Kevin Winn <\/b>couldn’t be blamed if he popped a few pride buttons these days with three of the umpires he has supervised working major league spring training games and half of the 10-man umpire contingent in the Class A California League <\/b>coming out of the American Association<\/b>, but I found him this week largely singing the praises of an undersized find from a showcase in Grand Prairie, TX,<\/b> who will get his first affiliated assignment in one of the short-season leagues any day now at the age of 23.<\/p>\n
The umpire supervisor—he also serves the Can-Am League<\/b>—said Rich Grassa<\/b> was “one of the most youthful (umpires) I’ve ever seen” when as a 19-year-old in 2009 he earned an opportunity in the American Association. You could tell he had some natural ability. He has an infectious personality; everybody loves him.”<\/p>\n
After three years in the American Association, Winn made the Lindenhurst (NY) High School<\/b> product a crew chief in the Can-Am League last year. “By the end of the season, I felt I had earned the respect of most of the players (in the league),” Grassa said, which is pretty darn good for the recent Adelphi University <\/b>physical education graduate who stands all of 5-foot-6 and weighs “a buck fifty”.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the cherished call to work major league games could come any day for former Can-Am umpires Will Little <\/b>and Adam Hamari <\/b>who have met the prerequisites of working in both the Arizona Fall League <\/b>and spring training games and have received their official numbers indicating they are now qualified for the big time. Former Association arbiter Nick Bailey <\/b>also worked exhibition games.<\/p>\n
Stars Like Vladimir Guerrero Draw Attention to Ducks<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n <\/b>The Atlantic League <\/b>is full of storylines with its opening night games which usher in the Independent Baseball <\/b>season only a week away (April 18), including the 2010-11 champion York (PA) Revolution <\/b>building a team under new skipper Mark Mason <\/b>with at least 13 former major league players, Lancaster, PA <\/b>re-loading with the stars who came within one game of the ’12 championship and Sugar Land, TX <\/b>giving some hope its second season may be just as intriguing as its crowd-pleasing inaugural year.<\/p>\n Still, the defending champion Long Island (NY) Ducks <\/b>have a lock on the early-season intrigue because they have loaded up with star power, starting with 2004 American League Most Valuable Player Vladimir Guerrero. <\/b>His playmates, who will make the home clubhouse at Citibank Park<\/b> seem much like that of the neighboring New York Mets<\/b>, include ’03 National League Rookie of the Year Dontrelle Willis <\/b>and 13-year major league veteran catcher Ramon Castro<\/b>, who caught Mark Buehrle’s <\/b>perfect game five years ago. The Ducks also have all-league standouts Dan Lyons <\/b>(shortstop) and Ray Navarrete <\/b>(utility) returning.<\/p>\n * * * *<\/p>\n ANXIOUS FOR MORE INDEPENDENT BASEBALL COVERAGE?<\/b><\/p>\n We Have It Regularly at <\/span><\/b>www.IndyBaseballChatter.com<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n * * * *<\/p>\n Colabello Stays Hot, Named Batter of Week<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n Chris Colabello <\/b>still has his foot on the accelerator. The longtime Can-Am League <\/b>star (mostly with Worcester, MA) <\/b>was Batter of the Week in the International League <\/b>for his first (abbreviated) week in Triple-A. The first baseman-designated hitter’s average has “slipped” all the way to .455 after six games (10-for-22) with an attention-getting .538 on-base percentage, three homers, four RBI and seven runs scored for Rochester, NY, Minnesota’s <\/b>top farm club.<\/p>\n Nava’s Fortunes Still Climbing<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n <\/b>The season is too early to draw long-term conclusions, but there is no mistaking that Daniel Nava<\/b>, who likely would not be playing professional baseball if not for the onetime Golden League (Chico, CA) <\/b>after he grew—literally and figuratively—from his student manager days in college, is improving his fortunes day by day with the Boston Red Sox<\/b>.<\/p>\n The switch-hitter, formerly much better from the left side, is now contributing as a right-hander as well, resulting in DH, first base and leftfield play for the improved Red Sox, and he leads the team with gaudy batting (.467) and on-base (.571) averages even though he has been in only five of their eight games. The 30-year-old has yet to strike out and has three home runs among his seven hits (seven RBI), the most notable a three-run round-tripper—a bomb some called it—which led to a 3-1 home-opener win.<\/p>\n “Yeah, it (his first home opener in Boston) was definitely all that it was cranked up to be, that’s for sure,” he told ESPNBoston.com.<\/i> “Opening Day is a special experience to begin with, and for me it’s special just with the journey and stuff I’ve taken.”<\/p>\n By BOB DUTTON The Kansas City Star<\/p>\n Updated: 2013-03-26T05:37:57Z<\/p>\n (This is an excerpt from the column Bob Wirz writes year round on Independent Baseball. Forty columns are planned during 2013. Fans may subscribe at www.WirzandAssociates.com<\/a>, enjoy added stories on the blog www.IndyBaseballChatter.com<\/a>, or comment to RWirz@aol.com<\/a>. The author <\/b>has 16 years of major league baseball public relations experience with Kansas City and as spokesman for two Commissioners and lives in Stratford, CT.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Kevin Winn couldn’t be blamed if he popped a few pride buttons these days with three of the umpires he has supervised working major league spring training games and half of the 10-man umpire contingent in the Class A California League coming out of the American Association, but I found him this week largely singing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":452,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4746],"tags":[19981,1550,514,8251,542,5567,11520,17282,493,19983,17284,544,19982,534,19544,19985,2436,19984,799,2349],"class_list":["post-23798","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-indy-baseball-insider","tag-adelphi-university","tag-arizona-fall-league","tag-baseball-season","tag-california-league","tag-can-am-league","tag-exhibition-games","tag-grand-prairie-tx","tag-hamari","tag-independent-baseball","tag-infectious-personality","tag-kevin-winn","tag-league-spring","tag-lindenhurst-ny","tag-major-league-spring-training","tag-mark-mason","tag-nick-bailey","tag-night-games","tag-singing-the-praises","tag-training-games","tag-vladimir-guerrero"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t