Bill White
Jim Edmonds
SPRING TRAINING CAN OFFER ITS SHARE OF SURPRISES By BILL BALLEW
Chris Carpenter Contrary to popular belief, rare are the times when unknown players emerge from out of nowhere during spring training to earn a spot on the big league roster. Two of the biggest fairy tale-type stories involve outfielder Mickey Mantle with the New York Yankees in Phoenix in 1951 and a quarter-century later when pitcher Mark Fidrych caught Detroit by storm by earning a job with the Tigers in Lakeland. Cardinals fans may remember an equally extraordinary situation that unfolded in Jupiter in 2001 when a 21-year-old player who went by the first name of Jose at the time amazed St. Louis general manager Walt Jocketty and manager Tony La Russa with his ability to make consistently hard contact at the plate. This youngster entered camp having been drafted the previous year in the 13th round out of Maple Wood Community College and his professional experience consisted of 133 games split between the Midwest, Carolina, and Pacific Coast leagues. Yet every time this right-handed hitter received
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