SITTING WITH SCOUTS

Today we return with part two of our video chat with Camden Riversharks catcher Matt Ceriani. Yes, it’s much shorter, I promise.

You can read all about him in the post below this, but here we resume our chat with the reason why he turned down an offer to star in one of the European versions of the reality TV hit “The Bachelor,” and what reality show he’d like to create for the Travel Channel if given the chance:

By the way, remember when we had our last two-part “Queen of Diamonds” video entry and chatted with York Revs pitcher Corey Thurman here? http://lisawinston.tumblr.com/post/697842504/coming-to-a-movieplex-near-you#disqus_thread

Well, the film “How Do You Know” has now been slated for a Dec. 17 release and the fall movie preview edition of Entertainment Weekly (the TV/film bible IMHO) calls it an early front-runner in the Oscar race. Here is a trailer for it … I’ve already got Dec. 17 circled on my calendar!

http://www.monstersandcritics.com/movies/news/article_1577379.php/New-trailer-for-James-L-Brooks-rom-com-How-Do-You-Know-hits

Let me preface this by saying that normally I would take an 18-minute interview and find a way to cut it down … a lot.

But in the case of Camden Riversharks catcher Matt Ceriani, I decided to simply split it into to segments over two days. He’s just that great.

No, he’s not a home run champion or a former major leaguer or a top prospect.

He’s just a guy with such remarkable charisma, passion, exuberance, humor and positivity that you can’t help but fall in love with him. Seriously. Okay, if you’re a guy, maybe it will just be a man-crush. But ladies, he is single. Put a ring on him. (And find out why he’s still single at the end of this first segment).

If I had had my act together — and he’d been in the Atlantic League at the time — Ceriani would have been a perfect topic to write about for Independence Day.

When the ink dried on the contacts he signed in mid-July with the Camden Riversharks, the Atlantic League marked the eighth — yes, eighth — independent league in which he’s played.

Like the guy Johnny Cash sings about in the Choice Hotel ad campaign — you know, the one with the catchy jingle that goes “I’ve been everywhere, man” — Ceriani may hold the record for the most independent leagues in which he has brought his catchers’ mitt and sparkling personality.

And, he doesn’t hesitate to say, by far his favorite.

“This has been a treat,” he said of his time in the league. “Going from the worst of the bush leagues (note: that would be the Golden Baseball League, if you haven’t watched the video yet) to the best independent baseball in the world. This league reminds me of Double-A or Triple-A.”

He’s also played in a few affiliated circuits, including a monster season in the short-season Pioneer League with Helena, when he hit .302 and led all league catchers in fielding, and only the .324-10-54 numbers posted by Missoula (Diamondbacks) catcher J.D. Closser kept him from earning All-Star honors in his second season as a pro.

He’s done time in the Midwest League (Beloit), California League (High Desert and Mudville, aka Stockton), Southern League (Huntsville) and Texas League (El Paso) and, though it doesn’t show up in his stats, even the Pacific Coast League when he was with the Dbacks’ Tucson squad as a backup but never got into a game.

The well-traveled Ceriani also saw time over the years playing in Italy, the land of his family’s heritage (his dad’s family hails from a small town north of Milan near Lake Como) as well as FOR Team Italy in the 2006 World Baseball Classic. (Here’s a shot of him with the team)

And while he has devoted his life to baseball, both in season and during the winter months as an instructor, he doesn’t see living that life once he finally takes off the gear for good.

He’s not quite sure what he will do, but don’t be surprised if it has something to do with great food, good wine and/or multimedia — or a combination of all of the above.

His most enjoyable off-season job, though not necessarily the most lucrative, is working for the Oakville, Cal.-based winery (though his most unusual job may have been, in 2006, when he worked in an emergency room specializing in craniomaxillofacial trauma where his first — and last — case was a gunshot wound to the face. He admits he almost fainted and the low pay and long hours of minor league baseball suddenly looked a lot better).

He loves a good meal as much as anything, and can give you the inside scoop on where to find the best hidden restaurants in any minor league town, not to mention which clubs have the best concessions. If any producers from the Travel Channel are reading this, tomorrow’s segment will feature his pitch for a series!

And, as you can tell, Ceriani can more than hold his own as the host of a TV show.

