Okay, here's a story I want you guys to know. For the record, this is a true story.
Travis Garcia started out playing for the New York Mets' farm system for a couple of years, with the Brooklyn Cyclones (Single-A) being one of those teams. This was like some time in the earlier 2000's, and for some reason, Travis wasn't impressing the higher ups in the Mets organization, so he ended up being cut from his last minor league team there.
Now we're in 2005, and he goes to Spring Training competing for a roster spot with the now defunct Ohio Valley Redcoats in the Frontier League. The FL is an independent baseball league that serves as a second chance for players who got released by affiliated minor league teams. Travis is successful. He ends up not only getting a roster spot for the Redcoats, but he would be the starting third baseman there as well.
Well, here's one note I have to point out. In the 2005 season, the Ohio Valley Redcoats really didn't have anywhere to call home, so they spent most of that season riding on the team bus. Yes, their home was basically that bus. The Redcoats split time between Lorain, Ohio, Marietta, Ohio, and Lafayette, Indiana for home games, but the turnouts for those games were terrible. So yes, Travis had to go through grueling bus trips from place to place.
Now let's go to 2006, and at this point, the Ohio Valley Redcoats and the Mid-Missouri Mavericks would disband and cease to exist. The Frontier League held a dispersal draft that allowed the remaining 10 teams to pick up players from the disbanded teams. Travis wasn't selected by my hometown team, the Chillicothe Paints, but the Paints made a trade to get Travis. He was selected by the Windy City Thunderbolts and it took, by FL standards, a blockbuster trade to get Travis over here.
I myself started to go to Chillicothe Paints baseball games late in the 2005 season. Things were chaotic at home for me and there were issues surrounding my family. For whatever reason, these baseball games helped ease everything that was going on back at home. I was immediately hooked to my hometown team after seeing my very first Paints game on my birthday on August 16th, 2005. I remember that date well...we played the Gateway Grizzlies on that day, and we beat them. Little did I know that that game would start something more important for me.
In 2006, Travis was the shortstop for the Paints, and he did a great job that year. He helped lead my hometown team to the Frontier league Championship Series that year. No, we didn't win it all, even though I was hoping we would, but this was still a great year to be a baseball fan in Chillicothe. Travis played a big part in our run that year. He was seeing the ball well all that year. The fact is though, he wasn't the team leader. Another player, who was really beloved by Paints fans while he was here, John Ramistella, was the team leader.
From 2007 and on, things would really pick up for both Travis and myself. I was offered to become a blog correspondent for my hometown team, reporting on the games that I see and to report on any interesting side stories or issues that surrounded the Frontier League. I have been a correspondent for my hometown team since 2007, so I have been witing articles for some time now.
Travis and I started talking to each other in '07, and it all started with my introduction to him saying trhat I was a blog correspondent. We would soon become friends. We weren't just "baseball player talks to baseball fan and not much happens yada yada...", we became buddies. We would talk about certain things, and some things didn't even involve baseball all together.
The Paints would never get closer to the FL Champiosnhip trophy again, as I will soon explain later. 2007 was a down year for the Paints. We had a new manager come to town, and in my opinion, he was one of the reasons for our fall from respectablity in the league, and he clearly changed everything about our team. The changes were something that I often would question, but I went along with it. The changes didn't affect Travis though, as he was still doing such a great job at the plate and with the glove on defense. John Ramistella was no longer on the team at this point, so Travis Garcia became the team leader for the Paints.
If you thought that 2007 was bad, then 2008 kinda defined the phrase "Well, that sucks." The Chillicothe Paints were the third worst team in all of the Frontier League in 2008. We just couldn't get many wins. Period. We were slumping a whole lot through road trips that did take their toll on some of our players. It was bad enough that our team just weren't winning games that year, but then later on during that season, I come to find out that the Paints couldn't financially compete in the Frontier league anymore. Chillicothe became the smallest market in the FL by far. The lack of attendance kept stinking up the place, and every other team in the league pretty much had new stadiums that could support the times. We have an old and classic ballpark that was built in 1954. Trust me, it's a gem.
Travis and I continued to be good freiends, and so much so that we ended up being like brothers for each other. We would often talk about the Christian faith, as we are both Christians, about our families, about anything interesting or cool happening in video games, or what's on TV, or even touchy subjects (guy talk). I was still going through some problems with other family members, and this was when my deadbeat dad finally showed up to see me after not seeing me willingly for TEN years. I was talking to Travis about some of these pressing issues, and he would often give me advice. He even said that some of the fan letters that I gave to him touched him, and that made m day.
