Welcome to Guardians Weekly on the Cleveland Guardians Radio networking. Guardians Weekly is front
to you by Progressive helping Guardians fans save hundreds on car insurance. Hi,
everyone, welcome to Guardians Weekly. Jim Rosenhouse along with you from Progressive Field
downtown Cleveland, where the Guardians are hosting the Saint Louis Cardinals this weekend night
game Saturday night at seven fifteen Day Baseball on Sunday a one forty first pitch
if you want to catch the tail end of the homestand some seats still available,
although a very good crowd on Friday night and a big house expected on
Saturday as well, and a good crowd on Sunday too, but again still
some seats available for the weekend. Coming up in a little bit on our
show today, we'll have a weekly farm report from Robs Serfolio, the director
of player Development. He'll focus in on single a Lynchburg. We'll also hear
from starting pitcher Hunter Gaddis, who earned his first Major League win earlier this
week, and utility man Gabriel Arias who has come on at the plate playing
a variety of positions. But first to look at the week gone by and
on Monday, the White Sox were in town. The Guardians looking to get
up to a hot start on the homestand after a difficult road swing, and
they got an early defensive boost in the first inning from Mike Sanino. Now
the one oh runner takes off pitch inside Sanino throw to second head, first
slide and he is out at second kind of a delayed call by Chad Fairchild.
But Mike Zanino throws out Luis Robert, first time he's been caught stealing
this year. Perfect throw buy Zannino and the tag made by the shortstop I'm
ed Rosario. Then in the second the Guardians got on the scoreboard with a
little help from the White Sox, and the two old pitch to straw off
the glove and all the way to the backstop and end the scores. Arius
Grandall reached to his right and the pitch went off his glove to the backstop
and the Guardians get a gift and they leaded one to nothing here in the
second ending, and that is going to be scored a wild pitch. Meanwhile
on the mound for the Guardians, Hunter Gaddis looked as good as we've seen
him. The dangerous Luis Robert this is the last guy, kind of like
Pete Alonzo with the mets that you want to see at the plate with a
chance to do damn as the set by Hunter Gaddis and the pitch swung on
skide in the air right side. Jimenez, the second baseman moving toward first,
makes the catch on that sky high pop and Gaddis has worked out of
it. Here in the sixth against the top of the order and it stays
one nothing Cleveland in the middle of ending number six. The Socks were threatening
in the seventh, with a couple of men in scoring position, but Nick
Sandlin came on out of the guardian's pen trying to hang onto the lead the
one oh. He swings and bloops one of the second basement caught by Jimenez
and Sandlin with a jam job to get Burger. It's stretched time at the
corner of Carnegian Ontario. Cleveland won Chicago nothing, and then in the bottom
of the seventh inning, Mike Sanino stepped in with two outs and a runner
aboard. Santos lets it fly and Sanino swings and hits it high and deep
to right back Fraser on the track at the wall, he leaves and this
ball is gone. Mike Zanino with an opposite field to run a home run
to right and the Guardians have a three nothing lead. How good do you
think that Jock felt for Mike Zanino in a one for thirty one slide and
he stayed on it and drove it the other way out to run home run
to right for Mike Zanino In the ninth Emmanuel Class was on and looked like
a man on a mission. The next delivery swing in a line shot to
center, but right there to make the catches straw ball game, and the
Guardians get a shutout and a three hit shutout as Hunter Gaddis pitches his finest
game in his young major league career, he gets his first major league win,
Emmanuel Class gets his major league leading sixteenth save, and Mike Sennino may
have had a best game as a Guardian, throwing out a runner and hitting
a two run a home run tonight in the seventh inning to give Cleveland a
little bit of a cushion, and the Guardians win game one of this homestand
three to nothing over the White Socks. Unfortunately, they couldn't carry over that
momentum to the game on Tuesday night a four to two White Sox win,
and the White Sox won the series with a six nothing shutout victory on Wednesday
afternoon. Thursday was an off day for the Guardians, and Friday night the
Cardinals came to town. Good pitchers duel between Matt Libertore and Shane Bieber as
the game states scoreless through four and a half innings, but in the bottom
of the fifth Guardians got it going. With the bases loaded in Stephen Kwan
at the plate. It's a payoff pitch and it's on its way. Swung
online, pace hit left field, Y Minns will score. Zannino holds it
third, and the Guardians are on the board. On the RBI single from
Stephen Quan one nothing Cleveland. I just slapped it past the third baseman Arnado
for RBI number fifteen, and with Liberdor allowing a run and in trouble with
the bases loaded and nobody out, the Cardinals start to get some activity going
in their pen, so they had the one run and the big challenge offensively
this season has been putting up crooked numbers in really good scoring opportunities, bases
loaded, still a run in. I'm ed Rosario. At the Platon,
he would take care of business. The pitch to Rosario swung on line drive,
base hit down the left field, line up against the wall, that
goes one run is in. Straw has scored. Here comes Quan Rosario's clear
the basses. Three run double four, i'med Rosario and there here's the beginning
for the Guardians for nothing Cleveland. Saint Louis got back into it with a
run in the sixth and another in the seventh to make it four to two
Cleveland, and then some good defense in the eighth kept the Guardians in front.
