Tagged: Franklin Font
Focus On: Watch out for the mailbox
My first question to Franklin Font after a rain-soaked 12-7 loss to the Tri-City Dust Devils on Sunday was definitely rooted in my own selfish desires.
“So…do you wish the game had been called in the 7th?”
Hell, I would have taken the fifth, the sixth or the seventh. And I’m sure, since his team left each of those innings with a lead, he would have rather had that situation too.
The Dust Devils scored nine runs in the final two frames, erasing what had been a spectacular five-inning pitching performance by Robert Hernandez, who allowed one earned run in his time on the mound.
Obviously minor league ball is played by different rules when it comes to pulling a pitcher. But, why not leave Hernandez in for six or seven if he’s dominating?
“You’re dealing with a young arm,” Font said. “This is a young staff. You have to keep development in your mind. It would have been good to leave him in for two more. But he’s 20 years old.”
Predictable answer, and a legitimate one. Font doesn’t make those decisions himself. They’re passed down by the big league club in Chicago.
But even if they had left Hernandez in for seven, the nine runs in the eighth and ninth came from two pitchers (Mike Perconte and Yohan Gonzalez).
Is there a rule that says you have to leave a guy on the mound if he’s looking like Rick Ankiel from the 2000 playoffs?
“It’s definitely frustrating to see that,” pitching coach David Rosario said. “But it still comes back to development for them too. Part of development is about confidence and trusting yourself when things start going wrong.”
Rosario then gave me the solution to the struggles on the mound.
“You have to focus on your plan. You just hope it starts going to your side. You have to let your defense handle it. But if you start to force things, then suddenly everything starts to help the other side score.”
I didn’t ask him, but I assumed “helping the other side score” isn’t something the Cubs want involved with their property’s “development”.
What Rosario was telling me is that the Chicago Cubs organization is using the same method of development as my dad used when he taught me to ride a bike.
Let them go by themselves for a while, scrape their knees, hit some mailboxes, and hope they eventually find their balance.
Hopefully for Mike Perconte and Yohan Gonzalez, that confidence will come before they get to an intersection.
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Focus On: I’m happy that happened early
Among the sold-out crowd at Memorial Stadium on Saturday was an unwelcome guest.
Some call it the first game jitters, but after a seven-error defensive performance that resulted in a 14-8 loss to Tri-City, it was more of a first-game seizure.
“I’m happy that happened early,” was what manager Franklin Font told me.
“For us, tonight was good. We saw some emotion. It was a poor defensive effort at times, as you could see in the final score. But they battled. This was their first time in front of 3,000 people. But for sure, we’re going to be all right.”
But my question is, how much does a crowd really play into it? Pitcher Jon Nagel had told me he thought the crowd was, “supportive and behind you the whole way. It was fun to pitch in front of them.”
But Font said it was more than just the attitude of the fans that may have encouraged some lax defense, it was the elements that come with pro baseball.
“You can’t always tell from the stands, but the game is coming at you real fast. But this is a smart group. They’re good players. They’ve never had seven errors in a game, and they will be good tomorrow. They were excited to see the fans, and had that excited rush. This is a different level.”
Different level for sure.
The day before, they were playing a team without matching jerseys, and they were the ones that looked defensively sound.
Nagel gave me his perspective, which was closer to the field than mine, and much more rooted in a knowledge of the guys he’s playing with.
“As a pitcher you just want to make pitches and let them handle the ball. You want to get in a groove and hope they’re staying on their toes. I mean, it’s about trust all the time. You can’t go out there and think you need to get everyone out at the plate. I know the guys behind me, and they’re all good. The only reason I’ll look good is if I trust everyone else.”
When your job is a nine-inning baseball game, and you have 75 more coming up, it makes sense to close the book after the game and start working on the next one.
I’m the lucky guy that starts his real work when the book closes, so those small notes become a lot bigger on the screen.
But the fact is, the Hawks are playing the Dust Devils for at least 27 innings this series, and after nine, the stats book have reset.
The seven errors are gone when they hit the field on Sunday, and a team without an excuse of jitters will be filling the lineup card.
“Four days ago these guys were not up here,” Font said. “Even I was somewhere else, and some of my guys were managing elsewhere. But it’s baseball. We’ll be ready tomorrow. We’re playing the same guys as we did tonight. Only, it’s going to be a different game.”
Focus On: This is where the studs come together
I’ve been around baseball enough to know Minor League ball is naturally fickle.
One day you have a pitcher, and the next day the same number is for a catcher from Venezuela.
But the Boise Hawks have made so many roster and staff changes this season before first pitch that they’re seeming less like a baseball team and more like the drumming credits for Spinal Tap.
Menudo has had more stability of members.
So, I naturally wanted to talk to Franklin Font and his staff about how they’re approaching this season.
Font simply said, “Last week I got the call that I was going to manage, and now I’m here. I’ve been here before, and we’re going to practice and work on development like any other time.”
You can’t fault Font for his approach. His title is, after all, interim manager. There’s no telling how long that “interim” might be. But his respect for manager Casey Kopitzke after the family tragedy that has unfolded is truly remarkable.
Font said he hasn’t talked to Kopitzke, but has left a voicemail, like all the coaches on the staff, expressing his condolences.
Out of respect, that’s as far as I’ll address that matter.
What has come out of the situation, however, is what I consider the real story. You have Font managing with a staff full of experience and personality. In fact, his minor league field coordinator, Dave Bialas was Font’s manager for the Cubs’ AA affiliate in 2001.
Bialas told me, “I have no doubt this team is in good hands. Font has managed. (Hitting coach Ricardo) Medina has managed. These guys know our system. They know what we want.”
Bialas said the unique vast quantity of players from Mesa (the Cubs Rookie League affiliate) is going to help the coaching staff more than any bond the coaches already have.
While the fact that only three draftees will be on the opening-day roster may sound bad, the fact that the players NOT drafted have played together since spring training is a note that can’t be missed.
The team is already steps ahead in chemistry.
At the time I had talked to Bialas, he and the staff had only been able to talk to the team a couple times. But I was interested what a man with his experience would tell me about the guys Boise fans will be cheering on.
That’s when Bialas told me something that hasn’t left my mind since.
As a writer, I’ve come to appreciate any comment an athlete or coach can give me that I can use in my own writing and make myself sound brilliant.
Bialas said, “These guys aren’t just baseball players. These guys are studs. When they were in high school, they were the studs at their high school. If they were in college, they were the studs in their college. It doesn’t matter where they came from, they were the studs. This is where the studs come together.”
So I’m going to leave you with his words.
This is minor league baseball, and the chemistry of the team will never be complete. Players will get called up, sent down and cut, but that has been true since farm systems came into existence, and the Boise Hawks have been an incredibly successful organization.
Why is that? The answer lies in the players that come through this town.
It’s because Boise is where the studs come together.
The Sharp Focus 