05/21/2006

Record-Eagle/Jan-Michael Stump
The Traverse City Beach Bums gather around the batting cage during practice at Wuerfel Park.

Wuerfels, Isom build up Beach Bums

Manager played a big part in shaping TC team

by jeff peek

jpeek@record-eagle.com

TRAVERSE CITY — It sounds like a strange baseball concoction.

Start with some Wuerfels, a team of Roosters and add 'Ice'.

Allow 'Ice' to thin the Roosters by two-thirds. Add a couple of Redcoats, a pair of Chippewas and a Wild Thing. Toss in a Bee, River Dog, Giant, Whitecap, Bronco and something called a 66er. Add an Australian Eagle and a Twin.

Mix well. Bake for two weeks.

Presto: Meet the 2006 Traverse City Beach Bums.

Three days from now, on a festive Wednesday night filled with baseball and fireworks, the dreams of owners John and Leslye Wuerfel will finally be realized when the Beach Bums begin their inaugural professional season in the independent Frontier League.

Fans will cheer names and faces they barely know — names and faces that will quickly become familiar.

But how did the Beach Bums get here? How did it all begin?

After the Wuerfel family gained approval to build Wuerfel Park in Blair Township and broke ground late in 2004, they acquired ownership of the Frontier League's Richmond Roosters last summer.

It was a start. But they left the rest up to Ice — manager Jeff Isom.

Wuerfels get their man

The Wuerfels targeted Jeff Isom after he came highly recommended by Frontier League commissioner Bill Lee.

In fact, "Bill Lee put (Isom) in the car and drove him up here," Leslye Wuerfel said.

"We were getting resumes from all over the country," she said. "But we always came back to Jeff. He's never had a season below .500 (in six years as a minor league manager), and he knew the Frontier League. That was huge.

"We were extremely impressed with his ideas, his personality, how he runs a team. In our minds, he was our man. It was a good fit."

The 34-year-old Isom (pronounced Eye-sem), whose hiring was announced on Nov. 14, felt the same way.

"We clicked," said the former left-handed pitcher, who was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates out of Purdue in 1993. "I want to win, they want to win. John told me at the start that he wasn't in this to finish second, and the Wuerfels have stood behind that — whatever I need, whatever it takes.

"This is a first-class organization with first class facilities. We have no excuses."

So Isom, who managed the Joliet (Ill.) Jackhammers of the independent Northern League in 2004 and 2005, began to break down the Richmond roster he had inherited, and the search for new players began.

Getting started

Unlike organized (major league-affiliated) minor league baseball, teams in the Frontier League must recruit and sign their own players — generally undrafted college players or one-time prospects who have been released by their teams.

Under Frontier League rules, teams are limited to three "veterans" (those with three or more years of professional experience), two two-year players and seven one-year players (those with at least 150 professional at-bats or 50 innings pitched). The other half of the 24-man roster is confined to rookies. Players cannot be older than 27 as of Jan. 1.

The pay, by the way, is minimal. Each team has a salary cap of $60,000 and the league minimum is set at $600 — that's per month. Without host families, the players couldn't afford to live in Traverse City.

A core of six

Isom began with the Roosters. Knowing "absolutely nothing" about those players, Isom said he poured over statistics and talked to as many people as he could who would give him an unbiased opinion.

"There's a method to what I do and what I look for," Isom said. "We don't have the money to travel all over the country and look at each guy, so we have to go on stats and recommendations and just your personal feeling about guys."

On Dec. 16, the Bums announced the signing of their first player — ex-Richmond outfielder Mike Reese, a veteran who has speed, power and character, everything Isom looks for in a player.

"It's kind of surreal to actually be a part of the history of Traverse City baseball," Reese said during training camp. "Hopefully I can leave a legacy on the field as well as being the answer to a trivia question."

Six more former Roosters signed in January — outfielder Kevin White, infielder/outfielder Nathan Gravely, pitchers Tony Casoli, Hunter Davis and Adam Varteressian and catcher Tony Sanguinetti.

One week after signing Sanguinetti, the Beach Bums sold his rights to the Seattle Mariners organization — a reality of independent league baseball will surely result in the exit of more players this summer.

"That's really our goal here, is to get guys signed into organized ball," Isom said.

So Isom began building around his core of six, three of whom — Reese, White and Gravely — are solid veterans who can play the outfield.

"We love Reese's versatility," Isom said. "Last year he was a 3-4 guy (in the batting order), but we feel he'll add a lot to the leadoff spot. And Kevin White is right there also — a high quality player.

"Gravely is a very offensive-minded guy who played out of position last year (at shortstop). He's an outfielder by trade. We love the way he swings a bat, so we have to find him a place in the lineup."

Isom called the three veteran pitchers — Casoli, Davis and Varteressian — "a great start to our pitching staff; very legitimate Frontier League players."

