CATS GET HIGH-QUALITY HELP

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Familiar faces abounded at the Twins minor league complex once again on Friday morning.

American League batting champion Joe Mauer spent his third straight day on the back lot as the Twins continue to monitor the injury to his lower left leg. He was joined by a pair of ex-Rock Cat right-handers who have gone on to bigger and better things, Jesse Crain and Pat Neshek.

Mauer, who batted third in each of the first three frames, grounded out twice and dumped an opposite-field single into left.

Crain, 19-10 with a 2.95 ERA since joining the Twins in 2004, threw heat in the first inning but his command wasn't what it was when he was dominating the Eastern League in 2003. That year, he posted an 0.69 ERA with a ridiculous innings pitched-to-hits ratio of 39 to 13 before he was promoted to Triple-A.

Neshek faced two lefties out of the chute in the second inning. Orioles left-handed hitting prospect Val Majewski slammed a hard grounder off his leg but Neshek recovered and threw him out. As it was in the American League last year, right-handed hitters had little chance against the hard-throwing sidearmer.

Neshek established himself as a vital bridge to Twins closer Joe Nathan last year by going 4-2 with a 2.19 ERA. He pitched parts of three seasons with the Rock Cats, his best coming in 2005 when he notched 24 saves.

The Rock Cats ended in a 4-4 tie with the Bowie Baysox after scoring single runs in the eighth and ninth innings.

"The boys responded and didn't quit today," Rock Cats manager Riccardo Ingram said. "It bodes well for us because a lot of our players were missing (traveling with the big-league club or filling in at Triple-A) and Bowie was pretty much playing with the club they'll have."

Ingram said that two of the players he's counting on for run production -- Matt Allegra and Brock Peterson -- swung the bats well. They were swinging through breaking pitches Thursday against Portland.

"They have to put the ball in play with men on base," Ingram said.

Clutch hitting was a problem with last year's club, which didn't have the power potential of the 2007 group.

A LITTLE NUTMEG IN THE TROPICS

FORT MYERS, Fla. – The Rock Cats bussed across town to vie with the Double-A Red Sox Thursday but they must have left their best bats at home.

New Britain lost to the Portland Sea Dogs, 4-2, managing just four singles and a double. Felix Molina was the lone Rock Cat to get two safeties. Manager Riccardo Ingram, watching his big boppers swing over sliders, hopes he and hitting coach Floyd Rayford will be able to get them to shorten up their swings.

Jeff Corsaletti played a major role in Portland’s victory. His father, a former football coach at Pulaski High, came south with his former Newington grid coach Larry Marsh and still helps out on Friday nights. Corsaletti played his college ball at the University of Florida.

The Sea Dogs had some more Nutmeg flavor in their lineup. Infielder Jeff Natale is a Hamden native who played his college ball at Trinity.

Veteran Rock Cats righthander Jesse Floyd, projected as New Britain’s number three starter, was in command until he took a wicked line drive off his upper thigh in the fourth inning. He stayed in the game but promptly yielded back-to-back doubles. Ingram said the vicious shot scared him more than hurt him.

The Rock Cats’ best hit was a grounds-rule double off the bat of Brian Buscher that drove in a ninth-inning run.

The Rock Cats will play manager Stan Cliburn’s Triple-A Rochester Red Wings in a camp game Friday.

Two former Rock Cats were the talk of the town Thursday afternoon.

Flamboyant righthander J.D. Durbin’s days with the Twins came to an end when he was claimed off waivers by the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Righthander Levale Speigner, who led the Rock Cats in saves with 13 last year and was plucked by the Nationals in the Rule V draft, reportedly has earned a spot in their starting rotation. According to Rule V, Speigner would have to be offered back to the Twins if the Nationals find there is no room for him on their 25-man big-league roster.

BASEBALL, FLORIDA AND LIFE

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Did you ever wonder why something as beautiful as a rose has to have thorns ?

