Preparing for that trip and the season ahead, can sometimes be a tedious experience especially in this area where the preparation period limits teams to the indoors.
The 30-strong Dolphins? team, however, had a welcome break from the humdrum day-to-day workouts due to the presence of three Staten Island natives who play professionally.
San Diego Padres pitcher Jason Marquis, Atlanta Braves pitcher Anthony Varvaro and Minnesota Twins minor league hurler Bobby Lanigan all were on hand to get in some early work before heading to their respective spring-training camps and to impart some of their knowledge to the Dolphin players.
?As amazing and as down-to-earth as these guys are, they really are larger than life for our kids, and it?s amazing how much we took in over the weeks they were here,? said CSI head coach Michael Mauro. ?It truly is an educational experience for our guys, and as much as we look forward to it, our guys work really hard training and take this time to really develop.?
Mauro knows that working side-by-side with major leaguers is something few NCAA Division III student-athletes get a chance to do. He uses the time not only as a recruiting tool for future CSI ball players, but also to fortify friendships and build bridges between these stars and their local community.
?It?s a great marriage. For Jason, Bobby and Anthony, it?s a chance to get their arms and legs going before they go through their own grind in their respective cities,? said Mauro. ?And they get the chance to work with our kids in their own backyard in the process. Our kids get a true sense of the dedication it takes to make it to the big leagues. These guys do more for us in a week than we can do in months. Even as coaches, it really helps us focus and appreciate the game.?
A Staten Island Sports Hall of Fame inductee, Marquis has had a storied and sensational career, collecting over 1,000 strikeouts and 112 career wins with a 4.60 lifetime ERA in the majors with eight different organizations.
Marquis, a first-round draft choice of the Braves in 1996 and 35th pick overall, began using the CSI facility early in his 13-year pro career, and has parlayed that time into working with the players. That?s music to their ears, especially the pitchers.
?Many people would love a chance to meet a major league baseball player, but few get to say they got to meet and work out with three of them,? said Richie Anderson, a CSI senior and top returning pitcher. ?The pointers I got with my mechanics was special. They taught us to have fun and stay focused on our goals, and it was a great experience.?
Lanigan, 25, spent a majority of last season with the Rochester Red Wings, part of the Twins? Triple-A affiliate, compiling a 6-2 record with a 4.69 ERA. He was selected by the Twins? in the third round of the 2008 first-year player draft out of Adelphi University.
?Bobby is only a few years older than some of our players, and it was really important for our guys to see how far a local kid can go that many of them know and have seen play, and the level of competitiveness and dedication that takes,? said Mauro.
Varvaro, 28, is a Curtis High School graduate and made his MLB debut with the Seattle Mariners in 2010, spending the last two years with the Atlanta Braves. In limited duty, he posted a 1-1 record with the Braves in relief last season, with a 5.40 ERA, striking out 21 batters in just over 16 innings pitched.
Of the three pros, Varvaro was perhaps the most involved, joining the Dolphins for their first practice, and he didn?t miss any, working side-by-side with the Dolphins every step of the way through conditioning and live drills.
?As a catcher, being able to work with these guys was unbelievable,? said senior Francis Torres. ?I was catching these guys like some of the major league players are doing in my place, except instead of them treating it like a bullpen session, they were giving me tips on how to better my game. It?s an experience you can?t equal.?
For Torres, and many of his teammates, the opportunity they had does more for the Dolphins? mental game than anything else.
?You see the amount of work they put in, and to work with them, makes us believe that if we can do what they are doing, we can be prepared for anything,? Torres said. ?One of my favorite quotes is, ?if you want to know the road ahead, ask someone who is coming back.? Having those gentlemen here really gave us that sort of preparation. I know it?s helped provide a way we are all going to approach the game.? ?
Source: http://www.silive.com/westshore/index.ssf/2013/02/college_of_staten_island_baseb_2.html
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