Baseball Brunch: Familiar Faces, Strange Places in Independent Minors

Every Sunday, MLB FanHouse empties out its notebook in Baseball Brunch.

CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. – The cleanup hitters in Thursday's game were Preston Wilson and Carl Everett. They have combined to play in more than 2,500 major-league games, hit 391 homers and make more than $80 million.

Wilson and Everett were on opposite sides in the 2003 All-Star Game in Chicago, but this night they were far, far away from U.S. Cellular Field. They were the DHs for the Long Island Ducks and Newark Bears of the Atlantic League, respectively.

And they weren't the only former big-leaguers on the field.

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Wilson's teammates on the Ducks include Lew Ford, Brad Halsey, Dan Miceli and Bill Simas. The Bears roster has Armando Benitez, Keith Foulke, Shawn Chacon, Aaron Fultz, Rob Mackowiak and Tike Redman.

Why, oh why, are these guys riding buses around the Northeast and staying in Holiday Inns?

Well, because they want to get back to the bigs.

But also because they can't let go.

"A lot of us, this is all we know, and we love this game," Redman said. "So if we know that we've still got a shot, start out here.

"You just want to be back in the big leagues, because we're so used to the big leagues. And that's what you want, and that's what we keep thinking about and that's what keeps you going."

Redman, 35, knows you can make it back via independent leagues, such as the Atlantic or the Northern League, the Can-Am League or the American Association.

A veteran of nearly 400 games with the Pirates, he signed two years ago with the Atlantic League's York Revolution. After just seven games there, the Orioles bought his contract for depth at Triple-A, and he was back in the majors by August.

The Atlantic League has sold more than 400 players back to major league organizations in its 11-plus years of existence.

And everyone in the league now feels he can join that list.

"I feel like I can still play in the big leagues," said Ford, who spent 2003-07 with the Twins and last year in Japan. "I want to get back there, and I still enjoy going out and playing baseball every day, or I wouldn't be doing this. And I think there's a chance I can get back."

Ford said he hasn't had a hard time adjusting back to minor-league life, with the bus rides and smaller parks. And he likes the fact that with no six-, seven- or eight-figure salaries, the clubhouse has an egalitarian feel.

"I feel like everybody's on the same level," Ford said. "We have a pretty close clubhouse here and all the guys get along really well. And that makes it pretty easy to come to the field every day."

Said Newark manager Tim Raines: "I don't see any of those guys who have more time (in the big leagues) than anyone else feeling like they're better."

Yes, the managers have familiar names, too. Raines, Gary Carter (Ducks), Tommy John (Bridgeport Bluefish), Von Hayes (Lancaster Barmstormers), Sparky Lyle (Somerset Patriots), Butch Hobson (Southern Maryland Blue Crabs).

Said Carter: "I think all of these guys feel that if you can still do it ... still play, why not fulfill that [until] you believe in your heart that you can't do it any more?

"I can't think of anything else that fulfills me more than being in uniform and on the field."

Carter, who managed two years in the Mets farm system and last year in the Golden Baseball League, is in a similar situation to his players. He wants a shot to run a big-league team.

Raines, who was a coach with the 2005-06 White Sox and spent 2007 coaching in Double-A for the Nationals, isn't quite as ambitious. He said he'd go back to the majors but prefers Newark to an affiliated minor-league team.

"I tell you what, I like it here better than I like it in affiliated ball, especially in the minor leagues," Raines said. "You can't ask for anything. You just take whatever they give you. Here is a totally different story. You have an opportunity to pick and choose who comes and who goes."

But like the players, the managers in this game – one Hall of Fame player and one who soon should be – need to be around the game.

"We've been doing it all our lives," Raines said. "My first time in the big leagues I was 19 years old. I've been around baseball since then. I've pretty much grown up in baseball. There's not too much other things that I even feel comfortable doing.

"Sure, I'm not in big cities. Sure, I'm not in nice hotels. But that was when I played. I don't feel bad about it."

