Ex-Eagle rolls with punches
Promotion, demotion, promotion ... Brandon grad Gary Cates stays focused during the ups and downs of the minors.
By ANTHONY GAGLIANO
Published July 23, 2004
The news devastated Gary Cates. Having spent three of his first five pro seasons at Class A Delmarva (Md.), Cates didn't want to hear he was being sent back to the South Atlantic League from Double-A
Bowie."It was difficult, having already been in the league and done well the past three years," the former Brandon High second baseman said of the June 8 demotion. "At Double A, I was off and on, not playing every day. But it was a shock to get sent back this far. I was pretty upset."
None of that frustration leaked into Cates' ability on the field, as he hit .333 in seven games for Delmarva after struggling to a .242 average at Bowie before his demotion.
As luck would have it, an injury created a need for another middle infielder back in Bowie, so Cates was recalled June 28. He scored the winning run in the 10th inning the next day, his first game back, and went 4-for-4 in the following game as he seemed revitalized by the promotion. In the first 24 at-bats of his return, Cates picked up 13 hits, and his average has spiked to .256.
"In this game, you can go up as quick as you go down," Cates said. "It happens to everybody. You just never know when."
Moving up and down in the Baltimore system isn't anything new for Cates, a 39th-round pick of the Orioles in 1999. After a senior season with Brandon in which he earned all-state honors, he began his pro career in the Gulf Coast League, then advanced to Delmarva in 2000.
Things took off in 2001, even though he started the year in high A Frederick before landing back in Delmarva. He raised his average 41 points from the previous year for the Shorebirds, leading the club in batting in 2001. Cates tasted Double A for the first time in 2002, hitting .333 in seven games with the BaySox. But he eventually returned to Delmarva, hitting .284 in 82 games after scuffling (.198) in 32 games with Frederick.
A third shot at Frederick proved to be the charm, as Cates tore through the Carolina League last season. His .315 average for the Keys was third in the league as he opened the year hitting safely in 17 of his first 18 games. He earned a one-month stay in Bowie, batting .283, and displayed his versatility by playing five different positions.
"In baseball vernacular, he's a gamer," said Darrell Rodgers, Baltimore's director of player development. "He wants to play every day, and you know what you're going to get with him and that's a positive."
Cates, who turned 23 on July 3, does have his limitations. At 5-7 and 163 pounds, does he have enough to make it as a major leaguer?
"He's what's called an organizational player," Rodgers said. "There're not the tools or physical gifts of a major leaguer, but he can help at the minor-league level. And as long as he has a uniform, he's got a chance to play in the big leagues.
"He's getting the opportunity at a high level, and he'll get more opportunities. It's not make or break, do or die yet for Gary Cates."
Not even all the back-and-forth shuttling and slow progress can dissuade Cates. He played in his first major-league spring training game this year and has no doubts he'll return.
"It hasn't crossed my mind I'm not going to make it," Cates said. "I've got a long life to live."