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Tribe prospects enjoy coming back to Valley
By Ryan buck
NILES
Two years ago, Cleveland Indians prospect Tyler Naquin was an extraordinarily talented, yet out-of-place first-round Major League Baseball draft pick sent 1,300 miles away from the place where he had spent his entire life.
Fortunately his new employer sent him to the Mahoning Valley and the short-season Class A Scrappers.
Naquin, a Spring, Texas, native and standout at Texas A&M, experienced the culture shock in his move, but soon settled in thanks to his new job and his new community.
After advancing as far as AA Akron this past season, Naquin joined seven other Indians minor leaguers for the 2014 Scrappers Backers Hot Stove Banquet at Ciminero’s Banquet Centre.
Naquin, 22, is now considered one of the organization’s top minor league prospects and is slated to compete for an outfield spot on the Indians’ roster this season.
“One thing that I like to understand is that everything’s different and everybody’s different and places are different,” Naquin said of his transition to the Valley. “It’s kind of cool to get out and see different things. People might take a second glance at me in the mall for wearing starch jeans, a pearl-snap shirt and a pair of boots, but it’s a lot of fun meeting new people.”
Like Naquin, Bryson Myles was assigned to the Scrappers after he was drafted in 2011 out of Stephen F. Austin.
Myles, who was a New York-Penn League All-Star in his season with the Scrappers, says a foundation for his success came from the comfort he found in the home of Karen Conklin and Gary Offerdahl, his “host parents.”
“From the second that I met them, they were awesome,” said Myles, who finished 2013 in the outfield of the Class A Advanced Carolina Mudcats. “They were there for me from day one. I still stay in contact with them in a weekly basis now and here I am, three years later. I just got to see them for the first time in a couple years tonight and it was a huge hug for both of them, I told them I loved them and they’re going to be two people that I will always keep in my life.”
Naquin, like nearly every other player in attendance, was also able to reconnect with his host family in Maureen and Chuck Wern, of Warren. Naquin says it’s a special aspect of minor league baseball, especially with the Scrappers.
“If you needed a meal, they cooked it,” Naquin said. “Breakfast, lunch, or dinner; snacks, a car, talking to your parents for you to let them know different things and it seems to be around here that there’s a lot of great families that helped out players.”
The Werns have hosted several former Scrappers who have gone on to major league careers, including current Indians Josh Tomlin and Jason Kipnis.
Wern, who played sports while at Duke and for the Army’s team before a brief baseball career, bought a stake in the Scrappers six years ago. He and Maureen have been hosting out-of-state players since the Scrappers came into existence in 1999.
“It’s a wonderful thing,” he said. “I don’t make it up to Indians games unless Josh is pitching. By and large, we’re here for the Scrappers.”
The Werns may be making a few more trips in the coming years as Naquin, who is rated the fifth best Indians prospect by Baseball America, closes in on a debut with the big league club.
“You’re almost there,” he said. “It is like that in a way, but my goal is not to get to the big leagues. It’s to stay in the big leagues. Go ahead and go for the hall of fame, stuff like that. The only thing in my control is to play hard every single day and that’s something nobody can take away from me is how hard I play. That’s what I’ll do and whenever they bring me up, I’ll be ready.”
Indians infielder Jose Ramirez also attended Thursday night’s banquet.