Just A Novelty?

If you venture into the 85-degree summer nights that San Bernardino California has to offer, you might stumble upon what some call a “diamond in the rough”. Nestled in downtown San Bernardino amongst the not so booming nightlife is Arrowhead Credit Union Park.This six-thousand seat stadium is home to the single A Inland Empire Sixty-Sixers. Now let me explain. The “Inland Empire” or “I.E.” as dubbed by rapper Sly Boogie, is an area about 45 miles east of Los Angeles which features: a large spectrum of household income levels, smog, the little league western regional tournament, and a professional baseball team.

The name Sixty-Sixers is derived from the final portion of route 66 that runs through downtown San Bernardino. The team has gone through three different names in the past ten years, as well as three affiliation changes in the same time period. This club has seen the likes of Ken Griffey Jr. and Ted Lilly. With such a reputation this team should be home to someone important.

The next big thing to stop through San Bernardino is Seattle Mariners number one pick Michael Garciaparra. Yeah, you heard it right; Nomar’s kid brother is a rising star in the minor leagues.

Well, come to think of it, not necessarily a rising star. More like a floundering star. Michael, who was picked by Seattle with the 36th pick in the 2001 draft, has spent four years in single A, never surpassing a .250 average.

After spending time in Peoria, Everett, and Mid-A Wisconsin, Michael seemed to have found a home in High-A Inland Empire. Garciaparra, or “Gar” as radio broadcasters and fans call him, has become a fan favorite to the 400 or so fans that show up nightly, but it’s a different story when the sixers hit the road. Garciaparra is heckled at just about every opposing stadium on nearly every play. Michael has some big cleats to fill and the opposing fans feel as he needs to fill them now.

Michael still hasn’t shown much improvement in the batting average category. During a three week stretch ending on July 22nd, Garciaparra did not get more than one hit per game, resulting in him batting ninth and then ending up pinch hitting.

Did I mention he received a two million dollar signing bonus?

Not exactly all hope has been lost though. Garciaparra went on a tremendous hitting streak that spanned fourteen games and was capped off on August 5th with a 5 for 6, two homerun, six RBI outing, which assumingly instilled hope in Mariners executives.

The scouting report deemed him as “flashy with the glove, he often struggled with the routine plays.” this has been a common sight this year. He claimed in a post-game interview, that his move from shortstop to second base has “thrown me off a little bit” but later he said “I have been practicing extra on my defense.” All in all Michael Garciaparra is showing improvement from last year in his hitting, field presence, and maturity.

No matter the streaks, no matter the popularity, no matter the signing bonus I still see Michael Garciaparra as the Ashlee Simpson of professional baseball.

Nomar, who in this case I am comparing to Jessica Simpson was at the top of his game about two years ago, as was Jessica. Nomar has an iconic spouse, Mia Hamm, as does Jessica with Nick Lachey.

Michael, who in this case I am comparing to Ashlee Simpson, who is the semi-famous younger-sibling personality, seemingly riding the wave of his sibling’s popularity. They both have their fair share of mistakes (snl lip-syncing incident as to errors on the field).

 Here’s for terrible comparisons.

The main point I am trying to convey is that Mariner executives might have been shooting more for the blood than the known talent

Nevertheless, Michael has tons of potential, and if he can pick up the slack for the rest of the season chances are that Michael Garciaparra will play AA ball in 2006.