Manship enjoying splendid first half
Snappers' ace receives MWL, Twins' accolades
By Rob Lucas
Beloit Daily News
Any pitcher throwing against Major League hitters for the first time is going to be intimidated. Now, imagine the first hitter you face is one of your childhood idols.
Oh, and his name is Ken Griffey, Jr.
During a spring training game this season, Beloit Snappers' ace Jeff Manship faced that exact scenario and retired Griffey along with Bubba Crosby and Javier Valentin for a 1-2-3 inning, breaking Crosby's bat in the process.
It was one of the most intimidating things I've ever seen, said Manship of facing Griffey. I didn't know he was still in the game and I was doing my warm-up pitches and I looked over and saw him swinging, watching me. I was like, Wow, this is surreal right now.'
For the 22-year old right hander, the entire 2007 season has been surreal. On the heels of being selected to the Midwest League's Western Division All-Star team, Manship recently received the Pitcher of the Month Award from the Minnesota Twins for the month of May.
The All-Star selection was especially pleasing to the San Antonio native, even if his girlfriend wasn't nearly as impressed.
My girlfriend didn't actually know what it meant when I told her, said Manship. She didn't know what to say, it was hilarious. She knew about the big league All-Star game, but she didn't know they had one for this league.
As well as his first season of pro ball has gone, his post-high school career didn't start out nearly as well. Manship required Tommy John elbow ligament surgery after high school, injuring his arm while pitching for Team USA in Curacao in the Dutch Antilles. With a scholarship at Notre Dame waiting for him, the 6-foot Manship said he knew something was wrong in his second game, after throwing 130 pitches just three days prior.
In the fourth inning of that second game, it just blew out, Manship said. I didn't hear the pop like most people say. I just thought I strained it really bad.
It was much worse than a strain, and after resting his arm for a month, he tried to throw off a mound and felt the pain again. Two MRIs later, Manship was told he required Tommy John surgery if he ever wanted to pitch again.
I was relieved, said Manship. I couldn't throw without pain before that and it had been so long, probably six months, that it hurt. Once I heard Tommy John', I wasn't shocked at all. I was happy, to be honest. Most people can't say that, but knowing the recovery rate I was pretty happy with it.
After about a year and a half, Manship said he was fully recovered and back to throwing his 90-91 mph fastball along with his off-the-table curveball. But getting to the fully-recovered stage was no easy task as the fear of blowing out his elbow again was always in the back of his mind.
The first time, it was weird, said Manship. I thought, What if this hurts, or it pops again?' There were a lot of things in the back of my mind.
You pretty much have to trust yourself that you did the work to get there. You can't go too fast and you've got to take your time because everybody is different. You have to do whatever feels best for you.
Manship pitched well in his first full season at Notre Dame, leading the Big East Conference in strikeouts in 2006. As the 2006 First-Year Player draft approached, Manship made it known he wouldn't sign unless he was chosen in the first three rounds. He possessed plenty of leverage with three years of eligibility left at Notre Dame, but he wanted to play pro ball.
However, Manship didn't hear his named called through the first three rounds and figured he'd be back at Notre Dame in 2007. Then, in the 14th round, the Twins took a shot in the dark.
I figured I wouldn't get drafted at all after that (the first three rounds) because no team would want to take a chance, said Manship. The Twins did, we got a deal worked out and it worked out for the best.
Manship signed for $300,000.
The Twins are notorious for having a great track record with everything, but I wanted to go, Manship said. I was very adamant on signing and once we got it worked out, there was no hesitation. Once everything got worked out, I was very happy.
Although he doesn't have a specific timetable set for making the Majors, as soon as possible pretty much sums it up the best.
I'd like to be up there (Minnesota) tomorrow, but obviously that isn't going to happen, Manship said. Hopefully, I can get there maybe at the end of next year or the year after that.
The last chance to see Manship pitch before the All-Star break is tonight at 7 as the Snappers take on the Cedar Rapid Kernels.