Ceriani has also created and maintains a (www.mattcerianibaseball.com) where, for those of you already intrigued, you can check out his classes and instructional DVDs. It’s the home of West Coast Baseball Productions. In the off-season, among other things, he provides private and group catching lessons and has also produced a series of instructional DVDs.

The 33-year-old Ceriani (he shares his Oct. 9 birthday with the late John Lennon) is the epitome of the defensive catcher who will always be able to find a baseball home as long as he wants one for his combination of defensive tools and smarts behind the plate.

He actually kicked off his professional career in his first of what would be eight (yes, eight) independent leagues, playing for the Evansville Otters in the Frontier League in 1998. After hitting .203 in 23 games there, he signed with the Milwaukee Brewers and headed to short-season Helena in the Pioneer League, where he hit .226 in 45 games.

Ceriani returned to Helena in ‘99 and hit .302 while leading all league catchers with a .984 fielding percentage in 57 games, numbers that would have likely earned him All-Star status had Arizona catching prospect J.D. Closser not topped most offensive stat lists that summer.

Over the next few seasons, Ceriani would slowly climb the Brewers ladder as a backup catcher, seeing time in the Cal League’s Stockton club (then known as the Mudville Nine in honor of the poem “Casey at the Bat”) and briefly with Huntsville in the Southern League in 2000, and splitting 2001 between the system’s two Class A clubs at Beloit and High Desert (having moved south from Stockton).

Most of 2002 was spent back in the indies, with the Solano Steelheads of the Western League before he inked late in the season with Arizona and played briefly for their Texas League squad at El Paso.

The 2003 campaign saw Ceriani back at El Paso briefly before he returned to the independent leagues, this time for good, and where he started what would be quite a tour of the nation’s independent league maze.

Over the next few years, he would play for the Alexandria (La.) Aces in the Central League, the Kansas City T-Bones in the Northern League, the Sussex Skyhawks in the Can-Am League, the Amarillo Dillas in the United League and the Chico Outlaws, Edmonton Capitals and the Yuma Scorpions in the Golden Baseball League.

In between his continental travels, Ceriani also spent time overseas playing professionally in Italy for Nettuno.

In fact, Ceriani was with Yuma earlier this season but when the team’s (now ex-) owner was unable to pay the players for several weeks, players were given the option to sign elsewhere.

Thanks to the recommendation of his former Can-Am compatriot Butch Hobson, now the Southern Maryland manager, Ceriani was able to sign on with Camden and he couldn’t be happier.

TUNE IN FOR PART 2 TOMORROW!!!

Our ” Beyond the Boxscore: Getting to Know …” series gives you a chance to learn a little more about some of our players “off the field,” so to speak … what makes them tick, their interests and hobbies, creative outlets and unusual talents. Handled via video interview wherever possible, they bring “the guy” behind the numbers a little closer to the reader/viewer/fan.

In this issue, we chat with York Revolution All-Star first baseman Ian “Blade” Bladergroen.

Though they sit just two games behind the Lancaster Barnstormers in the second half of the Freedom Division race with five weeks to go, it’s still been some tough times these last few weeks for the York Revolution.

The club, which finished with an Atlantic League-worst 53-87 record in 2009, absolutely ripped through the fabric of the Freedom Division this year to cruise to a first-half division title at 40-30 and a spot in the playoffs (you can already get tickets for at least two of their home games, Sept. 22-23, at http://www.yorkrevolution.com).

But the second half has been a little rougher, with temperatures topping 100 degrees on the field more often than not. In the last few days, popular manager Andy Etchebarren has been missing from the dugout due to severe back trouble, and the starting rotation has imploded with the losses of southpaw ace Jesus Sanchez (to Taiwan), Jarod Plummer at least temporarily (his wife is about to give birth at home and he’ll be there for awhile to be a good husband), and recent acquisition Damian Moss as well as relief cog Matt Riley (for family reasons as well).

The responsibility and sense of priority that some of these players departed players have exhibited is a large part of what makes the whole team such a close-knit one — knowing the right thing to do, lack of selfishness, etc.

But it doesn’t make it any easier to deal with the day-to-day action on the field.

Luckily, there has been a big pocket of consistency on York — some pitchers, some players — who have kept morale high and level of play solid.

