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Beau Taylor Feature Story
Ryan Bender
Tuesday, July 23–Beau Taylor is one of the premier players behind the dish in the Texas League, and he has been a great asset to the RockHounds this season. Taylor is hoping to keep up his batting stats to accompany his already-stellar defensive abilities. With injuries plaguing the RockHounds this season, Beau has stepped up at DH, as well as catching more than normal. We recently got a chance to sit down with Beau to discuss baseball and his personal life.
Playing catcher in professional baseball is no easy task, and keeping the awareness to both control the game and to help the pitcher succeed proves to be a rare commodity. But Beau seems to have figured out both. When tensions rise as the game intensifies, it takes a calm and collected catcher to run out and ease his pitcher. Yet, when is it the right time to call such a visit? Before a big at-bat? Before a pay-off pitch?
[Beau speaking on mound visits] “Sometimes I’ll just go out there for the heck of it! Normally, though, to slow down the game a bit, or, if the momentum is changing, I’ll go out there to cool down the pitcher a bit. Sometimes I’ll joke with him or point something funny out, but it all depends on the pitcher. Some guys want me to make them mad; others just want to be calmed down. But usually I just try to go out there and keep things calm.”
Throughout Spring Training and beyond, it is Beau’s job to find out which they prefer, getting mad or cooling down. “I can usually tell how they are. I can tell after a big strikeout, they may walk off casually or get hyped up. You can tell we have max throwing guys and finesse throwing guys, some you have to pump up, but I usually have a good eye for it.”
However, that’s not all he has an eye for. The Rockledge, Florida, native and UCF alum has been utilizing his exceptional fielding since being drafted. Boasting a .986 fielding percentage in his three year career, Taylor also seems to have a knack for throwing out would-be base stealers, catching 25 percent of them this season.
One thing seems to be certain when talking to Taylor: he is a big family man. When asked about his greatest achievement in baseball, he naturally said getting drafted. But upon further thinking, he mentioned his father. In 2003, Beau Taylor and his teammates were taking batting practice before playing in the AAU Nationals Tournament. His father was pitching that session when he tore his rotator cuff, but instead of quitting, he proceeded to throw batting practice for Beau’s next 12 games in the tournament. Beau was stunned– “For him to do that for me and the team, and then for us to end up winning, was great! We all got rings, but I gave him my ring because he did a great job!”
Much like the perseverance of his father, Beau seems to always be working hard at mastering his craft. When I asked, besides wins and losses, what the most important statistic was to him, he quickly spoke up about defensive stats. He claims to be “a catcher first,” and it clearly shows.
As a catcher, there are many pitchers and pitches one must learn. But Beau gave quite the extensive list as to what a catcher REALLY needs to know. [When it comes to working with pitchers] “It really depends, some [pitchers] you connect with right away, others you have to get used to their curveballs, if they spike them on two strikes, if they don’t throw over the plate, where you have to shade on the plate, whether they want the corners or work the middle, etc.”
But more than just baseball, Beau Taylor enjoys being a regular guy. If you caught him in the clubhouse before a game, he may be listening to Lil Wayne or Ace Hood on his iPod, playing Xbox, or just relaxing.
He says he misses his family and the greenery of Florida. Who could blame him? He also misses the sandy beaches of back home, but his place is on the clay, picking balls from the dirt and throwing out runners who dare attempt to steal against him. Taylor is looking forward to the rest of the season, where he and the RockHounds will get another run at first place.
Green & Gray Get the Call to the Bigs
Ryan Bender/ Alec Martinez
Wednesday, July 10– Sonny Gray has joined his former teammate Grant Green on the Oakland A’s major league roster. Green, called up Monday, and Gray, called up Tuesday, both spent some time in Midland playing for the RockHounds. To make room for Green at second base, Adam Rosales has been designated for assignment. Dan Straily, also a former RockHound, was sent down to Sacramento to prevent him from missing a start during the All-Star break and Gray was called up to fill in from the bullpen.
Gray was a starting pitcher in Midland and in a little more than a season was 7-9 with a 3.70 ERA. The former Cubs’ 1st round draft pick out of Vanderbilt has spent this season with Sacramento. Green was drafted by the A’s in the 1st round of the 2009 draft. He has been a top prospect for the organization, and was named the Futures’ Game MVP while with the RockHounds. He spent the 2011 season with Midland and hit .291, with 9 HR’s and 62 RBI. We wish them the best of luck and can’t wait to see them in action. Go Hounds!!
