The Jon Secrist Diary: Entry 3: "I got by the first hurdle"
Apparently, 53-year-old Westlake Village pitcher Jon Secrist showed management that he has at least enough to get an invite to the pre-party.
In his journey to rejoin the team that once employed him eight years ago, Secrist didn't throw Friday as the second day of the open tryout for the St. Paul Saints was rained out. But during that indoor session on Thursday, where he showed manager George Tsamis his dancing knuckleball, it convinced everyone that he earned the invitation to stick around for at least another week or so.
Secrist hasn't been offered a contract or a roster spot yet, according to Saints officials. But they made the roster invite official with a news release on their website.
“Jon will come into camp with us and will compete for a spot on our roster,” said Tsamis. “He is excited about the opportunity.”
He is scheduled to make his first appearance Tuesday night in an exhibition game against the Ibaraki Golden Golds from Japan. That is, if it doesn't snow.
Not that Secrist has any guarantees. The team also announced it has invited a right-handed pitcher named Mitch Wylie to camp, and signed former University of Minnesota right-handed pitcher Craig Molldrem to a contract. It appears there's one, maybe two, roster spots open for a pitcher, and Secrist may be battling it out with Wylie. The Saints officially have 26 players coming into camp -- 13 pitchers and 13 position players. During the first week of the season, the Saints can carry 24 players, then must trim it down to the maximum of 22 after that.
In another interesting twist, the Saints announced Friday that former Dodgers Cy Young Award winning relief pitcher Mike Marshall will come to the team's camp Saturday to "explain his methods and ideologies to the pitching staff."
At least Marshall, 65, will make Secrist feel a little younger.
Here's Secrist's take on what transpired Friday:
"Well, I got by the first hurdle, which is good. I have been included with the team to go to spring training. They called me this morning and I talked with the manager. I had a little nicer chat with him this time and he seemed more friendly ... well, at least he thought the knuckleball was good enough. He said I'd be included in the drills, wanted to know if I could cover first base, field my position ...
"That part is good because in the recent winter leagues I was playing in the last few months, I had three bunt plays that I had to field and throw the runner out, and there were a couple of plays where I had to cover first and did it ... I handled those five plays OK. So I think that part looks good.
"I'll start working out Saturday and get ready to pitch in the exhibition game Tuesday against the Japanese club that's coming in. The only concern I have is that it's so cold -- it might be like in the mid 40s that night -- and it's back to raining now, and there may be even snow tonight, or at least get real slushy."
Previous diary entries:
==April 24: Diary 2: "I'm in a curious spot."
==April 17: Diary 1: "It could be five days or five months."
==The Minneapolis Star Tribune also did a piece on Secrist in Thursday's paper. That was picked up by Deadspin.com, who floated the idea: Why couldn't a woman pick up the pitch and become a pro baseball player as well?
Comments
Go Jon! You're an inspiration to everyone over 45...want to see you on the team!!!
Posted by: colt22 | April 27, 2008 7:19 AM
Everyone is sick of Joe McDonnell on AM 570. But am 570 is by far the best sports radio station. It looks like 830 is going to replace 710 as the number 2 sports station. 710 is going down the tubes ever since they lost USC football (a la 1540). Dave Dameshek is HORRIBLE!
Posted by: winforever | May 1, 2008 3:28 PM