Where Are They Now - Chris Gimenez

On the Cusp
By Steve Hunt

Don’t look now but former Nevada catcher Chris Gimenez could be the latest Wolf Pack product to make his big-league debut. He played in Reno from 2002 through 2004 before going in the 19th round to Cleveland in the 2004 June amateur draft, and comes off a season where he split time between Double-A Akron and Triple-A Buffalo. His solid showing in ’08 led to his second straight invite to big league camp, where he hopes to stick as one of the Tribe’s backstops. Wolf Pack Edge recently caught up with him by phone and here’s what he had to say.

“Being at Nevada was the time of a lifetime,” Gimenez said of his time in Reno. “You learn a lot coming out of high school and getting to play with some of the guys that were there when I was, you experience a ton. Maturity wise, which was probably the biggest step for me after coming out of high school. Getting to meet some of the guys like JeRell McIntyre, Mike Gillies and Tony Cappuccilli, guys that had already established themselves as solid Wolf Pack players. I was just trying to take the tutelage of those guys and put it into play.”

His sophomore year produced two of his more memorable experiences. “My worst memory was when we got that phone call on the flight home from LA Tech that we didn’t get into the regionals,” he said. “I would say that beating Rice two out of three my sophomore year was one of the best moments I had on a baseball field. One was at home and the other was a comeback victory in the ninth inning. That really was something special because we all know how good Rice is every year.”

Before ever playing a single game for the Pack, Gimenez remembers getting picked by the Rockies late in the ’01 draft. “That was more of a draft-and-follow thing,” he admitted. “I talked to a scout the day before they drafted me and had told him that I was pretty much 100% going to Nevada. He said that they were going to take a chance in case I changed my mind or if they could talk me into it.”

Just three years later, he was drafted again, this time by the Indians. “I was happy as heck,” he recalled. “At the time, Kevin Kouzmanoff, one of my best friends with the Wolf Pack, was here. I had heard numerous good things about the organization and that it’s one of the best teams to get involved with in how they take care of their players and help you along in the system. It was a dream come true. I got to start the next chapter in my life, the whole pro ball era and see what that was about.”

That summer, he reported to Mahoning Valley, Cleveland’s Short Season Single-A affiliate in the New York Penn League, and right away, Giminez had to make some adjustments. “I think it was just the guys,” he said. “You go from a situation that you’re comfortable in and where you know everybody to where everybody that was just drafted and signed is every bit as good as, if not better, than you. You try to find where you fit with the team and the guys. The adjustment was getting used to the way things were run. It was a lot different than the way we did it at school-practices, the way the games were played and the approach at the plate.”

Another adjustment came last year when he spent the entire season behind the dish for the first time in his career. “I had done it in pieces in the past and I really think it took that year to get my comfort level down and to understand what being a catcher embodied,” he admitted. “There’s a lot that goes into it that not a lot of people know about. People can tell you about those little things, but you can’t really experience them until you’re in that situation.”

Last year also marked his first time in Triple-A. “Every time you get moved up a level, it’s great,” he said. “I had never been to that level before. You had heard of all these guys that had played at that level and are now in the big leagues. Now I’m getting to play against them. It was just a neat deal with the experience of getting there and being there. I thought I did pretty well and held my own for my first experience in Triple-A. I realized that I deserved to be there and that I was as good, or better, than the guys I had seen playing in the big leagues for a long time. That confidence factor helps that out a lot.”

Where Are They Now - Brett Hayes, Florida Marlins

Catching On
By Steve Hunt

Looking around Major League Baseball, it’s not hard to see a number of Nevada products in “the show”. One former Wolf Packer who aspires to add his name to that list is Brett Hayes. This spring, he went to big-league camp on Florida’s 40-man roster, the same team that drafted him in the second round of the June 2005 draft.

Like many who have played there, his success dates back to his days in Reno. “It was a great experience,” he said. “I remember going in there, fighting for a job and somewhere to play, whether it be outfield or infield. Catching wasn’t even my main focus. I was just going in there to play some outfield. It just so happened that they needed a catcher and I popped in there. I guess you can say five, six years later, here I am.”

The California native remembers his first exposure to Wolf Pack baseball when he was in high school. “In L.A., I played for an American Legion team and the coach was good friends with Gary Powers and his staff,” Hayes said.

“We were in a tournament in Reno and I just loved the facilities. It was far enough away from home that I was away from everyone but close enough that I could still go home. Everyone was very friendly and I loved the atmosphere.”

In three seasons at Nevada, Hayes developed into a solid backstop. However, a thumb injury nearly derailed his hopes of being drafted.

“I was very happy (when Florida picked me),” he said. “That day was very nerve racking because the third to the last game of my senior year, I broke my thumb. So I didn’t know if I was going to get drafted or not based on that. Hearing my name called was definitely a relief and I was ready for the opportunity.”

So in the summer of ’05, he was sent to the Gulf Coast League to begin his pro career.