All-Star Players AnnouncedRyan Bender/Midland RockHoundsDusty Coleman, along with
All-Star Players Announced
Ryan Bender/Midland RockHounds
Dusty Coleman, along with three others will represent the RockHounds at the All-Star Game
June 11—With the first half of the Texas League season gone, the RockHounds seem to be taking a backseat to other dominant teams in the division. But as the midseason reset approaches, there are a handful of players who may be the ones to kick-start this team and push them into the driver’s seat.
The 2013 All-Star roster has been announced, and Midland has a lot to look forward to. Sure shot Anthony Aliotti, in contention (if not the front-runner) for Texas League Player of the Year and power hitter Jake Goebbert got the call Tuesday to represent the team. The speedy Dusty Coleman also earned a spot, second on the team in stolen bases and absolutely killing it recently, batting .318 in his last six games, and also finding a niche at third base with several defensive gems. Ace Murphy Smith represents the RockHounds pitchers in the All-Star Game, bringing to the table his five wins and 2.64 ERA.
An All-Star Luncheon will be held Friday, June 21 for the great players representing the RockHounds, and one could hope that these gentlemen, along with many others, will be what this team needs to win the division in the second half.
The RockHounds will take on the Frisco RoughRiders both to end the first half, and to begin the second half of the season. Although the RoughRiders boast a 37-26 record, we all know June 18th brings a new day, a second Opening Day if you will, where everyone is tied for first place, and the first half matters for nothing. (If only the Cubs could experience a mid-season Opening Day.)
For more information about Midland’s All-Star Players, or to watch them live in action, visit MidlandRockHounds.org.
RockHounds vs. RoughRiders Series Preview
Ryan Bender- Midland RockHounds
Hall of Fame Pitcher Nolan Ryan once said, “One of the beautiful things about baseball is that every once in a while you come into a situation where you want to, and where you have to, reach down and prove something.”
And for the RockHounds, this is their situation. With the Frisco RoughRiders heading into town, the RockHounds have a chance to potentially pull within three games of first place; and with the first half of the season drawing to a close, there is no better time for it.
RockHounds’ dominant pitcher Murphy Smith takes the mound against Frisco’s ace, one Carlos Pimentel. Pimentel holds a significant advantage in W/L ratio, 6-2 to Smith’s 5-6; but there is no denying Murphy Smith’s 2.24 ERA, which leads the team for starting pitchers and leads Pimentel by 1.05. Smith is looking to duplicate his last two performances in which he threw for a total of 14 innings while giving up only one run. And as hot as Smith has stayed, Pimentel has been luke-warm at best in his past two starts, giving up five runs in each outing.
The only knock on Murphy is when he takes the mound, the RockHounds cannot seem to find the run support he needs for the win. He has experienced three losses in his past ten starts in which he has only given up one run per game.
But, with Texas-League’s leading hitter, Anthony Aliotti on your team, things don’t look so bleak. Aliotti has rebounded tremendously from his mini-slump with a double and a homerun against The Corpus Christi Hooks on Thursday, and is looking to bring that power back to RockyTown for the eight game home stand.
The RockHounds find themselves seven games behind first place in the division, but with the eight game home stand in sight, Midland is confident they can close the gap. After all, crazier things have happened in baseball. (i.e. the Pittsburgh Pirates being 10 games above .500!)
The mid-season reset falls on Monday, June 17th and could prove to be a fresh start for the RockHounds. With all records being wiped away, and with the heart of the RockHounds lineup batting like this, (.263 in the first half of the season, tops in the Texas League) they seem like a tough opponent to beat.
Some of the highlights this series? Saturday is a beach-towel giveaway for the first 1000 fans. Plus who doesn’t love a Family Day Discount on Sunday’s, $2 ticket night on Monday’s sponsored by 7-Eleven, 2 for 1 ticket night sponsored by Baskin Robbins, and do I need to mention Thirsty Thursdays?
Catch Murphy Smith, Anthony Aliotti, and the rest of The Midland RockHounds at RockyTown starting this Saturday at 7pm, right here at Citi Bank Ballpark.
