After a highly successful freshman baseball season at the University of Hartford, Jersey City native T.J. Ward was looking for a place to play over the summer.
Ward wasn’t successful in securing a spot.
“I was supposed to go to Thunder Bay, Ontario, but I have no idea what happened there,” Ward said. “I got a call from someone in Wachusett, Massachusetts to see if I was interested playing there.”
The team there is called the Wachusett Dirt Dawgs in the Futures Collegiate Baseball League. What a perfect place for a kid from the Jersey City Heights to play! The St. Peter’s Prep graduate is living in a house with two of his Dirt Dawg teammates, a home owned by avid baseball fan. Christine McCarthy.
“I’m trying to find another way to sleep,” Ward said. “With two other guys, it’s a little tough.”
But make no bones about it. Ward is having the time of his life.
“I can’t describe how grateful I am,” Ward said. “I had no place in line. But she let me stay. She was only supposed to have one player and now she has three. It’s the furthest I’ve been away from home. But without a doubt, this is going to help me get ready for the year to come.”
Ward said that it was almost like a culture shock, waking up in rural Massachusetts.
“It’s definitely different here,” Ward said. “I can’t go to the corner store like I can in Jersey City.”
The schedule Ward faces is a bit demanding.
“We have a 56-game schedule, so we have to jam that in before players have to go back to school. We play six games a week and have off on Monday.”
As for the baseball side?
“I struggled a little at the start,” Ward said. “It’s a wood bat league, so I had to get used to that. I’ve been in the middle of the lineup. I think I was being too aggressive at first.”
Ward is playing third base for the Dirt Dogs.
“Without a doubt, with the at-bats I’m getting, this is a huge help,” Ward said. “I know that struggling early helped me. I had to handle the adversity.”
Ward said that he had a great year at Hartford and just wants it to continue.
“I have two years left at Hartford,” Ward said. “I’m getting the confidence I had back. I’m not worried about it. This league is good, if not better than most. There are a lot of good college players here.”
And maybe next summer, Ward can take the jump up to the famed Cape Cod League, known universally after the movie “Summer Catch,” starring Freddie Prinze, Jr. and Jessica Biel.
“It can help a lot if it finishes well,” Ward said. “I don’t know if anyone would want someone who was hitting .107. I’m better than that now. As long as I’m playing, it doesn’t matter.”…
When Ward was a junior at St. Peter’s Prep, he faced off against Weehawken in the Ed “Faa” Ford Memorial Hudson County Baseball Tournament championship. The pitcher he faced that game was talented left-hander Sal Mendez.
Mendez was a little more fortunate than Ward, as he was selected by the Texas Rangers in the Major League Baseball draft. Mendez quickly signed a contract and began his journey as a professional baseball player.
Mendez is now in Spokane, Washington, where he is a member of the starting pitching staff for the Spokane Indians (no confusion, the team is part of the Texas Rangers organization) in the Class A Northwest League.
Mendez was reached via telephone recently to talk about his experiences as a pro ball player, now in his third year as a pro.
He started his season in awful fashion, allowing nine earned runs in just 4 2/3 innings, walking six batters in one appearance. Mendez’s earned run average was a gaudy 17.36.
“I was disappointed with myself,” Mendez said. “This is a performance-based business. I didn’t feel like it was clicking.”
These performances came on the heels of a shoulder injury that limited Mendez’s appearances over the last two years. He tried to remain optimistic, not thinking at all that his pro career was in jeopardy.
“I never tried to think that way,” Mendez said. “If you feel that way, then you’re letting the game affect your drive. I felt like I could start moving in the right direction. I felt it. The Rangers were very patient with me and God bless that.”
Mendez worked diligently with Spokane pitching coach Joey Seaver (an appropriate name for a pitching coach).
“I put in the work and worked hard,” Mendez said. “I could see the success. I had my confidence back.”
And suddenly, Mendez had never-found-before velocity, with some guns clocking Mendez’s fastball at 92 miles per hour.
“Joey has done a hell of a job,” Mendez said. “I never saw myself approaching the mid-90s.”
Mendez had the appearance of his life against Vancouver July 3, pitching five shutout innings, allowing four hits and striking out five to earn his first victory of the season. The attendance that night in Vancouver was 5,795.
“I never pitched before a crowd like that before,” Mendez said. “It was amazing. It was a big step up for me. It had a feel of being a professional baseball game. I threw really well. My teammates were there for me. They had confidence in me. I was doing that against one of the best offenses in our league. I just had to keep pumping the zone.”
Since then, Mendez had another win against Salem-Keizer, allowing four hits and two earned runs in five innings. His ERA now stands at 6.65, but that’s a far cry from the 17.36 mark he had after three appearances.
“It’s so much fun,” said Mendez, now 21. “I’m being paid to play a child’s game. There’s no better feeling in the world. I just have to trust in the process, not only in baseball, but in life. I have to believe it.”
If you want to monitor Mendez’s progress, log on to www.milb.com. …
The No. 16 character among the Top 25 characters of the last 25 years is the late Charlie Brema of Union City.
Brema passed away five years ago, but when he was around, he was the king of Union City’s Roosevelt Stadium, holding the position of superintendent of the stadium at the time of his demise.
Brema ran Roosevelt Stadium for more than 30 years. He was also a vital cog in the Union City Recreation department through that time.
Brema was also a jokester, a guy with a hearty laugh and smile. Whenever one walked into Roosevelt Stadium, he was there, making one think that Brema actually had a bed inside the facility. He would greet people and then want to tell a story or two that might take a half hour. He was truly a character, a Hudson County Sports Hall of Famer, who cried like a little boy when he received that honor. He is sorely missed…—Jim Hague
Jim Hague can be reached at OGSMAR@aol.com.