Sports

There's rarely a day off from the diamond

By JOEY KNIGHT
Published July 26, 2007

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TAMPA - The Bristol Va. White Sox have spent three weeks preparing Nevin Griffith for his first professional pitching appearance, but needed far less time to thrust him into full-fledged adulthood.

"They gave me four days to find my own place to live," said Griffith, the former Middleton right-hander taken by the Sox with the 89th overall pick in last month's Major League Baseball first-year player draft.

"I got a one-bedroom apartment. I could have a roommate but I was like, 'Nah, I'll just live by myself.' "

Since signing with the Sox on July 3 and reporting to Bristol - the club's rookie-league affiliate - two days later, Griffith has been conditioning his body and acclimating his mind toward the daily toil of pro baseball.

Though he says he is not slated for his first game appearance until this weekend, Griffith arrives at DeVault Memorial Stadium - Bristol's home field - daily at around 11:15 a.m. for a full day of baseball.

He throws around 45 pitches every other day in bullpen sessions, but lifts weights and shags batting-practice balls daily and is in the dugout every night. Bristol has played eight games in the past seven days and doesn't have a regularly-scheduled day off until Aug. 2.

"We play for two weeks straight and then we have two days off," said Griffith, who lives about 10 blocks from the ballpark. "It's hard. Playing every day is something that's totally new."

Any spark he can inject into the Sox's staff will be welcome at this point. Bristol (10-23) ranks eighth in the nine-team Appalachian League with a 5.70 team ERA.

"I'm doing good," Griffith said. "I haven't pitched yet because they want to take it slow with me; after the draft I took some time off before I signed. ...Everything's going pretty good."

Joey Knight can be reached at (813) 226-3350 or jknight@sptimes.com.

 

Farm Living

A look at how the local players taken in the top five rounds of the 2007 big league draft are faring in the minors. Teams' big-league affiliates are listed in parentheses.

Michael Burgess, OF, Gulf Coast Nationals (Nationals)

The former Hillsborough centerfielder, drafted by Washington with the 49th overall pick, is hitting .302 with two home runs in 16 games for the club's rookie-league affiliate in Melbourne. Given little to swing at his senior year (29 walks in 26 games), Burgess, playing rightfield for Gulf Coast, no longer is being avoided. As a pro, he has twice as many strikeouts (18) as walks. "It's like you live, die and breathe baseball," said Burgess' stepdad, Eric Watson, who visits frequently. "It's a little more of an up-step training mode, constantly living and breathing baseball."

Corey Brown, OF, Vancouver Canadians (A's)

Through his first 30 pro games, the former Plant and Oklahoma State standout is hitting .234 with six home runs and 27 RBIs for the Class A Canadians. Brown has converted all four of his stolen-base attempts, but struck out 39 times.

Tony Thomas, 2B, Boise (Idaho) Hawks (Cubs)

In eight games with the Cubs' short-season Class A affiliate, Thomas, a former Bloomingdale/FSU star, is hitting .257 with four doubles and a perfect (4-for-4) stolen-base percentage.

Jonathan Holt, RHP, Mahoning Valley (Ohio) Scrappers (Indians)

The University of Tampa's ex-closer hasn't been nearly as unhittable in the pros as during the Spartans' run to the national title last spring. In four starts for the Class A Scrappers, Holt is 0-2 with a 9.00 ERA, allowing 19 hits and 14 runs in 12 innings.

[Last modified July 25, 2007, 23:17:24]

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