Published: June 15, 2008 10:30 pm            

Patience, experience are keys to Princeton Rays season

PRINCETON — As far as Joe Szekely is concerned, patience is a job requirement for every manager in rookie-league baseball.

Now in his 24th year in the pros and 13th as a coach or manager, the new field boss of the Princeton Rays has seen what it takes for players to develop.

Talking on Saturday afternoon about the young men who are entering professional baseball out of high school or college, the Texas native said, “We’re taking young ballplayers who are going to play more ballgames in the next 73 to (74) days than they have in a full calendar year. ...

“So we’re going to make mistakes. And we have to understand that these kids are young, that these kids are doing the best they can, and we’re going to have to be patient and understanding.”

Princeton begins its 21st season as an Appalachian League outpost, and its 12th as a Tampa Bay affiliate, on Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Hunnicutt Field.

The opponent will be the Appy League’s newest team, the Pulaski Mariners, and admission will be free of charge, courtesy of First Community Bank.

The Rays have brought back nine pitchers and five “position” players from the 2007 Princeton roster, and mixed in other players in the farm system who have been practicing for months in Florida.

Outfielder Justin Reynolds said, “Experience is the No. 1 thing. We have 14 returning guys, (and) some good guys coming in.”

Right-handed pitcher Michael Southern, back at Hunnicutt Field this year, said, “There’s a lot of kids back from last year. We’re all pretty close.”

Left-handed pitcher Matthew Moore said, “Everybody seems pretty cool. We’re looking to have a good year.”

Then there are draft choices who are just now getting signed and assigned.

Szekely said, “We have guys that were slated to come here, and then we also have drafted guys who we’re going to have to acclimate to the way we do things. That’s where patience is going to come in.”

The experience of the returnees, the manager said, will help them and their first-time teammates.

“I think that’s going to be a calming effect — not only for some of those young kids who have experienced being here before, but I think it’s also going to be good for the kids who just got here,” he said.

“And I think they’ll be able to interact and help those guys during those times when they don’t know what to expect. When they don’t have any idea. When they wake up in the morning and they have no idea what the day is going to be all about.

“The lights are going to come on, and there’s going to be people in the stands. Some of these guys are not going to be used to that. To see how they react, and to see how they perform, and that kind of thing is going to be fun.”

With half of the pitching roster composed of returnees, Princeton will have some seasoned arms on the mound.

Last year’s pitching staff allowed the fewest runs in a season (303) in Princeton franchise history, and the team ERA (3.67) was third best in the Appy League.

Asked about this year’s Princeton team, Szekely said, “I’ve seen some talented players. I think our pitching staff is going to be talented; I think we’ve got some good arms.

“I’m hoping that we swing the bats like we did down in Florida. We swung the bats, I thought, pretty well.”

Coming into training camp, Brian Bryles had just finished his high school season in Arkansas with a .410 batting average, and Jeremy Beckham batted .333 in Georgia. At Oral Roberts University this spring, catcher David Genao recorded a .347 average.

In the defensive phase of the game, patience and experience could pay off for the Rays as well.

Szekely said, “Defensively, at this level ... if you can pitch, and you can catch, you should be in ballgames, and then allow your offense to score enough runs to win. And sometimes, you have to score a lot of runs to make up for the mistakes that you make.

“The more games you’re in, the more you have a chance to win.”

— Contact Tom Bone at

tbone@bdtonline.com

        

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