Andrean, Saint Joseph’s College grad Jaworski GM for Daytona Tortugas

By STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

Jim Jaworski took a piece of his northwest Indiana upbringing and his love for baseball with him to sunny Florida. 

Born in Merrillville, Ind., Jaworski few up in Crown  Point, Ind., attended St. John The Evangelist School in Saint John, Ind., for grades 1-8 then graduated from Andrean High School in Merrillville in 2003 and Saint Joseph’s College in Rensselaer, Ind., in 2007.

Primarily a catcher in high school, Jaworski was a catcher, outfield, first baseman and designated hitter over his four college seasons while majoring in Mass Communications and minoring in Business.

“I’ve been very fortunate with the coaches I’ve had,” says Jaworski, who played for Dave Pishkur at Andrean and Rick O’Dette at Saint Joseph. Jaworski was a Pumas assistant on O’Dette’s staff in 2008. 

Pishkur, who picked up his 1,000th career victory and surpassed LaPorte legend Ken Schreiber to become Indiana’s all-time coaching wins leader in 2019, has led the 59ers to eight state championships (2004, 2005, 2009, 2010, 2014, 2015, 2018, 2019).

O’Dette has amassed more than 500 NCAA Divison II victories in 20 seasons — 17 at Saint Joseph’s and three at Saint Leo (Fla.) University.

When Saint Joe closed its doors after the 2017 season, O’Dette landed at Saint Leo, which means he is a couple hours’ drive from Jaworski. 

“Our relationship goes pretty deep,” says Jaworski of Coach O. “His kids were in my wedding — all that stuff.”

Jim and wife Stephanie Jaworski are expecting their first child in March 2021.

Other SJC alums (#ForeverPumas) cling to their alma mater while they’ve also adopted Saint Leo and have been known to show up at Saint Leo game pre-COVID-19.

“There are a lot of great memories at Gil Hodges Field for sure,” says Jaworski. “It’s a loyal group,” says Jaworski.”

The 2021 season will be Jaworski’s 12th with the Daytona Torturgas, a minor league affiliate since 2015 of the Cincinnati Reds (the team was tied to the Chicago Cubs 1993-2014). Since November 2009, he has been general manager since December 2018.

He has also held the positions of ticket and group sales manager, director of group sales, vice president of business development and assistant general manager while with Daytona.

Jaworski was a media relations intern with the Lakeland (Fla.) Flying Tigers from January to November 2009.

As general manager, Jaworski has a hand in many aspects of operating the Tortugas. There are full-time and seasonal employees.

The cancellation of the 2020 Baseball Winter Meetings have slowed down the hiring process a little, but Jaworski expects internships to begin in January.

Last week, Major League Baseball extended invitations to 120 minor league teams and Reds also reached out to Daytona. The deadline for accepting those invites is Friday, Dec. 18.

“We need to make sure we gather all the information,” says Jaworski. “If make sure that move, it has to be what is best for the fans, city, community and team.

“It’s all about the game of baseball and doing things here in the community,” says Jaworski. “We’re growing the game we all know and love.

“That’s a pretty cool thing.”

It remains to be seen what league and level Daytona will land in for 2021. In recent years, the Tortugas were in the Advanced Class-A Florida State League. Going forward, Minor League Baseball will have Triple-A, Double-A, Advanced-A and Low-A with rookie-level leagues being eliminated or re-cast.

The pandemic wiped out the entire 2020 minor league season at historic Jackie Robinson Ballpark and there have been furloughs, but the team has hosted 50 to 60 events since the end of May. 

There has been everything from movie nights using the video board, small baseball tournaments and showcases on the artificial turf (installed for the 2019 season), a Bob Ross waiting classic, chicken sales, a dance recital, corporate outings and various awards programs for Volusia County schools. A second blood drive is slated to the park Thursday, Dec. 17.

“We utilize the ballpark as much as we can with health and safety being our No. 1 priority,” says Jaworski.

Jackie Robinson Ballpark opened in 1914 and has undergone many renovations over the years. Hall of Famer Robinson played there with Montreal Royals May 17, 1946.

Bethune-Cookman University, a member of the NCAA Division I Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, practices and plays games at Jackie Robinson Ballpark.