Now the two one delivery swung on. This is hid in the air
the left and deep back his quand track wall jumps. He made the catch,
He fell to the track and hung on a quand timed that perfectly,
kept going back and just as he got to the wall, he leaped,
crashed into the wall, fell to the ground and hung on. Heck of
a player by Kwan taking extravases away from Nolan Ronado. Now the one d
t Young he chops one towards Shortan Ramiers cuts in front, goes to second
one. He man has turns it. How about that posey cut in front
of Sario. It's short and that's what enabled Cleveland to turn the double play
and Della Santos works out of it and the Guardians stay on top four to
two. But the Cardinals kept battling. In the ninth, they scored a
run on a Lars Newt Bar double that made it a one run ball game.
But Emmanuel class A dug deep and he found a way to get the
job done again the payoff delivery ball, no strike three call, Oh wow,
I'll delayed, call buddy Chris Guccioni. Gorman screaming at the whole plate
umpire as he was headed to first ball game. Chris Guccioni said, you
know what dollar dogs T shirt fireworks. I want to be part of the
action. And that's how it ends. Cleveland hangs on to beat Saint Louis
Or to three. So the Guardians will try and keep it going on Saturday
night against the Cardinals and also on Sunday afternoon to wrap up the Homestead.
Stay with us when we come back. We'll hear from Hunter Gaddison, Gabriel
Arius. That's next on the Cleveland Clinic Guardians Radio Network. We're recording this
Progressive the commercial on a real boat to let people know that when you bundle
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And here's Hunter Gaddis with a career best six innings and county he deals and
the pitch head in the air third base side foul Arius has plenty of room.
What an inning for Hunter Gaddis, He had an eight pitch ning.
Welcome back to Guardians Weekly right here on the Guardians Radio networking. Beautiful weekend
here on this Memorial Day weekend, great baseball weather, some good baseball on
tap that Progressive field downtown, and some good baseball pitched by Hunter Gaddis.
Earlier this week. He'll start on Sunday. His last start came on Monday,
and he was outstanding, notching his first major league win. We caught
up with him the next day, and he talked about what it felt like
after the final out was recorded and the win was official. I just probably
a big small on my face. I mean, just getting that first one
on the way felt so good. I mean, my teammates behind me played
a hell of a game, and it was just really good to get that
out of the way. You've had some good moments this season, going back
to spring training, and some good starts here the first time around. What
was different though last night that really allowed you to see it through deep into
the game. I think it just me and Z were able to work together
really well, you know, keep the other team really off balance, I
mean, try to stay away from hard contact and too many walks or anything
like that, and it paid off. I know, sometimes when you're trying
to work multiple different pitches and have them working together, it's difficult. But
it seemed like all of your pitches we're working last night. When did you
start to realize that? I mean, honestly, I don't my change help
is you know, usually my best pitching. It really I kept pulling at
glove side, so I mean the slider and the fastball and the cutter we're
filling pretty good. But if I can get all four or five of them,
mind up, it's it's really nice day. And you mentioned short notice.
You didn't find out till a little while before that you were going to
be pitching yesterday. Can that be a good thing sometimes? Oh definitely.