Jeff Urlaub Feature Story
Ryan Bender- Midland RockHounds
–June 5th, Jeff Urlaub is a relief pitcher coming out of the RockHounds bullpen for the 2013 season. This lefty strikeout specialist has made a name for himself in the A’s organization and is looking to capitalize on his 2.50 ERA nearly halfway through the season. In his last 10 appearances, Urlaub has made opposing batters suffer with a stingy batting average of .179.
Urlaub is a Scottsdale, Arizona, native eyeing a spot ultimately with the A’s Major League team. I sat down with him recently to pick his brain on his time with the RockHounds.
Q: Who was your childhood baseball idol?
A: Growing up, pitching-wise, it had to be Tom Glavine. Our pitching styles are very similar: we both don’t throw really hard, but the way he moved the ball in and out of the zone and the things he could make the ball do was something that I really looked up to and try to do myself.
Q: How would you compare the RockHounds clubhouse to others you have been a part of?
A: It’s great here. We have a bunch of older guys, and for me being a first year Double-A guy, they help. They definitely help my experience, they have been here before, and they know what to do. They can mentor you a little bit, and I’m always going to listen to what they have to say.
Q: What would you say would be your biggest achievement outside of baseball?
A: I would say getting my college degree. I was able to graduate in four years and still play baseball at a pretty high level. I have also started working on my Masters.
Q: What is your ultimate goal, whether with baseball or down the road?
A: I want to be successful with anything I choose to do. My dream as a kid was to play professional baseball, and I don’t plan on stopping until I make it or all 30 teams tell me I can’t do it! But if baseball doesn’t work, out I’m sure I’ll find some way to stay around the game of baseball because I do have a passion for it.
Q: Can you briefly describe your process and outlook on coming up through pro baseball?
A: The biggest thing is you have to be mentally strong. You have to believe in yourself. Every time you get the ball and go out the mound, your coaching staff believes in you, your manager believes in you, and your defense believes in you. As long as you have those people believing in you, there’s no reason you shouldn’t believe in yourself.
Q: As a left-handed pitcher, what are your thoughts on the focus of today’s game using lefty pitchers primarily against left-handed batters?
A: At this level, you start to find your role as to what you can do in the Majors. I have taken a more active role on figuring out how to get out left-handed batters. Scott Emerson at Spring Training told me something funny, he said, “If you’re going to make it to the big leagues, you got to get lefties out because they pay right-handers to get righties out.” But my focus is when they give me the ball, whoever is in the [batter’s] box, whether righty or lefty, my job is to get them out.
Q: If you were an athlete in any other sport, what would you choose?
A: I would love to say golf, but my golf, game is not good! My passion is golf but I would also love to play ice hockey. I can’t skate, [because] I have huge feet. If I could learn to skate, even though I’m skinny, I’d love to fight somebody or hit somebody into the boards. But more realistic, I guess, would be golf, but my dream would be hockey.
Q: Who has been the most influential and supportive person or people in your life throughout your career?
A: Growing up, my parents were humungous supporters of me. They always said they were proud of me no matter how far I made it and still to this day they do. I also had two close family friends that helped push my game from little league to high school to college. One played for the Yankees and the other is the hitting coach for the Nationals minor leagues. My fiancé Jamie has also been amazing, sacrificing her career to move out here a support me with baseball. They have all been great supporters.
Whether he chooses to hit players into the boards or to rack up K’s on the board, Jeff Urlaub seems to have a solid 2013 season going. As the mid-season reset and All-Star break approach, there is no telling what’s in store for the second half of the season for the RockHounds. But one thing we may predict, if its late in the game and a lefty’s up, you know who to call.
RockHounds Extend Affiliation with Oakland Athletics; Field Staff to Return in 2012
A’S & ‘HOUNDS ANNOUNCE FIELD STAFF; EXTEND AFFILIATION
Manager Steve Scarsone Returns For 2012 Season
Steve Scarsone will return to manage the RockHounds in the 2012 Texas League season, with the entire field staff remaining intact from 2011.
Pitching coach Don Schulze and hitting coach Tim Garland each returns for his second season with the RockHounds, along with Athletic Trainer Justin Whitehouse, who enters his fifth season with the club.