“When I got drafted, I came down here to rehab my thumb and just sat around watching everyone else play,” Hayes recalled. “That was a little frustrating because that was the first time I had ever really been hurt. The biggest adjustment was getting ready to play every day because in college, you would play three days a week or maybe four. You just had to maintain your body and get ready to play on a daily basis.”

Unlike many other catchers, Hayes already had considerable experience calling his own pitches, something almost unheard of at the high school and collegiate levels.

“At Nevada, I was very fortunate to be able to call my own pitches ever since I was a freshman,” he said. “I hadn’t seen that at all at the college level. People had the wristbands and everyone else was calling pitches but the catcher, but I was able to do that early. In pro ball, there are tendencies and you set people up. The wooden bat is a lot different from the metal bat and there are a lot more hits in college, but it’s definitely a mind game when it comes to calling pitches up here.”

While going from swinging a metal bat to a wooden one wasn’t a big transition, the switch paid unexpected dividends behind the plate.

“I think it made my pitch calling better because a jam shot wasn’t a home run, it was an out,” Hayes said. “That was a good adjustment. Hitting, I always used to take BP with wood in college and high school. So I was very familiar with it and it carried over pretty well for me.”

During Spring Training, he was savoring his first experience as a roster player with the Marlins.

“I know the pitchers here, have played with them, have caught them and have gained more playing time,” he said. “You’ve got to get to know your teammates. In the last few years when I wasn’t on the roster, I helped out in the bullpen and things like that. I knew my role and enjoyed it, but this year, I knew that coming here, I had a job to do.”

Hayes wouldn’t trade his gig for anything in the world, but he does feel that the average fan has a misguided view about the true life of a ball player.

“They still think that we just show up and play at seven o’clock,” he said. “But we’re there at noon every day doing work people don’t see. We put a lot of effort and hard work into getting out on that field at seven o’clock and those outcomes. It’s all that stuff behind the scenes that they don’t see like the cage work, bullpen throwing and all that stuff that turns into the success on the field that the fans don’t see.”

WHERE ARE THEY NOW - All You Can Eat

Message to the folks who run Reno buffet restaurants: Tony Moll wants to thank you for his rise to the top.

You remember Tony. He was a frequent visitor a couple years ago. If not for you, he wouldn’t have gained the 45 pounds he needed to make the switch from tight end to offensive tackle.

That transformation occurred between his junior and senior years at the University of Nevada. Moll packed on the weight to better serve the Wolf Pack, but it better served himself. His performance at tackle proved so impressive that he landed with the Green Bay Packers.

Not bad for a guy who had no plans for an NFL career.

“In Reno there are great buffets,” Moll says. “I was trying to stick around the other linemen when they went out to eat. I knew if I could eat like them four times a day I could gain the weight.

“At times I got sick of eating and I had to force myself. Before I went to bed every night I would eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.”
Moll had a very adult reason for eating that kids’ favorite. Simply, the Wolf Pack needed a tackle and he was the logical choice.

He had received no attention from NFL scouts as a tight end. In fact, he only caught 11 passes during his college career, though four went for touchdowns. Moll never fathomed that his move to tackle would precipitate interest. But by the end of his senior year at UNR, he was receiving queries from agents and scheduling workouts for NFL teams.

Talk about a pleasant surprise.

“It wasn’t a goal of mine to play in the NFL,” Moll says. “The degree came first. I would have liked to play tight end in the NFL, but that wasn’t going to happen. I had to work hard in the spring so I could take every snap in every game during the season. I took physical reps and mental reps, which helped me learn.

“During the summer before my senior year, some people talked about me playing in the NFL, but my name wasn’t mentioned anywhere on the watch lists. No agent contacted me until early April. I didn’t go to the combine or get selected to play in any of the senior bowls. My goal was just to complete my college education. Everything started to fall in my lap about a month-and-a-half before the draft.”

Yes, everything. Not only did the Packers select him in the fifth round in 2006, but Moll was the surprise of the camp. He earned a starting job at right guard, a position with which he was unfamiliar. Moll started five games at tackle and five at
guard last season.

“That was a huge confidence builder, having had only one year of playing experience at tackle,” Moll says. “Now all of a sudden I was going against the pros. I came in wide-eyed and didn’t know what to make of anything. One coach told me, ‘Play tough and don’t show fear.’

“Then they put me in at guard and all of a sudden I’m learning that position. I was trying to have as much fun as possible.”

Having fun is made much easier on the Packers. All one has to do is watch future Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre.

“He’s amazing,” Moll says emphatically. “You can just see the determination in his eyes that he’s going to do whatever it takes for us to score. He can pick defenses apart. It’s so funny because he actually tells us in the huddle what’s going to happen. He’s yelling out what blitz is coming.”

Yes, Tony Moll is sharing a huddle with Brett Favre.

Thanks, Reno buffet owners. Without you, it wouldn’t have been possible.

By: Marty Gitlin