When Zach Lutz went down after two at bats last season, many Cyclones fans wondered who was going to fill the void at third base. However, the wondering didn’t last for long as JR Voyles quickly established himself as a dependable replacement on the field and in the batter’s box. After replacing Lutz on Opening Day, Voyles hit a three-run homer to give the Cyclones their first win of the season and kept the team going in a positive direction after the highest drafted player on the team was injured.

As the season wore on, Voyles became something of a fan favorite, quickly being dubbed J-RBI by Cyclones announcer Warner Fusselle and J-Money by yours truly. However, as the season wore on, Voyles was hit by the injury bug and it hurt his overall production, which could have been immensely better than the .254 batting average and 29 RBI he ended up with by season’s end. He was also drilled in the head by a pitch towards the end of the season in what had to be one of the scariest accidents I have ever seen on a baseball diamond. However, Voyles was back the next game [with a shiner the size of a coconut mind up] and even though he didn’t play, he gave his team the drive to continue their playoff push. A man of few words, Voyles, like a few of his teammates, did his talking on the field.

“It feels good to have an important role on the team,” said Voyles after he began to establish himself with the team, reaching base in eight of the team’s first nine games last season. “Eventually, everyone is going to get hot. Good hitting is contagious.”

While he wasn’t much of a talker, Voyles did say on more than a few occasions that he was happy he was playing so well because he didn’t see himself being more than a pinch-hitter/ defensive replacement on the team that year. Cyclones manager Edgar Alfonzo thought otherwise though.

“I don’t know why he thought he wasn’t going to have a big role here, because right now, he’s so important to this team,” said Alfonzo. “I knew in extended spring training that he was something special and now he’s proving it. He’s a gamer. He does so many things well and he’s been a huge reason why we’ve been so successful this season.”

While so many would quickly point to his stats as the reason why he was so liked by the fans, I beg to differ. Seeing this guy battle for a spot on the team and then go out and make the most of it really made him endearing to the fans and more importantly, his teammates, who looked at him as kind of a spiritual leader. Again, while he wasn’t nearly as successful in the second half of the season, he was the team’s MVP through the first 40 games of the season and was one of the reasons why they made the playoffs.

Currently hitting .260 with 13 hits in 16 games this season for the St. Lucie Mets, Voyles is now proving that he can hit at higher levels in the organization. Able to play second base and shortstop in addition to the hot corner, Voyles may just continue to surprise a few people as he advances through the organization.

Photo by Daniel Wos 

I remember early last season when someone showed me a Micah Schilling baseball card from 2002 that said he had a swing like Will Clark. “What the hell is this guy doing here,” I said aloud, wondering how and why a former first round pick from another organization could wander his way into the organization. Then I looked up his stats and the answer hit me like a ton of bricks.

Before last season, where he hit .283 in 71 games, Schilling never cracked .270 in five years in the Indians organization, all in Rookie and Single-A ball, prompting them to give up on the 24-year old. Far from washed up, Schilling turned in a solid season for Brooklyn last year, hitting in virtually every slot in the lineup and playing solid second base. He also showed solid speed, swiping a career-high 13 bases. A few years older than most of the other guys on the team, Schilling was a more than capable leader, but wasn’t very adamant in the club house. Instead, he was more the silent type, who did his talking on the field.

With so much more experience than his teammates, Schilling definitely had some stories to tell. I wouldn’t be surprised if he helped a lot of the youngsters along last season when things got tough. One story he told me, about being an 18-year old prospect in the Indians system, showed just how much he’s been through and how tough he’s had to work over the course of his career.

“Age-wise, it’s not a big deal, but maturity and interests wise, it’s huge. I couldn’t even go to bars or restaurants with some of the guys if I wanted. On the field, it was hard too because I was always the youngest. Now I’m older, but I think it’s an advantage, I have a lot more experience now.”

For that, I had a lot of respect for him. A lot of people in his situation could have been bitter to the media. I mean, this is a guy that most people expected to be a star at this point and instead, he’s stuck in Single-A ball. However, Schilling talked to whoever wanted to hear his story or just pick his brain. In the end, I think he was one of the most approachable guys on the team, making me wonder why he was even there in the first place. He definitely proved himself on the field when he had to and he showed the moxie of a professional ball player by the way he carried himself. Nonetheless, the organization never sent him up during the season.

With that being said, I certainly expected the guy to get a chance at making St. Lucie’s roster or maybe even Binghamton this season. However, as of right now, he hasn’t had a single at bat at any level in the organization this season, making me think he’s stuck in extended Spring Training. As much as I’d like to watch him play again, I’d much rather see him in Double-A at this point in his career. If he is stuck in Brooklyn again this year, I hope it’s not for long.

