Hurricanes Baseball Players Get Major League Opportunity

Dwayne Strong is no different from anybody who has ever received an e-mail presenting an unimagined opportunity.

However, what leaked into Strong’s inbox was not an offer to claim foreign lottery winnings or possessions held by a deposed dictator in a far-away land. When Strong recently logged into his e-mail account, the head baseball coach saw an invitation promising his players the experience of a lifetime.

The e-mail was from Trevor Gooby, the Pittsburgh Pirates’ Senior Director of Florida Operations. It invited Strong, his players and staff to to join big-league players and aspiring minor leaguers on the complex’s practice fields.

Strong and the Hurricanes took Gooby up on his offer Wednesday. After arriving at Pirate City around 11:15 a.m., the players would soon find themselves shagging fly balls as the Pirates conducted batting practice.

“I thought it was a great opportunity for our guys to get on a big-league field and shag for major leaguers,” Strong said. “I’ve been around this game for more than 30 years, and I never had that opportunity.”

The closest interaction that Strong had with major leaguers came in the late 1970s when he and a friend got a chance to visit the visiting clubhouse at Atlanta’s Fulton County Stadium. The Braves’ opponents were the Cincinnati Reds, whose “Big Red Machine” claimed five divisional championships, four pennants and two World Series titles from 1970-76.

“That was a great experience, but it is second-to-none to be on the same field with big leaguers,” Strong said. “It’s just the way (the Pirates) go about their business. That’s the biggest thing that changes from level to level. They’re focused, and they go about their business better. I agree that talent is talent, but there are a bunch of talented guys walking the streets right now that weren’t able to focus and go about their business the right way.”

Stationed in shallow centerfield behind second base on one of the practice fields, Manatee junior Reed Carter got the opportunity to converse with Pirates greats Bill Mazeroski and Bill Virdon. The Hall of Famer Mazeroski hit the game-winning home run against the New York Yankees in the 1960 World Series, while Virdon was a National League Rookie of the Year with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1955 and a Gold Glove outfielder for the Pirates before managing the Pirates, Yankees, Houston Astros and Montreal Expos over a span from 1972-84.

“(Mazeroski) told me about the home run he hit,” said Carter, who is the nephew of Manatee High graduate and former American League All-Star pitcher Lance Carter. “(Virdon) was telling me about playing and getting to manage the Yankees for two years.”

Besides getting a baseball history lesson, Manatee players got a chance to see just how much high school baseball differs from its professional counterpart.

“You can definitely read the ball a lot better with these guys and them hitting a lot harder,” Manatee senior Erik Lindberg said. “I feel that after moving back down to our level that it will be a lot easier to read the ball off the bat.”

Following the end of the batting practice sessions, several Pirates and manager Clint Hurdle thanked the Manatee players for their participation. One big leaguer was amazed that the team was able to play hooky for a couple of class periods.

“I think it’s a wonderful opportunity for kids to get out and get on a ball field, especially a major league spring training camp,” Hurdle said. “To give them the opportunity to go out there and run some balls down is all about fun. It’s all about kids having fun at that level. It may have been more meaningful for some than others depending on how many balls were hit to them.”