In 2008, Travis didn't have anything left to prove in the Frontier League, and I could tell that he would have to move on if he ever wanted to get back to affiliated baseball. Late in that year, Travis would get signed by the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs of the independent Atlantic League. The Atlantic League is a higher up indy league that's of better quality than the Frontier League. During his last ever game here in Chillicothe as a Paint last year, he would end up getting his number (24) retired, and there would be a black cardboard jersey with his number and name to symbolize it, hanging on of the lightposts of the stadium.
So let's go to this year, 2009. What would happen here? Travis continued to be a huge force at the plate and with the glove with Blue Crabs. He just didn't miss a beat with his new team. He did an amazing job in a higher up indy baseball league, a league that's probably one of the best of its kind. Travis would lead the Blue Crabs in overall offense, making him a valuable player and of course, a team leader there. Travis even got a look from the Atlanta Braves organization and tried out for Brave officials, but didn't get signed.
Recently, I was informed that Travis did get picked up by a major league organization. The Seattle Mariners have signed Travis Garcia and he will be reporting to their Double-A team, the West Tennessee Diamond Jaxx as soon as tomorrow. This is what Travis has been shooting for all along, to get back to affiliated baseball and to hopefully make it to the big leagues one day. Travis is getting his second chance, and somehow I could say that I was one of the reasons why Travis didn't quit playing the game he loved, because I kept encouraging him. I kept talking to him and hanging out with him, and I guess that alone was enough to help him get by. Now he may have a chance to put on a Seattle Mariners jersey if all goes well for him.
Travis Garcia has been an all-star everywhere he's been:
2005: Ohio Valley Redcoats
- Voted to FL All-Star Game as a third baseman
- Voted as Post-season all-star at third base
2006-2008: Chillicothe Paints
- Made an appearance in the 2006 FL Championship Series
- Voted into the FL All-Star game all three years as a shortstop
- Voted as Post-season all-star at shortsop for each of those 3 years
2009: Southern Maryland Blue Crabs
- Voted into the Atlantic League All-Star Game as a shortstop
2009-?: West Tennessee Diamond Jaxx (Seattle Mariners Double-A)
Travis Garcia started out playing for the New York Mets' farm system for a couple of years, with the Brooklyn Cyclones (Single-A) being one of those teams. This was like some time in the earlier 2000's, and for some reason, Travis wasn't impressing the higher ups in the Mets organization, so he ended up being cut from his last minor league team there.
Now we're in 2005, and he goes to Spring Training competing for a roster spot with the now defunct Ohio Valley Redcoats in the Frontier League. The FL is an independent baseball league that serves as a second chance for players who got released by affiliated minor league teams. Travis is successful. He ends up not only getting a roster spot for the Redcoats, but he would be the starting third baseman there as well.
Well, here's one note I have to point out. In the 2005 season, the Ohio Valley Redcoats really didn't have anywhere to call home, so they spent most of that season riding on the team bus. Yes, their home was basically that bus. The Redcoats split time between Lorain, Ohio, Marietta, Ohio, and Lafayette, Indiana for home games, but the turnouts for those games were terrible. So yes, Travis had to go through grueling bus trips from place to place.
Now let's go to 2006, and at this point, the Ohio Valley Redcoats and the Mid-Missouri Mavericks would disband and cease to exist. The Frontier League held a dispersal draft that allowed the remaining 10 teams to pick up players from the disbanded teams. Travis wasn't selected by my hometown team, the Chillicothe Paints, but the Paints made a trade to get Travis. He was selected by the Windy City Thunderbolts and it took, by FL standards, a blockbuster trade to get Travis over here.
I myself started to go to Chillicothe Paints baseball games late in the 2005 season. Things were chaotic at home for me and there were issues surrounding my family. For whatever reason, these baseball games helped ease everything that was going on back at home. I was immediately hooked to my hometown team after seeing my very first Paints game on my birthday on August 16th, 2005. I remember that date well...we played the Gateway Grizzlies on that day, and we beat them. Little did I know that that game would start something more important for me.
In 2006, Travis was the shortstop for the Paints, and he did a great job that year. He helped lead my hometown team to the Frontier league Championship Series that year. No, we didn't win it all, even though I was hoping we would, but this was still a great year to be a baseball fan in Chillicothe. Travis played a big part in our run that year. He was seeing the ball well all that year. The fact is though, he wasn't the team leader. Another player, who was really beloved by Paints fans while he was here, John Ramistella, was the team leader.
