August 03, 2009 — Looking back to April, our starting rotation appeared to be anchored with veteran free agents such as Brad Knox, Matt Palmer, Mike McDonald, Dan Denham. As a bonus, we had Anthony Ortega for a couple weeks, presumably until he could get into major-league shape.
Then Matt Palmer pitched himself into a starting slot for the Angels. Sean O’Sullivan arrived from Double-A Arkansas to fill out the starting rotation in Salt Lake, until he pitched his way to Los Angeles as well. The next pitcher called up to bolster our Triple-A rotation was Trevor Bell.
When the transaction-go-round starts spinning as fast as it has this season, it seems awfully quick to the trigger to select a ballplayer who’s only been at Triple-A for just one-and-a-half months. On the other hand, Bell has been as steady as they come, even when he hasn’t gotten the run support he deserves. So
Pitcher injuries among the Angels resulted in a mid-June spot start for O’Sullivan against San Francisco and subsequent promotion for Bell, who got his first Triple-A start against division-leading Colorado. And what a start it was; a two-hit, complete game shut-out. Since then, the 21-year-old has pitched like he’s been with us all season: 2.81 ERA, 52 H, 36 SO, 14 BB, 64.0 IP. Best of all has been his ability to go deep into the game, averaging 7.1 innings per start, with two 9-inning complete games. Bell doesn’t have a blazing fastball, and relies heavily on ground-ball outs. Mentally, he is one tough competitor. One of my favorite moments from this season was a five-pitch duel between Bell and major-league veteran Sal Fasano.
Much has been made of Bell’s off-season acting career, as well as his relation to the original Bozo the Clown. And while these are interesting media bytes, they aren’t nearly as intriguing as a couple of other extracurricular activities engaged in by the youngster from North Hollywood, CA.
At the start of the 2008 season, Bell joined Barry Zito’s “Strikeouts for Troops” campaign, in which he pledged to donate funds to the charity for every strikeout he made. Later that summer Bell was sent down to Single-A Cedar Rapids shortly after horrendous flooding had devastated the Kernels home city, along with several other Midwest cities along the Iowa and Cedar Rivers. During his short stay, Bell took a tour of the area and wrote a personal check for $2,500 towards rebuilding efforts.
What is noteworthy about these contributions is how uncommonly rare it is for low-level minor leaguers to be thinking of something other than their on-field performance. For yours truly, it’s yet another reason to cheer on our latest young gun…Your friend in baseball.
July 01, 2009 — Note: Many thanks to Jason for pointing out the obvious pick for this month’s Lady’s Choice. Usually, mid-point of the season I’m faced with the decision of choosing one standout athlete over another, or several others. It is most certainly not typical to find myself casting about for inspiration. If you’ve been following the team, though, you know this been an unusual season for our Triple-A ballclub.
Thinking aloud then. . .Jeremy Hill, of late, is having some trouble holding leads. I love Francisco Rodriguez. Too bad he wasn’t around for half the month. Matt Brown and Bobby Wilson have been struggling at the plate. Reggie Willits spent two weeks nursing a sore hamstring. Freddy Sandoval and Chris Pettit are out with injuries until late July at the earliest. Oh have I mentioned, the weather’s been lousy too? Sigh!
It’s true, Brandon Wood has been his consistently awesome self. And I’ve noticed significant improvement in plate discipline, particularly his 23:47 BB:SO (a ratio of 1:2). In all honesty, though, it’s not like yours truly is going to add anything revelatory to thewell-deserved praise for this kid’s ongoing development. And yes, I had noticed Brad Coon is steadily upping his offensive production after a slow start. Not to mention, just like last year, he’s an excellent guardian of our 420-foot-deep center field. Trevor Bell? Tempting. His awesome debut is slowly turning, start-by-start, into a Triple-A stay of real merit.
And then I was reminded of having overlooked the bright ray of sunshine in our uncharacteristically cold and dreary June. . .
So, this month’s pick is Adam Pavkovich. Pavkovich was selected in 2003 from the University of Alabama by the Angels in the 11th round, 330th overall pick. He came straight to Provo for his professional debut, where the Crimson Tide alumnus figured out wood bats rather quickly, well enough to earn a mid-season promotion to Single-A Cedar Rapids.* He continued to move up the farm system without a hitch; a full season with Advanced-A Rancho in 2004, and just the briefest of time with Double-A Arkansas before arriving at Triple-A for good in 2005.
*Apparently he suited up for one game as a Salt Lake Stinger that year, although I don’t remember it personally.
