The future is well on its way

Just Sunday, I was rounding second at Petco Park, and as I tagged up, I hesitated for just a second. I was seeing what it would be like to be Mark Loretta -- class, poise, grace, talent, rightly described as the heart and soul of the San Diego Padres.

I may not be a ballplayer, but I do sometimes aspire to be Mark Loretta, because I know he's the most hardworking, underrated player I can think of, and I know that it took years of discipline for him to get there. If I could do half of what he's done, I sometimes think, my life would turn out pretty well.

That grand plan starts in places like the Lenny Randle Baseball Academy, held in my own hometown of Murrieta, which is where I spent part of my afternoon on Tuesday. It's not hard to imagine that my heroes-slash-brothers-in-arms like Mark Loretta and Sean Burroughs, years and years ago, got their start in a place like this, where even though it's 90 degrees nothing changes the drive to succeed.

By the time I arrived at 11 a.m., things were already in full swing. Leading the whole affair was Randle, the former Met, along with the help of other former professionals like ex-Padre Ray McDaniel and 2001 Lake Elsinore Storm hitting coach Brian Giles.

(Here I'd like to take a moment to clarify two things: he deserves props for what he did with Tagg Bozied and the boys, and that is not the same Brian Giles whose back I've been staring at all season in San Diego, for those of you like my mother who can't tell the difference.)

It's a level of professional instruction most would-be future stars aren't likely to get, and the effectiveness of it shows. While Giles isn't afraid to get tough with these kids, he's also frankly willing to admit that even the big leaguers make mistakes. Reminding us of human fallibility is good in an age where people think the other Brian Giles should be able to climb a scoreboard like Spider-Man.

Not to mention that yours truly would've probably taken a dive during the running drills, but then again, that's why Mark Loretta and I have separate names.

The participants, who all still have their whole careers ahead of them should they choose to go that route, could care less if they tripped, however. The effort they put out is outstanding, and their enthusiasm boundless and surprisingly astute. I talked to two different young players and was impressed by the both of them.

On the younger side, I got to talk to "Krispy Kreme," as they referred to him (yep, that's like the donut, and please do not remind me of the joke I made about Deivi Cruz and the same brand of donut). You think when you're talking to people younger than you that you may have to adjust your game -- not in his case. This kid can hold his own.

He and his comrades were quite successfully "working on backpedaling and shuffling" at the time I talked to him (something, I would note, that I still probably couldn't do and I have to have at least a decade on him). The most important thing he's learned? "Never give up what you're doing," he told me, which is good advice in any field, let alone baseball.

I took the opportunity to ask him who his favorite baseball player was and why. "David Eckstein," he said without hesitation. "I look up to him because he was little like I am and he got compliments that sometimes I might get."

After we spoke, I took the opportunity to interview Mark, who actually has a Canadian connection, and asked him the same questions. His most important thing? "Waiting on the ball, I'm very impatient and I like to swing, and they taught me how to slow down my swing and meet the ball a little later so I can drive the ball." Who said baseball was all about the long ball?

His favorite player? "Ty Cobb," he informed me. "I like the way he played and his attitude." Surprise, he's not a Barry Bonds fan.

Mark's brother was also with him, so I asked him to tell me what it's like when familial relationships cross over into baseball. "I like to push my brother, because sometimes my brother can get very lazy," he replied. "I try to push him a lot."

And this being All-Star Tuesday, I had to ask the verbose young man for a prediction as to which league would carry the day. "I have to say [the] American League," he told this National League girl. "I don't like [the] American League, but just looking at the lineup, they have a better chance."

In a point in time where Barry Bonds is popular, teams with self-centered players are acclaimed, and contracts are more important sometimes than conduct, you wouldn't believe how relieved I was to be talking to down-to-earth young ballplayers. They remind me of myself at their age, when I wanted to play on the same field with Tony Gwynn.

Who knows -- at some point in the future, years from now, I might see them on the other side of the Petco Park fence. I wouldn't count them out. When they tripped, they'd get right back up again, and their competitive spirit fired them up despite the uncomfortable weather. They tried their best, and they learned about everything from fielding to hitting, everything they'll need to know to continue on. There's a lot of talent, more than I thought there was. Then again, everything about this was kind of a pleasant surprise.

On this day when we're celebrating the best there are (or that the fans think there are), there was something noble in watching these young people aspire to play hard. They don't worry about anything else but their love of the game. Maybe not all of them will go on and make this a career, but their passion for the sport is something I know all too well. There was a moment in time when I was just like them, taking my hacks in the batting cages across town, pretending I was going to share space with Tony Gwynn someday -- and for a long time, I thought I just might.

Now I'm older and I'm coming of age with Tony's successors, standing on the other side of the line. My time to be a ballplayer went by, but for these players it's in their future. And in the hands of Lenny Randle and a veteran staff -- who were not only talented instructors but extremely gracious people -- they'll be just fine.

For more information on the Lenny Randle Baseball Academy, check out their web site at http://www.lennyrandle.com.