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Game Is Their Life At Complex

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By MARC LANCASTER, The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 16, 2007

Photo Gallery: Rays' Venezuelan Complex

GUACARA, Venezuela - Long before the sun comes up, the cafeteria nestled into a corner of the Rays' academy is cranking out arepas.

The corn flour-based bread is a staple in the Venezuelan diet, and on this particular morning each dense disc shares the plate with a fried egg, thin-sliced ham and cheese. That breakfast is responsible for seeing the Rays' players, coaches and staff through the bulk of their workday. And make no mistake, that's exactly what each day is for all involved.

"This is a job," pitcher Omar Bencomo says through an interpreter.

It's also their life. Aside from a few hours each afternoon when they're allowed to leave the fenced-in grounds of the complex, the young Rays spend all of their time at the academy.

They sleep each night in the dormitory wing of the newest of the complex's two single-story brick buildings. Each of the eight rooms is capable of housing six players, with three sets of bunk beds lined up against a wall. Depending on the number of players in for extended tryouts, 35 to 40 young men call the academy home at a given time, and they are thrilled to be there.

"It's like a dream," says Chris Andujar, a 19-year-old pitcher whose father, Joaquin, spent 13 seasons in the majors. "It's baseball all day."

On the field, enthusiasm pervades. The players run from station to station during the pregame workouts that typically begin at 7:45 a.m. each day, and their forays into the long-lost art of pepper exude youthful energy. They cheer each other on during games with rhythmic clapping from behind the chain-link fence in the dugout, and during a pop-up drill the volume and intensity of "I got it!" calls from players who may not speak much more English than that borders on the comical.

It's serious business to those involved, though. The Rays' staff emphasizes structure, a necessity given that they are working mostly with teenagers who are away from home for the first time. At that stage of development, notes Rays special assistant Andres Reiner, the staff often has to finish raising the children for their parents - "or sometimes not even finishing, but to start."

So they work, using most of the daylight hours available. During the winter, home games start at 11 a.m. and are usually finished before 2 p.m. Once the postgame talk adjourns, some players do extra work with the coaches in the batting cages adjacent to the academy's main field or on the bullpen mounds down the left-field line.

"They love to work, they listen and they learn because they want to be there," says Marlon Roche, the Rays' manager and outfield coach. "That's key, so we can work more and more and more every day with those guys."

The players have a couple of hours following the afternoon's activities to leave the complex, but they must be back at the academy by 6:30 each night except Saturday, when they get an additional hour of free time.

Once back inside, they often congregate in the rec room, where they can watch movies or baseball on a huge television equipped with DirecTV, thumb through back issues of Baseball America or play Ping-Pong in the back of the room. Others talk to friends on their cell phones or sit in the hallways with their laptop computers.

Those entertainment options begin to feel a bit limited after a while, as the players spend about 10 months at the academy each year. But the universal sentiment among those who climb into the bunk beds each night is the tradeoffs are well worth it.

"When we're here, maybe we think about going home," pitcher Albert Suarez says through an interpreter. "But when we're away, we miss it. After two days, we start texting everybody from the team and trying to find out how they're doing and when they're going to come back."

BY THE NUMBERS

849 - Players on major-league rosters, disabled lists or restricted lists on Opening Day 2007
246 - Players born outside the United States
208 - Players from Latin America or the Caribbean
98 - Players from the Dominican Republic
51 - Players from Venezuela
5 - Players from Latin America on the Rays' Opening Day roster
1 - Player from Latin America on the Rays' roster originally signed by Tampa Bay (Juan Salas)
Source: Major League Baseball

RAYS' PROSPECTS

Five of the top prospects at the Rays' Venezuelan academy:
RHP Omar Bencomo, 18 - Rays' top Venezuelan Summer League pitcher in '07 has game in his bloodlines.
3B Julio Cedeno, 18 - One of Rays' first signees, hit .300 in VSL this year.
OF Ludson Isenia, 18 - St. Marteen native is athletic, has high ceiling at plate.
RHP Wilking Rodriguez, 17 - Budding closer is competitive, has impressive stuff.
RHP Albert Suarez, 18 - Big-league body (6-2, 220) with mound presence.

PROMINENT VENEZUELAN PLAYERS

PAST
SS Luis Aparicio (Maracaibo) - Rookie of the Year in 1956 and 10-time All-Star is lone Venezuelan in National Baseball Hall of Fame.
SS Chico Carrasquel (Caracas) - Four-time All-Star initiated trend of Venezuelan shortstops in the majors.
SS Dave Concepcion (Ocumare de la Costa) - Nine-time All-Star was defensive heart of Cincinnati's "Big Red Machine."
1B Andres Galarraga (Caracas) - "The Big Cat" spent 19 seasons in the majors, averaging 44 homers and 137 RBIs from 1996-98.
SS Ozzie Guillen (Ocumare del Tuy) - Current White Sox manager was AL Rookie of the Year in 1985; played final season for Rays in 2000.

PRESENT
Tigers 3B Miguel Cabrera (Maracay) - One of the game's most dangerous hitters, has been an All-Star in all four of his full seasons in the majors.
Tigers RF Magglio Ordonez (Caracas) - Runner-up in 2007 AL MVP voting after leading the majors in batting average (.363) and doubles (54).
Angels RHP Francisco Rodriguez (Caracas) - A postseason hero at age 20, "K-Rod" has become a dominant closer, averaging 44 saves the last three years.
Twins LHP Johan Santana (Tovar) - Two-time Cy Young winner and most dominant lefty in the game has been a full-time starter for only four seasons.
Giants SS Omar Vizquel (Caracas) - The modern standard-bearer for defensive shortstops (11 Gold Gloves) will play 20th season in 2008.

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