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By DANA OPPEDISANO Naples Daily News FORT MYERS — Mike Veeck would be proud of Riccardo Ingram. "Fun is Good" is, after all, the Fort Myers Miracle mantra, and the team's 38-year-old first-year skipper had a blast in 2005. "I tell you what, if you can't enjoy this job, you've got problems," says Ingram, who managed the Twins' Gulf Coast League affiliate last season after five years as a coach in the Minnesota system. "I'm managing, being out on the field every day and working with young players. It's one of the greatest jobs you can have." It could have easily turned into a long summer for Ingram, who sent three-fifths of his rotation to Double-A New Britain by the all-star break, with a pair of former No. 1 picks — outfielder Denard Span and first baseman Matt Moses — not far behind. In fact, Fort Myers, which welcomed five GCL rookies in the past month alone, hasn't made this many roster moves since 1994. But in a testament to Ingram and his staff, the Miracle weren't eliminated from the Florida State League's postseason race until Friday. Only eight players on the roster for Sunday's season finale, a 1-0 loss to Sarasota, were on the team to start the year, and while most of them admit you can't help but notice the revolving door, it hasn't been the team-breaker that tends to cripple most young clubs in the second half. "At the beginning of the year we had a really good team, and if we could have kept most of those guys together we'd probably be right there at the top," says first baseman Brock Peterson, who hit .250 with 12 homers this season and had a 16-game hitting streak in July. "The guys that have come in have picked up the slack and really played well, though. That (says) a good deal about (Ingram), that we had a chance to make the playoffs until three days ago, with how young we are." Ingram says that, ultimately, his primary focus is still on grooming fresh-faced prospects into future Twins, but says he's learned there's more to Single-A than making Twins GM Terry Ryan circle a player's stats. "You get them focused on what you've got to do as far as being a team player because, if you make it to the major leagues, you're playing on a team and it can't be just about you," Ingram says. "A kid comes in like, 'I've got to get my numbers up so I can move on.' They forget about the whole concept, what the team needs to win and the understanding that that will be their role in trying to win a championship at the major league level." Rookie Andrew Thompson, son of former Giants second baseman and 1993 Gold Glove winner Robbie Thompson, was summoned from the GCL on Aug. 30 to close his first season at high Class A. The 18-year-old infielder, drafted 80th overall out of Jupiter Community High in June, says Ingram has helped him get comfortable quick, in spite of being one of the youngest guys in the clubhouse and entering in the middle of a pennant race. "The atmosphere is so much different," says Thompson, who went 4-for-13 in four games with Fort Myers. "(Ingram's) just let me play, and I definitely recognize that he's real relaxed and his players like playing for him. That's all you can really ask for in a manager." Right-hander Adam Harben, really the lone constant in the Miracle rotation this season, says he's proud of the way an ever-changing team has continued to play as one, transactions and all, this summer. "I think you give credit to the guys that have been here all year and played together, and also the guys they've brought up who have blended right in," says Harben, who went 10-5 and finished fourth in the league with a 2.66 ERA. "There's a lot of new faces, but it was a great group of guys, a great team to be on." A lot of that credit goes to seventh-year pitching coach Eric Rasmussen, bench coach Jeff Carter and Ingram, who should know by October whether he'll return to the Miracle next season or be assigned somewhere else within the organization. Much like the players he's impressed so much this season, Ingram wouldn't mind moving to the next level in 2006, but like he tells those youngsters, he'll try to continue improving while not sweating a decision that's out of his hands. "There's a desire to move ahead, but for me, my goal is just to come in every day, try to learn something new and stay open-minded," he says. "I don't have an inkling of what the organization will do with me next, but if I'm here forever, that's fine, too. Like I said, I've had a lot of fun, and this is a great job." 2005 Miracle Facts
Webposted on September 5, 2005
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Home This article is copyright 2005 by the Naples Daily News and is used for entertainment/educational purposes only.
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The Miracle went a combined 74-59 under first-year manager Riccardo Ingram, good for a pair of third-place finishes in the split-season, Florida State League West Division standings.