Yours truly readily admits having wanted an excuse to showcase Pavkovich for a couple seasons now. He stands out for me not only as a good ballplayer, but one who makes an extra effort to bond with his fans, particularly the young ones.
A BeesGal memory. . .One afternoon in 2007, after a long wait for players to come out onto the field, one young fan literally wilted in his spot. He put his head down, cradled in his arms atop of the concrete wall, and closed his eyes. And there he rested, oblivious to the now-arrived ballplayers talking with and signing for fans along the wall.
Pavkovich stopped and bent down, lowering his head to peer upward into the downturned face.
“Hey,” he said gently. Getting no response, he asked again, “Hey there. Are you OK?”
The small head popped straight up, a startled look upon the youngster’s face. Pavkovich laughed warmly, and spent a few extra minutes chatting before moving on.
Another from 2007. . .Pavkovich appeared a full 30 minutes prior to gametime. He walked along the wall, scanning the rows as if he was expecting to meet someone. Halfway between the dugout and bullpen he stopped. He called up to a boy who looked eight or nine years old, standing with his father about 10 rows up in the stands. The boy and father looked around, and then behind them. They looked back at Pavkovich, who was now holding up what looked to be a brand-new bat, its gleaming walnut finish unblemished by pine tar or ball marks.
“Hi! Do you want this?” he called out, energetically gesturing for them to come over.
The boy remained frozen until finally his father half-pushed them both down the stairs and to the wall. The precious gift signed and delivered, Pavkovich returned to the clubhouse to get ready for that evening’s work.
In 2008, Pavkovich had a break-through year on the diamond. He flashed some power—25 doubles, 4 triples, 22 HR, 80 RBI and 225 TB—while maintaining a nice .280 AVE. That sort of production earned Pavkovich his first invite to the Dominican Leagues this winter and big-league training camp this spring.
Fast forward to Opening Day 2009, and Pavkovich begins his fourth season with the Bees. There have been, of course, a few changes over the seasons. Harper and Nagy are gone. Mitchell and Bennett are in their second seasons as manager and pitching coach.
On April 15th, Pavkovich played his 425th game in a Salt Lake uniform, passing former Buzz outfielder Chris Latham to become the franchise leader in games played. As noted by longtime Salt Lake broadcaster and “voice of the Bees” Steve Klauke, this is a bittersweet achievement, one that underscores a long tenure in the bush leagues. Pavkovich also has taken over the lead in career two-base hits (98), and tied in sacrifice flies (20) with Buzz/Twins infielder Todd Walker. His 19 sacrifice bunts leaves him just three short of Buzz infielder Mike Moriarty (22) and two short of Stinger/Bees infielder Casey Smith (21). Thanks to last year’s bomber run, he also holds sixth place in career homeruns (45).
On the other hand, some things haven’t changed at all. #25 still arrives early to meet his fans at the wall, every day, win or lose, play or sit. He talks, he smiles, he jokes, he inspires.
He’s still the young man who makes the Knothole Club something special. According to local lore, the 23-year-old infielder voluntarily assumed the role of Knothole Club “camp director” soon after his arrival in 2005. This spring, Camp Director Pavkovich once-again led kids and parents on a guided tour of a day in the life of a professional ballplayer.
During the tour he was asked how many bats players receive from Anaheim.
He replied, “Two dozen, which for a good hitter will last all season.”
There was a pregnant pause, and his next sentence was accompanied by that warm smile, “If you’re a not-so-good hitter, you’ll need more.”
What more can I say? Save perhaps, it’s been a delight having this young man in a Salt Lake uniform for all these seasons. I believe Pavkovich is eligible for free agency after the end of this year, his seventh since being drafted by the Angels. In that case, I certainly wish him all the best, with just the tiniest selfish hope of getting to meet again for Knothole Club, 2010…Your friend in baseball.
June 01, 2009 — Anyone else out there having a tough time keeping up with all the pitching changes and batting lineups? Despite the confusion, it does seem as though this month’s Lady’s Choice has to be a hitter rather than a pitcher. Of course, I have noticed the pretty numbers being accumulated by setup man Francisco Rodriguez and closer Jeremy Hill. Hill, BTW, is tied for second in the league in saves with 10 SV. Nice! That said, however, the Salt Lake hitters are at #1 or #2 on the PCL stats board in a number of batting categories—303 R, 282 RBI, 68 HR, 806 TB and 0.824 OPS.