I mean I'm not thinking about it all week. I'm just thinking about it
there before, So you know, I guess it's better sometimes just to act
quick and so of you know, sit around waiting for it. Hunter.
You look at at how you progress this season, and you face a White
Sox team last night that I gave you a hard time last year. But
Carl Willis was saying before the game that the work you put in in the
offseason really showed when you showed up the spring training. What were some of
the specific things that that you were able to learn from based on last year
that I really have taken a hold this season. I mean, i'd say
more of the growing was mental side, and you know, kind of feeling
like you belong here more, and and then it was just coming down to
consistency with each pitch and being able to put it where I wanted more.
I'm sure it's never easy to go up and back between the major leagues and
the minor leagues. But what have you been able to do in that time
at Columbus that that's been helpful? Coming back here, it's definitely a stressful
moment sometimes, but it's it's good to take a step back and just look
at you know what you gotta work on, and then just try to improve
every little step you can. All Right, The probably the most important question,
where's the hair? What happened to the hair? Why the decision to
go with the cut? And how's it working out for you? That's working
out so far. I can't complain. I was just needed a change,
so I can't complain. I kind of miss it, kind of don't.
It's a little bit easier, so it is what it is. I guess
what did the floor of the barber shop look like when I know it's all
done? Oh it was a mess. It looked like a jongle for sure.
And can you share what happened inside once the final out was recorded and
they realized it was your first major league win? Oh? Yeah, I
got a really nice cold beer shower, that's for sure. I was freezing
all part of a first major league win. And Hunter, thanks for coming
by. Appreciate thank you at starting pitcher Hunter Gaddis, who has gotten another
opportunity here in the major league. Still very young in his career, but
he gets that first major league win out of the way. Another young player
very early in his major league career is gabriel Arias, a short stop by
trade and a very good one. But to get at bats on this club,
he's had to move around a bunch, and that means playing third,
second, first base, and also right field. We caught up with him
earlier this week with translation help from Augie Rivero, and Gabrielle said, after
a slow start, he's been swinging the bat well the last couple of weeks
due to a couple of key factors. I think the comfort has come from
not stopping my work and you know, keep my confidence up and I putting
my head down, so knowing that my work's going to give their result.
I think that's what has enabled me to turn to the thing around. We've
seen some really good things each spring training in the last three years. Now.
What is so different though about major league pitching during the regular season from
what you've seen. That's how it seems like in the season they turned to
make all the adjustments, and they worked doing the spring training, you know
spring training scenes that they just you know, try to get their pitches in
and they don't care too much of if you get a good ib or the
heat of double or triple. So I feel doing the Siasion, they locked
it in and they try to make adjustment to get you out. And even
though you started slow and I know that the playing time was sporadic, it
seems like Terry Francona has had unwavering support for you and it believes in what
you could be. How important has that been to you? Sorry? Yeah,
super thankful for the opportunity. You know, I just continue being thankful
to him for that opportunity in finding ways how to get me in the lightnup.
But for me, most importantly should not to take the foot of the
gas. You know, I got to keep the intensity to keep the work
because the moment you didn't, you distract yourself. You're not in the lineup
anymore. So I'm super thankful for the opportunity, but I know I gotta
keep working. Gabrielle, You're a short stop, but you played everywhere,
it seems except catching um on this year's team. And how long has it
taken you to to get comfortable at different spots aside from your normal position.
I think it comes out to the confidence of myself, and I think that
confidence come from all the goals that I set up myself during the year to
be able to be here and help the team. And I think, you
know, playing short stuff that he is in theory one of them difficult positions.
In a way, it enables you to to be able to play the
other positions. So I think in the outfield and most difficult thing or the
line right that comes right at you. So luckily they haven't hit anything like
that, I mean yet, But all than that, I feel like I've
been able to just put my confidence in what I'm doing and trying to help
it him. So how many gloves are you carrying right now? I always
bring the three gloves with me to the dog out like the infielder the first
base on the outfielder, because as you're seeing, there are times that I
start in one position and in the other, or maybe I'm not playing,
and later in the game I end up in a different position. So I
always bring those three gloves with me, and you do get that chance every
now and again to play shortstop. We see the big arm and a good
range. How much do you enjoy that? Part of it being being able
to play there every now and again? Who knows down the line, but
at least for now every once in a while, super contentable. I mean,
in reality, I'm just really happy every time I get that chance to
play that position. That's my natural position, what the one that I enjoy
kind of like the most in a way. So I'm really thankful every time
they consider me to play charts. So but I don't know what the future
holds for for me or for whoever's going to hold up position, But I'm
really excorry every time I get the chance will play charts stuff and team wise,
I know it's been a struggle to get consistent in terms of wins and
losses. What are you seeing though? That's encouraging that that could lead to
some good stretches here soon. I think we talked about that at the clubhouse.