The Oakland Athletics, Major League parent club of the RockHounds, made the announcement today, unveiling field staff assignments for the organization’s six minor league affiliates (Triple-A, Double-A, Advanced-A, Single-A, Short Season-A and Rookie levels).
The RockHounds and A’s have also announced a two-year extension to their current player development contract (PDC), continuing the affiliation through the 2014 season.
The RockHounds have been Oakland’s class Double-A affiliate since 1999.
• STEVE SCARSONE MANAGER
In 2011, “Scars” found himself doing something he had yet to do as a minor league manager: heading home after the regular season. For the first time in five managerial seasons, his club failed to reach the playoffs. The RockHounds struggled to a 27-43 mark in the first half of the 2011 season, then rebounded to finish 36-34 in the second half. The entire league (the South Division, in particular) was “looking up” at San Antonio all year, as the
Missions swept both half-season pennant races and posted the top record in all of Minor League Baseball (94-46) en route to the Texas League title.
Scarsone, who spent parts of seven seasons in the Major Leagues during his playing career, is now in his fourth season in the Oakland organization. He managed Kane County in 2009 before leading Stockton to a tremendous second half turnaround and a berth in the California League playoffs (thanks to a league-best 43-27 second half record) in 2010. His first two minor league managerial assignments came with the Arizona Diamondbacks organization in 2001 and 2002. With both the Diamondbacks and A’s, he managed in the (Single-A) Midwest and (Advanced-A) California Leagues. Last season was his first at the Double-A level.
In his big league playing career (1992-1999), Steve played for Philadelphia, Baltimore, San Francisco, St. Louis and Kansas City. His finest season came with the San Francisco Giants in 1995, when the infielder hit .266 with 11 home runs and 29 RBI in 80 games.
Steve Scarsone’s minor league managerial record:
Year Team League Class 1st H 2nd H Season Pct Div. Finish Overall
2001 South Bend Midwest A 32-35 38-31 70-66 .515 4th / 3rd 6th of 14
2002 Lancaster California Adv-A 23-47 40-30 63-77 .450 5th / 3rd 8th of 10
2009 Kane County Midwest A 39-29 33-37 72-66 .522 2nd / 6th T-6 of 14
2010 Stockton California Adv-A 31-39 43-27 74-66 .529 2nd / 1st 5th of 10
2011 RockHounds Texas AA 27-43 36-34 63-77 .450 3rd / 3rd 6th of 8
– South Bend reached the 2001 Midwest League Championship Series (subsequently canceled due to the events of 9/11)
– Lancaster (2002), Kane County (2009) and Stockton (2010) each reached the opening round of the playoffs
• DON SCHULZE PITCHING COACH
The former first round draft choice of the Chicago Cubs (1980) enters his seventh season as a pitching coach in the A’s organization and his second with the RockHounds. He joined the A’s in 2006, serving as pitching coach for Oakland’s Arizona Rookie League club. He spent the next two seasons with Kane County of the (Single-A) Midwest League before joining Stockton’s staff in 2009. Selected 11th overall by Chicago in the 1980 draft, Don spent parts of five seasons (1983-89) in the big leagues, pitching for the Cubs, Indians, Mets, Yankees and Padres. Ironically, he never pitched at the Double-A level for Chicago, whose AA club during that time was the Midland Cubs.
• TIM GARLAND HITTING COACH
After a 15-season minor league career, Garland is now in his seventh season as a hitting coach with Oakland and his second with the RockHounds. He joined the A’s organization, serving as hitting coach for (Single-A) Kane County, in 2006. He moved up to (Advanced-A) Stockton the following year and spent the next four seasons with the Ports. Tim played for the RockHounds in 1999, the first season of the Oakland affiliation (and the first season of the RockHounds era), hitting .289 with six home runs, 55 RBI and 28 stolen bases.
• JUSTIN WHITEHOUSE ATHLETIC TRAINER
Justin returns for his fifth season with the RockHounds and his 12th as an Athletic Trainer in the Oakland organization. He was named RockHounds Athletic Trainer in 2008 after serving five seasons in the same capacity with the Kane County Cougars (at the time, Oakland’s Single-A affiliate), and was named Midwest League Athletic Trainer of the Year in 2007. Justin is a graduate of the University of Nevada, Reno (where his wife, Susan, is an Athletic Hall of Fame member and recently accepted a position on the university’s swimming and diving team’s coaching staff) and earned his Master’s Degree at San Diego State University.
