My mom has long
advised me that no matter how miserable a given day might be, we simply must
find something positive before resting head to pillow. With that spirit in mind
— and with the last homestand of the season underway at AutoZone Park — I
present six reasons to love the 2006 Redbirds.
John
Gall. We’ve likely seen the last of Gall in a Memphis uniform. On July 17,
Gall accepted a fat contract offer from Japan and was granted his release by the
St. Louis Cardinals. Whatever big-league aspirations a player has, at some point
he has to consider making the most of a livelihood with a very brief shelf-life.
Gall was the Cardinals’ minor-league player of the year in 2003 (when he hit
.312 with 16 homer for the Redbirds) and represented Memphis in the 2004
Triple-A All-Star Game. But if Gall were a basketball player, he’d be called a “tweener.”
Too small and not enough power to play first base, not athletic enough to be an
everyday outfielder. Just a solid hitter, packed with character and a degree
from Stanford to boot. Redbirds president Dave Chase told me Gall was one of a
very few players to actually stop by his office to bid farewell. Something tells
me Memphis will miss John Gall more than Gall will miss Memphis.
The
isolation of Junior Spivey. At the other end of the character scale is
Junior Spivey. Signed last winter to a seven-figure contract by St. Louis,
Spivey was expected to be the Cardinals’ regular second-baseman in 2006. But
from the first day of spring training, the former Diamondback has been a
disappointment. And worse, Spivey has worn his own displeasure like a sponsor’s
tag on his sleeve. So how does Spivey make my list of positives? At least his
pouting was contained in a Triple-A clubhouse, as opposed to the damage it may
have caused in St. Louis. Good riddance, Junior.
Valentine’s
Day in July. The Redbirds played an epic 16-inning game against the
Colorado Springs Sky Sox on Sunday, July 30th. Memphis fell behind in the top of
the 16th, only to have Mike Rose and Bo Hart hit back-to-back homers in the
bottom of the inning to win the game. How does a Rose/Hart affair get even more
romantic for local baseball fans? More than five hours earlier, the national
anthem was sung by Hart’s wife, Lydia. All together: awwwwwwwww.
Take
me out to the crowd. It appears the Redbirds’ average attendance will
dip below 10,000 for the first time since AutoZone Park opened in 2000.
Nonetheless, Memphis has sold more tickets than any Triple-A franchise except
the Sacramento River Cats. With nine home dates remaining, the Redbirds’ average
of 9,664 was just shy of Sacramento’s 10,175, but still higher than the top draw
in the International League (Louisville at 9,098). For skeptics who want to
point to the empty seats on a Tuesday night at Union and Third, consider these
numbers, and the highest average attendance figure in the history of Tim
McCarver Stadium (the Redbirds’ second year there, 1999): 5,596.
Reyes
of Hope. Prospects have been a rarity at AutoZone Park the last two
seasons, but Anthony Reyes may prove to be a diamond in the rough. His numbers
in St. Louis (4-6, 4.73 ERA through Sunday) aren’t what they were in Memphis
this season (4-1, 3.04 before his return last week), but the kid happened to
hurl a one-hitter at the world champion White Sox (alas, he lost the game on a
Jim Thome home run). With the Cardinals’ starting rotation coming apart at the
seams, Reyes should play an enormous role over the next few seasons, either as a
member of that rotation or part of a dramatic trade.
Alan
Benes. Considering the amount of time he’s spent in Memphis — Benes is
the franchise leader in strikeouts and second in victories — it’s easy to
forget that the younger of the Benes
brothers once pitched for a National League pennant. (Alas, he lost a duel with
Greg Maddux, 3-1, in Game 6 of the 1996 National League Championship Series.) At
age 34, Benes has seen his last significant time in the big leagues. But he’s
still got that competitive fire, and hats off to Benes for making a living as
long as he can doing something millions of boys and girls can only dream of. It
seems perfectly appropriate that Benes was the winning pitcher in that
“Valentine’s” game July 30th.