Use the keys to stay possive if you're a kid, keep doing our
thing and stay positive, because this is baseball. You're gonna get the bad
strange, but also the good ones, and then we're gonna keep remaining positive
for someonever the good positive straights come, We're able to be ready for that.
Gabrielle Grassi. Yes, thank you, Algie, thank you, thank
you ys. That's Gabriel Arius, along with translation help from Aggie Rivero,
and certainly he seems poised to really see his major league career take off.
Stay tuned a lot more to come after this. The Wind and Pitch Swan
Gang grounded a short easy play for Arius. It's just fun. You want
to stop talking and watch him throw the ball. Gabriel Arius showing off that
cannon arm. I mean that ball has sets life to it and he gets
there in a hurry. Welcome back to Guardians Weekly. Jim Rosenhouse along with
you from Progressive Field in downtown Cleveland in the Minor Leagues. Single A Lynchburg
is the first full season affiliate of minor league Baseball in the Guardians farm system.
Rob Sorfolio is the director of player development for Cleveland and we caught up
with him earlier this week and he talked about some of the challenges players face
in that first full season of professional baseball. Yeah, it's it is such
a unique level with players really getting their first taste at what affiliate baseball on
the pro on the pro side looks like. So, you know, you
look at the composition of our team, we have a lot of young players
who I think, you know Rosa. We talked about this a lot.
We're young nearly every level, but particularly at this spot. A ton of
guys making their their debuts at the affiliate level. So whether it was players
that we've signed internationally the last couple of years that have played in the DSL
and have played rookie ball, or if it's some of the guys we took
from last year's draft class that are kind of really getting their first taste of
consistent game action as a pro. So you have all these different these different
backgrounds coming together, but the one commonality between all of them is they don't
have a ton of games under their belt. So this level just is such
a unique and cool learning level for the entire group, and you get to
see guys under the constraints that is a full season in minor league baseball and
some of the pressures that come with that, some of just the adjustment to
the lifestyle with travel and six games series. So it ends up being a
really informative season for a lot of these guys to get that first year of
experience under their belt and to really learn what it's like to be a professional
play every day, go through that grind physically, mentally, and so you
know, it's a it's a level where we like to have a lot of
our coordinators and traveling staff in there to support these young guys as they're riding
that first roller coaster trip and our staff as well. You know, we
have we have a handful of young staff in there. So it's a it's
a unique level that presents a lot of cool challenges for us, and we
will circle back later in the season when they have a hundred games under their
belting and are in uncharted waters to see how that's going. You mentioned staff
wise, Jordan smith Is was an outfielder that what used to see in spring
training as he was knocking on the door of the major leagues as a player
and now in player development. And how's he faring in his first full season
assignment as a manager. Yeah, you know, we're lucky to have Smitty
and on our team. And you know he got his first repp it at
the manager job last year. You know, just like we talked about with
this player group he was. He was with a lot of them in Arizona
last year as part of our rookie ball group and made the transition to getting
his first taste now as a manager. And I think his experience as a
player is a huge competitive advantage, not only for him, but just for
our organization. That he has lived the life, knows what to expect,
can foresee some of the challenges, and now he's getting a chance to lead
a group of staffs as well as the players. So you know, he's
a like I said, we're lucky to have him in our squad just from
his knowledge of the game, his experience as a player, and I know
he's really enjoyed getting his hands dirty with these young guys. Out of the
gate, we're joined by rap Sorfolio talking single a Lynchburg. Let's get to
some players now, and we'll start on the position player's side. And you
have a position player Garrett Lipscomb. Lipscomb who looks like an on base machine.
Yeah, fellowship on what he's been doing to really have some good success.
