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Sunday, April 3, 2016
Kevin Cron and Jake Barrett after their win in the Diamondbacks game against the Rangers at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick on March 19. [David Jolkovski/Tribune]
COVER STORY
DREAM CHASERS
On Opening Day, East Valley pro players await call to ‘The Show’ BY JASON P. SKODA TRIBUNE
C
J Cron is known as a patient hitter. In his major league career, the former Mountain Pointe High School star has seen 3.81 pitches per plate appearance, which is about the major league average. His length of stay in the minor leagues, however, required less patience compared to most professional ballplayers. Cron was selected quickly in the first round of the 2011 Major League Baseball draft. He became a Los Angeles Angel in May 2014 when he had three hits in his debut — a dream realized, a dream still alive. He will be back in “The Show” again this year when the
Angels open their season Tuesday against the Chicago Cubs. For every Cron, though, there are thousands of hopeful baseball players in their teens and early 20s who never will play in the major leagues. Joey Curletta, a Dodgers’ prospect and Mountain Pointe graduate, doesn’t want to become one of them. He remained behind when the team broke Arizona camp this spring, adding his name to the list of an estimated 4,500 minor leaguers playing today. Major League Baseball employs 750, many of whom will be on the fields and in the dugouts today — Opening Day.
The odds are stacked against the dreamers. It’s going on four years since Curletta, 22, was drafted in the sixth round by the Dodgers. He opted to go pro at 18 rather than head to the University of Arizona. His mother, Jennie Curletta, wonders sometimes whether that was the right move. “You start questioning things, especially when they are struggling,” she said. “I wanted him to go to college first and be a normal kid, but he decided to go to the Dodgers. All of sudden he is thrust into a man’s work at age 18, and they have to handle themselves. “I have to admit there were times where I was like: ‘Why did I let my son do this?’” See Dreams on page 4