We scrimp and save and work. We look high to climb some professional ladder. Maybe we stall a few rungs from the top. We still dream. We always dream.
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Alex Freedman knows firsthand that moving up in baseball can be a mixture of talent and timing. And once you get the nod, you have to perform.
The Kansas City Royals have already called up handfuls of their top prospects. A few, including minor league home run leader Wil Myers, are still with the Omaha Storm Chasers. Their day will come.
Six years ago, Efren Navarro was a washed-up college pitcher with a pin in his left arm. Far cry from the minor league Gold Glove first baseman he is today.
Brad Starr worked childhood afternoons in dugouts and on diamonds. Now a few years older than most minor league players, he is one of the top clubhouse managers without a Major League job.
During the 1984 season, Sam Bernabe was an Iowa Cubs intern, pumping stormwater out of dugouts and cleaning locker rooms. Now he is president and general manager of the team and chairman of the minor league board of trustees.
Before he played in the majors, Jonny Gomes hit 63 homers in the minors, suffered a heart attack and, on a lighter note, became a certified personal trainer.
The Dragons faltered on their way to a 9-1 loss to the Kane County Cougars, but fans were still entertained between innings ... by the ZOOperstars.