Yeah. So guy Lipscomb, outfielder that we took last year out of
Belmont University in the Tennessee area, and he can really run. We're talking
about a good athlete here. I think he's top five and maybe all of
baseball or at least leading that league in stolen bases. A guy that can
really swing it from the left side, lawn a line, drives good contact
skills, knows the zone. You know, it's been exciting for us to
see him. He wasn't in game action last year coming out of the draft,
so this is really the first, the first time we've seen him,
you know, in extended game outings over one hundred and fifty plate appearances and
and he's really held his own out of the gate planning, you know,
a pretty good center field defense and bouncing around, playing all over the place,
and you know, doing some of the things that we expected to see
at him from the draft last year. And when you talk about on base,
maybe no one better right now than Nate Ferman, not only at Lynchburg
but or a system. Yes, that is correct, So tell us about
Nate and what he's done to really put his name on the map. Yes,
you know, somewhat similar to guy and you just look at their overall
profile, like again, it really knows the strike zone, just top level
back to ball skills. I think he's you know, really near the top
of the ranks, you know, putting up some some Will Brennan Stephen Kuan
type strikeout rates and just a guy that hits a ton of line drives and
puts the ball in play at productive angles. So you know, for him,
he's a little bit of a smaller guy, plays second base on the
infield, we're exposing him the third a little bit, trying to make sure
that he has some versatility to to really impact the lineup on defense. And
then you know, of course trying to amplify what he does well and move
the needle on some of the areas of the game on the impact quality side
of things that you know, we want to see him grow over time.
So you know, he is an incredible worker, great teammate, you know,
really kind of embodies a lot of just the grit principles that we like
to talk about here from an on and off field side of things. And
it's been fun to watch Nate go out there and you know, really kind
of tear up a lot of the Carolina League so far. And let's stay
on the position player front. Willie an Tuniez looks like he's off to a
nice start, and what's he doing so far? He is you know,
this is a young kid that he got a little taste of Lynchburg last year
at the end of the season, performed really well in Arizona rookie ball for
US, so we wanted to get him some exposure to that level at the
end of last season, and he kind of picked right up where he left
off. You know, this is a guy that can hit the ball for
some power impacts the baseball. You know, can play all over the place
in the outfield, primarily center fuel right fielder, but can run. So
you know, this is an exciting young guy that you know, maybe it's
a little under the radar, you know, given a lot of the prospects
we have in our organization, but he does a lot of things well for
a for a twenty one year old on offense, and he just kind of
continues to get better and better and learn what it's like to be a professional.
Like we talked about at the beginning of just the ebbs and the flows
on the performance side of things. You know, how to keep your body
healthy and still improving physically. You know that that first opportunity to both play
five six games a week but also continue to work on your body and get
stronger, as has been a really good experience for him so far. And
we'll head to the pitching side. And before we get into specific players or
pitchers who are rolling right now, rob I know, gosh, pitching,
it seems so dependent on injuries for players to make progress, and it's a
fact of life with pitchers, you're gonna have them. It seems like the
buggist Lynchburg pretty hard here early, Yeah, a little bit. And you
know, this is uh what we try and avoid to the best of our
ability every year, and you know, I think we've done a pretty good
job of that in general. But you know, unfortunate to lose a couple
of guys from last year's draft class that you know, we were expecting to
go out there and and get a taste of full season baseball, and you
know, hopefully we were expecting them to perform pretty well as well. So
you know, that always hurts, losing two talented guys like Justin Campbell,
Dylan de Lusia, a couple of college arms that we thought could be in
that starting rotation coming into spring training and have. Unfortunately both of them kind
of run into a little bit of the injury bug and you know, as
a result haven't had a chance yet to get out there and showcase what they
can do. U. But I know, you know, I'd put our
medical group up against any other group in baseball, and you know they're going
to have those guys, those guys ready as their bodies, you know,
willing and able to get them back out there and handle some some competition.
So, you know, two guys that were continued to be excited about having
in our organization and you know, maybe just soft an unfortunate start, but
you know, we certainly haven't haven't given up any hope with what those guys
can do and can be in the future. A pitcher who is off to
a good start and healthy is Parker Messic, a lefty out of Florida State,
And gosh, Robert sounds like he fits that profile that we've seen have
good success all the way up into the major leagues. And that's a good
college pitcher who throws strikes. And what are you seeing from him so far?
