It kind of strings out guys throughout the minor leagues, you know, if you could take
those long bus rides and take a lot of other grind, you know, it shows, you know, who really
likes playing the game and who doesn't.
He swings and drives one deep to right.
If it's fair, we're tied.
It is a grand slam.
You're expected to perform out on the field and when you're not doing that, they're looking
for the next guy to step in and perform.
It's a very competitive industry and business.
Everybody at this level wants to be at the next level.
Jeff Klemitz, first home run since the end of June.
I don't consider myself special or different for taking the road I did.
I think it just, you know, was the road for me and, you know, at the end of the day, I
just love playing.
I just love playing baseball.
It's what I do.
It's what I've always wanted to do and, you know, thankfully I just stuck around long
enough to not take no for an answer.
So much uncertainty and volatility of the job where you can be sent down or called up,
you know, the next day and you really have no control over it.
Take you one step at a time, this is only the beginning, the beginning of it all.
Diamond tosses in the next one, swinging a smash to third, short hop by Olmey.
He steps on third, one, throws a second, two, bears for the first.
It's a triple play.
Speaking of triple plays, there's one.
There's a five, four, three around the horn, triple play to end the inning.
The tradition in Rochester is really rich and I think that the fans know their baseball,
which makes it fun to play in because, you know, if somebody gets a bond down or, you
know, you execute a certain play the right way, the fans understand and they get it.
So in that sense, it's pretty cool and to be in one of the oldest baseball cities, you
know, in America, it's pretty fun to play in.
Welcome to Rochester, New York, home of the Red Wings, a triple A farm team for the Minnesota
Twins.
For the 2013 season, players ranging from the ages of 22 to 34 call Frontier Field Home
as they play ball in the highest level before the MLB.
Meet Kyle Gibson.
He is considered a top prospect in the Twins organization as well as all across Major League
Baseball.
Being a prospect is somebody who really hasn't done anything, so that's one of the labels
that is good at the beginning, but right now I'm in the, you know, the time of my career
where I'm trying to get past being a prospect and trying to break through to the Major Leagues.
But, you know, it's definitely an honor to be considered by, you know, the people in
baseball as somebody who's an up-and-coming player that hopefully will have an impact
at some point in the Major Leagues.
Not everyone is considered a top prospect in the MLB, let alone the organization as
the competition between players looking to make it to the show is brutal.
I would say this, every player in Pro Ball is a good player.
It's just some are better than others and some of those guys have good years and you
challenge them at the next level and they're challenged by the competition which is usually
better all around and your teammates are usually better.
Believe it or not, there's great competition in your organization for guys that are playing
the same position or trying to advance.
These high levels of competition have gotten the better of former third overall draft
pick Jeff Clement.
Back in 2005, he was fast-tracked through the minor leagues by the Seattle Mariners
all the way until he set foot in the batter's box of a MLB stadium.
My first bat in the Big Leagues was in Old Yankee Stadium, I think it was 2007, I think
2008 was the last year for the Old Stadium so to step foot on the field where you knew
Babe Ruth and Mickey Mantle played baseball was really neat and for that to be my first
major league experience, I couldn't ask for anything more.
Clement is now a 30-year-old player who is no longer considered a prospect, but as he
explains, expectations set upon him by the experts in baseball never once hindered his
career.
Expectations and pressure like I said are what you put on yourself and some people really
succeed with that, some people don't and I don't think it had an effect on me one way
or the other.
I think it might have changed my path where they made me move through the system faster
than maybe they would have if I wasn't a high pick but I was happy about it at the time.
You don't want to be spending years and years at the low levels of the minor leagues, you
want to move up as quick as you can and I was able to do that.
Fans scouring through programs quickly realized Chris Colabello was the opposite of a high
pick.
He was left sitting undrafted altogether after graduating Assumption College in 2005.
Instead of giving up his dreams of becoming a big leaguer, Colabello took the unconventional
route, beginning his professional career in the little-known independent Can-Am league.
A lot of things about indie ball that people don't really know and you have to become
like a pro right away, I think.
You're playing with guys from AAAAA, guys that play the big leagues versus going through
the lower levels of the minor so I think you kind of get acclimated to how things are done
at upper levels and the other thing is too like you have to learn how to compete right
away because it's not like you're sitting there and they're trying to develop you and
giving you all the time in the world so it was definitely a great learning experience
I think I wouldn't be here without it.
Not only has he made it in the minor leagues, but persistence has finally paid off for Chris
Colabello as he got his first taste of big league action this past season.
Everybody says their dreams to get to the majors, I think that's cutting yourself short
a little bit because I think the dreams should be to stay in the major leagues.
Playing in the show is exactly what Garrett Jones has been able to do for the past couple
of seasons.
This former Red Wings fan favorite reminisces on where his baseball journey has taken him.
It was surreal, I mean it was, you know I got called up and with the twins a little bit
up and down didn't get to stick and then just got another opportunity with the Pirates and
just wanted to make the most of it and join myself and play my ass off and you know and
I just enjoyed every minute of it, never took anything for granted and knew it could be
taken away from me any time and just went and played like every game was my last game.
His last game in Rochester was one for the ages as the end of his minor league career
couldn't have ended any better.
I think just my last at bat as a Red Wing came with a three run walk off home run and
that was my last at bat you know forever it was there so you know I think that just sticks
to my mind because that was the last thing and you know it was just special to kind of
go out you know had a good career there and you know met a lot of great people and enjoyed
my time there and just kind of go out with a bang.
There he goes and the ball ripped to right be a fair ball into the corner, ask him about
a rounding second, he's rounding third, he's being waved home, here comes the throw, the
slide, he's safe, Red Wings win, Red Wings win on Clements game winning RBI double.
In just his first season for the Wings, Jeff Clement certainly has had his fair share of
spectacular moments.
He isn't satisfied with his performance in the triple A level, instead he has an even
greater goal in mind.
Contribute to a Major League Baseball team, obviously the goal for everybody is to win
a World Series and be productive and stay in the big leagues and so that's obviously
still a goal of mine.
But as Wings manager Jean Glenn explains, things don't always work out the way you might
want them in professional baseball.
You have players in their mid 30s that are still waiting for that call back to the big
leagues or their first call.
Sometimes it doesn't work out for some and then other times you wonder how it worked
out for some of the other players.
Even though his chances of getting promoted get slimmer by the day, Jeff Clement refuses
to give up on his dreams.
Instead, he's putting his nose to the grindstone and working even harder.
You can control how much you prepare, continuing to try to get better, playing the game hard,
playing the game the right way and enjoying yourself because if you're not doing those
three things then you're not going to give yourself much of a chance at success.
But for Kyle Gibson, his future looks bright as he's dying to make his first start in the
MLB.
I'm sure I'm going to be nervous, I'm going to go out there and I'll probably just have
to take a couple deep breaths and look around and realize what's going on and hopefully
settle in quick and have a good outing.
This game is built around failure and if you're always worrying about the negatives and you're
not focusing on the positives and having fun it's going to drive you crazy.
I think that's probably the biggest and hardest thing to do.
For me it was just step one, maybe it was a middle step in the process but there's still
a lot of work left to do.
When I'm done playing, just know that I gave the game everything I had to give, I played
as hard as I could and I carried myself well off the field and in times good and bad I
want to remain steady and just be a positive influence on everybody I come across.
This guy that played hard all the time, loved playing the game and just had some power,
hit some home runs, helped the team win and he was a good overall guy.
Thank you all of you for watching!
You can ask for it, don't expect much of me
I'm doing my best to call and to write
Every chance that I get
Don't let the world take my world for me
