Faith in the Farm System

Sometimes in our lives we all have pain
We all have sorrow
But if we are wise
We know that there’s always tomorrow

Lean on me, when you’re not strong
And I’ll be your friend
I’ll help you carry on
For it won’t be long
‘Til I’m gonna need
Somebody to lean on~

I love this song! 

What I have always appreciated and acknowledged about the Angels organization is the strength of its farm system. I know a lot of clubs don’t have the privilege to say that so I find myself incredibly lucky to know that when things don’t go our way or when we find ourselves losing all our free agents, we have talented people who can make things happen on the spot. I’ve been thinking a lot about that these days… especially because of Nick Adenhart and because Trevor Bell is a rookie in the Angels farm system who just happened to graduate from my high school

There have been many years where we had to rely on a rookie to help us get through rough stretches. Though they were on the up and down (getting called up, then called back down and so forth) they always gave it the best they got. What I love about our club is that we have a lot of home grown guys. It’s great seeing players grow and develop into better, stronger ones. Especially when they’ve been in the system for so long. What’s great is that the organization has a lot of faith in the farm system too which is probably why the club isn’t so aggressive (as fans want them to be) out there in the market. So maybe it’s time I join the club and put more faith in the farm system. A lot of good has come from the Quakers and the Bees! (Our Minor league teams). I wish them the very best!

You have to start somewhere and for some it’s a BIG “WELCOME TO THE BIG LEAGUES!” year 

Remember Rookie of the Year? 

Tim Lincecum: What a career he has had so far! 2 Cy Youngs and he’s only 25~

John Lackey: Not everyone can say they pitched in game 7 of the WS (and won!) during his rookie season!

Francisco Rodriguez: He closed it! 

Ryan Braun, Ryan Howard, Jason Bay, Derek Jeter, etc etc! They shined their light from the WAY beginning! 

However for the majority it’s a slow process. You can’t expect to be great right off the bat! (no pun intended) but you just can’t hang around left field (pun intended) and not care either. Rookies have it rough. You give up so much of yourself and your life all for an unknown. Baseball is a tough game you never really know how it’s gonna turn out. Now that I think about it. I can’t think of another sport that has their own little “minor leagues”. Unless your years spent in college count for anything….. 

Anyways you hear stories all the time how rough it is on the road for guys playing in single, double, triple A but watching them work hard towards their dreams is inspiring. It only makes me root harder for them. I admit I don’t follow the Bees and the Quakers like a hawk but I sure am proud of them! I wish them the very best! Don’t give up on your dreams!

One of the main reasons why I thought of this, besides Nick and Trevor is because of a story I read on Big League Stew about a man named Randy Ruiz. Ruiz is a 32 year old rookie who is trying to make it in the Toronto Blue Jays. He has spent the past 11 years in the minor leagues, played for 10 different organizations and accumulated about 1250 hits, almost 200 home runs and a BA of about .304. This is his 3rd major league spring training and he continues to work hard towards his dream. 

“Never, never, never,” Ruiz said from Toronto Blue Jays camp. “I’m not a quitter. I have a very supportive family. We’re not quitters.”

I think Carlos Ruiz is proof that you’re never too old to go for your dreams. I wish him the best of luck! 

Remember The Rookie? 

I’ve done a lot of thinking about pursuing dreams. Partly from my own life as I am ready to leave home and go off to pursue a greater, higher education (college). Partly because of this MTV series (they FINALLY give us a good show worth watching) The Buried Life. It’s about these 4 college kids with a bucket list and they travel around the world (with money from various sponsors) to pursue them. Their inspiration? The poem “The Buried Life” by Matthew Arnold. We have so many goals and dreams but sometimes they are pushed aside and “buried” by something else or things that just come up. So these guys are doing what they have always wanted to do, all the while helping others to cross off things on their personal lists. If there is one MTV show to watch this is it. The season finale is this Monday on MTV at 10 pm. I highly recommend it! 

Here’s a quote from one of my favorite movies (also about “pursuit”)

“Don’t ever let somebody tell you, you can’t do something. You got a dream? You got to protect it. People who can’t do something themselves want to tell you you can’t do it. You want something? Go get it. Period.” Pursuit of Happyness

~mimi

“It’s a beautiful day. Let’s play two!” Ernie Banks 

**Props to Big League Stew for the story on Randy Ruiz! 

• Posted on March 6, 2010 at 10:31 pm
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• Filed in: Dailies
• Tags: minor leagues farm system Bees Quakers Angels Big League Stew