Yeah, we you know, we hope. So to your point,
this is a guy that really was pretty dominant at the college level and obviously
a good school, good conference in Florida State, and really fills up the
zone, knows how to pitch, has a little bit of moxie, just
hard worker. Has really improved physically since we got him. You know,
last year out of the draft, I think he threw like close to one
hundred and thirty innings. You need to cross check me on my member there,
but you know, you stack up what he did in college relative to
some of our other starters in the minor leagues, like he would have thrown
more innings than most of our guys across pro Ballum. So we wanted to
be really smart about him and we got him make sure physically he had some
time to recover and put his best foot forward coming into this year. Um,
and you know, credits to Parker. He worked his tail off in
the off season, really attacked some of the physical objectives we outlined for him
through through the draft process and just getting to know him early last fall and
came into spring training in great shape. Um. You know, he's really
attacked the zone and just knows how to pitch like in inside, outside,
up down, like he can he can really locate all of his stuff and
and as a result, I think, you know, he's been able to
get off to a good start here with the Hillcats, and you know,
a guy that we're hoping to continue to push even further and you know,
kind of help refine some of his stuff and and just continue to uptake just
his overall quality of what he can do. In the book, I'll Rob
good stuff on the update from Lynchburg, the Hillcats in the Single A Carolina
League, and we'll catch up with you soon. Thanks. Sounds like a
player, Rosie, Thanks for having me. That's Rob ster Folio, the
director of player development for the Guardians, talking Single A Lynchburg, the very
bottom of the minor league ladder in terms of full season affiliates. And again
we'll circle pack with Rob later in the season and see how some of those
young players are faring holding up to the day to day that is professional baseball.
Stay with us. We'll have our final segment after this time out on
the Cleveland Clinic Guardians Radio network. At Progressive. We know how much you
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Welcome back to Guardians Weekly. Jim Rosenhouse along with you as we join
you from Progressive Field in downtown Cleveland. Thanks so much for joining us this
week and a regular guest on our show. We always enjoy these Senior Vice
President Bob de Biasio and his features at the ballpark and here it is another
edition of Bobby D at the Ballpark. The perfectly manicured field, the unmistakable
room of a ballpark, hot doctor, and the electricity celebrating another victory.
This is at the Ballpark with Bobby D. The ballpark is home to many
stories, the memorable moments, and colorful personalities. Joining me now, at
the ballpark is thirty year veteran of the organization, a man behind the scenes,
Frank Mancini who has spent those three decades working in the clubhouse closely with
our players. Frank, thanks for joining me. Babby d thanks for having
me. This is an incredible honor anything has to do with the Tribe or
the Guardians, especially coming from you because you're the senior member here. It
is an honor for me. Thank you, Thank you. We're gonna talk
two things inside the clubhouse. Baseballs and bats my favorite things. Let's talk
baseball's first. All I saw you do this spring training was rubbed down baseballs
with a special mud that is provided by Major League Baseball. How your hands
feeling. I make sure I use gloves when I'm doing it because it takes
forever to get that out of her underneath your nails and the cracks of your
hands. Now, my hands are fine. How many dozen did you rub
up? I usually did two cases a day, so let's see, there
is seventy two balls in a case, about one hundred and forty four a
day just for spring training. And how many weeks? Well, I would
do it every day. We had fifteen games so I try to get thirty
cases done for spring every year. I do it in spring training, and
that's strictly to get the sheen off the ball to make the ball little tackier
for the guys to grip. Otherwise they have a hard time gripping, especially
on breaking pitches. The most important aspect, though, is twenty twenty.
You were in charge of rubbing up the balls and we had a certain pitcher
when the Cy Young Award, so he was tossing the baseballs that you played
around with. Yeah, that was my one claim to fame, I guess
is that the one year they asked me to assist in the umpire's room,
and because I'd done the spring training baseball for so many years, they asked
me if i'd do it for the regular season and during COVID they needed someone
to do it, so I volunteered to do it. And yeah, I
was doing sometimes three cases a day because umpires or quirky pitchers will be throwing
balls out left and right. The bat boy had to use gloves on his
hands, so that at to the workload. And yeah, my claim to
fame is the one year I did it. Shane Bieber won the sighing awards.
