Betzsold’s Season Shows He’s Back in the Groove

As long as he can remember, Jim Betzsold has been as taut as a watch mainspring.

Baseball wasn’t as much a game as a mission, whether he was playing at Mater Dei or Cal State Fullerton.

“I played with a football mentality,” Betzsold said. “If I failed I thought the only way to make it better was to try even harder. If a guy made good pitches on me, instead of adjusting to what he was doing, I tried to hit the next ball 500 feet.”

But Betzsold, an outfielder with Cleveland’s double-A franchise in Akron, Ohio, has changed his ways. Now he’s giving peace a chance.

And it’s no coincidence, says Betzsold, that he is enjoying a productive season. He’s batting .285, with 13 home runs and 62 runs batted in. Now in his third year in the Cleveland organization, Betzsold is well within range of the career highs in average (.288), homers (22) and RBIs (71) he established in 1995 during his second pro season at single-A Kinston, N.C.

“It’s taken awhile to learn, but now I understand that baseball is basically a day-to-day thing,” said Betzsold, 25.

“The difference between the majors and minors is consistency. That’s what I’m striving for. And it’s easier [to get there] when you’re playing every day; you don’t try to do too much.”

Betzsold also said an elbow injury, which wiped out two months of his 1996 season, helped calm him down.

The injury, a torn ligament in his left elbow, was serious enough that Cleveland team physicians told Betzsold to consider “Tommy John” surgery, where a ligament is removed from another part of the body to replace the injured one.

Betzsold returned to his home in Anaheim, and sought a second opinion from Angel team physician Lewis Yocum, who prescribed rest and rehabilitation.

“The biggest thing to overcome was the frustration of the injury,” Betzsold said. “But when an athlete gets hurt you often try to come back too soon. You have to give yourself time to get back in the groove.”

Betzsold spent three months at home rehabilitating. And at the Indians’ training camp this spring, the elbow was strong again.

Normally Betzsold’s big season would mandate at least a September call-up by the Indians, who are in a tight race with Milwaukee and Chicago for the AL Central Division title.

But Cleveland is stocked in the outfield with David Justice, Marquis Grissom, Manny Ramirez and Brian Giles, so playing time would be limited. And Betzsold thinks the Indians might be leery about adding him to their 40-man roster, which could expose him to the upcoming expansion draft.

“A shot at the majors is something I think about a lot,” Betzsold said. “But the biggest thing I can do is go out and do best I can, and hope the rest takes care of itself. I would love to play with Indians, because they’re a great organization and they treat you well. But realistically, the [outfielders] they have up there are proven guys.

“As long as I keep getting better I’ll do fine. I have always been a positive person and that helped me out. I believe in myself, that I can succeed in this game.”

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Former Cal State Fullerton pitcher Brent Billingsley is beginning to blossom at single-A Kane County, Ill. In 22 starts, he is 11-7 with a 3.32 earned-run average. He has been the star of the staff; no other starter has more than six wins.

Billingsley, a 22-year-old left-hander, was drafted by the Florida Marlins after an 11-2 season in 1996 for the Titans. He had transferred to Fullerton in 1996 from East Carolina. His first season in the minors was a struggle; he had a 4-5 record at Class-A Utica, N.Y.

“I was tired from all the innings I had at Fullerton,” Billingsley said. “I’ve been fresher this year, and I’ve been consistent.

“I’ve been doing a lot of work between starts on my balance and mechanics. This is my key, staying in balance.”

That Billingsley is playing pro ball might be a surprise to those who knew him growing up.

At Chino High, Billingsley was an outfielder until his senior year when he switched to pitching. As a senior he was three inches shorter and 50 pounds lighter than his present stature, 6-2, 200 pounds. As a result, he didn’t impress many scouts.

But one saw his potential.

“[Then] Braves scout Randy Kapano was told the only way to make it in pro ball was as a pitcher, and that I needed to mature a little more physically,” Billingsley said. “He said to go to college for at least three years and everything should come together.”

Billingsley accepted a scholarship to East Carolina in 1993, but became disenchanted with the program, and transferred to Cal State Fullerton as a redshirt junior.

“Kapano helped me get into Fullerton,” Billingsley said. “Coach [George] Horton taught me the slider, and, really taught me how to pitch. I felt I did not learn anything at East Carolina.”

Billingsley hopes this season will lay the groundwork for his move through the Marlins’ system.

“As far as the majors, I feel I can be there in three years,” Billingsley said. “After that, if I’m still knocking on the door, I’ll have to see if I want to stick around.

“If not, I will go get a degree in accounting--I’m three semesters shy--and I may also apply to the FBI. I find it interesting; you’re not sitting around in an office every day. You would always be doing something.”

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DOWN ON THE FARM

A team-by-team look at the Angels’ minor league affiliates:

Cedar Rapids Kernels

Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Club established: Changed its name to the Kernels in 1993, when affiliation with the Angels started.

Angel affiliation: Class A

Ownership: The Cedar Rapids Kernels Baseball Club Inc., with a local board of directors. Team president is Wally Krouse, a retired community college professor.

Manager: Mario Mendoza, a former light-hitting major league infielder who has been with the Angels’ organization for the last seven seasons. This is his sixth year as an Angel minor league manager.

Top current prospects: Ramon Ortiz, P; Chuck Abbott, inf.

Most famous alumni: Current Angel pitcher Jason Dickson played for the Kernels in 1995. Future Reds include Rob Dibble (‘85), Chris Sabo (‘83) and Eric Davis (‘82). Longtime Angel infielder and coach Bobby Knoop played in Cedar Rapids in 1958.

Home stadium: Veterans Memorial Stadium, built in 1949. Seats 6,000. One of the oldest parks in the Midwest League. There has been discussion locally about building a new stadium.

Cedar Rapids baseball history: Several teams have had an association with Cedar Rapids. Indians, Dodgers and Braves minor leaguers played there at various times in the 1950s, the Cardinals through most of the ‘60s and the Astros and Giants in the ‘80s. The Reds had two stints, 1963-64 and 1980-92, with the Angels starting in 1993.

Cedar Rapids is famous for: The headquarters for Quaker Oats cereals

Source: Cedar Rapids Kernels