California wealthy in talent

Teams mine Golden State for loads of ballplayers

By David Dorsey
Fort Myers News Press

They come from the land of Hollywood, Disneyland, the Golden Gate bridge and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

They also come from one of the greatest hotbeds of baseball on Earth.

California produces more Major League Baseball talent than any other state, and that trend holds true for the Minnesota Twins and their Class A minor league affiliate, the Fort Myers Miracle.

"That's where it's happening, man," Miracle outfielder Ron Perodin, a Los Angeles native, said of his home state.

"It's one of the best places for athletes," he said. "There's a lot of good players in California that don't get drafted, because they get overlooked."

Of the 239 players that began the 2005 season in the Minnesota Twins organization, 33 of them hail from California.

That's more than any other state, ahead of Florida (19), Minnesota (11), Texas and Pennsylvania (seven each).

Only the country of Venezuela, had more players in the Twins' system, with 39.

As The News-Press concludes this week's series looking at the Miracle Melting Pot — the diversity of cultures in the team's clubhouse — Miracle catcher Kyle Phillips explained some reasons for his state's dominance on the diamond.

"The weather's always a big factor," said Phillips, a San Diego native. "It's never raining, hardly ever. In the winter time, it might rain once every couple of weeks."

Phillips said many of the state's elite players also compete all year long.

"After the season, you have fall ball," he said. "After fall ball, you have winter ball. After winter ball, you have the high school season. And after the season, we have summer ball."

That's a lot of ball, but the Twins are equipped to scout the legions of players.

The Twins have four of their 31 full-time scouts living in California.

"I've gone through seven drafts," said scout Kevin Bootay, who began working for the Twins in 1999. "For the most part, there's never a down year in Southern California. That's where all of the players are."

The past three first-round draft pick by the Twins all attended high school in California — shortstop Trevor Plouffe (Northbridge), right-handed pitcher Matt Garza (Fresno) and first baseman Henry Sanchez (San Diego).

All three of those players are likely to pass through the Miracle on their journey through the system.

At one point this season, six Miracle players were from California. Three of them, J.R. Taylor, Ben Pattee and Errol Simonitsch, have since been promoted to Double-A New Britain.

The Miracle promoted Taylor on Friday.

"I wouldn't say it's endless, but it's definitely one of the best places in the nation to scout," said Dan Cox, a Twins scout who lives in Santa Ana. "For the most part, every year, you're going to have a good group of kids coming out."

In 2000, one of those players included Taylor, a shortstop who played at Skyline High in Oakland.

"He can pick up a ground ball with the best of them," said Bootay, who signed Taylor after the Twins drafted him in the 24th round. "He has very soft hands, and he has a strong arm.

"If he hits, he's going to be a big leaguer. It's all about whether he can hit, because he sure can field."

ABOUT CALIFORNIA

State size: 158,693 square miles

Population: 35.4 million

State holiday: Cesar Chavez Day, March 31 (celebrating the birthday of a man who worked for the rights of migrant farm workers)

Governor: Arnold Schwarzenegger

Top current baseball players: Mark Prior, David Wells, Jacque Jones, Jason Giambi, Dontrelle Willis

All-time notable players: So many. Dennis Eckersley, Don Drysdale, Tom Seaver, Ted Williams

Factoid: A total of 1,763 big-league players were born in California, according to baseball-reference.com.

Los Angeles native and Fort Myers Miracle outfielder Ron Perodin hits against Vero Beach during Sunday's game at Hammond Stadium. TODD STUBING/news-press.com