So I've got that to put on my tombstone someday. Well, congratulations,
thank you for doing that, and I'm sure Shane thanked you as well.
Now let's shift to bats. Players treat their bats like they are absolute
treasure. Still do. It's changed over the years. Some of it is
just out of the differences and bats depending on the field. Oh, there's
guys are looking for an edge. So yeah, there's there's multiple ways that
it's changed. I could speak for hours on it, but we don't have
a few minutes. Yeah, I'll start. I was just on the phone
about a week ago with Rocky Colavito. Always a treat to a bunch a
chat with Rocky, and and he told me a story about how he cared
for his bats when he was with the Indianapolis Indians and Triple A and they
would go to Louisville. He'd always stop in the Louisville Slugger factory, and
that there was an Italian man craftsman yes on the lay making bats, and
he would make Rockies bats and he wanted wide grain bats. So when he
would send the dozen, especially when he made it to the Cleveland and in
the equipment room at Cleveland Stadium. It was a cement floor, so he
would hold out his bat holding the handle with the barrel closer to the floor,
and he would drop it. According to the sound of the bat hitting
the cement and how high it bounced determined whether that was a gamer or not.
So power hitters easily treated their bats with so much care and pride.
Tell me about Albert bell Well, I mean, he's a guy again.
To me, it's a lot of power hitters who treated their Jimmy Tommy treated
their bats with special care, no question about it. Albert was the most
particular of all, I mean each guy. Where there was Kenny Lofton,
who wanted his handle a particular way so it was easy for him to flick
his wrists because he was more a slap hitter. Jim told me who had
our former trainer, Jimmy Warfield, after he got nailed in the hand one
time on a pitch, he created this spongey grip for him at the end,
was kind of like a triangle that allowed Jimmy, even after his wrist
healed up, to grip the bat securely and he just took off home run
wise after that and then there was Albert. Albert and I would play golf
together, and one time he got from Louisville slugger bats that the handles were
too thick. He said, Frank, you do me a favor and shave
this down a little bit. So I spent a few minutes shaving it down.
He went out and destroyed the ball, and he goes, Frank,
well, I felt great. Why do you think that was? I said,
well, you and I go golfing together. You see with a thin
handle the whip that you get, so it only makes sense and on a
bat, the same thing's going to happen. He goes, yeah, shaving
down some more. Well, that was the year he hit fifty home runs.
So I would shave it down and it would take me two to three
hours per bat to get per bat. And what would you shave it with?
Sandpaper? And these wood craftsmen tools that had steel blade at the end.
That I would just do it patiently because I didn't want to lose the
roundness of the bat. And then he liked his handle where when he gripped
the bat at the end, it was firm and secure, so he got
more leverage where other guys like I said with Kenny, he had no knob
on it. Well, Albert wanted that to stick knob. But I would
shave his bat so thin that they would be the same thickness as a golf
club. I've never seen another player like that ever. Did he ever crack
a story? Yeah? One time he got upset, so he threw his
bat. He put a big knick in the bat. He says, fronk'n
get this knick out quick. Well, I only had three innings to get
it done, so I'm shaving. I'm shaving. I got the knick out
as best as I could. Well, in the middle of his swing,
he's about to launch one, the bat went keeled over on you could even
complete the swing. So that's the only time I'd ever happened. Yeah,
and I'm sure he took it well. He did not take it well.
I gotta blamed for that one. Well. I can't thank you enough for
all the hard work you've put into an honor sir. Here's hoping you and
joined today's visit with Frank Mancini. We look forward to sharing more stories at
the ballpark on the Cleveland Clinic Guardians Radio Network. That's Bobby d. At
the ballpark. And that's going to do it for this edition of Guardians Weekly.
Thanks as always to Brian Matsey for helping to put together our show each
week until next time when we join you from Minneapolis the Guardians on the Road
next weekend. This is Jim Rosenhouse reminding you that human listening to Guardians Weekly
on the Cleveland Clinic Guardians Radio Network. Guardians Weekly has been brought to you
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