names. … As I wrap up this column, Ole Miss is leading UT Martin, 12-0 after two innings. … The buzzards are circling Fenway. The MLB Channel’s C.J. Nitkowski predicted this week that the first two Red Sox players who will be traded to contenders are Sonny Gray and Aroldis Chapman. … Rays’ broadcasters criticized the Red Sox for waiting until five minutes after the scheduled first pitch to cancel Saturday’s game, despite the all-day rainstorm. “They said there was a ‘window,’ said Andy Freed. … Soccer would’ve benefited if it waited a year for the U.S. to host the World Cup if WFAN’s Joe Benigno is correct saying the MLB lockout after this season will be, “The lockout to end all lockouts.” … Jhonkensy Noel, a six-foot-four, 250-pound outfielder playing at Triple-A Norfolk, is nicknamed “Big Christmas.”
Chip Ainsworth is an award-winning columnist who has penned his observations about sports for decades in the Pioneer Valley. He can be reached at chipjet715@gmail.com.