One such player who has literally cut through the opposing pitching has been All Star first baseman Ian Bladergroen, aka “Blade.”

The native of Albuquerque, New Mexico, originally signed with the New York Mets in 2003 and hit .285 in 74 games at short-season Brooklyn that season. In 2004, he lit up the leader boards the first half of his first full campaign by hitting .342 with 13 home runs and 74 RBI in just 72 games, a .595 slugging percentage, before being sidelined the second half of the season on the DL.

Traded to the Boston Red Sox the following year, injuries derailed what was clearly a promising career and he didn’t return to offensive form, really, until beginning his independent league tenure with the Pennsylvania Road Warriors in 2007. That summer he hit .275 with nine homers and 51 RBI in 76 games.

In 2008, he joined the Lancaster Barnstormers and hit .260 with 15 homers and 51 RBI in 89 games, catching the eye of the Seattle Mariners who signed him and sent him to Class A for the 2009 season, where he hit in the .250 range between Clinton and High Desert, combining for 11 homers and 60 RBI.

Back in the Atlantic League this season, he joined the York club and with six weeks left in the regular season, is on track to enjoy his best season since his Capital City glory days, currently hitting .280 with 13 homers and 59 RBI.

An outstanding defensive first baseman to go with the bat, Bladergroen now lives in Savannah in the off-season with his wife Lauren, whom he met while playing at Capital City (that was a good summer for him in more ways than one).

Our ” Beyond the Boxscore: Getting to Know …” series gives you a chance to learn a little more about some of our players “off the field,” so to speak … what makes them tick, their interests and hobbies, creative outlets and unusual talents. Handled via video interview wherever possible, they bring “the guy” behind the numbers a little closer to the reader/viewer/fan.

In this issue, we chat with Camden Riversharks reliever Beau Vaughan, who is currently on the DL.

One thing you have to know about William “Beau” Vaughan IV. He’s a lot like that game “three truths and a lie.” Only they’re not lies … they’re incredibly dry throwaway jokes. So you can never quite be sure, when you ask him a question, if he’s telling you the truth or pulling every limb you have, so totally deadpan is his delivery.

Did he go to Juilliard? (No.). Does he actually enjoy spending a Saturday night curled up in a hot bubble bath reading “Harry Potter”? (Probably, no). Did he spend most of the signing bonus he received as a third-round pick by the Boston Red Sox (out of Arizona State, not Juilliard) outright on a home down the road from his parents so he’d never have to make another mortgage payment? Yeah, that one is true.

Another one that is true? He would LOVE to go on the reality show “The Amazing Race” with his mom. Not because he’s a huge fan of the show but because he knows it would make his mom the happiest person in the world (tune in at the 5:33 point of the video and let’s see if we can make the “PUT BEAU VAUGHAN AND HIS MOM ON THE AMAZING RACE” a viral trend!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Signed by the Camden Riversharks in July after being released by the Oakland Athletics, who had scooped up the big right-hander from Texas in the off-season Minor League Rule 5 Draft, Vaughan is currently sidelined with arm discomfort that has him on the Riversharks’ 7-day DL.

Odds are that isn’t keeping him from keeping his teammates amused and amazed with his observations and humor.

It might even have given him the chance to pull out his own notebook and do some sideline reporting.

One link worth bookmarking for your reading pleasure is the column, “Beau Knows Diddley,” which he wrote for MLB.com in 2009 (you can find it at http://rangersprospect.mlblogs.com).

Instead of writing about himself, he used the platform to interview his teammates in the Texas Rangers system. To say that some hilarity ensued would be an understatement (and to say a little controversy as well … well, that’s Beau.)

Brilliant and brash, he looks forward this off-season to inching one (or more) steps closer to finishing his degree in history at Arizona State University near his home in Surprise. The 29-year-old still has three classes to go, but two MUST be taken on campus — his required biology and chemistry labs — which is why he has not gone the more common route of finishing it up online during the season.

The 29-year-old Vaughan, who stands a reasonably imposing 6-foot-4 and 230 pounds, but is more of a sidearmer/deception guy than a power pitcher, came up through the Red Sox ranks, starting his career in 2003 at short-season Lowell where he posted a 2.32 ERA.

