Tending to Minor Details First Step Toward Majors

This week, a movie titled “Bull Durham” is scheduled for release. In the movie, Kevin Costner plays an over-the-hill catcher in the minor leagues.

For Costner, playing the role of a professional baseball player was pure fantasy. It will be much the same for the fans the film is expected to attract.

But for many former Valley-area high school and college players, the minor league experience is about to become reality.

Those who signed contracts after their selection in the June 1 major league free-agent draft are headed for various Rookie and Class-A leagues, where they will begin a journey that they hope eventually will unite them with former Valley-area players such as Robin Yount, Cory Snyder, Kurt Stillwell, Bret Saberhagen, Eric King and Jack McDowell in the big leagues.

McDowell, who pitched at Notre Dame High and Stanford, was drafted in the first round in 1987 by the Chicago White Sox. He was the Valley’s first No. 1 pick since the Cincinnati Reds made Stillwell their top choice out of Thousand Oaks High in 1983.

This year, no Valley-area player was chosen until the sixth round, in which the Montreal Expos selected Oxnard College catcher Tim Laker, who played at Simi Valley High.

Was it a down year for the Valley?

Joel Wolfe of Chatsworth, Adam Schulhofer and Mike Kerber of Canoga Park and Scott Sharts of Simi Valley were considered among the top high school prospects, but scouts say none of the players were drafted as high as they might have been had they not signed letters of intent with four-year schools and indicated to scouts that it would take a large signing bonus for them to give up college for professional careers.

“Particularly this year in the Valley, the better players were very much school-oriented,” said Bill Hughes, national assistant director of scouting for the Major League Scouting Bureau. “When the scouts know they’re school-oriented, they’re not going to be drafted as high. The kids were very honest in the Valley and they were drafted accordingly.”

Scouts and baseball executives, however, have varying opinions about the current state of Valley baseball.

“I thought the Valley was down this year,” said Craig Wallenbrock, a scout for the Chicago White Sox. “I think it’s had two relatively weak years in a row.”

Others are not so sure.

Ray Poitevint, vice president of international baseball for the Milwaukee Brewers and a special assistant to General Manager Harry Dalton, said he thinks Valley-area talent has improved.

“The overall class of baseball in the Valley was a little bit better this year,” said Poitevint, the Brewers’ scouting director for 12 years. “A few years back, I thought the baseball in this area had gone down. Right now, I think it’s on the upgrade.”

George Genovese, a scout for the San Francisco Giants for 25 years, said the more things change, the more they stay the same.

“I think that over the years it’s run pretty much the same,” Genovese said. “The Valley has always been a productive area, but baseball runs in cycles in terms of high-round, premium prospects. You might have a year or two where they come out of one area and the next year, another area has more.

“The Valley has produced its share of high-round picks, but that’s really not the issue. What matters is what you do when you go out and play, not where you were drafted or where you came from.”

In the past few years, many of the pitchers who have been drafted out of Valley-area schools have come from Cal State Northridge.

Steve Ellsworth, who opened the season with the Boston Red Sox, is in triple A at Pawtucket and is one of seven former Matador pitchers in the minor leagues. The others are: Jim Walker (Seattle Mariners, triple A); Steve Sharts (Philadelphia Phillies, double A); Jose Dominguez (San Francisco Giants, double A); Tim Cota (Giants, Class A); Jeremy Hernandez (St. Louis Cardinals, Class A) and John LaRosa (Phillies, Class A).

Andre David, 28, a former Chatsworth High, Valley College and Cal State Fullerton outfielder, is the area player with the most minor league experience. David, who signed in 1980 and played briefly in the majors with the Minnesota Twins, is with the New York Mets’ organization at Tidewater (triple A).

Former Kennedy High catcher Phil Lombardi is also at Tidewater. Lombardi, 25, was the New York Yankees’ third-round pick in 1981 and was traded to the Mets before the season began.

“There are a lot of good players from the Valley in the minor leagues right now and the area will continue to supply professional baseball with players who will make good showings for themselves,” Genovese said.