Two things were different about this year's team luncheon. First, it was very hot. The crowd was down, I suspect in part because of the temperature. Second, more of the players brought their families to the event. The shot is of Ryan Wing and his son and Todd Steverson, the new Cats manager. The trivia contest was unbelievable. (HARD) Each year they do a raffle for all sorts of stuff and we put all our tickets in for a ball that had been signed by four players (including Dallas Braden,Christopher Gissell, and Danny Putnam) Braden went to Stagg High School in Stockton and has pitched a bit more than 80 innings in the bigs. Gissell has spent 10 seasons in the minors including two in Japan and made a brief appearance in the bigs for Colorado. Putnam, it turns out, grew up in the San Diego area and speaks very passable Spanish. After Stanford he has spent five seasons in the minors and one partial season in the bigs. (11 games - 28 at bats)
We sat at Brad Knox's table. Our table mates were well versed both on the team and on baseball. Knox is looking forward to free agency next year. At that point he can make a move to get some realistic cash. Many AAA baseball players earn something in the range of $1500-2000 per month. You've got to love the game to play for those rates or think you've got a good chance at getting to the bigs where the minimum is over $315,000 per season.
We also got a chance to meet both the new Manager and the owner of the team. Art Savage does not come to this event every year.
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