Published: July 09, 2009 10:23 pm      

Vito express

Big goals ahead for Frabizio

BLUEFIELD — In a league full of tongue-twister names, few are as unique as No. 28 for the Bluefield Orioles.

That name is Vito Frabizio. He got the moniker from his father, who is an Italian from New York.

“My dad had the same name,” Frabizio said. “It goes back a long way.”

Frabizio hopes to carry that name forward to greatness in baseball, and become the third Vito to reach the major leagues.

“My goal is to be an all-star in the big leagues,” said Frabizio, a right-handed pitcher for the Orioles.

Frabizio took an unusual route to professional baseball. The 6-foot-2, 170-pound native of West Islip, N.Y., didn’t arrive via high school, college or through another country.

“I was a free agent, I didn’t graduate high school,” Frabizio said. “I decided to become a free agent and when I became a free agent, the Orioles jumped on me and signed me right away.”

A product of Coral Glades Hih School in Coral Springs, Fla., the personable Frabizio caught the eyes of scouts, but didn’t complete his senior year.

“I had some tragedy and lost some friends in an accident,” Frabizio said, “and I just kind of couldn’t go back.”

That didn’t keep Frabizio from pursuing his dreams.

“I just kept playing some amateur tournaments and the next thing I knew I had some scouts show some interest and it just turned into reality,” he said. “Absolutely, this is a dream. It was hard, but I just kept working hard to get where I am right now.”

Frabizio was signed as a free agent last year by the Baltimore Orioles, spending his summer in the Gulf Coast League in Sarasota, Fla.

He arrived as a shortstop, but left as a pitcher. He’s been called a “high level prospect” as a pitcher or shortstop by perfectgame.org, a website dedicated to baseball prospects.

Not surprisingly, Frabizio struggled at first with the transition to the mound, but showed improvement down the stretch, finishing with a 3-4 record and a 5.93 earned run average, starting eight times and appearing in 10 games. He struck out 27 in 41 innings, walking 14 and giving up 64 hits.

“I got off to a slow start, but I had six good starts at the end of the year,” said Frabizio, who turned 20 on June 28. “It was my first year being a pitcher, and it was a big transition.

“The first couple of starts were rough, and then I finished off strong.”

That strong finish has continued in Bluefield. Frabizio has compiled a 2.08 ERA, which was eighth in the Appalachian League. In 17 1/3 innings, he’s allowed only 12 hits, while striking out 20 and walking just five. He has yet to earn a decision.

In Frabizio’s first appearance on June 24 in Bluefield, he handcuffed the hard-hitting Elizabethton Twins, throwing one-hit ball over 6 1/3 innings, allowing no runs and striking out nine. He was equally effective on June 29 at Burlington, allowing four hits and striking out four and surrendering no runs in five frames on the mound.

Having been used to playing every day as a shortstop, Frabizio now has four or five days off between starts. He still keeps busy, staying on a throwing program and continuing to work on his ability to field his position.

“It’s a big transition just for the simple fact that now I am sitting for four days instead of being out there every day hitting and doing everything else,” said Frabizio, who finally proved human on July 4, allowing four runs and seven hits, while striking out seven in six innings on the hill. “Now it’s just standing around and fielding ground balls when the hitters hit them and that is it.”

Not that he’s complaining.

“I kind like what I am doing now, it is a lot easier,” said Frabizio, who throws a change-up, curveball and two different fastballs. “It’s a lot more strain on the arm, but we do a lot more things to keep our arm strength up.”

Frabizio is confident in his chances of becoming the third Vito to play in the big leagues. He would follow in the footsteps of two other hurlers, including Vito Tamulis (1934-41), who won 12 games with Brooklyn in 1938 and 10 for the Yankees in ‘35, and Vito Valentinetti (54-59), who won six games for the Cubs in ‘56.

“If I didn’t think so I would probably have already retired.,” Frabizio said. “It’s going to take more hard work and a couple of breaks here and there and just keep throwing well.”

He hopes to continue to progress forward with a solid couple of months or so in Bluefield.

“I just want to help my team win,” Frabizio said. “Whatever I can do to help them win, and I just want to pick up on the little things I’m doing wrong and do them right by the end of the year.”

Baseball might be a kid’s game, but it’s serious business when it becomes your job. The players, all of whom are in their late teens or early 20s, rarely get an opportunity to relax and have a little fun. That time did come during last Sunday’s rain delay and eventual rainout with the Burlington Royals.

“We hang out, have some fun, and smile a little bit,” said Frabizio, whose Orioles went through a couple of rain delays earlier this season in Kingsport. “That is the time to relax and joke around, there is really not time to joke around other than now.”

Even though Bluefield is far away from the major leagues, Frabizio joked that it was like the ‘majors’ compared to what he experienced last summer in Sarasota.

“After being in the Gulf Coast League last year, it’s like being in the majors,” Frabizio said. “You’ve got some fans in the stands, you’ve got some night baseball, it’s a lot of fun.

“There is nobody around (in the Gulf Coast). It is 1 o’clock games, 95 to 99 degrees every day, so this is nice to be here, it is lovely.”

So is having fans in the Bowen Field bleachers, something that didn’t happen in the GCL. It also didn’t take long for Frabizio to learn what the Bluefield supporters are expecting from their Orioles.

“The people here are great, everybody is always smiling, they’re always talking about baseball, and everybody is talking about beating Princeton,” said Frabizio, whose first place Orioles had won seven of their last eight games before Thursday’s contest in Danville. “It’s just another game for us.

“Of course we want to win that for the fans, but it’s just another game for us.”

Even though the Mercer Cup might seem like more important to the organization and fans than to a bunch of men gathered in an unfamiliar area, Frabizio said the Orioles will be ready when the first of 11 meetings begins on Saturday at Bowen Field.

“We know about it, believe me we want to keep it here just because of the simple fact we want to win the ball game,” said Frabizio, whose Orioles lead the series 10-6-1, and are also the defending champions. “We’re starting to get hot now so I think we’re going to be all right this weekend.”

—Contact Brian Woodson

at bwoodson@bdtonline.com