Photos by Daniel Wos

Since I’ve already discussed how dominant guys like Joe Smith, Eric Brown and Tobi Stoner, I figured I almost had to talk about Jeremy Mizell, who arguably was just as successful in 2006.

Signed as a free agent from South Eastern Louisiana University in 2006, Mizell went 2-0 with a 1.18 ERA in 18 appearances for Brooklyn that season. While Joe Smith got a lot of the credit for the Cyclones success after a horrible start that year, it was usually Mizell who was setting the table for him. The fact that Mizell relied more on solid off-speed pitches and mixes them in with a good fastball, rather than the overpowering heat Smith brought into every game, was easily one of the reasons why Smith was so successful why he was in Brooklyn.

However, while he was a completely different pitcher than Smith, that didn’t mean he didn’t have good stuff. Throwing a two-seam and four-seam fastball with a good changeup and an even better curveball, Mizell could have been a solid starter that season as well. He had good control, mixed his pitches well and never relied on the strikeout or groundball. Like many older pitchers, Mizell didn’t care how he got hitters out. That was one of the biggest reasons why I think he was so dependable in 2006.

His presence on the mound was also more than solid. A big Roger Clemens fan growing up, I saw a lot of that, not in his stuff of course, but just how he looked on the mound. He never got flustered and always maintained his composure out there.

“I’ve always looked up to Roger Clemens because I like his attitude; give me the ball and I’m coming after you with everything I got. Some days he gets beat, it’s not very often, but for the most part, he’s coming right after hitters and that’s the kind of attitude I’ve always had,” said Mizell. “I’m going to come after you with my best stuff and if you beat me, I’ll tip my hat to you.”

To hear a young reliever say something like that and then see him prove it on the mound all season, you’ve got to like his chances at making something of himself.

Nonetheless, for a guy that didn’t give up an earned run through the first ¾ of the season, the guy didn’t get that much media attention. Despite that though, the league was smart enough to see his talent, making him a selection to the 2006 NY-Penn League All-Star game.

For a guy enjoying that type of success, he was also pretty humble.

“It’s my role to come into games in late innings and get us out of jams,” said Mizell during the season. “I’m just the guy that bridges that gap between the starter and the closer.”

Even though he struggled last season as a starter with Savannah, going 3-15 with an ERA of 6.75, I still think he’s got the potential to be a solid middle reliever. His lack of velocity may hurt him as a starter and leave him too open to be successful, which means his only future would be out of the bullpen. He’s still listed as active on the Sand Gnats on Milb.com, but I have no idea where he is in the system right now, which means he could have either been released or is injured.

Regardless of what happens to him in the future though, I’ll always remember how successful he was in Brooklyn in 2006.

Photos by Conroy Walker

He may not be one of the all-time greats to put on a Cyclones uniform, but infielder Tim Grogan was a clutch performer for the Cyclones in 2006. Despite hitting .231 during the season, he was third on the team with 23 RBI and several big games down the stretch for the club.

If I could best describe Grogan in a word, it would probably be “streaky.” Some days he looked so solid out there that you thought for a second he could make it to the big leagues. At other times though, he looked extremely overmatched at the plate and you didn’t know what to make of him. However, he was always solid on the field, especially at third base, where he made several sensational plays throughout the season.

I don’t know, maybe because I’m a life-long Mets fan, but I immediately saw a resemblance to Robin Ventura in this guy. His range, the way he moved at third, it was all there. When I interviewed him that year, it seems that someone else thought so too.

“I was drafted out of high school by the White Sox and the scouts told me I reminded them a lot of Robin Ventura,” he said. “A lot of the guys on team say that I hit a lot like Chipper Jones, but my favorite player was always Ken Griffey Jr. He plays a totally different position then me and is a totally different type of player but boy, would it be great to have a swing like his.”

However, Grogan’s inconsistency at the plate was his undoing in the organization, as he’s now playing in the Frontier League. Looking through some old quotes I had from him, it seemed he knew what the future held if he didn’t start to produce more offensively.

“Being a left-handed hitter, with the potential to hit is the biggest thing I bring to the table,” he said. “I’ve shown signs of it, but I haven’t been able to put anything together on a consistent basis.”

Hitting .239 with nine homers and 45 RBI in 82 games last season in the Frontier League, maybe Grogan still has a shot at getting back into pro ball. With a .329 career on base percentage and 77 walks to his credit in only 164 games, he’s a much smarter hitter than most give him credit for. He’s only 24 years old as well, so he has a good few years left to try and make something of his career.

Regardless of what happens though, I’ll always remember Grogan as a more than solid defensive player who showed flashes of dominance at the plate.