Overheard and Understood

• The Phillies pooh-pooh their interest in Jake Peavy, but they could get involved. Philadelphia admittedly is looking for starting pitching, and it's known the Phillies were in the hunt for Peavy when trade talks were hot over the winter.

• It's a strange schedule this year. The Cubs this weekend are playing their eighth road series, but they have been to just five road parks. They have already made two trips each to Houston, Milwaukee and St. Louis before getting once to division cities Pittsburgh and Cincinnati.

Chart of the Week
Oakland has just eight wins by a starter this season. Fewest wins from starting pitchers in the past 50 years (not counting strike-shortened seasons):
Team	Wins	Top Pitcher
'62 Mets	23	Al Jackson (8)
'96 Tigers	29	Omar Olivares (7)
'03 Tigers	29	Mike Maroth (9)
'97 A's	29	Ariel Prieto (6)
'88 Braves	31	Three tied (7)
Source: baseball-reference.com

• While some in the Cardinals organization are pushing to acquire Mariners third baseman Adrian Beltre, general manager John Mozeliak (for now) prefers to wait for Troy Glaus to recover from right shoulder problems.

• When the Diamondbacks were looking for a manager after the 2004 season, Mark Grace got an interview and was pushed for by some in the organization. But managing general partner Ken Kendrick blocked it because he feared Grace's lack of experience. Now Arizona has moved A.J. Hinch from farm director to manager, even though he had the same lack of managerial and coaching experience – and less of a playing career.

• Baltimore's Nolan Reimold on Wednesday became the first player ever to hit his first big-league homer off Mariano Rivera. And before giving up a home run to Cincinnati's Ryan Hanigan on Wednesday, Phillies lefty Jamie Moyer had allowed just two homers to rookies: to Barry Bonds in 1986 and Gary Sheffield in 1989.

• If he is "posted" by the Tokyo Yakult Swallows, outfielder Norichika Aoki could be the top import from Japan next winter. A scout described Aoki – 5-foot-9, 170 pounds and 27 years old – as a "Brian Giles who can run." A lefty hitter, Aoki has a .331 career average and two batting titles.

• Vin Mazzaro, the third member of Oakland's touted trio of young pitchers, is expected to join Trevor Cahill and Brett Anderson in the majors next week. The A's will need a sixth starter because of a doubleheader May 29 at Texas. A scout who recently saw Mazzaro at Triple-A said, "He's ready now."

• Jamie Hoffman, called up Friday by the Dodgers, was an eighth-round pick of the Carolina Hurricanes in 2003 and nearly went to Colorado College to play hockey before signing with the Dodgers as an undrafted free agent.

• The Tigers signed shortstop Adam Everett for his glove. But with Everett and Ramon Santiago hitting well, Detroit leads all teams with 30 RBI from its shortstops.

• All teams will wear red caps for Memorial Day, with a stars-and-stripes pattern inside every team's logo.

• When the Pirates claimed right-hander Steven Jackson on waivers from the Yankees, it left the Yankees without any of the players obtained 30 months ago from the Diamondbacks for Randy Johnson. Reliever Luis Vizcaino left as a free agent, infielder Alberto Gonzalez was traded to Washington and right-hander Ross Ohlendorf went to Pittsburgh in the Xavier Nady/Damaso Marte deal.

• Ryan Theriot of the Cubs has 12 career homers, all at Wrigley Field. Only five players in history started their careers with a longer streak of home runs at the same park, and all of those were at the old Polo Grounds: Johnny Vergez (27), Burgess Whitehead (17), Bill Rigney (16), Freddie Fitzsimmons (14) and Andy Cohen (13).

• The Giants went into the weekend nine games out in the NL West – their largest deficit after 40 games since 1991.

• Marcus Lemon, the 20-year-old son of former All-Star outfielder Chet Lemon, is hitting .297 for Texas' Double-A club. "He's going to be OK," a scout said. "He's a good-looking ballplayer. I think he's more of a second baseman than a shortstop."