Jim Jaworski, a graduate of Andrean High School in Merrillville, Ind., and Saint Joseph’s College in Rensselaer, Ind., is the general manager of the Daytona (Fla.) Tortugas, an affiliate of Major League Baseball’s Cincinnati Reds. (Daytona Tortugas Photo)

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Fort Wayne’s DeJesus recalls amateur, professional roots

By STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

Javier DeJesus was born in Puerto Rico, shined on the high school diamonds of Texas and excelled collegiately in Louisiana.

Drafted by the Minnesota Twins, his professional baseball career put DeJesus in Fort Wayne, Ind., in 1994.

The former left-handed pitcher has been around the Summit City most of the time since toeing the rubber for the Fort Wayne Wizards (now known as the Fort Wayne TinCaps).

Javi met a local girl (Deborah), fell in love, got married and had three sons (Damon, Jordan and Evan) while staying close to his favorite game.

DeJesus’ day job as a health care administator keeps him busy, but he still has time to teach lessons at The Diamond Baseball and Softball Academy, where Manny Lopez is director of baseball operations.

Javi DeJesus helps coach Fort Wayne Diamondbacks travel teams featuring Jordan (14U DeJesus) and Evan (12U). Damon DeJesus, who played at Indiana University South Bend and in the independent Empire League, is the 14U head coach.

DeJesus and former WOWO radio personality Charly Butcher founded the Fort Wayne Cubs, which later became the Diamondbacks.

Born in Ponce, P.R., DeJesus moved to Moss Bluff, La., as a boy then Beaumont, Texas, where he was one of only two sophomores to play varsity baseball at West Brook Senior High School (catcher Jason Smith, who went on to the University of Texas-Arlington and the Colorado Rockies organization, was the other).

It was as a 10th grader that DeJesus caught the attention of University of Southwestern Louisiana assistant coach Emrick Jagneaux.

“He said, ‘once you get this thing figured out with the curveball, I’ll come back and pick you up,’” says DeJesus of Jagneaux. “He was true to his word.”

DeJesus went to USL (now known as the University of Louisiana-Lafayette) and went 23-1 in three seasons (1990-92) for the Mike Boulanger-coached Ragin’ Cajuns. 

One of his signature victories was a complete game at Mississippi State University in 1991. That team was coached by American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Famer Ron Polk and inside rowdy and intimidating Dudy Noble Field.

The lefty was 22-0 as a starter. He came on in relief against Oregon State University and three crucial errors led to his only college setback.

In his three seasons, the Ragin’ Cajuns went 47-18, 49-20 and 38-23 and won two American South Conference titles and a Sun Belt Conference West crown. 

DeJesus won 13 games for Southwest Louisiana in 1992, was an All-American, co-Sun Belt Pitcher of the Year and selected to Team Puerto Rico. An elbow injury suffered during the Olympic Trials kept him from going to the Barcelona Games, where first-time Olympic baseball qualifier Puerto Rico placed fifth.

In the summer of 1990, DeJesus played American Legion Baseball in Louisiana for McNeese State University head coach Tony Robichaux and assistant Todd Butler.

Robichaux was head coach at Louisiana-Lafayette 1995-2019 (he died after the 2019 season) and won more than 1,100 games in his 33-year career.

The Twins selected DeJesus in the 17th round of the 1992 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft.

He got into just two games in 1992 then went 9-0 at rookie-level Elizabethton, Tenn., in 1993. 

Ray Smith was the Elizabethton manager.

“He’s one of the nicest overall men that has ever graced us with his presence,” says DeJesus of Smith. “His philosophy was very simple: Show us what you can do.”

DeJesus remembers that Smith was very mild-mannered until the morning after an Appalachian League playoff loss at Bluefield, Va., that saw the team get extra-boisterous at the hotel.

Let’s just say the Twins were chewed out before riding back to Tennessee.

Playing at Low Class-A Fort Wayne in 1994, DeJesus encountered manager Jim Dwyer and pitching coach Stew Cliburn.

It was in Fort Wayne that DeJesus, who was in the bullpen at old Memorial Stadium, witnessed the first professional home run for 18-year-old Alex Rodriguez. 

DeJesus can still see the hanging slider by Shane Bowers, who had a cup of coffee with the 1997 Twins, that A-Rod popped for the Appleton Foxes.

