JIM FREGOSI, JR. : Former El Modena High Star Is a Long Bus Ride Away From Home

Minor league baseball is full of sacrifices, and we’re not talking about the ones that advance runners on the basepaths.

We’re talking about the long bus rides and playing in front of small crowds for even smaller paychecks. We’re talking about road trips to Wausau, Waterloo and Watertown, to Midland, Modesto and Medford.

We’re talking 120 games during the summer with perhaps 10 days off--all for the slim chance of playing in the major leagues, where the big bucks, the big towns and the beautiful ballparks lie waiting.

Life in the minor leagues is a grind, as Jim Fregosi, Jr., former El Modena High School three-sport star, is discovering this summer. Fregosi, an All-American shortstop at the University of New Mexico last spring, was a second-round draft pick of the St. Louis Cardinals in June and is playing Class A ball in Springfield, Ill.

Reached recently in Wausau, Wis., Fregosi, son of former Angel Manager Jim Fregosi, was in the midst of a Midwest League trip through Wisconsin, Iowa and Michigan. The effects of the minors were beginning to show.

“After we play here (in Wausau), we go to Beloit and Clinton,” Fregosi said. “I think they’re in Wisconsin, but I’m not sure. We go to Cedar Rapids and Waterloo, and I’m not really sure what states they’re in, either.”

As if traveling to far-away, and seemingly anonymous places isn’t tough enough, most young minor leaguers must toil far away from home and family.

This is what bothers Fregosi the most. Although it’s his first year in professional baseball, Fregosi went to an out-of-state college and played summer ball in Alaska and Nebraska following his freshman and sophomore seasons.

Drafted and signed after his junior season, Fregosi, 21, estimates that he has been home to Santa Ana a total of about two months in the past three years. He misses his mother, Janet, and especially, Jennifer, his 14-year-old sister.

“Every time I see her, she changes and her attitudes change,” Fregosi said. “Some things she says shock me because I don’t know what level she’s at, and it takes about a week for me to find out. I think of her as a fifth grader, but she’ll be a freshman this year.”

Fregosi will make it home for a few months this winter, but he still regrets spending so much time away from his family.

“It’s frustrating that I’m missing my sister grow up, and I don’t see Mom or Dad much, either,” he said. “I’m used to being away from home, but (not seeing your family) is something you can never get used to.”

Jim Fregosi Sr. knows what his son is going through. He spent 11 years with the Angels. He’s also in the Cardinals’ system, managing the Triple-A team at Louisville, and will be coaching winter ball at Venezuela during the off-season. His family, however, remains in Santa Ana.

“It’s a problem that takes place in this game,” the elder Fregosi said. “You’re gone a lot, but we do get a chance to spend some time together.”

The last time Fregosi saw his father was in late May, when he joined him in Louisville for two weeks of batting practice, fishing and baseball talk. They haven’t seen each other since the draft, but Fregosi Sr. receives daily organizational reports on his son.

“They say he can play a little bit,” he said.

Fregosi has done well, which is making his transition to professional baseball a little easier. After the draft, he reported to Johnson City, Tenn., where the Cardinals’ rookie league team competes in the Appalachian League.

Fregosi hit .444 in 10 games and was promoted to the Class-A team at Springfield, where he is batting .358 with 18 RBIs. His success is a carry-over from his last season at New Mexico, in which Fregosi hit .445 with 15 home runs, 70 RBIs, and led the nation in triples with 14.

Fregosi has a good shot at reaching Double A next year and, if he continues to improve, there’s a chance he’ll play for his father in Triple A some day.

“I wouldn’t know what to call him, Skip or Dad,” Fregosi said. “If I did have to play for him, it would be all right. I don’t think it would affect me or cause any problems, because we get along well.”

Fregosi wasn’t much of a professional baseball prospect at El Modena. He actually received more letters from college basketball coaches and is probably best remembered for his role in a controversial 1981 football incident.

In what has become known as “The Play,” Fregosi had apparently caught a touchdown pass that would have given El Modena a lead over Foothill in the final minutes of a game between the undefeated leaders of the Century League.

One official ruled that Fregosi had made the catch and signaled touchdown, but another, Speedy Castillo, ruled the pass incomplete. Castillo’s decision stood and so did Foothill’s 21-17 victory, which gave the Knights the league championship.

“I’m not bitter about it because I don’t play football anymore, but I was pretty upset at the time,” Fregosi said. “That play still comes up every once in a while, but it’s just a memory now.”

And, fortunately for Fregosi, so is his high school baseball career.

Fregosi didn’t have a bad career. He just wishes it could have been better. He hit .400 as a junior but, under the stress of playing three sports for the first time, his average dipped to .280 as a senior. He was good enough to earn a scholarship to New Mexico, but he didn’t receive any solid offers from schools in California, where he was hoping to play his college ball.

“I played well in high school but wasn’t outstanding,” Fregosi said.

Fregosi didn’t develop into an outstanding player until college. He started all three years but continually improved as he grew in strength and size. Today, he is 6-feet 1-inch and 195 pounds and has developed into a home run threat.

“You mature in baseball, but in college, the level stays the same,” Fregosi said. “After a while, you get the hang of it and improve beyond the competition. After I proved myself, I’m sure there were some coaches around California who were wondering how they missed me.

“But in the minor leagues, you move up to better competition as you improve. That’s a challenge I’m looking forward to.”

The better the competition in the minor leagues, the better the paycheck, too. It’s difficult to make a living in Class-A baseball, where Fregosi is making $700 a month in his first season. He has to share an apartment with three other players in Springfield.

“You’re really squeaking it out month to month, but there’s some incentive knowing you have a chance to make the big money,” Fregosi said. “I’ll get a raise next year if I continue to play well.”

A raise and a promotion would move Fregosi one step closer to the big leagues and the big money. But there is one problem.

With Ozzie Smith patrolling the infield in St. Louis, the Cardinal organization isn’t the best place for young, promising shortstops. Fregosi has a contingency plan, though. He has been working out at third base and believes he can play the position in the majors.

Now, wouldn’t that be neat, playing next to Ozzie Smith in the big leagues?

“It’d be neat to play next to anybody up there,” Fregosi said.