Spring Training

Even though it's only January Major Leaguer's are getting ready to go as some of the first Spring Training games start at the end of February. It seems like only yesterday I was standing in some strange bar in Chicago watching my former favorite Tiger, Jeff Weaver completely shut down the Tigers and put to an end my favorite season of Tiger baseball since 1991. Anyway, I'm excited for Spring Training for all of the obvious reasons. I want to see how the team looks as soon as possible, I want to see who makes the opening day roster, I'm interested to see how some young guys fare, and I want to see if any washed up veterans can crack the opening day roster. That last part is about as entertaining as it gets with me. In MLB teams often sign aging veterans to minor league contract with an invitation to Spring Training. 99% of the team, these guys are cut by April 1st, but sometimes, sometimes they make their way back to the big leagues. Last year Ramon Santiago was just a Spring Training invite for the Tigers and he ended up making the team and played in 5 playoff games. So I'm going to scour the big leagues to see if any surprising (ie: funny) names show up. Here we go...

-Curtis Pride (Angels): Pride, may be the only (I'm not sure on this) deaf player to ever make it to the majors. Not only is Pride deaf, but he is 38 years old. I remember when Pride made it to the majors with Montreal in 1993, it was a pretty big deal, he even spent some time with the Tigers, hitting .300 in 1996. He could make some team as a pinch hitter.

-Richard Hidalgo(Astros): Back in 2000, Hidalgo hit .314 with 44 HRs and 122 RBIs, that was at the age of 25. Looking at this from a 2000 perspective one would assume that Hidalgo is still in his prime years, but no, he's a spring training invitee. Hidalgo didn't appear in a Major League game last year after hitting .221 in 2005.

-Chad Mottola (Blue Jays): I remember this guy from my baseball card days, that's how long he's been around. Mottola was the #5 overall pick in 1992, he's appeared in 59 big league games over the past 15 years with four home runs.

-Sal Fasano (Blue Jays): Coolest look in the league. I'd take him as my backup catcher any day. According to Wikipedia, his favorite song is "Every Rose Has Its Thorn" by Poison.

-Rick Ankiel (Cardinals): You might remember this guy as a dominating rookie pitcher in 2000 and then fell apart in the playoffs, only to come back and try it as an outfielder. Well, he's going to be in Spring Training with the Cardinals trying to make the team as a back up outfielder. (right)

-Ken Huckaby (Dodgers): Remember by me as the guy who slid into Derek Jeter and injured him in 2003.

-Aaron Small (Mariners): The guy who has been awful his entire career and then went 10-0 out of NOWHERE for the Yankees in 2005. Followed up that 2005 year by going 0-3 with an 8.46 ERA last year.

-Alex Sanchez (Marlins): The first player suspended for steroid use in baseball. Received a 10 game ban when playing for the Tigers. People always trashed him because he never walks, but aside from Luis Polonia, I never saw anyone bunt like Alex Sanchez.

-Jose Macias, Rob Fick, George Lombard, Colby Lewis (Nationals): All players who used to start for the Tigers, this can not be good news for the Nationals in 2007.

-Shawn Estes (Padres): This 34 year old lefty could be the worst 19 game winner of all time.

-Randall Simon (Phillies): Famously slandered by John Rocker. Also hit that sausage that one time and in 2002 walked only 13 times while starting for the Tigers almost all season.

-Jose Hernandez (Pirates): He and I share a birthday, except he's 39 years old. He also struck out 188 times in one season.

-Franklyn German (Rangers): Was once considered a top prospect in baseball. Not anymore, obviously. He walked the bases loaded so many times for the Tigers, but he was the best we had at the time.

-Victor Santos (Reds): His rookie season in Detroit ended up being his best season, 3.30 ERA. I recall very vividly that he started out his career by throwing like 10 shutout innings. My friend Andy Jackson(left) liked to say he was the next Pedro Martinez.

Odds are all of these guys will be cut and spend their season on a minor league team near you.