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Independent Baseball Insider (Vol. 4, No. 20, July 27, 2006)

After Getting ‘Beat Up’ Every Day, Steve Hine’s Comeback Could Lead to Atlantic League Ring and Batting Title

By Bob Wirz

If I told you there is a professional baseball player out there who took three years off, then went through a program where the instructor “beat me up every day” and now has a chance to win the Atlantic League batting championship in his comeback season would you believe me?

Believe it!

It may never movie screens from coast to coast, but this is the Steve Hine Story.

Steve Hine is a 32-year-old second baseman with the Bridgeport (CT) Bluefish who doesn’t know if he will have a future as a player beyond this season, but that doesn’t seem to weigh very heavily at the moment.

What he knows is he is a “better player now” than when he walked away after his seventh pro season in 2002, which had included stints in the Boston and Texas farm systems plus the independent Northeast, Northern and Atlantic Leagues.

The 5-foot-10 lefthanded hitter can thank an understanding wife (Melinda), his work with youngsters in the budding Steve Hine School of Baseball in his hometown of Milford, CT where he reminded himself what he needed to do as a hitter and trainer Real Andrews. That’s pronounced REE-al, but to Hine Andrews was more like the real deal.

If Hine was going to try the comeback now that he and Melinda, a wholesale bank representative, had some financial security he wanted to do it right so he hired a trainer. Little did he know what Camp Discipline (that’s Real Andrews) was going to do with him.

“He beat me up every day,” Hine said this week. “He wanted my body to collapse.” And Hine realized he was not where he needed to be beforehand with his “mental toughness.”

Are the results ever paying off. Hine played in the Atlantic League All-Star Game, posted a 17-game hitting streak which ended Sunday, and is odds-on favorite to be the league’s Player of the Month for July because of his .420 batting average (29-for-69 with 16 RBI). His .330 batting average for the season is a mere .003 behind Atlantic League leader Denny Abreu of Camden, NJ and he leads the league in doubles (24), is second in both on-base percentage (.419) and slugging percentage (.522) and ranks third in extra base hits (31).

And Hine hopes his efforts will help lead to a second league championship. His first was at Fargo, ND in 1998 when he and his good buddy, the Philadelphia Phillies’ 33-year-old rookie Chris Coste, were two of the key cogs in the RedHawks’ runaway (70-22) Northern League title season. Coste his .328, Hine .323.

Hine knows the continued development of his instructional school and coaching at some level will be in his future. As for playing, which would seem logical, “this is the first time mentally I am not pushing myself (to get picked up by a major league organization).” He did admit “it is always in the back of my mind.”

Why not? Camp Discipline would no doubt be right alongside.

Sizzling Long Island Ducks Stand in the Way

If Steve Hine is going to help Bridgeport to the Atlantic League championship, it is going to be by outlasting Long Island. The Ducks recently ran off 12 wins in a row and 18 of 19 although they have lost four of five since the streak ended .

Cubs Sign Can-Am Version of Wood and Prior

I am going out on the limb to predict the duo of Ryan Bicondoa and Isaac Pavlik, who the Chicago Cubs just purchased from Can-Am League teams, will bring as many titles to the north side of the Windy City as the much-ballyhooed pair of Kerry Wood and .

Okay, throw darts this way.

Regardless of how far they progress with the Cubs, Bicondoa and Pavlik made their marks before leaving the Can-Am League. The righthanded Bicondoa was a three-time pitcher of the week choice and the starting pitcher in the All-Star Game against the American Association with a 6-0 record, a league-leading 1.57 earned average and 63 strikeouts in 57 innings for first-half champion North Shore (Lynn, MA). Pavlik, a lefty, was 6-2 with a 2.86 ERA and 65 K’s in a league-best 72 innings for New Jersey (Little Falls). Ironically, they opposed each other in their final Can-Am appearance last Friday with Bicondoa getting the better of an 8-4 decision.

Pavlik was assigned a notch higher at Class AA West Tenn, and posted two scoreless innings in relief while facing only seven batters Tuesday. Bicondoa is at Daytona, FL in the Florida State League.

The duo will never reach Wood-Prior status in one respect. That oft-injured pair both stand 6-foot-5. Bicondoa is 6-foot-3 while Pavlik may reach 5-foot-8 on a good day, although that does not take away from the zip on his fastball.

Pettyjohn’s Star on Rise, Again

Adam Pettyjohn has not had an easy summer, but I doubt he is complaining in that he is back within one step of getting onto a major league diamond for the first time since a serious bout with ulcerative colitis dropped him in his tracks during the 2001-2002 off season. Seattle signed the onetime Detroit second rounder this past winter after Pettyjohn ran off a 10-2 record with Long Beach, CA in the Golden League last season. His 2.91 ERA was third best in the Texas League in June before the Mariners decided he was too old at 29. It took only 11 innings back at Long Beach this season for Oakland to sign Pettyjohn and send him to - A Sacramento.

Long Beach Darrell Evans wasn’t surprised the Armada lost Pettyjohn again after just two starts. “I was more shocked that Seattle released him considering he was dominating the Texas League this season,” the former major league star said.

After a save in his first Triple-A appearance this season, Pettyjohn struggled in a start. But he was much better Sunday, giving up only six hits and two runs in 6.2 no-decision innings against Colorado Springs. He could become the first Golden Leaguer to get to the majors.

Pride Reaches Milestone in First Major League Game of ‘06

My impression is Curtis Pride bats a thousand with most everyone he has met in his meandering 21 professional seasons. And it seems appropriate that is his 2006 major league batting average, literally 1.000, as this is being written.

Pride, who the like so much they have brought him onto the roster at least once in each of the last three seasons, joined Mike Scioscia and Company again this week, and the 37-year-old made his presence felt in his first game Wednesday. Entering as a in the eighth inning at Tampa Bay, Pride doubled and scored. He had a in the ninth inning to cap his 400th major league game.

What is so interesting about the milestone game is the southpaw swinger got into his first major league game 13 years ago and he has been in the bigtime at least part of all but three seasons since. plays in well over 400 games in just three seasons. You see, Pride has not been so fortunate as to have even one full major league season even though he has been with six teams and has well over five years of service time.

This Washington, DC native is well known to Independent Baseball fans, too, having played parts of the 1999, 2003 and 2004 seasons with Nashua, NH, which moved from the Atlantic League to the Can-Am League this season.

And why does Pride keep going? Born 95 per cent deaf, the outfielder told USA Today for nearly a full page feature earlier this year “there’s not a whole lot of deaf role models in this country, so I want to be able to continue to inspire the kids that you can achieve your dreams and goals if you just put your mind to it.”

Want More Inspiration?

If the Curtis Pride story doesn’t provide enough inspiration on staying in baseball as long as possible, these two nuggets may help.

Brian Buchanan has not been in the majors since 2004, but as he was celebrating his 33rd birthday the St. Paul, MN outfielder drove in 15 runs in a week, including nine in a single game one week ago today, to be honored as American Association Batter of the Week. And the team award for gutting it out goes to Rio Grande Valley (Harlingen, TX) in the United League. The WhiteWings scored 13 times in the last three innings, including seven in the bottom of the ninth inning for a 16-15 win over first place Edinburg, TX Tuesday night.

(The author has 16 years of public relations experience with Kansas City and as chief spokesman for two Commissioners and runs his own sports PR/marketing company in Stratford, CT. He is the author of The Independent Minor Leagues: ‘2005 Season in Review’ and a new blog, www.IndyBaseballChatter.com. Subscriptions to this weekly Independent Baseball Insider column are available at www.WirzandAssociates.com .)