From 2007 and on, things would really pick up for both Travis and myself. I was offered to become a blog correspondent for my hometown team, reporting on the games that I see and to report on any interesting side stories or issues that surrounded the Frontier League. I have been a correspondent for my hometown team since 2007, so I have been witing articles for some time now.
Travis and I started talking to each other in '07, and it all started with my introduction to him saying trhat I was a blog correspondent. We would soon become friends. We weren't just "baseball player talks to baseball fan and not much happens yada yada...", we became buddies. We would talk about certain things, and some things didn't even involve baseball all together.
The Paints would never get closer to the FL Champiosnhip trophy again, as I will soon explain later. 2007 was a down year for the Paints. We had a new manager come to town, and in my opinion, he was one of the reasons for our fall from respectablity in the league, and he clearly changed everything about our team. The changes were something that I often would question, but I went along with it. The changes didn't affect Travis though, as he was still doing such a great job at the plate and with the glove on defense. John Ramistella was no longer on the team at this point, so Travis Garcia became the team leader for the Paints.
If you thought that 2007 was bad, then 2008 kinda defined the phrase "Well, that sucks." The Chillicothe Paints were the third worst team in all of the Frontier League in 2008. We just couldn't get many wins. Period. We were slumping a whole lot through road trips that did take their toll on some of our players. It was bad enough that our team just weren't winning games that year, but then later on during that season, I come to find out that the Paints couldn't financially compete in the Frontier league anymore. Chillicothe became the smallest market in the FL by far. The lack of attendance kept stinking up the place, and every other team in the league pretty much had new stadiums that could support the times. We have an old and classic ballpark that was built in 1954. Trust me, it's a gem.
Travis and I continued to be good freiends, and so much so that we ended up being like brothers for each other. We would often talk about the Christian faith, as we are both Christians, about our families, about anything interesting or cool happening in video games, or what's on TV, or even touchy subjects (guy talk). I was still going through some problems with other family members, and this was when my deadbeat dad finally showed up to see me after not seeing me willingly for TEN years. I was talking to Travis about some of these pressing issues, and he would often give me advice. He even said that some of the fan letters that I gave to him touched him, and that made m day.
In 2008, Travis didn't have anything left to prove in the Frontier League, and I could tell that he would have to move on if he ever wanted to get back to affiliated baseball. Late in that year, Travis would get signed by the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs of the independent Atlantic League. The Atlantic League is a higher up indy league that's of better quality than the Frontier League. During his last ever game here in Chillicothe as a Paint last year, he would end up getting his number (24) retired, and there would be a black cardboard jersey with his number and name to symbolize it, hanging on of the lightposts of the stadium.
So let's go to this year, 2009. What would happen here? Travis continued to be a huge force at the plate and with the glove with Blue Crabs. He just didn't miss a beat with his new team. He did an amazing job in a higher up indy baseball league, a league that's probably one of the best of its kind. Travis would lead the Blue Crabs in overall offense, making him a valuable player and of course, a team leader there. Travis even got a look from the Atlanta Braves organization and tried out for Brave officials, but didn't get signed.
Recently, I was informed that Travis did get picked up by a major league organization. The Seattle Mariners have signed Travis Garcia and he will be reporting to their Double-A team, the West Tennessee Diamond Jaxx as soon as tomorrow. This is what Travis has been shooting for all along, to get back to affiliated baseball and to hopefully make it to the big leagues one day. Travis is getting his second chance, and somehow I could say that I was one of the reasons why Travis didn't quit playing the game he loved, because I kept encouraging him. I kept talking to him and hanging out with him, and I guess that alone was enough to help him get by. Now he may have a chance to put on a Seattle Mariners jersey if all goes well for him.
Travis Garcia has been an all-star everywhere he's been:
2005: Ohio Valley Redcoats
- Voted to FL All-Star Game as a third baseman
- Voted as Post-season all-star at third base
2006-2008: Chillicothe Paints
- Made an appearance in the 2006 FL Championship Series
- Voted into the FL All-Star game all three years as a shortstop
- Voted as Post-season all-star at shortsop for each of those 3 years
2009: Southern Maryland Blue Crabs
- Voted into the Atlantic League All-Star Game as a shortstop
2009-?: West Tennessee Diamond Jaxx (Seattle Mariners Double-A)
Last edited by codeorange on July 5th 2009, 2:40 pm; edited 3 times in total