So, a hitter it is then. And this month’s pick is Terry Evans. A bit of history is in order for the tall right-fielder from Dublin, GA. Evans was originally drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 47th round (No. 1,409 overall) in 2001. Midseason of 2006, the Angels acquired Evans in exchange for Jeff Weaver, who went on to win a World Series ring with the Redbirds that year. Jewelry aside, hindsight omniscience makes the Angels front office look pretty smart. (Love this quote from the former Angels G.M.) Evans was immediately assigned to the Arkansas Travelers, where he proceeded to tear up the Texas League—in the box and on the basepaths—finishing the season by becoming only the 13th ballplayer in minor league history to join the 30-30 club. Post-season, in the Arizona Fall League, Evans slugged and ran his way onto the AFL Rising Stars Showcase team. Certainly he’d made the right impression with the new organization, and was added to the 40-man roster in November.
Evans was still on the 40-man roster in 2009, although his playing time at spring training camp was limited while the Angels’ development staff took a long look at 25-year-old outfield prospect Chris Pettit, who likewise had missed a good part of his 2008 season, due to a broken foot. Assigned to Salt Lake for 2009, Evans struggled at the plate to begin the season. Thankfully, his other tools remained intact. Possessor of one of the best outfield eyes and arms in the PCL, Evans showed no lingering effects from last season’s injury. And he flashed speed, 12 for 13 in stolen bases thus far in the season.
Evans was hardly alone in his inability to solve the round-ball-hit-square puzzle. As the freezing nights of April warmed up into the promise of May, and with the usual leadoff hitters struggling, Manager Bobby Mitchell tried something new for the batting order. On May 14th, he wrote Evans in the #1 spot. It clicked, and Evans produced a phenomenal 25 hits in 57 at-bats, .439 BA during the “leadoff experiment,” which ended on May 26. Moved to 3rd in the batting order, Evans’ bat stayed hot through the rest of the month.
The last 10 days of May were nothing less than sweet, slugging heaven. On May 21st, facing former Bees Giancarlo Alvarado, the third pitch of the game was the charm and Evans launched a solo homer over the left field wall. May 23rd, Evans hit his eighth homerun of the season against rehabbing MLB pitcher Jason Schmidt in Albuquerque. The following evening, May 24th, he got dinger #9 for the season, his third in four days, and extended his hitting streak to 10 games. The next night, May 25th, homerun #10, fourth in five days, streak to 11 games. May 26th, one hit, streak to 12 games. May 27th, no homers, although Evans went 3-4, scored the only Bees runs and extended his streak to 13 games.
Evans went 0-4 on May 28th, ending the hitting streak at 13 games. On May 3oth, during game #1 of a double-header, Evans went 1-3, a triple, and stole a base, bringing his season total to 12 SB, second highest on the Bees and tied for eighth in the PCL. In the second game, Evans went 2-4; both hits were run-scoring, game-tying doubles that helped the Bees stay within striking distance of Reno for the dramatic walk-off grand slam by Adam Pavkovich. Summarizing the month of May: .330 BA, 27 R, 38 H, 11 2B, 2 3B, 7 HR, 20 RBI, 13 BB, 33 SO, 8 SB.
Still, it’s only June. And my fave outfielder gets tantalized a bit too often by those late-breaking, outside pitches. (I’d sure love to see his SO:BB ratio drop to something less than 2.) As the old saying goes, it’s a long season and anything can happen. Nonetheless, yours truly is hoping to for a break-through season for #24, B-R/T-R. Why? Well, per usual, this isn’t a story about mere numbers alone. How about those intangibles, an inner spark that catches my eye? Or my ear, as on a particular Easter Sunday. Need I say more? Didn’t think so …Your friend in baseball.
Then Matt Palmer pitched himself into a starting slot for the Angels. Sean O’Sullivan arrived from Double-A Arkansas to fill out the starting rotation in Salt Lake, until he pitched his way to Los Angeles as well. The next pitcher called up to bolster our Triple-A rotation was Trevor Bell.
Trevor Bell was selected by the Angels in the first round, 37th overall, a supplemental pick to compensate for the loss of free agent Troy Percival. His development from Rookie through Advanced-A was steady, albeit unspectacular, with ERA stats of 3.50, 4.14, 4.22, respectively. Bell made the Double-A roster out of spring training this year, and it seems as though something clicked. In 11 starts for Arkansas, he relinquished only 54 hits and just one homer in 68.2 IP for a 2.55 ERA.
So, this month’s pick is 
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