November 19, 2012
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November 19, 2012 Page 1 of 11 Clips (November 19, 2012) November 19, 2012 Page 2 of 11 Today’s Clips Contents From the Orange County Register (Page 3) Whicker: Cowart is Angels' big-game hunter Smith: Scioscia honors his high school coach Another award for Mike Trout From Angels.com (Page 8) Trout is Negro Leagues Legacy Awards' AL MVP Sun sets on the Arizona Fall League From the Vineland Daily Journal (Page 10) Trout casts eye toward more success in 2013 November 19, 2012 Page 3 of 11 FROM THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER Whicker: Cowart is Angels' big-game hunter By MARK WHICKER COLUMNIST THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER MESA, Ariz. – Deer, coyotes, doves and other wary wildlife in deep south Georgia were visibly upset to hear the Arizona Fall League finally ended. It meant the boots of Caleb Cowart would soon be on the ground. The 2010 first-round pick of the Angels is a devoted hunter/fisherman and will probably be out of cell phone range until the dawn of spring training, 2013. Just the mention of the woods brought a poignant catch in Cowart's voice as he sat in the Scottsdale Scorpions' dugout before a game last week. "I hunt everything," he said. "Mainly I like to deer hunt. I'm passionate about it. And it started Sept. 8. I got to go home about three weeks before the Fall League so I did some of it. But it goes on until Dec. 2. Then duck hunting comes right behind that, starting Nov. 25. "I've gotten an 8-point buck before, but not any real big deer. Hopefully I will this year. We take a hunting trip to North Dakota every winter." The Angels have been hunting, too. They have set traps for third basemen, with intermittent success. But those varmints can be pretty elusive, especially when you hoard your bullets. They had Troy Glaus for five years. They had Chone Figgins for three years. They also tried Dallas McPherson, Brandon Wood, Dave Hollins, George Arias, Spike Owen, Rene Gonzalez, Gary Gaetti and Jack Howell in the years after Doug DeCinces. They could have signed Adrian Beltre on two occasions and didn't. They preferred to sign Albert Pujols instead of third baseman Aramis Ramirez. Ramirez signed with Milwaukee and led the NL with 50 doubles, while driving in the same 105 runs Pujols did. But that is not the relevant comparison. The Angels' Alberto Callaspo had a .692 OPS, eighth among AL third basemen, and was 11th in RBIs in 2012. Now Cowart will ascend to Double-A, the Rubicon for all prospects. Last season, he drove in 103 runs while he played 66 games at Cedar Rapids and 69 at Inland Empire, both in Class-A, with 16 homers overall. November 19, 2012 Page 4 of 11 "I wanted my batting average to be higher (.259 at Inland Empire, .276 overall) but I think I got a little tired,' he said. "I was pleased with my year overall. Next year I just want to get better prepared physically to play 140 games." Cowart fits the blueprint. He is 6-foot-3 and 195, and a switch-hitter, on the advice of his dad. He didn't see many left-handers in high school, so sometimes he would alternate during a game. For fairness, he probably should have played with handcuffs. Cowart hit .652 as a senior with a slugging percentage of 1.208 and stole 36 bases in 36 tries. In his Cook County High career he homered 40 times. He might have been better on the mound, with a 10-1 record and a 1.05 ERA. "I don't put much stock in those high school stats because I've seen girls hit fourth or fifth at some Georgia schools," said Eddie Bane, the Angels scouting director at the time. "But there was not much debate on him. He had a great arm and easy power. "But there was some doubt about signing him. That part of Georgia is Florida State country." Cowart committed to the Seminoles and made it clear that he was not a markdown. He also tuned out teams that wanted him to pitch. The Angels drafted him 18th overall and came up with $2.3 million, nearly $1 million more than Major League Baseball was recommending. It was a peachy first round. Jake Skole (16th pick) was an outfielder the Rangers drafted, and the Angels got outfielder Chevy Clarke (29th) and pitcher Cam Bedrosian (30th), all from Georgia. Cowart, Skole and Clarke all played together at East Cobb, the suburban Atlanta summer league that sponsors teams from age 8 through 18. Cowart's team, the East Cobb Astros, had 23 players who either signed professionally or got college rides. But the hunting was always better at home. And, yeah, Cowart can remedy our local coyote problem. "Oh, yeah, we got coyotes," he said. "We call them at night. It's not illegal, you can put up lights and stuff. There are so many trees and woods, they have lots of hiding places." But Cowart knew he'd be leaving Cook County to make a living. His dad has a desk job now, but he once worked the electrical lines. "You gotta be certifiable to do that," Cowart said, shaking his head. "I helped him out on a few things, just enough to learn how valuable hard work is — and how much I didn't want to do manual labor." November 19, 2012 Page 5 of 11 There's lifting to do at the hot corner, too. But if Cowart takes the Angels' bait, they won't throw him back. Smith: Scioscia honors his high school coach Angels manager Mike Scioscia honors his high school coach at his Amateur Baseball Development Group charity golf tournament on Monday, Nov. 12, 2012, at the Moorpark Country Club. By MARCIA C. SMITH COLUMNIST THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER MOORPARK – Angels manager and baseball dad Mike Scioscia stepped to the podium in a crowded Moorpark Country Club banquet room last Monday to begin the entertainment portion of the evening. He's known for roasting his friends with one-line skewers, then shamelessly goading them into opening their wallets to bid on live charity auction items ranging from high-end Angels memorabilia and baseball experiences to this night's bundt cake with an opening bid of $1 dollar. He kicked in a nice bottle of wine, top-shelf vodka, 5 Cuban cigars and four Diamond Club tickets to raise to get the cake going, going, gone for $700. This was vintage Scioscia, working the room of more than 250 friends at his ninth annual charity golf tournament that raised more than $100,000 for Southern California youth baseball programs through the Amateur Baseball Development Group. But this evening was a bit different from years past because Scioscia would later step aside on the stage to get needled by his guest of honor. Gusts of 20 to 30 mph had pounded and swirled through the three nine-hole courses all day, turning Par 3 holes into what could have been Par 9s. Yet everyone played through, chapped lips, wind-burned cheeks, lost golf balls and all. "You guys were awesome today, real troopers in the wind," the gracious Scioscia said to open the program. "I think the Angels played in that wind the first six weeks of the season." Laughter rolled through the audience that included many sports celebrities: Angels broadcasters Terry Smith and Mark Gubicza, former Dodgers teammate and Cy Young pitcher Fernando Valenzuela, former Angels batting coach Mickey Hatcher, former Angels bench coach and current Milwaukee Brewers manager Ron Roenicke, Angels coaches Steve Soliz and Mike Ashman, Angels assistant trainer Rick Smith, and past and November 19, 2012 Page 6 of 11 present ballplayers Chris Parmelee, Ed Farmer, Bucky Buchanan, Rick Dempsey, Aaron Rowand and Jon Garland. Scioscia, 53, made no other mention of the 2012 Angels season of high expectations that ended short of the playoffs. He didn't even, in good humor in front of his fans and supporters, flex his confidence and predict at future Angels World Series. He guided the Angels to the 2002 championship. He will return again in 2013 for a 14th season, the longest continuous tenure of any manager in the majors. But on this night, Scioscia cranked down the humor at times, kept the focus on amateur baseball and raised money to save the game for the youngsters who need teams, leagues and even baseballs to play. Some yearly attendees said this night might have been one of Scioscia's more "personal" appearances because he publically recalled his own amateur beginnings. "As you go through life, you meet some special people," he said. "As you get a little distance and look in your rearview mirror, you realize how special they are and how special they were to you." Scioscia presented the first ABDG Lifetime Achievement Award to his former coach Harry "Ace" Bell of Springfield High in Morton, Pa., a Philadelphia suburb in Delaware County. Bell climbed gingerly to the podium, received a standing ovation and then put the comedic screws to Scioscia. "When I heard about this catcher down in junior high who was coming up, I heard he hit .190 something in eighth grade and thought 'What are they talking about?'" Bell recalled. "It wasn't true. He came up the next year and hit .532. Of course, he didn't have any leg hits!" Scioscia, who has joked that scouts used an egg timer rather than a stopwatch to clock his foot speed, laughed and blushed.