Posted: Tuesday, Jun 12, 2007
Snappers' ace receives MWL, Twins' accolades
By Rob Lucas
Beloit Daily News
Any pitcher throwing against Major League hitters for the first time is going to be intimidated. Now, imagine the first hitter you face is one of your childhood idols.
Oh, and his name is Ken Griffey, Jr.
During a spring training game this season, Beloit Snappers' ace Jeff Manship faced that exact scenario and retired Griffey along with Bubba Crosby and Javier Valentin for a 1-2-3 inning, breaking Crosby's bat in the process.
It was one of the most intimidating things I've ever seen, said Manship of facing Griffey. I didn't know he was still in the game and I was doing my warm-up pitches and I looked over and saw him swinging, watching me. I was like, Wow, this is surreal right now.'
For the 22-year old right hander, the entire 2007 season has been surreal. On the heels of being selected to the Midwest League's Western Division All-Star team, Manship recently received the Pitcher of the Month Award from the Minnesota Twins for the month of May.
The All-Star selection was especially pleasing to the San Antonio native, even if his girlfriend wasn't nearly as impressed.
My girlfriend didn't actually know what it meant when I told her, said Manship. She didn't know what to say, it was hilarious. She knew about the big league All-Star game, but she didn't know they had one for this league.
As well as his first season of pro ball has gone, his post-high school career didn't start out nearly as well. Manship required Tommy John elbow ligament surgery after high school, injuring his arm while pitching for Team USA in Curacao in the Dutch Antilles. With a scholarship at Notre Dame waiting for him, the 6-foot Manship said he knew something was wrong in his second game, after throwing 130 pitches just three days prior.
In the fourth inning of that second game, it just blew out, Manship said. I didn't hear the pop like most people say. I just thought I strained it really bad.
It was much worse than a strain, and after resting his arm for a month, he tried to throw off a mound and felt the pain again. Two MRIs later, Manship was told he required Tommy John surgery if he ever wanted to pitch again.
I was relieved, said Manship. I couldn't throw without pain before that and it had been so long, probably six months, that it hurt. Once I heard Tommy John', I wasn't shocked at all. I was happy, to be honest. Most people can't say that, but knowing the recovery rate I was pretty happy with it.
After about a year and a half, Manship said he was fully recovered and back to throwing his 90-91 mph fastball along with his off-the-table curveball. But getting to the fully-recovered stage was no easy task as the fear of blowing out his elbow again was always in the back of his mind.
The first time, it was weird, said Manship. I thought, What if this hurts, or it pops again?' There were a lot of things in the back of my mind.
You pretty much have to trust yourself that you did the work to get there. You can't go too fast and you've got to take your time because everybody is different. You have to do whatever feels best for you.
Manship pitched well in his first full season at Notre Dame, leading the Big East Conference in strikeouts in 2006. As the 2006 First-Year Player draft approached, Manship made it known he wouldn't sign unless he was chosen in the first three rounds. He possessed plenty of leverage with three years of eligibility left at Notre Dame, but he wanted to play pro ball.
However, Manship didn't hear his named called through the first three rounds and figured he'd be back at Notre Dame in 2007. Then, in the 14th round, the Twins took a shot in the dark.
I figured I wouldn't get drafted at all after that (the first three rounds) because no team would want to take a chance, said Manship. The Twins did, we got a deal worked out and it worked out for the best.
Manship signed for $300,000.
The Twins are notorious for having a great track record with everything, but I wanted to go, Manship said. I was very adamant on signing and once we got it worked out, there was no hesitation. Once everything got worked out, I was very happy.
Although he doesn't have a specific timetable set for making the Majors, as soon as possible pretty much sums it up the best.
I'd like to be up there (Minnesota) tomorrow, but obviously that isn't going to happen, Manship said. Hopefully, I can get there maybe at the end of next year or the year after that.
The last chance to see Manship pitch before the All-Star break is tonight at 7 as the Snappers take on the Cedar Rapid Kernels.
Posted: Tuesday, Jun 12, 2007
Dianna