Funny how even life's most beautiful gifts have some Trojan-horse qualities.

Take Florida, for example. The weather has been perfect -- 80s, sun shining all week. My skin takes on the amber glow that we sun-worshippers treasure. I've seen dear friends that I get to see only once a year.

Baseball abounds. Those who read my last offering know that enterprising fans wandering off the beaten track to attend a minor league "camp" game came face-to-face with American League batting champion Joe Mauer. For the less adventurous for whom cost is no deterrent, tickets can be had for Grapefruit League contests.

Then there are the nuisances that remind me about the paradox of the rose.

What can be more important to a human being than crisp, fresh water flowing from a tap whenever you need it? Seasoned Florida travelers know enough not to pour themselves a glass of water for drinking, but you can't use bottled water when it's time to wash off the beach sand. I don't know what they put in the water before they send it on its way to consumers, but it conjures up thoughts of following a car up Avon Mountain that has catalytic converter problems.

Back to baseball.

The Twins are without a doubt the most accommodating group of baseball people I have known in my 26 years of active association with folks in the game. Hammond Stadium, their springtime habitat, reflects their benevolence. But things can get hostile when the Yankees and Red Sox come in.

Seats in the press box disappear fast. The hostile nature and general lack of civility that big city life fosters poisons the Florida landscape. The Twins provide the traditional baseball standards of peanuts and soft drinks at the Hammond Stadium press box and I had the nerve to allow a peanut skin to graze the telecommunications equipment of some NYC hotshot who was having technical difficulties.

After I got bellowed at, I told the gentleman that I would gladly get on my cellphone and ask the almighty to prevent the wind from blowing his way. God forbid I should inhibit a Mike and the Mad Dog flash. Just another reminder why I wouldn’t permit my sweet, short life to be blighted by any big city.

It makes me recognize how much I enjoy my time with our local high school student-athletes and nestled in my comfortable corner of the New Britain Stadium press box, where an island of Minnesota Twins cordiality pulses through the hearts and minds of the Rock Cats.

CAMP DAY

FORT MYERS, Fla. – The term Camp Day can mean different things to different people.

To the exasperated mother of young children, it means a summer afternoon interlude with her husband or an uninterrupted soap opera. To Rock Cats general manager John Willi, it means a stadium full of screaming kids hanging off railings, rubbing mustard in their friend’s hair and stuffing lavatory hand dryers with cotton candy.

But here at spring training, Camp Day means the Double-A and Triple-A teams do battle instead of engaging outside competition. The teams often take liberties with their batting orders to accommodate players who they deem need extra at-bats.

The smattering of fans who relish the game at its grass-roots best received a special treat Wednesday when manager Stan Cliburn’s Rochester Red Wings met Riccardo Ingram’s Rock Cats. American League batting champion Joe Mauer trotted out to get in a few additional licks for Cliburn's crew.

Mauer is recuperating from what trainers say is a stress reaction in his left fibula. In layman’s terms, Mauer is experiencing some discomfort in his lower leg and is susceptible to a stress fracture. Mauer batted third in each of the first three innings.

In his first at-bat, he laced an opposite-field double. In the second inning, he clouted a homer over the center-field wall. He grounded out to first before trotting off for a session with trainer Dave Pruemer, but was met with a small gathering of fans clamoring for his autograph.

Among them was Rock Cats ticketholder Mike Stevens, who won an expenses-paid trip to spring training simply by renewing his ticket package early and being a pretty lucky guy. Stevens happily showed off his new treasure – an autographed baseball – that softened the displeasure he experience at Tuesday’s major league game between the Twins and Yankees.

The Yanks left most of their stars behind, which some feel is New York owner George Steinbrenner’s way of protesting the luxury tax that the major-market clubs have to dole out to those less financially fortunate, like the Twins.

“I didn’t expect their ‘A’ team to come but I expected to see either Jason Giambi or Johnny Damon,” said Stevens, an East Hampton resident who didn’t get to see Derek Jeter or Alex Rodriguez either.