“Across the board,” Oakland made very few changes among its minor league field staffs for the 2012 season. One of the few exceptions involves a pair of former RockHounds managers, who will “swap” positions. Greg Sparks takes over as hitting coach for the (Triple-A) Sacramento RiverCats, and Todd Steverson moves from that position to become the organization’s Minor League Roving Hitting Instructor (a role Sparks has held for the past eight seasons). Throughout the organization, there are plenty of familiar names with direct ties to the RockHounds (see below).
Another former RockHounds field staff member has returned to the Oakland organization at the Major League level, as Curt Young has re-joined the A’s. Young, who was with the RockHounds in 2000 and 2001, returns for what will be his eighth season as Oakland’s pitching coach. He served in the same capacity with the Boston Red Sox last season.
Other RockHounds alumni on the A’s “farm:”
Darren Bush – Manager / Sacramento RiverCats
“Bushy” guided the RockHounds to back-to-back appearances in the Texas League Championship Series in 2009 and 2010, winning the title in the first of those seasons. In 2011, he led the RiverCats to the Pacific Coast League playoffs, posting the league’s best regular season record (88-56).
Scott Emerson – Pitching Coach / Sacramento RiverCats
“Emo” was promoted to the Triple-A level, with Darren Bush, in 2011, after four seasons as RockHounds pitching coach.
Webster Garrison – Manager / Stockton Ports
“Webby” enters his second season managing Oakland’s affiliate in the (Advanced-A) California League, after leading the Ports to a playoff berth last season. He was a member of the ‘Hounds as a player, coach, or manager in nine of the team’s first 13 seasons. Webby managed the club in 2004 and 2008, and served as hitting coach for each of the RockHounds’ four playoff clubs between 2005 and 2010.
Craig Lefferts & Brian McArn – Stockton Ports
A 14-year Major Leaguer, “Lefty” was both a player (Cubs, 1981) and pitching coach (RockHounds, 2003), while “Mac” enters his 15th season as a hitting coach with the A’s, including one season (2004) with the RockHounds.
Aaron Nieckula – Manager / Burlington Bees
A former catcher in the A’s system, Nieckula played very briefly (12 games) with the ‘Hounds in 2001. He enters his seventh season as a manager at the Single-A level with the A’s, and has a Midwest League title (2006) on his résumé.
Casey Myers – Hitting Coach / Vermont Lake Monsters
“Casey At The Bat” played parts of four seasons with the RockHounds between 2004 and 2008, and was a key member of the 2005 Texas League championship club (he hit .348 in the playoffs). Casey enters his fourth season as Oakland’s Short-Season A hitting coach.
OAKLAND AFFILIATION
The extension of the working agreement between the RockHounds and Oakland Athletics will make the affiliation the longest in franchise history.
The 2012 season marks the 14th year of the affiliation between the RockHounds and the Oakland Athletics, matching the 14 seasons in which the Anaheim/California Angels were the franchise’s parent club (1985-1998). The franchise was affiliated with the Chicago Cubs for the first 13 seasons of its existence (1972-1984).
Of the 30 class Double-A teams in the nation, only six have longer-standing affiliations than that of the ‘Hounds and Oakland. It should be mentioned that two Texas League franchises, Northwest Arkansas and Corpus Christi, have affiliation ties dating back to the mid-1990’s, but each franchise has re-located at least once during that time (NW Arkansas from Wichita, Kansas and Corpus Christi from Round Rock, Texas and Jackson, Mississippi.).
In 1999, when an affiliation change was in the works, the franchise also elected to adopt its own nickname (rather than utilize the big league club’s name as it had with the Cubs and Angels), and the “RockHounds” era began.
On the field, the A’s / RockHounds affiliation has been, by far, the most successful. Of the five trips to the Texas League Championship Series, three have come in the current affiliation (2005, 2009, 2010), including the only two outright league titles in franchise history (2005 and 2009).
Note: Each of the 30 Major League clubs has one Triple-A and one Double-A affiliate among its minor league clubs. Double-A teams are divided into three leagues: Eastern (12 teams), Southern (10) and Texas (8) Leagues.
The Rocky Town Tribune 