Photos by Conroy Walker

After penning the successful book “The Code: The Unwritten Rules of Fighting and Retaliation in the NHL” in November 2006, author Ross Bernstein took his attention away from the world of professional hockey to focus on a new book. “The Code: Baseball’s Unwritten Rules and Its Ignore-at-Your-Own-Risk Code of Conduct,” Bernstein’s new book, takes readers on a ride through professional baseball, where they learn the etiquette and inside decorum of the game from over 100 former and current MLB stars. Chatting over the phone from his home in Minnesota, Bernstein talks about his inspiration behind the book.

Dem Brooklyn Bums: This is the second book of this nature that you’ve released in the past two years and while the narrative is strong, the best part of the book are the quotes you get from players. How much work went into that kind of reporting?

Ross Bernstein: I interviewed about a hundred players for this book and I’ve always maintained that I’m not going to win a Pulitzer Prize for my work. So far, I’ve written about 40 books and I’ve had a lot of fun doing it, but I’m a fan first and foremost. I just try and have fun when I do this, I’m not going to try and suggest that I’m some sort of investigative journalist curing cancer. A big part of the book is me talking to players to shed light on other people’s thoughts of what goes on during a baseball game. With that being said, I tried to get as many players as I could and the way it worked was one player would usually lead to another. I also have a lot of players from the Minnesota area, where I’m from, which helped because I have a lot of contacts and access there. Nevertheless, it was still hard to get some of the great stories, but it also helps when you can call a guy at his home where he’ll really open up to you. Some guys didn’t want to talk on the record and some poured their hearts out to me. That’s just the way it worked out. I read a lot of books on the subject as well and tried to really do my homework on this one. Plus, I had a lot of insight because I used to play in high school, so I tried to combine what I knew with what these players were telling me.

DBB: After writing the hockey book, what made you want to crossover into the world of baseball?

Bernstein: I think it was always something that fascinated me. With the hockey book, I had really great access. It was during the lockout and I was playing hockey with a lot of them, I was just one of the guys. With baseball, it just made sense because this was one of the only other sports that had a true code. You can’t go out on a baseball field and just do whatever you want. You have to be held accountable for your actions, much like hockey. In hockey, if someone challenges you to a fight after you’ve hit them with a high stick and you don’t “show up,” your teammates won’t want you on the bench. The same kind of thing goes on in baseball. If someone shows you up, you have to respond.

DBB: While the book relies heavily on quotes from players and many of them are the types of things hardcore fans would already know, there are a few quotes that really stand out as special. Was there anyone in particular that really shocked you with what they had to say?

Bernstein: You’d be surprised; there was a lot of that going on. I just never knew what I was going to get. Some guys were really open and went with it while some were guarded and reserved. There is one chapter in book where I discuss sign stealing and the effort that goes into coding signs so they are not stolen. That is where I myself was the most fascinated. In any one game, there can be a thousand signs being passed. Before I talked to a few pitchers and catchers, I had no idea that they always have to change their signs so they aren’t stolen. I then talked to [seven-time MLB All-Star] Paul Molitor, who I’ve known for years, who also wrote a forward for a book I did a few years ago and he is a master decoder of signs. He told me how some pitchers almost had poker tells and that he could tell by the way a pitcher reacted on the mound after the sign was delivered what pitch was going to come. I’m sure it’s because of guys like him that pitchers cover their mouths now when the catcher comes up to the mound. For a guy to be able to do something like that just by watching on the bench, he’s a huge asset to his team and a great baseball mind, but at other times in the sport’s history, there were people with telescopes stealing signs. I was so fascinated by all of this tradition and information.

DBB: You said earlier that you’ve interviewed over 100 players for this book. Was there anyone that you were really itching to talk to?

Bernstein: I refer to those guys as my “white whales,” to make a “Moby-Dick” reference. I really wanted to talk to Nolan Ryan and I tried, tried and tried, but there always seemed to be one degree of separation. I came close though. He’s just one of those guys that don’t like talking about this stuff. I would also have loved to talk to Bob Gibson and Sandy Koufax and I tried and tried, but again, these guys didn’t really want to talk about the things that went into this book, so in the end, I had to take what I could get. I am really happy with what I got, though. I loved talking to Rob Dibble and Mike Marshall gave me some great stuff as well. Bert Blyleven was also a guy that was a lot of fun to talk to as well. With a book like this, every author will have a different bunch of guys they’d want to talk to and when it’s all said and done, I’m really proud of the bunch of players I decided to interview.

DBB: You wrote this book during the unveiling of the Mitchell Report and the climax of the whole steroid controversy. Did you find it more difficult to write the book because of this?

Bernstein: Not at all. I think it helped because it was a hot topic and a lot of players wanted to talk about it. For many of them, they feel like it’s a big violation of the code. It was really great to hear from a guy like Dave Winfield, who is outraged at all the steroid abuse in the game today because his records are falling as a result of it. To give someone like that an outlet was very rewarding for me as well.