Snaring Batkoski

Casoli was excited to sign with the Beach Bums. He said he had hoped to be "part of the whole experience" as far back as last summer, when he began hearing about the excitement that was building in Traverse City.

He was impressed with Isom, liked the players that Ice had signed and was keeping a close eye on the transaction wire.

Then came the announcement that really turned his head — the Beach Bums had won the rights to sweet-swinging third baseman Nick Batkoski, who was the league's Rookie of the Year in 2005.

"Not to disrespect any of our other guys, but I faced Batkoski last year and I knew that guy could hit," Casoli said. "He can hit and he can really pick it, and he played out of position last year (at second base).

"When his name popped up, I was pretty excited."

Up the middle

Isom's next priority was finding a center fielder, two quality middle infielders and a catcher to replace Sanguinetti. And he was more interested in defensive ability than hitting stats.

"I build my teams around defense," Isom said. "I get all kinds of calls from people spouting off stats of this guy and that guy, but they need to get it done defensively. We have to be strong up the middle."

Center fielder Doug Garcia came first and was "a no-brainer," Isom said. Garcia, who had played for Isom with the Washington Wild Things in 2003, who went as high as AAA in the Texas Rangers' farm system, but visa problems had kept the Venezuelan out of the states for two years.

"That's an example of how committed the Wuerfels are to winning," Isom said. "Visas are always a headache. But Leslye dove in and got it done. They said, 'Find the players you want. If they'll help us win, we'll get the visas.' "

Next, Isom landed shortstop Justin Holmes, who was a rookie in the South Atlantic League last summer. Isom put a lot of stock in a call he received from legendary coach and scout Tom Emanski, whose video series on television touts the building of "back to back to back national champions." Holmes appeared on those videos as a teenager. He's No. 13.

"(Holmes) had great numbers, but it was Tom's recommendation that convinced me," Isom said. "I figured, 'I'm going to take his word for it.' "

So far, so good. Holmes has already displayed great range and a great glove during camp, not to mention a fun personality that Isom said "keeps everyone loose."

Isom decided to be patient and hope that as spring training drew to a close in Florida and Arizona and major league organizations cut their rosters, quality players would become available to independent league teams like the Bums. He scored — big time.

The right (and left) stuff

Before long, the Beach Bums had their second baseman, Princeton grad Stephen Young, a great defensive player with ties to Michigan — he played Class A ball for the West Michigan Whitecaps in the Detroit Tigers organization last year.

Left-hander Shaun Parker and righty Robbie McClellan, who will likely sit atop the Bums' starting rotation, came aboard.

Parker, who was being courted by league rival Rockford, was sold on Isom and pitching coach Jared Howton, both lefties like him.

"I played for (major league great) Tommy John at Stanton Island of the New York/Penn League, and I feel more comfortable playing for a pitcher manager," Parker said. "At this point in my career I have to do what I think will help get me to the next level, and I felt it was here with Ice and Howton."

The San Francisco Giants released hard-throwing right-hander Jordan Thomson, coincidentally shortly after he hit Barry Bonds with a pitch during a simulated game. Isom wanted Thomson's bulldog attitude in Traverse City, and now Thomson — a Canadian who like Garcia requires a visa to play in the states — is the Bums' closer

Catchers Kevin Gergel and Clay Blevins followed, as did Steve Shippey, No. 3 in the starting rotation behind McClellan and Parker, and former Minnesota Twins farmhand Marion Knowles, an infielder.

When it was all said and done, 29 players arrived at Wuerfel Park to begin training camp on May 9.

By Wednesday's opener against the defending champion Kalamazoo Kings, that number will sit at 24.

Outlook

The Beach Bums may be a first-year franchise, but to a man, they are optimistic that they can challenge for a Frontier League title.

"We're all excited about the season," said Casoli, No. 4 in the rotation. "We want to get out there and show was we can do."

"We have owners who want to win, the best facilities in the league and a lot of good players," Reese added. "We have no excuses."

Said Chad Cooper, the team's director of media and broadcasting: "This is not an expansion team ... We've brought in experienced players who know how to play the game the right way."

Casoli said the players "already feel like family," which is exactly what Isom likes to hear. He said chemistry is a key factor in the success of any team, especially a first-year club.

"It's very big to me," Isom said. "These guys play 96 games in 104 days. They're together a lot. Everybody has their quarrels, but what I like to see is that they really like being together. They hang out together outside the ballpark, and they're back here at noon for a 4 o'clock workout."

So can the Bums make a run at a crown? Isom is careful not to make any predictions.

"I'll go out on a limb and say we probably have one of the most experienced rosters — as far as professional experience goes — in the league," he said. "Does that translate into wins? I hope so. In the past it certainly has."