Such is the way things unfold at spring training, where a visit to camp can prove ultimately more interesting than attending what ostensibly is labeled a big-league game.

Rock Cats, Twins and CCSU Blue Devils?

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- A whole lot of New Britain was represented at the Minnesota Twins spring training site Tuesday.

Rock Cats radio voice Jeff Dooley is on hand this week doing interviews with current and former Rock Cats alike. New Britain Stadium box office manager Marissa Farris was putting some last-minute touches on her tan before flying home. Rock Cats team photographer Buddy Robinson was adding to his usual spring training portfolio with wife Lynne by his side.

But the biggest surprise came when former Central Connecticut State University coaches Ron Pringle and George Redman stopped by to say hello. Both are retired, but Pringle is down in Florida for some much deserved R & R after helping coach the New Britain High girls basketball team to its second straight Class LL championship.

Pringle is down at spring training for the first time.

"We're 71-years-old and we may not have a lot of time left, so why not?" quipped the long-time Blue Devils softball coach. Pringle and Redman also visited the campus of Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Myers, which is the school that lost to Southern Connecticut State University in the recent NCAA Division II basketball championship. They were quite impressed with the school's facilities.

And sure enough, standing on the pitcher's mound for the Pawtucket Red Sox was former CCSU righthander Barry Hertzler. According to Boston Red Sox minor league pitching coordinator Ralph Trueul, Hertzler is still competing for a Triple-A job, but chances remain that he will end up pitching against the Rock Cats for the Portland Sea Dogs.

While Dooley, Farris, the Robinsons, Pringle and Redman enjoyed the minor league games, a ballpark full of fans packed adjacent Hammond Stadium for the Grapefruit League game between the Twins and New York Yankees -- at least it said "NY" on their caps.

Derek Jeter was not there. Neither was Alex Rodriguez nor former Twin and Rock Cat Doug Mientkiewicz. Johnny Damon wasn't there. No Jason Giambi, no Andy Pettitte. So much for emptying the old wallet for Grapefruit League expectations.

By the way, the Twins won the game 4-3 with two runs in the bottom of the ninth. Twins minor leaguer Toby Gardenhire, whose dad happens to be Minnesota manager Ron Gardenhire, knocked in the winning run with an infield grounder. Probable Rock Cats infielder Matt Tolbert drove in the tying run and scored the game-winner.

Two pitchers familiar with New Britain got starts. Boof Bonser, who pitched for the Rock Cats in 2004, continued to impress for the Twins and city native Carl Pavano (he was born at New Britain General) competed well for the Yanks.

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- While most of the organizations that stock Eastern League teams have chosen in recent years to prop up their rosters with veterans, the Minnesota Twins continue to funnel youngsters up their organizational ladder.

Imagine the Rock Cat hitters' awe when they ventured across town to take on their Boston counterparts Monday and came face-to-face with 33-year-old Red Sox journeyman Julian Tavarez. The results were predictable.

Tavarez stymied the Kittens for six innings, allowing only an unearned run in the first frame of the Portland Sea Dogs' 4-1 triumph.

"He had 75 pitches and the wind was blowing in the hitters' faces," Ingram said. "He was looking pretty sharp. We mustered three hits off him but he did what he was supposed to do. He kept the ball down, he changed speeds. When the hitters thought they were on a pitch, he'd throw a little wrinkle in there.

"It's nice for our guys to face guys like this in the spring. It's a learning curve and it's good for them."

New Britain hurlers Nick Blackburn, Brian Duensing and Zach Ward held the young Sox to a run on six hits over eight innings but veteran minor league hurler Brian Forystek was lit up for three runs on five hits in the ninth.

Forystek, 28, is trying to hook on with Triple-A Rochester. With four EL seasons in the Baltimore Orioles' system under his belt , it's Triple-A or bust.

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