I’ve found myself matched up against a bit of a road block. I
had tried to do research on this particular Lake Elsinore Storm hat about a
month ago, but found myself in a very similar place when trying to do research
on two of the players that I knew from the 2000 season, but I’ll get to that
later in the post.
The Storm have been an advanced-A club since 1994 when they
were an affiliate of the California/Los
Angeles Angels from then until the end of the 2000 season. The original
ballclub went through a series of relocations and team name changes from
1979-1994, but had no actual affiliation with a Major League club until the
Angels took over in ‘81. At first they were the Santa Clara Padres in 1979,
then they became the Redwood Pioneers from 1980-1985 and then the Palm Springs
Angels from 1986-1993. The team moved to Lake Elsinore
in 1994 as their new stadium, Lake Elsinore Diamond (Pete Lehr Field) opened
that same year. The park has a capacity of 7,866 fans and is the largest
capacity stadium in the California League. On July 4, 1998 the Storm broke the
single game attendance record by housing 12, 876 fans for their Independence
Day game a fireworks celebration; which only goes to show, the combination of
baseball and explosions is too hard to resist.
This cap was one of the first hats I ever purchased during
the 1999 season, my first as bat boy for the Bakersfield Blaze. It was kind of
an unusual purchase, especially when considering that not only did I work for
one of their rival teams, but their Major League affiliate is the divisional
rival for my favorite Major League team the Oakland Athletics. However, this
hat was way too cool to pass up. It made its debut, along with me, at the start
of the 1999 season and has been one of three consistent hats the team has worn
including throughout their recent four-game series against the Rancho Cucamonga
Quakes. It's also a 7 1/8, which is two sizes smaller than I currently wear, but I definitely made sure to wear it anytime I played summer league ball. It certainly has some mileage on it.
During my two-year run with the Blaze I never really got to
know any of the players on the Storm. It wasn’t that I really tried; it had
more to do with the fact that all of the players kept to themselves. Only one
member of the 1999-2000 teams ever really talked to me, Nathan Haynes. Haynes
was a former A’s first round draft pick in 1997 and grew up in the city of Oakland. He and I chatted
every now-and-then about how we were both longtime A’s fans and how he and my
brothers Matt and Adam practically grew up next door to one another as we lived
in the neighboring town of San Leandro. I don’t recall if my brothers and he
played in the same youth baseball leagues or not, but for all I know they could
have since they were all the same age.
The Storm always played the Blaze the toughest for both
years, but neither could really compete with the San Bernardino Stampede who
won back-to-back Cal League championships those years. Looking back on those
years it was the 2000 Storm squad that turned out to be the most vicious
despite the fact that it would be the 2001 team that would win the second of
their three total Cal League titles. At the time I didn’t realize how many
players would end up playing in the Majors, but I can still recall how talented
they were back in the start of their professional careers. Guys like Gary
Johnson, Robb Quinlan, Alfredo Amezaga, Steve Green and Scot Shields. But it
was these two guys that carried most potential in their pockets.
John Lackey was a second round draft pick by the Angels in
the 1999 amateur draft out of Abilene,
Texas. Lackey started out in Boise with the Hawks, the
low level-A affiliate, in ’99 and finished the season with a 6-2 record and an
ERA of 4.98. In 2000 Lackey started the season out with a higher level-A club,
the Cedar Rapids Kernels and pitched in five games with a 3-4 record and an ERA
of 2.08 before moving on to Lake Elsinore.
Due to scheduling and pitching rotations I was only able to
catch Lackey for one game when the Storm arrived at Sam Lynn Ballpark in late
May. The first thing I can recall about Lackey is that he was much skinnier,
kind of like Troy Glaus when he first made it to the Show. The second thing I
recall is that he was deadly accurate with his pitches. Lackey in his youth was
able to blast knee-high pitches that barely painted the black by batters with
little-to-no effort. His curve ball had a solid break and his changeup always
left people guessing. In the 15 games that Lackey started he went 6-6 with a
3.40 ERA and 74 strikeouts, six of which came against the Blaze. Lackey moved
on to AA Erie to play with the Sea Wolves (awesome name) before the season
wrapped up and by the middle of 2002 he up at the Major League level winning a
World Series ring with the Angels, finishing the season in fourth place for the
Rookie of the Year award.
While most people don’t like him as a person, it’s still a
damn shame that he blew his arm out again in is first start with the Boston Red
Sox a few days ago.
#?- Yet another mystery for the moment, Francisco (K-Rod)
Rodriguez was a free agent signing by the Angles in 1998 out of Caracas,
Venezuela. In 1999 he made his Minor League debut with the Butte Copper Kings
at the Rookie level where he played in 12 games, nine as a starter, before
moving on to the Hawks for the remainder of the season. In 2000 he found
himself reporting to Lake
Elsinore where he started
in 12 games and coming out of the bullpen for one extra inning effort. It was
interesting to watch him pitch back in the day because he was physically not
the same player as today. The key difference: glasses. In his early years he
was a little wild. With the amount of force he was able to propel his pitches
it wasn’t much of a surprise that a few pitches would go wayward. He was only
able to strike out 74 batters that season behind a 4-4 record and a 2.81 ERA in
64 innings pitched. For a guy who would be converted into a closer role by 2004
that’s actually quite impressive.
One thing I can definitely say is that there was no way I
could have ever imagined that he would end up breaking and setting the record
for the most saves in a season in 2008 with 62. While he has fallen on harder
times since signing a huge contract with the New York Mets, there is no doubt
that his talent is unquestionable. The kid can throw smoke.
Now, I’m hoping to get these numbers on my hat soon and I
will definitely update the photos and article when I’m able to find them. If you
know anyone who might know the answers, please feel free to send me a tweet.
Thanks!