Southpaw DeJesus was 5-2 with two saves, a 0.93 earned run average, 55 strikeouts and 13 walks in 38 2/3 innings at Fort Wayne and was at Double-A Nashville briefly before injury cut his season short.

DeJesus recalls that a Nashville TV station aired a lengthy piece about his injury. Xpress manager Phil Roof and pitching coach Rick Anderson were complimentary, saying how the lefty had the make-up to be a top-flight closer or set-up man. 

“My fastball never came back after surgery,” says DeJesus.

After four games at Double-A New Britain, Conn., in 1995, DeJesus spent parts of that season and all of 1996 in independent pro ball with the Alexandria (La.) Aces and the Rio Grande Valley White Wings in Harlingen, Texas.

DeJesus was with Alexandria again in 1997 and hooked on with the Chicago Cubs system, going 3-1 in eight games in 1997 and 5-5 in 1998 — both for High Class-A Daytona, Fla.

Stan Cliburn, twin brother of Stew and Alexandria manager in 1997, fondly recalls DeJesus.

“Great competitor and a winner when he toed the pitchers mound!,” says Cliburn. “Class act.”

Ricky VanAsselberg, who is now the general manager/field manager of the Acadiana Cane Cutters summer collegiate team in Lafayette, La., was an Alexandria teammate.

“I love Javi,” says VanAsselberg. “What a great guy. Great competitor.

“Warrior on the mound.”

It was Alan Dunn, Daytona pitching coach in 1997, that DeJesus learned the 3-2-1 pitch sequencing method that he employs with his young players to this day.

“He showed me that concept and it’s made a world of difference,” says DeJesus. “It gives you the opportunity to be your own pitching coach.”

The method begins with 12 pitches to various parts of the strike zone — inside and outside — and allows the pitcher to evaluate where is more or less consistent, where he is improving or regressing and where his mechanics can be altered to effect the release point.

DeJesus, who likes to take to Twitter to debunk modern training philosophy, is not a big fan of speed for speed’s sake.

“Look at players’ heart,” says DeJesus. “That can’t be quantified. They don’t play for numbers.

“Velocity is king now. To me that’s not pitching. That’s measurables. You have to integrate velocity and command. 

“If you have no clue where it’s going, what’s the purpose of training.”

When teaching his sons to hit, DeJesus has spent time listening to hitting coaches and it’s also helped him as pitching instructor.

“The more I know about hitting, the more I can help pitchers,” says DeJesus. “We can expose weaknesses.”

Puerto Rico-born Jose Santiago, a former big league pitcher and Daytona’s pitching coach in 1998, tried to get DeJesus to become a coach in the Cubs organization.

“I thought I still had some games to play,” says DeJesus. “I wanted to retire on my own terms and not someone else’s.”

The final three pro seasons for DeJesus were spent in independent ball — Nashua (N.H.) Pride in 1999, Lehigh Valley (Pa.) Black Diamonds in 2000 and Alexandria Aces in 2001.

The 2000 season is memorable because it wound up with the team living in tents when bankruptcy proceedings got them thrown out of area hotels.

New Orleans native Kim Batiste, who played on the Philadelphia Phillies World Series team in 1993, cooked for his teammates.

It was also in the Atlantic League that DeJesus got a valuable baseball lesson thanks to former big league slugger Ruben Sierra.

During a pro career that spanned 1983-2006, Puerto Rican Sierra was with the Atlantic City Surf in 1999 and rapped a few offerings from Nashua’s DeJesus.

Baseball lifer Doc Edwards was the Atlantic City manager. 

“Those are the guys who taught me how to pitch,” says DeJesus, who got a chance to talk baseball with those men deep into the night. “The conversation got me to understand what it is to pitch.

“Today, too many pitchers don’t call their own pitches. They don’t get to think for themselves.”

Javier DeJesus and his sons are involved with the Fort Wayne (Ind.) Diamondbacks travel baseball organization.

Javier DeJesus was an All-American baseball player at Southwestern Louisiana University (now known as the University of Louisville-Lafayette).

Javier DeJesus with the Elizabethton (Tenn.) Twins (Classic Best Image).

Javier DeJesus with the Rio Grande Valley White Wings.

