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| Tuesday, February 13 | |||||
| Edmonds hears his calling ESPN.com | |||||
LAS VEGAS -- When Mark McGwire speaks, people listen. And Jim Edmonds is sure glad he listened to what McGwire had to say a year ago.
And the message sent by Big Mac to Edmonds was to come play in St. Louis because as McGwire stated: "St. Louis is the best baseball city in the league."
"From what I've experienced St. Louis is definitely the best," said Edmonds, who was one of 12 competitors in this year's Big League Challenge. "It's a pure baseball city."
Jason Giambi, the reigning AL MVP who also competed in the Big League Challenge on Saturday, losing out to Mike Piazza in the preliminary round, is gearing up for the start of spring training and believes his Oakland A's have all the parts in place to make a run at a World Series championship. Giambi believes the acquisition of Johnny Damon in a three-team trade with the Royals and Devil Rays early last month gives them the one thing they lacked last year -- a legitimate leadoff hitter. "Johnny Damon is a perfect fit for our club," said Giambi, who hit 43 homers and drove in 137 runs, both career highs. "Hopefully, he'll be able to provide us that extra element of a top-notch leadoff hitter that we lacked last year. And that's not taking anything away from Terrence Long, who did a heck of a job for us last year, but he's not a leadoff hitter. He's more of a power hitter and by hitting leadoff it forced him to take more pitches. Now, he will be able to hit later in the lineup and will be able to swing the bat a little more." Damon, who stole 46 bases last season, brings an element of speed to the A's that they have lacked over the last several years as they have been a very station-to-station, wait for the three-run home run type of team. "Damon is a guy who can create runs with his speed," Giambi said. "And I'm looking forward to the opportunity of hitting behind him. With him on the bases it will hopefully give me more opportunities to excel at the plate." Up close and personal with the stars David Bleazard was wide-eyed to say the least. All right. You're probably asking, who is David Bleazard, right? Well, he is one of the catchers for the Big League Challenge. Bleazard, who last year played for the Tennessee Smokies, the Double-A affiliate for the Toronto Blue Jays, was one of two catchers used in this year's event and is he enjoyed the opportunity to be around the likes of Piazza, Barry Bonds and Frank Thomas. "It's really awesome to be around such great hitters," said Bleazard, who was a 22nd-round draft choice by the Blue Jays in the 1996 draft. "I mean some of these guys may possibly become Hall of Famers some day. It's really a great experience." Bleazard got the opportunity to be a catcher for the event through the Las Vegas Baseball Academy, for which he has been a part of this offseason. The Academy runs camps and clinics for young players. Bleazard, who played at Oklahoma City University prior to getting drafted by the Blue Jays, says he will probably be back in Tennessee for this upcoming season. | ALSO SEE Palmeiro slugs way to Big League Challenge title | ||||
