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Sandlot watch
By Greg Gulas
STRUTHERS
He doesn’t own a radar gun, very rarely uses a stopwatch, a cellphone is out of the question and his reports are still written.
A computer?
He’s never given it a second thought.
While digesting the above, it’s only natural to feel as though you are reading a review from the 2012 movie “Trouble with the Curve.”
That baseball movie starred Clint Eastwood as Gus Lobel, an aging Atlanta Braves scout whose failing eyesight and unorthodox, almost antiquated approach to evaluating amateur talent didn’t set well with cutting edge Braves scouts.
In his 45th year as an amateur talent evaluator, Sandusky resident Mike Trbovich is like Gus Lobel (with good eyesight). He’s proud of what he has accomplished over the past six decades despite not yielding to the game’s many technological advancements.
Trbovich began his scouting career with the San Francisco Giants in 1972, lasting 10 years before he took his evaluation know-how to intra-state foe, the Los Angeles Dodgers where he lasted for another 20 seasons.
He’s spent the last 15 years with the Colorado Rockies.
“I’ve met people from all walks of life, gotten to know families I never dreamed I’d befriend, watched underachievers persevere and blue-chippers fall by the wayside,” Trbovich said recently at Cene Park. “Still to this day, I’ve had the time of my life and enjoy returning to where it all started for me and this area’s Connie Mack Tournament.”
In a good year, scouts are lucky if one or two of their recommendations are considered.
Some 45 years after hopping from cavern to creek to lighted ball field, traveling back roads and superhighways to his game-day destination, Trbovich has watched in awe as his teams have selected 52 such recommendations.
He’s been responsible for eight players that eventually made the show, including Cy Young Award winners Steve Stone (Giants) and Orel Hershiser (Dodgers).
Another was Boardman’s Mike Glinatsis, who was selected by San Francisco in the 31st round of the 1976 MLB Amateur Draft.
“I followed Dave [Dravecky] and on a really cold, chilly day when YSU was playing at Pemberton Park, I noticed a right fielder with an exceptional arm,” the veteran scout said.
“The late YSU baseball coach, Dom Rosselli, kindly informed me that it was Mike Glinatsis and that he was a pitcher, but had to play right field that day because he needed help in the outfield,” Trbovich said. “He proceeded to tell me that he would throw him the following Saturday so I knew that I would be making a return trip to Pemberton Park.
“When I watched Mike throw a week later, I estimated his fastball at between 92-93 miles an hour,” Trbovich said. “Other scouts with radar guns confirmed that he, in fact, had topped out at 95 mph and that was good enough for me, which made my trip back worthwhile.”
Glinatsis left YSU after his junior year when the Giants drafted him, eventually advancing to Class AA where he played for Waterbury (Eastern League) and Shreveport (Texas League), and then San Antonio (Texas League) during his Dodgers’ career.
“Mike threw a no-hitter while with the Shreveport Captains and he made the jump from Class AA to the 40-man spring training roster on two separate occasions, which is a great accomplishment,” Trbovich said. “He was as strong as a bull and while he didn’t make the Major League roster, I still maintain that his arm was the liveliest and most durable of any pitcher that I have ever scouted or drafted.”
Trbovich said he was heartbroken, however, when his bosses with the Giants passed on Dravecky.
“Back then, YSU didn’t play many spring games due to the weather so it was tough to sell a player to your bosses when they had but a handful of starts during their collegiate careers,” Trbovich said. “I saw Dave pitch the last game of the 1978 season and recommended that we draft him.
“I reported to Herman Hannah at the time and told him that Dave consistently threw 86-88 miles per hour, but had super control, a great slider, wicked curve and was always around the plate,” Trbovich said. “Prior to the draft I was working a clinic near Oberlin College and a bird dog for the late Steve Demeter of the Pittsburgh Pirates, Charlie Brown, gets to talking with me about any good prospects that I might have seen.
“I tell him about Dave and since my bosses were going to pass on him, I wanted to at least get him an opportunity,” Trbovich said. “Brown mentions Dravecky to Demeter, they draft him in the 21st round and he later goes on to have a great career with both the San Diego Padres and Giants. Funny thing is Brown had never even seen him pitch!”