Independent Baseball Find Pete Parise on Rapid Climb With Cardinals; Millar Also Among 18 Invitees

With the start of spring training only two weeks away, the gap has narrowed somewhat between one year ago and 2010 in the number of former Independent players invited to major league camps as non-roster players. It still is a significant decline, though, with only 18 identified as of now compared to the 33 who ended up with coveted invitations one year ago.  The major difference so far is in the ranks of pitchers with seven invitees this spring compared to 18 one year ago.

We spotlighted Chicago Cubs righty Vince Perkins (Camden, NJ, Atlantic League, and Joliet, IL (Northern League) earlier, but there is a feeling the beacon also may shine on one who started his pro career in Independent circles.  Pete Parise, who made the transition from the outfield to the mound out of the University of Pittsburgh as he broke in with Slippery Rock, PA (Frontier League), has made a rapid climb in two and a half years through the St. Louis Cardinals farm system.

The 25-year-old righthander, now pitching in the Caribbean Series, was outstanding in the Triple-A playoffs in September while closing for Memphis, and will have a chance to show his mid-90s fastball, slider and two developing pitches to Cardinals Manager Tony LaRussa and Pitching Coach Dave Duncan.

Kevin Millar, the 12-year vet and almost certainly the most successful find out of an Independent league in its 17-year history, is in the non-roster ranks with the Cubs, trying to build on his 170 major league home runs and 1,284 hits at the age of 38.

Atlantic League Well Represented in Caribbean Series

Atlantic League Executive Director Joe Klein and the league’s Latin coordinator, Ellie Rodriguez, cannot help but be pretty happy with the way the Caribbean Series is playing out, especially with the higher profile it is getting in the United States because of the MLB Network’s heavy coverage of the climax to the winter baseball season.

We have identified 10 former Independent players on the four rosters, with eight of them either currently or previously wearing Atlantic League uniforms.  New York Mets pitcher Nelson Figueroa, who played briefly for Long Island, NY in 2006, has been one of the early stars, throwing a complete-game, three-hit, one-run game for the Dominican Republic. Ducks Pitching Coach and 2009 closer Bill Simas (27 saves) is pitching for Puerto Rico.

The other Atlantic Leaguers are first baseman Willis Otanez (Bridgeport, CT and Newark, NJ), pitchers Heath Totten (York, PA) and Bill Pulsipher (Long Island), Jason Simontacchi (Bridgeport and Long Island) and outfielders Michael Ryan and Nelson Teilon, both of Somerset, NJ. Pulsipher spent a chunk of ’09 with Winnipeg in the Northern League while Teilon also has played in the Can-Am League (North Shore, Lynn, MA), the American Association (Fort Worth, TX) and United League (Edinburg, TX). Ryan will be in spring training with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

Pete Parise (see story above) and outfielder Erold Andrus (Florence, KY) have played in the Frontier League.

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Cory Snyder Confident of Daughter’s Recovery

This corner got a taste of the amazing resolve of the Cory Snyder family today.  It was only minutes after I placed a call to the major league outfielder of the ‘80s and ‘90s and the current manager of the new Maui team in the Golden League when the phone rang and I heard the pleasant voice on the other end announce himself as Cory Snyder.

For those of you who may not be up to date, Snyder’s teenage daughter Amberley, the reigning champion of the Little Britches (18 and under) World All-Around Cowgirl competition, was in a terrible one-car accident last month while on her way to the National Western Stock Show in Denver and is paralyzed from the waist down.

Snyder described Amberley’s spirit as “unbelieveable” and said “I have no doubt she will walk and ride a horse again.  She has a lot of my drive.”  The 18-year-old, whose spinal cord was smashed but not severed, has regained some feeling as low as her thighs as she undergoes therapy in the family’s home state of Utah.

Expenses started mounting immediately since insurance would not cover the air travel back to Utah, so a fund has been set up by family friend Jason Taylor whereby anyone able to donate may do so at www.AmberleySnyder.com.

(This is an excerpt from the column Bob Wirz writes on Independent Baseball.  Fans may subscribe at www.WirzandAssociates.com, enjoy his blog, www.IndyBaseballChatter.com, or comment to RWirz@aol.com.  The author has 16 years of major league baseball public relations experience with Kansas City and as spokesman for two Commissioners and lives in Stratford, CT.)