Baseball hopefuls strive to impress Twins in tryout

By Chris Umpierre
Fort Myers News Press

When the scouts finally finished slapping numbers on every player's back, the baseball hopefuls — all 170 of them — lined up in left field under the simmering sun for a group stretch.

The gathering looked like a cross section of America. Young limbered up alongside old. Whites stretched next to blacks and Latinos. English-speakers worked out alongside Spanish-speakers.

The aspiring players came from cities throughout Florida. A few drove to Fort Myers from as far away as Jacksonville. One of them flew down from Rahway, N.J. Despite their varying backgrounds, ages and skill levels, the players all shared the same dream of signing a professional baseball contract.

The Minnesota Twins had the largest turnout at their annual open tryout Saturday at the Lee County Sports Complex. The 170 players shocked Minnesota's scouts. The organization typically gets about 70 players each year. The Twins were so unprepared for the deluge that they ran out of tryout number tags. They ended up having to make impromptu tags by writing numbers on pieces of fabric.

"My dad saw the tryout information in the newspaper," said Gregory Meyer, 19, of Naples. "I was like, 'Yeah, man. I'm not doing anything on Saturday.' If anything, this is for fun. I think everyone here knows it's a slim shot to get signed, even if you got the talent or you think you have the talent."

The Twins have discovered a handful of players at their Fort Myers tryouts. Pitchers Charley Walters (1966), Gary Serum (1975) and Eddie Bane (1973), and shortstop Jerry Terrell (1968) are among those who tried out in past years and reached the major leagues.

The Twins most recently signed former Florida Gulf Coast University infielder Chris Brown from the Fort Myers camp in 2004, and he played in organization's minor leagues for two years.

FGCU graduate Derek Mollica hoped to follow in Brown's footsteps, despite the long odds. The second baseman hit .344, with four homers and 47 RBI, for the Eagles this past season. He was asked by a Twins' scout to try out.

Ryan Stanley, a 6-foot-5, 235-pound first baseman, was another player with a solid resume. The Tampa native played two years apiece at Georgia Tech and Auburn.

"You got your good college players out here," Mollica said, "and then you got people who are still trying to live the dream."

Oscar Perez of Rahway, N.J., is still living the dream. His father, who lives in Fort Myers, paid for Perez's plane flight so he could try out. Perez, 24, jumped at the opportunity, even though he's never played above the high school level.

"It's worth a shot. The worst they can say is no, and then you go back to your regular-day life," he said.

Perez, who works in a liquor store, recently finished a four-year stint as a cavalry scout in the Army. He was stationed in Fort Hood, Texas, for three years before spending a year in Iraq. Sitting on the grass as he waited for his time to hit (each player got four pitches), Perez smiled when asked about Iraq.

"Sometimes they sent us out on missions because that's what a cav scout does," he said. "You're on top of mountains and you observe the enemy. We didn't get anything too serious. Lucky me. ... But this is what it's for. You fight so you can come out here and play baseball."

The tryout had a local and international feel. High school players from Cypress Lake, Dunbar, Estero and Riverdale high schools were part of the congregation. Players needed to be at least 18 and be a high school graduate in order to participate.

Takayoshi Tanaami — a 23-year-old from Yamanashi-ken, Japan — brought the international feel. Tanaami wore a white jersey from the team he played on at home. He wore a cap with the word "Nihon." Japanese often refer to their country as "Nihon."

Jim Rantz, the Twins' minor-league director, said he was pleased with the talent. He spent most of the day on a folding chair, scribbling notes.

"We had pitchers throwing in the 90s, which is pretty good," said Rantz, who planned to run a scrimmage with the top players in the afternoon. "Position-wise, we saw some guys who had some fielding skills. We have to see about the hitting."

The Twins didn't plan to sign anybody Saturday, Rantz said. The organization wants to wait and see how many players it signs from this week's Major League Baseball Draft before it makes any moves. If Minnesota saw anybody it likes, it would have them stick around and play in extended spring training, Rantz said.