In 2004 at Class A Augusta he shone, with a 7-3 record and 3.30 ERA in 13 starts, striking out 73 batters in 71 innings. But injuries would waylay his climb and he spent the next few years spinning his wheels in Class A ball.

In 2006, the Sox moved Vaughan to the bullpen where he found his niche, moving up to Double-A Portland in 2007 where he posted a 3.34 ERA and lowered that to a 2.12 in 2008, his best pro season, as he collected 16 saves in 39 games for the Seadogs and fanned 55 batters in 46 2/3 innings, walking just 18. He’d finish the summer at Triple-A Pawtucket with a 3.18 ERA in seven more games in the pen.

That winter, the Red Sox dealt Vaughan to Texas for pitcher Wes Littleton, and he split his summer between Double-A Frisco (2.35, 23-3-20 with eight saves in 18 games) and Triple-A Oklahoma City (4.62 in 39 innings).

In December, he was selected by the Oakland Athletics in the minor league phase of the Rule 5 draft and started the 2010 season at Double-A Midland in the Texas League, posting a 1.95 ERA with six saves in 32 1/3 innings, walking just six and striking out 29 through mid-June. Promoted to Triple-A Sacramento, he struggled with a 7.04 ERA and was released a month later, signing shortly thereafter with Camden.

After just two games, though, he landed on the DL with a sore shoulder.

Through his travels, his struggles, his triumphs and his hours in the training room trying to come back from the sore shoulder that is plaguing him, Vaughan’s sense of humor and irony hasn’t flagged. To wit, this personal message to the powers that be that, each year, select the elite prospects who compete in the annual Futures Prospect Game that is played on the Sunday prior to the MLB All-Star Game:

When it comes to our subject for this week’s feature, Lancaster Barnstormers fans don’t actually have to ask where this player is. They get to see him whenever he comes to town with his new team, the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs.

First baseman Eric Crozier, though, began his Atlantic League career as a Lancaster Barnstormer.

After six-plus years in affiliated baseball, including 14 games in the big leagues with the Toronto Blue Jays in 2004, Crozier made his independent debut midway through 2006 with Lancaster after being released by the Cincinnati organization.

That summer, he made a good first impression, hitting .291 with seven homers and 42 RBI in just 67 games. He would see time with Lancaster in 2007 as well, hitting .240 with eight home runs and 20 RBI in 39 games.

That off-season, with a new team in Waldorf, Md., entering the Atlantic League, Crozier was left unprotected in the league’s expansion draft and new manager Butch Hobson didn’t hesitate, selecting the soft-spoken left-handed first baseman with the big bat to be an inaugural Blue Crab.

Though he had one more Atlantic League hiatus in 2009, when he became the first (and so far only) Blue Crabs player to sign with the local Baltimore Orioles and play right down the road at Double-A Bowie, Crozier has been a constant contributor and fan favorite with Southern Maryland.

How much of a fan favorite is he there? Enough of one that on Saturday night, when the Blue Crabs celebrated “Paint the Park Pink” as part of a fund-raiser for breast cancer, after which all of the players/staff’s pink jerseys were auctioned off, Crozier’s brought a whopping $2,000.

He earned a spot in this summer’s Atlantic League All-Star Game and ranking among the current league leaders in home runs and several other offensive categories.

Hitting .294 with 14 homers and 49 RBI and coming off a 17-game hitting streak that was snapped Thursday night, he is currently on pace for a season of several potential “personal bests,” after having hit .292 with 21 homers and 69 RBI between Buffalo and Syracuse in 109 games in 2004.

Since being a 41st-round draft pick out of Norfolk State in 2000 by the Cleveland Indians, Crozier has certainly been well traveled. With the Indians, he’s played in Mahoning Valley (Ohio), Columbus (Ga.), Kinston (N.C.), Akron (Ohio) and Buffalo (N.Y.) as well as Syracuse (N.Y.) with the Blue Jays, Trenton (N.J.) with the New York Yankees, Chattanooga (Tenn.) and Louisville (Ky.) with Cincinnati and Portland (Maine) with the Boston Red Sox.

But Lancaster has ranked among his favorite spots to play for many reasons, and he still has a special place in his heart for the Barnstormers fans, even as a visiting player, which he discusses in the attached video. He also explains the difference between the Atlantic League and affiliated baseball when it comes to switching clubs and “local rivalries.”