Kevin Baker's book is here!

Kevin Baker's book is here!
"... an exemplary sports book..." Kirkus Reviews

Monday, April 23, 2012

Traveling Wilkes Barres caught in blizzard spring of hell

Imagine how depressing it must be to be Francisco Cervelli.

On the last day of spring training, not only do you get dumped by your team - the only franchise you ever knew, and one that three times you went to the hospital for - but you get farmed out to a minor league team without a home. You can't rent an apartment. You can't find a comfortable restaurant. You can't find a regular workout facility. You just face a cruel, nonstop series of motels and rest stations on the NYS Thruway. Have you ever eaten at a rest station on the NYS Thruway? It's the food of a .220 season. It's the life of a trustee on a prison bus.

So this weekend, our Triple A warriors were in Batavia. Have you ever been to Batavia? I have. Great place to live. Wonderful people. Not a weekend getaway. Trust me: You don't want to be stuck there in a snowstorm. No lie: I have been in Iraq during a war and on the NYS Thruway during a snowstorm, and I felt safer in Iraq.

It's no secret that some MLB teams try to avoid stashing their high-ceiling talent at Triple A, because the cynical attitude of older players can be contageous. I cannot imagine how this year's ever-traveling Empire State Yankees can be anything but a morale disaster for our organization.

Already, Dellin Betances and Manny Banuelos have suffered enormous issues as developing pitchers. It's too early to blame the road. But by July, let's face it -- that team will be a prison bus. For anybody passing judgement on Cervelli's bad spring start - he's barely hitting his weight - they should think twice about what he - and everybody - is going through.

No comments: