The Mets’ farm hands in Brooklyn are watched at Keyspan by about 8,000 fans a night. But there are also other interested parties, who usually visit the borough for five or six days at a clip.
These parties include scouts for the Mets and other teams. They include “rovers” — traveling coordinators or consultants like Brett Butler, Chris Chambliss, Ray Rippelmeyer and Hall of Famer Gary Carter.
Also there, several times each season for his five-day visits, is Guy Conti.
Conti is the Mets’ minor league field coordinator. He is responsible for instruction in the entire Mets farm system — Kingsport, Brooklyn, Capital City, Port St. Lucie, Binghamton and Norfolk.
He has been in baseball for more than 35 seasons. Conti played in the Houston Astros-Colt .45s minor league system as a pitcher and catcher, retiring after a shoulder injury. He also served in many capacities with the Los Angeles Dodgers organization.
Conti was at Keyspan Park recently, and he discussed some former, current and possibly future Brooklyn Cyclones’ position players.
Eagerly anticipating who might become the first Cyclone to reach the major leagues, fans will want to hear Conti’s opinion on Danny Garcia, a second baseman who played for the Cyclones in 2001, and who’s hitting .270 for triple-A Norfolk.
“Danny Garcia has really come on strong this year,” Conti said. “He was moved up to Norfolk for a two-week period because of an injury, but we can’t get him out of there. He has a chance of a September call-up.”
Frank Corr, an outfielder-first baseman, was a Cyclones fan favorite both in 2001 and last season. Only 5-foot-9, Corr is from Florida, but he lived in his aunt’s house in Mill Basin when he played in Brooklyn. Corr is still strong, and he’s lost some weight. He’s hitting .281 with four home runs at Binghamton.
“Corr can hit,” Conti notes. “We’re looking into moving him to second base so that we’ll have a power-hitting second baseman.”
Justin Huber, now hitting .271 with three home runs, only played briefly for the Cyclones in 2001, but he has represented Australia three different years in the under-18 World Championships. He’s now at double-A Binghamton.
Conti raves about Huber.
“Justin Huber is definitely a prospect as a catcher. I saw him hit, in double-A, two of the longest home runs I’ve ever seen. In Erie, Pa., I saw him hit a home run over the left field wall and on top of an ice hockey arena and the roof of the ice hockey arena was about 140 feet high. This kid’s got some type of power when he puts the ball in play, and he’s only 20 years old.”
Also playing for Binghamton is one of Brooklyn’s 2001 Opening Day heroes, Mike Jacobs. Conti, says Jacobs “has taken his average up to about .320 with about 13 home runs, and [Binghamton manager] John Stearns is ecstatic about his swing. We’re not sure where he’ll play. It could be catcher, outfield, first base. We’ve got to get that bat in the lineup somewhere.”
How about anyone coming up to Brooklyn for a late-season boost to the offense? Conti was asked about Tyler Davidson, the first baseman-outfielder who was called up by the Cyclones on Wednesday.
Conti fills us in on Davidson: “He was in Brooklyn last year and he had a broken bone in his wrist. From about the middle of April of this year his wrist has healed. He’s a big guy [6-foot-5, 240 pounds]. Davidson’s got power potential. There’s a chance if Brooklyn needs a power-hitting, right-handed bat, we could move him to Brooklyn since Kingsport’s season ends before the end of August.”
Davidson was hitting .337 with 10 home runs and 35 RBIs in 50 games with Kingsport.
So Davidson’s time with the Cyclones has now come. But lets take a look at some of the guys who came before him this year. Conti was asked about some of the Cyclones “regulars.”
The coordinator picked out a recent Cyclones starting lineup and talked about both the infield and outfield.
“Aaron Baldiris is a legitimate prospect as a third baseman, maybe as a second baseman. He has made four outstanding defensive plays in two nights. David Reaver is a solid, dependable shortstop,” he said. “Blake Whealy and Andy Wilson are more offensive minded and they need some work on turning the double play. Ian Bladergroen has tremendous hands and feet around the bag. He looks like he’s going to get bigger and stronger, so I expect a lot out of him.
“The outfielders — Rashad Parker, Ender Chavez and Jonathan Slack — all can run a bit,” he said, “but they all need to get better command of the strike zone.”
K-Man’s korner
One way to keep the fans at Keyspan Park entertained is to give them an extra rooting interest. At minor-league stadiums around the country, one strategy is to anoint an opposing player “The K-Man” and give out prizes to everyone in the stadium if that night’s K-Man strikes out three times. This year, the Cyclones added “The K-Man” to the team’s repertoire of in-game entertainment — but not without controversy, it turns out.
Many, including The Brooklyn Papers’ own Ed Shakespeare, feel that prizes shouldn’t be given out for something considered negative. But players who’ve been “The K-Man” — and even lived up to the ignominious name — don’t have a problem with it.
“When I was the K-Man, I struck out three times,” said second-baseman Blake Whealy. “I think it’s fun for the fans. You strike out twice and then you go up there, ‘I am NOT going to give the fans the satisfaction.’ I like a challenge like that.”
And when outfielder Jon Slack was the K-Man at Hudson Valley last year, he whiffed the requisite three times. The crowd loved it. So the next night, when Slack got a standing ovation, he tipped his cap.
—Gersh Kuntzman
August 18, 2003 issue
