FL New Jersey Jackals

A Bobblehead for Brooks

August 19, 2021 - Frontier League (FL)
New Jersey Jackals News Release


Talk to the players in the New Jersey Jackals dugout and one thing becomes very clear: Brooks Carey is not your average, run-of-the-mill baseball manager.

The young men in uniform are black, white and Latino, some a little older, some a little younger. Some were drafted by big-league clubs, some were not. Some have played on pro teams for a decade, some are grinning rookies right out of school.

The older guys, the guys who've been around the block and played for a dozen managers, they can compare Carey to the bosses of their past. The younger guys don't have that kind of wisdom, but they do have their own younger-style ways of sizing up the man in front of them, the man in authority who's calling the shots. You'd better bet they can size him up.

They all seem to agree on one thing: Brooks Michael Carey is one-of-a-kind.

The Jackals organization will recognize Carey with a one-of-a-kind bobblehead doll to be given to the first 1,000 fans at Saturday night's fireworks game against the Florence Y'Alls at Yogi Berra Stadium.

It'll be a big game for both Frontier League teams, each in their own pennant race fighting for different Division championships. Before the game, it's a Grand Slam Beer Fest Night. Then, win or lose, there will be fireworks after the final out.

And the Bobblehead.

"It's an honor, but it's also pretty funny," Carey said.

"I've looked at the thing, and it definitely makes me laugh. I hope people have a good time with it. My only concern is that I think it makes me look like Bill Clinton."

(Hey, Brooks, it could be worse. It could make you look like President Garfield.)

As for the players, they all want a bobblehead. And they're all quick to share their thoughts about their manager.

Center fielder Demetrius Moorer joined the Jackals for the 2019 championship season in the Can-Am League, and he hits it on the nose:

"Brooks is ... (long pause) ... a one-of-a-kind," Moorer said. "No matter what you're talking about or what's the situation, you're always going to feel the love. He's got a big heart.

"As far as on-the-field goes, he gives us the freedom to just play the game. He doesn't micro-manage. He lets us be ourselves and enjoy playing the game."

Similar thoughts are expressed up and down the bench.

"Brooks is the epitome of a players' manager," said the team's leading hitter, slugging catcher Jason Agresti, who also arrived in 2019.

"He's a great manager and a great person. I love playing for him. He lets guys play. He respects us.

"One thing he says is that whether you're 4-for-4 or 0-for-4, you've got to lace up the cleats again tomorrow. You can't get too high or too low over anything."

Some players form opinions quickly. Todd Isaacs, a hot-hitting 25-year-old from the Bahamas, played at the Triple-A level with both the Cleveland Indians and Colorado Rockies, and played on plenty of other teams to get there. He just arrived here in Little Falls on June 10.

"Brooks is the best manager I ever played for," Isaacs said. "It doesn't take long to see what he's all about. He wants to win games, but he also cares about you as an individual. You can't fake that. I'm having a great time playing for him."

Relievers Reece Karalus and Jason Zgardowski might expect extra critiques since Carey is, himself, a former minor-league pitcher. But no.

"He respects the player. He respects the player's judgement," Karalus said. "He's not going to tell you to move your foot an inch or two."

He cares about us," Zgardowski said. "You know when that's for real or not. He can be a character for sure, but you know that deep down all he wants is what's best for you. He opens up with you about his own life. Not every manager can do that. And, bottom line, he lets his players play."

Carey turned 65 years old in March, around the time of his preseason knee surgery.

He'd been coaching, then managing the Normal CornHuskers in the Frontier League for years, but that franchise was about to go out of business, so Carey moved east and took over the Jackals in 2018, finishing in fifth place in the old Can-Am League.

But Carey's squad won the league championship in 2019, and that's the official reason for Saturday's bobblehead, sponsored by St. Joseph's Health - to commemorate that accomplishment with the skipper's bobblehead likeness holding the Can-Am League championship trophy.

Carey, of course, had a life before coaching.

Born and raised Key West, Fla., he was a lefthanded pitcher at Florida State University when he was chosen by the Baltimore Orioles in the 10th round of the 1978 draft. He made it to Triple-A with both the O's and the Cincinnati Reds.

Today, as the Jackals manager, there's one player who knows him best - the shortstop who played for him for five years back in Normal, Ill., then came here to bat .308 during that 2019 championship season.

"This is my seventh year playing for him," said Santiago Chirino, the 29-year-old who signed a contract with the Texas Rangers as a 17-year-old in Venezuela and began playing for Carey's CornHuskers as a 21-year-old.

"Playing for Brooks is like playing for your dad. He helped me so much my first few years, part of the reason I play so hard every game is to pay him back.

"At this point, I feel that we know each other very well. He still calls me into his office and talks to me if I'm not doing well, but he does it with a lot of heart.

"He can be a character and sometimes he has no filter and people may not love him right away, but just give him a little bit of time and you'll see that he's not only a great manager but a great man."

By Carl Barbati, former sports editor of the New Jersey Herald, Daily Record and The Trentonian.

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