The Observer, February 1, 2008
Volume XL, Issue 15
Tribe's top prospects
The Cleveland Indians play host to the Spartan baseball team once a year every spring, allowing the team to schedule a home game at Jacobs Field (now Progressive Field). Did you know that Case returns the favor to a select group of Indians during the winter?
Over the past three weeks, the Indians have been using the Veale Center and our weight room for their Winter Development program. The program takes place every winter since its conception by Indians general manager Mark Shapiro in 1996. However, the partnership between the university and the Indians is only in its fourth year.
The Indians invite around 20 of their top prospects to Cleveland for the month of January and work with them on conditioning and technique before the beginning of spring training, which begins in February. In addition, the program acclimates the new prospects with the city of Cleveland and the Major League team. Brand new prospects spend three weeks with the team, while return visitors are only required to stay for one week. Some of the big names that have gone through the program include C.C. Sabathia, Ryan Garko, and just last year, Asdrubal Cabrera.
A lot of the prospects don't really know what to expect when they come into the program. This year the group had players from Mississippi, California, Hawaii, South Korea, the Dominican Republic, and Taiwan. While baseball is baseball, getting used to life in another part of the country or a completely different country is the hardest part for players.
Stephen Head, a first baseman who was selected by the Indians in the second round of the 2005 First-Year Player Draft out of Ole Miss, really enjoyed his stay while here in Cleveland. "These are really great facilities for a Division III school," said Head. "This is better than working out behind a dugout like we are used to." Head stressed how the team is teaching the prospects humility and the responsibility that goes along with being a Major League Baseball player. The prospects even had to go through a series of character classes while in Cleveland.
Even though being away from home will always be difficult for the guys, they had some relief in the form of host families during their workouts. Head was even hosted by familiar faces to many Case students: "Yeah, Ted and Peggy Gup were my host parents."
Professor Gup, who began hosting last year after contacting the organization, was only complimentary of his three-time All-American visitor. "He was just a great influence on my kids," said Gup. "The Indians are doing more than recruiting just talent; they are recruiting character too." Head spent most of his evenings with the Gups, eating dinner there, watching television, and just talking to the family. As far as Head's favorite show? It was the reality show "Miss America: Reality Check," an interesting choice for a professional player. Not really, when you consider his girlfriend was this year's Miss Illinois. Before Head made his trip down to Winter Haven for spring training, he flew out to Las Vegas last weekend to watch the pageant live. Maybe he could teach her to pitch as her talent.
