It may not be glamorous, but the life of a low minor leaguer beats what the rest of us are doing.
View full sizeAlex Lavisky (left) and Anthony Gallas are two former local high school baseball players now learning the ropes with the Lake Erie Captains.CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Last May, Alex Lavisky was leading St. Edward to another state baseball crown and posing for prom pictures.
Strongsville's Anthony Gallas was ripping the ball at Kent State and cramming for his last college finals.
A year later, they're on eight-hour bus rides to towns like Bowling Green, Ky., checking for bed bugs at the team hotel and learning to stretch $20 per day in meal money.
"It's not," said Gallas, "the glamorous life that everybody thinks it is."
Which is not to be misinterpreted. Not at all. Even the life of a low minor leaguer beats what the rest of us are doing.
"You're playing baseball," Gallas said. "What's better than that?"
Lavisky and Gallas are teammates on the Lake County Captains, the Indians' Class A farm team in Eastlake. Being locals, they still get to enjoy the comforts of home, which is rare in the minors. Manager Ted Kubiak approved it.
Being locals, family and friends can easily swing by Classic Park for a game. Just the other day, about 100 of Lavisky's friends surprised him with a cheering section.
"It's nice," said his mother Julianne, who invited the team over for Easter dinner. (Kubiak thanked her but declined.) "You get to watch Alex become who he's meant to be."
The Indians saw enough raw potential in Lavisky to take him in the eighth round of the 2010 draft and offer a $1 million signing bonus to bypass a full ride to Georgia Tech.
He's been inconsistent at the plate, hitting around .220 while striking out more than once every four times up. But he's also among the team leaders in RBI as he works on driving outside pitches to center and right-center rather than try to pull everything.
"When he stays on the ball and keeps his head in there," Kubiak said, "he's been good."
View full size"Even when you're home, you don't have as much time as you think you have because you're so consumed here at the park," former St. Edward star Alex Lavisky, still just 18, said. "And when you're not here, you're on the road."Lavisky, 20, is one of two catchers on the Captains. The other is Alex Monsalve, 19, who was signed by the Indians as a nondrafted free agent from Venezuela in 2009. He's hitting about .290.
Most nights, you'll find both in the lineup. When one catches, the other is the designated hitter.
Kubiak said Lavisky has grown up quickly in the short time he's had him. He's attentive in meetings, understands the daily routine and is adjusting to the fact that it's a full-time job.
"The other day I had a talk with him," Kubiak said, "and he said the toughest thing for him is just playing every day."
"I don't know how he's doing it, honestly," said Gallas. "Mentally, at 18, there's no way I would have been able to do what we're doing right now, just showing up at the ballpark every single day. College really got me ready for that."
Gallas, 23, actually got more attention from college recruiters as a wide receiver on the Strongsville football team, but thought baseball offered a better shot at the pros.
By the time he was done at Kent State, the 6-2, 210-pound outfielder shared the school's all-time record with 49 home runs, and became the first Mid-American Conference player to collect at least 250 hits, score 200 runs and drive in 200 runs for his career.
Despite solid numbers, he went undrafted. The Indians signed him as free agent last June. At Lake County, Gallas has been among the team leaders in several categories, including average, slugging percentage and doubles.
View full sizeA record-setting player at Kent State, Anthony Gallas wasn't drafted by a pro team and fuels his desire with that rejection now that he's with the Captains.Kubiak said Gallas is industrial-strength strong and likes his short stroke, the pop in his bat and the ability to hit to all fields. The coaches are working on his timing at the plate to get him to use his legs more.
Ross Atkins, the Indians vice president of player development, said Gallas could probably handle a more advanced minor-league level.
"He's been one of the better surprises," he said. "For someone who wasn't drafted, we've really been impressed."
Maybe it's because he wasn't drafted.
Gallas admitted he plays with a chip on his shoulder because people doubted he was good enough to play in college. Then he wasn't good enough to play professionally.
"And I just keep proving people wrong over and over again," he said. "It's just the way it is and it makes me work even harder."
Most of Lavisky's friends are off to college. Gallas' buddies, with college degrees in hand, are doing the 8 to 5 and making more money. So neither sees friends much or socialize. Baseball hours don't mesh and days off are rare.
"Even when you're home, you don't have as much time as you think you have because you're so consumed here at the park," Lavisky said. "And when you're not here, you're on the road."
Which is where Mom steps up. For the road trip to Kentucky, she packed him homemade pepperoni bread, sliced strawberries, candy, Vitamin Water and Airborne to ward off colds. He was mortified.
"He said, 'Don't treat me like a baby,'" she said laughing. "Then I get a basket full of laundry every week."
For Gallas and Lavisky, it's been kind of a dream come true, playing for the organization they grew up cheering for.
Lavisky attended the first home game of the 1997 World Series when his dad's boss gave them tickets. Gallas saw the Indians beat Baltimore on a blown squeeze play in the 1997 American League Championship Series. Those Indians players of the late '90s were their heroes. Gallas dressed as Kenny Lofton for Halloween in second grade.
During spring training, they noticed the former Tribe center fielder working as an Indians special assistant. Gallas and Lavisky nodded to each other. They were star struck.
"I was like, man, I want to get his autograph," Lavisky said, "but I kind of chickened out."
Source: http://www.cleveland.com/tribe/index.ssf/2011/05/ne_ohio_standouts_lavisky_gall.html
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