Aug. 1 New Britain, Conn. On Father Time
NEW BRITAIN, Conn. -- Time. There's never enough of it. Right now, I'm functioning on about four hours sleep and it's already tomorrow. I'm living in yesterday, when I was whistling through New Britain on my way to join the Portland Sea Dogs for their morning game (which has already been played)....
But I digress...
Because this is about Alan Mills...who at age 41, knows a thing or two about time..
He last pitched in 2001, the last of 11 big league seasons (Baltimore, mostly)...gave up the game....but the game refused to let go...
That's why he's back in the bushes...living the life of an Erie SeaWolf(v?)...eating food out of his locker...dressing elbow to elbow with guys nearly half his age...riding the Eastern League circuit in anything by style...but still riding high...at least the 1-0, 1.00 mark with 14 saves would suggest that...
I asked Erie skipper Matt Walbeck, himself a pretty good former big league catcher, what Mills has meant to his club (and young pitchers like Jair Jurjens)..
"He's been a God send," Walbeck said. "He gives the pitchers and everyone who hangs around him, a lot of energy and experience. He's very humble and leads by example. His numbers speak for themself. To have a guy like Alan Mills on your staff in Double-A is unheard of. For him to do what he's done with the time off is impressive."
Also impressive was the outing by Jurjens, who hurled a complete game three-hit whitewash of the Rock Cats.
The diminuative native of Curacao showed the strength of a bulldog in going the distance.
"All my pitches were working," he said. "My changeup was really hard in the first inning. But later in the game it got softer, and started falling off the table like I wanted it to."
Dan Hickling
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