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Sports Illustrated on the South Coast League

June 25, 2007 - South Coast League (SCL) News Release


Bryce Florie wasn't ready for a real job. Not yet, anyway. He wanted to give pitching one more try, see if he could pull off a comeback that, in some ways, would be more remarkable than his return to the mound after that line drive smashed into his face.

So, he took on a most unique role: closer-slash-pitching coach.

"This is something I had to find out for myself,'' Florie said, swatting away gnats that swarmed around his face on a sweltering evening in southwest Georgia. "I was injured the last couple of years and trying to figure out what I wanted to do. Everything led back to baseball.''

At 37, Florie returned to the field as a pitcher AND coach for the Macon Music of the South Coast League, a new six-team independent circuit that wants to provide a second, third or last chance to an eclectic mix of players, all convinced they could make it to the big leagues if only someone would give them a look.

There's Florie, who pitched with four teams over an eight-year major league career but is best known for horrific injuries sustained when he was struck in the face by a line drive in a 2000 game at Fenway Park.

There's Doc Brooks, an outfielder who must serve a 50-game suspension for violating baseball's drug policy if he ever lands with an affiliated club. There's Mike Caruso, whose career fell apart because of injuries and off-the-field problems after he finished third in the AL rookie of the year balloting. There's Scott Robinson, who hopes his unusual talent - get this, he's a switch-thrower - will send him to The Show.

Even those who aren't playing want to use the South Coast League as a springboard to the big time, most notably Wally Backman, attempting to escape from purgatory by managing the Albany-based South Georgia Peanuts. He's looking at this as the first step toward making people forget the legal and financial problems that led the Arizona Diamondbacks to fire him after only four days as their manager in 2004.

"This is getting me back to doing what I want to do,'' Backman said. "I love to fish and hunt, but baseball is where I need to be.''

Jamie Toole is one of the founders of the SCL, the latest attempt to launch an independent minor league in the Deep South. Others have come and gone, barely noticed before they went out of business. This latest incarnation includes several cities where affiliated teams already failed.

Albany, located about 150 miles south of Atlanta in the heart of Georgia's peanut-growing countryside, is a four-time loser. A couple of Class A teams (the Polecats and Waves) left town. There also was a short-lived independent team (the Alligators). The city even served briefly as home base for the Colorado Silver Bullets, a defunct women's team.

But Toole is convinced that his league, which is centrally owned and operated, will succeed where others have failed. The plan calls for a four- to six-team expansion in 2009, including a foray into Atlanta's booming suburbs.

"A place like the Atlanta metro area would be a fantastic environment for independent minor league baseball,'' Toole said. "There's all those people living in the suburbs. Instead of driving back downtown when they get home from work, they could hang out at home and watch the local club play.''

For now, there are plenty of growing pains. Macon had an overflow crowd on opening night and was averaging more than 2,200 a game. On the other hand, the Bradenton (Fla.) Juice measured attendance in the hundreds - or less - and are now playing "home'' contests in other league cities.

For those on the field, the only thing that matters is the game. If the SCL gets them a job with a major league organization, it will all be worth it. Already, seven players have hooked up with affiliated teams, including two who were selected in the recent amateur draft.

Florie hasn't given up hope, either. Even though he was plagued by arm trouble and sat out the last two seasons, he couldn't get the game out of his blood. When Macon's manager, former big leaguer Phil Plantier, called with the player-coach offer, Florie jumped at the chance.

"A lot of these guys lean on me,'' he said. "I've lived through it all. It's good they can go to me when sometimes they don't want to tell the other coaches something. They can use me as a friend-slash-coach-slash-player.''

Florie is still known as the guy who was hit in the face by a liner off the bat of Ryan Thompson of the New York Yankees. The pitcher's cheekbone was fractured. So was the orbital socket around his right eye. The retina was damaged and he needed emergency surgery to save his sight.

"It was a situation where I had to battle through it. The fear factor was there,'' conceded Florie, who still can't see as well as he did before the injury. "I will never say I'm totally over it. I still flinch. I still get scared when a ball comes toward the dugout.''

Brooks, a South Georgia outfielder, is carrying his own baggage. He received the drug suspension after being released by Colorado during spring training, and will have to serve it should he ever get back with an affiliated team. That doesn't look very good on the scouting report: Must sit out nearly two months if signed.

"I just hope I can have a good year,'' Brooks said. "Everybody's human. Everybody makes mistakes.''

Caruso made plenty of mistakes after breaking into the big leagues at age 21, less than a year after coming to Chicago as part of the infamous "White Flag Trade'' in 1997. (The White Sox traded three established players for six minor leaguers, including Caruso, even though they were only 3 1/2 games off the division lead with two months left in the season).

The shortstop got off to a promising start in 1998, batting .306 to trail only Ben Grieve and Rolando Arrojo in the AL rookie of the year balloting. But Caruso had just one other full season in the majors, his career scuttled by injuries and whispers that he played a little too hard OFF the field.

"You have to have a good foundation, a good work ethic,'' Caruso said. "You always have to be making adjustments. The pitchers started making adjustments toward me. Maybe I didn't make the correct adjustments to keep going.''

Like Florie, Caruso didn't play at all the last two years. He hasn't been with a major league organization since 2002. He's now 30 and knows better than anyone that this is, indeed, his final chance.

"I feel like I could play at that level again,'' said Caruso, taking a break from a chicken sandwich and card game in the South Georgia clubhouse. "If it happens, great. Basically, I'm just happy to be back around these guys, playing baseball again.''

Robinson's career plans got sidetracked by an injury that he says was misdiagnosed during his time in the Houston organization. He wound up needing reconstructive surgery on his left elbow, but it may work out just fine if another club takes note of how well he throws with either arm.

You see, Robinson has been ambidextrous since a freak childhood accident: His grandmother was hammering a tent pole into the ground and Robinson's right hand got in the way. While spending nearly three months in a cast, he began tossing balls with his left hand. Now, he feels he can throw equally well with either.

Robinson signed with Macon specifically to show that he is equally adept as a left-handed first baseman or a righty-throwing catcher. He plays first most of the time, but manages to catch once or twice a week. He's even done both in a game.

Maybe that will be his creative ticket to the majors, where versatile position players are in high demand as teams increasingly go with 12- and even 13-man pitching staffs.

"I'm actually grateful to my grandmother,'' quipped Robinson, who still has a half-moon scar on his hand from that unfortunate - or should we say fortunate? - encounter with the tent pole.

"I want to get picked up as soon as possible and start working toward the big leagues. That's my goal. I know that's a lot of guys' goal in this league. That's why we're here.''

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South Coast League Stories from June 25, 2007


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.


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