Javier DeJesus with the Fort Wayne (Ind.) Wizards (Fleer Image).

Javier DeJesus with the Fort Wayne (Ind.) Wizards (Fleer Image).

Javier DeJesus with the Fort Wayne (Ind.) Wizards (Fleer Image).

Baseball Hall of Famer Trevor Hoffman (left) meets with Javier DeJesus. The latter played 10 years in pro baseball and lives in Fort Wayne, Ind.

Patience is virtue for new South Bend Cubs manager, pro baseball vet Bailey

BY STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

Buddy Bailey is heading into his 40th season in professional baseball in 2019.

The new manager of the South Bend (Ind.) Cubs in the Low Class-A Midwest League is aware that his players are still discovering what pro ball is all about.

With most players 19 to 22 years old and in the earliest stages of their careers, they are not finished products and Major League Baseball-ready.

“Down here it’s going to take more patience,” says Bailey, who has been a skipper at levels from rookie to Triple-A and was the manager of the year in the International League Manager in 1996 and 2003 and Venezuelan Professional Baseball League in 2006-07. “There are going to be more mistakes.

“I’ve got a motto: If you’re not patient, you will become a patient. You’ve got to live by that motto and try to find a way to help them get better.”

South Bend is scheduled to play a seven-inning exhibition against Notre Dame at 6 p.m. Wednesday, April 3 at Four Winds Field.

The 140-game regular season opens at home Thursday, April 4 with a 7:05 p.m. contest against West Michigan.

“A lot of these guys have big dreams and ambitions to put up good numbers,” says Bailey. “Some of them won’t be here long if they do things right.

“If we have half of a new team by June, it would be great for the (Chicago Cubs) organization.”

Bailey, who was born in Norristown, Pa. and went to high school and college in Virginia, says he has stayed in baseball so long because he sees it as an extension of his childhood and relishes the opportunity to turn young players into men with a kids’s heart.

“I still have passion and love for what I do,” says Bailey, who has won more than 2,000 games as a minor league manager. “Not all of them are going to be big league players, but at the same time, they’re going to have to go live their lives doing something else.

“Hopefully, you find some ways to build character — not only as a player, but you turn them into men.”

In four decades, plenty has changed in the world of player development.

Bailey says pitching is where it’s changed the most.

“Back then pitch totals were higher even in the minor leagues,” says Bailey. “Guys were allowed to collect more innings.”

Bailey recalls that Tom Glavine, who was on his way to 305 MLB wins and a trip to the Hall of Fame, pitched more than 150 innings (it was 168 2/3) in A-ball in 1985.

“We won’t have anyone get to that now,” says Bailey of the 2019 South Bend Cubs. Pitch counts and innings totals will be monitored and kept relatively low. “The whole industry’s got that mentality. That’s part of the way it is now. The game has changed.”

Welby Sheldon Bailey is a graduate of Amherst (Va.) County High School and Lynchburg (Va.) College.

A catcher, he signed his first pro contract with the Atlanta Braves in 1979.

Bailey managed in the Braves system 1983-90, winning the Southern League pennant as pilot of the Greenville Braves in 1988.

He went to the Boston Red Sox organization in 1991 and served as a minor league manager at Lynchburg (1991-92) and Pawtucket (1993-96, 2002-04) and served as a big league bench coach (2000 under manager Jimy Williams) and was a field coordinator of minor league instruction, or roving catcher instructor (1997-99, 2001).

Bailey has also led the Tigres de Aragua of the Venezuela Winter League, leading the team to a Caribbean Series title in 2009.

He joined the Cubs organization in 2006 as a roving minor league catching instructor and took over as manager at Daytona midway through that season.

Since then, Bailey has managed at Triple-A Iowa (2007), Double-A Tennessee (2008, 2012-15), High-A Daytona (2009-11) and High-A Myrtle Beach (2016-18).

Bailey’s South Bend staff includes pitching coach Jamie Vermilyea, hitting coach Paul McAnulty and coach Pedro Gonzalez.

Buddy Bailey is the manager of the Low Class-A South Bend (Ind.) Cubs in 2019. He spent the past three seasons as manager of the High-A Myrtle Beach (S.C.) Pelicans. He has been in professional baseball for 40 years. (Myrtle Beach Pelicans Photo)