The answer is in the talking deer head mounted on the wall behind his desk. It's in the plastic toy security badge that he entrusts to the captain of the team. Possibly even in the colorful array of Hawaiian shirts hanging in the corner of his office.
The question hanging over the 2007 Auburn Doubledays is, how can manager Dennis Holmberg lead the team to a sixth straight Pinckney division title? The man who knows as much about having fun as he does about coaching has led five very different teams to the exact same end result in each of his storied seasons in Auburn. But this year might even be his best shot to lead the Doubledays to the elusive New York-Penn League Championship, with the road being heavily paved with fun and experience.
With a rookie starting lineup completely void of professional baseball experience, the rough-around-the-edges squad from 2006 was able to sneak back into contention despite being five games under .500 heading into August.
What was bad news for the Doubledays in 2006 - falling in the first two games against Tri-City in the postseason - will be good news for them in 2007.
Nine players are back in Auburn this summer, including 2006 New York-Penn League all-star Ben Zeskind. All nine players come with significant pro-level experience and all are familiar with the coaching staff, which is also returning in full. Twelve more players have experience elsewhere on the minor league level, leaving only six players just out of college.
“I say this with some disappointment since my job is to help get players promoted, not to bring them back here,” Holmberg said. “It's tough, because to their credit, Zeskind, (Adam) Calderone and (Shawn) Scobee had a good spring training. Wilfreddy Aguirre, who wouldn't want him back for another year? I'm selfish to say that because I'd like to see them play at a higher level. These guys have been there, done that in this league. Kelly Sweppenhiser, Ron Lowe and (John) Tritz are really improved over the last season and we're happy about that. Now we just have to bring that into the season and transfer that into the ball games and you've got to feed off of it and have some success.”
While the Doubledays played their best baseball in August over the last couple seasons, they're going to need to come out of the gate strong if they want to put some distance between them and their five division rivals. Especially since their first 18 games are against three of them. Getting over the Batavia roadblock should be one of the first avenues the Doubledays venture down. The Muckdogs won eight of 12 meetings last year and all four series.
But despite the roads they take to get there, or even if they get sidetracked along the way, the trip will be far from boring. Kind of like the one the first-year players went on when Holmberg instructed them to wear bow ties on the plane ride from Charlotte, N.C., before arriving in Central New York late Saturday night.
“For every player out there, there are different expectations, different ways of teaching and talking to him,” Holmberg said. “Maybe the way I talk and teach to them isn't too bad. I try to make it a fun atmosphere around here. We always do something weird, just some crazy, goofy stuff that gets the guys to laugh and have some fun.”
One of the few stipulations to all of the kidding around, though, is accountability. And that's where the returning players come in handy.
“The security badge that is going to one of my relief pitchers, means that the guy has to make sure everyone is out of the club at a certain time before the games start,” Holmberg said. “The music is turned off, the card games are over with. It's his job, his responsibility to do that. I'm not going to go after four or five guys, I'm going to go after the guy - the lone ranger, the tin man.”
Even if Lowe, the badge-bearing player, has to pull out his night stick every now and then. Because even if the main ingredient to baseball, from the T-ball to the professional level has always been to have fun, the discipline and the desire to play good baseball has been a constant in Auburn over the last six seasons.
With a rookie starting lineup completely void of professional baseball experience, the rough-around-the-edges squad from 2006 was able to sneak back into contention despite being five games under .500 heading into August.
What was bad news for the Doubledays in 2006 - falling in the first two games against Tri-City in the postseason - will be good news for them in 2007.
Nine players are back in Auburn this summer, including 2006 New York-Penn League all-star Ben Zeskind. All nine players come with significant pro-level experience and all are familiar with the coaching staff, which is also returning in full. Twelve more players have experience elsewhere on the minor league level, leaving only six players just out of college.
“I say this with some disappointment since my job is to help get players promoted, not to bring them back here,” Holmberg said. “It's tough, because to their credit, Zeskind, (Adam) Calderone and (Shawn) Scobee had a good spring training. Wilfreddy Aguirre, who wouldn't want him back for another year? I'm selfish to say that because I'd like to see them play at a higher level. These guys have been there, done that in this league. Kelly Sweppenhiser, Ron Lowe and (John) Tritz are really improved over the last season and we're happy about that. Now we just have to bring that into the season and transfer that into the ball games and you've got to feed off of it and have some success.”
While the Doubledays played their best baseball in August over the last couple seasons, they're going to need to come out of the gate strong if they want to put some distance between them and their five division rivals. Especially since their first 18 games are against three of them. Getting over the Batavia roadblock should be one of the first avenues the Doubledays venture down. The Muckdogs won eight of 12 meetings last year and all four series.
But despite the roads they take to get there, or even if they get sidetracked along the way, the trip will be far from boring. Kind of like the one the first-year players went on when Holmberg instructed them to wear bow ties on the plane ride from Charlotte, N.C., before arriving in Central New York late Saturday night.
“For every player out there, there are different expectations, different ways of teaching and talking to him,” Holmberg said. “Maybe the way I talk and teach to them isn't too bad. I try to make it a fun atmosphere around here. We always do something weird, just some crazy, goofy stuff that gets the guys to laugh and have some fun.”
One of the few stipulations to all of the kidding around, though, is accountability. And that's where the returning players come in handy.
“The security badge that is going to one of my relief pitchers, means that the guy has to make sure everyone is out of the club at a certain time before the games start,” Holmberg said. “The music is turned off, the card games are over with. It's his job, his responsibility to do that. I'm not going to go after four or five guys, I'm going to go after the guy - the lone ranger, the tin man.”
Even if Lowe, the badge-bearing player, has to pull out his night stick every now and then. Because even if the main ingredient to baseball, from the T-ball to the professional level has always been to have fun, the discipline and the desire to play good baseball has been a constant in Auburn over the last six seasons.
The Citizens' Say
Post your comment - click hereThere are No comments posted.