By Michael Cohen
Courtesy of the CountySeat
The sound of baseballs hitting leather can be heard popping
throughout Yogi Berra Stadium on a warm Monday morning as the New Jersey
Jackals baseball team is busy preparing for the start of its 2014 season.
For pitcher Isaac Pavlik, a Parmaus, New Jersey native, and
Seton Hall graduate, this Spring Training has been extra special for him. Last
summer Pavlik tore his ACL while trying to cover first base on a ground ball to
first baseman Chris Duffy, and was lost for the season. LISTEN TO JACKALS BASEBALL HERE!
For Pavlik, a guy who is the longest tenured member of the
Jackals, this will be his 10th season with the club, owns many
Jackals team records in wins (72), strikeouts (777) and games pitched (182). He
called the injury a humbling experience he’ll never forget.
“I remember it like it was like yesterday,” Pavlik said
while working out at Yogi Berra Stadium. “I got my hands on a video of my
injury; it was upsetting to watch because I would make that same play 99 out of
100 times.
“That was the one time I didn’t make the play. I made a bad
baseball turn and my knee basically suffered for it. It’s truly a humbling
experience; I’m anxious to get out there again.”
While most of the baseball universe is already playing, the
short-season Can-Am League begins play on May 22, with 96 games that run
through early September. The league has seen its fair share of changes over the
years, the number of teams has now shrunk to four in this division after the
Newark Bears were extinguished, but even with the challenges, comes great
enthusiasm for a new baseball season 11 miles from downtown Hackensack in
Little Falls, NJ.
“I like our athleticism from top to bottom, and I think we
have more depth this year and a better outfield this year,” manager Joe
Calfapietra said, “We have 19 guys out of affiliated baseball, they have to get
accustomed to what affiliated baseball is like. It’s a day to day process.”
The Jackals are coming off an incredible 55 win season in
2013, where they pushed their rivals the Quebec Capitales to Game 7 of last
year’s League Championship Series before falling to the Caps on the final
night.
This year’s squad, while with a complete roster facelift
from last year’s team is not bereft of great stories, Pavlik’s story of course
being one of them. Ed Ott, the former member of the World Champion 1979
Pirates, retiring from coaching after this year being another.
Pavlik spent nine months trying to come back from the injury
working three times a week at Performance Physical Therapy and Sports
Conditioning in Wayne where he rebuilt the strength and power in his legs
through various strength and condition exercises.
“I’m doing the best I can to say to myself mentally, ‘I was
never hurt.’ I want to be part of it all this year,” Pavlik said. Pavlik got
his first crack at live hitters this week in an intra-squad game and pitched
two shutout innings. Asked how he felt, Pavlik gave a big smile and thumbs up.
Meanwhile for Ott, this could very well be his last season in baseball. Then again, as he said with a laugh, “I said that last year too.” Ott enters his 42nd year in baseball, a career that spans both the majors and minor league baseball as a coach and player.
“42 years in the game, I think I’ve given it enough. I want
to go out with manager Joe Calfapietra on top and try to win a pennant in our
league this year,” Ott said.
Ott, who recently had his left knee replaced again, was a
member the famed 1979 “We are Family” Pittsburgh Pirates who beat the Baltimore
Orioles in the World Series. Ott was a key member of the club as its starting
catcher. In ’79 Ott hit .273 with seven homers and 51 RBI.
“Being on the same team as Wille Stargell was unbelievable.
To win a World Series with him was an incredible moment for me,” Ott said.
After an injury ended his playing career in 1983, Ott went
into coaching. Over the next 30 years he moved from the Pirates, Red and Astros
organizations, coaching at the minor league level. He eventually went the
independent league route in 1998 as manager of Allentown, before joining the
Jackals and confidant Joe Calfapietra in 2007.
“Joe, I consider him my son,” said Ott. “When Allentown hired me, Joe was
already there. I drove up from Virginia to Allentown, and Joe was invited to
the meeting with the owner, and he said to me ‘Mr. Ott I will work as hard as I
can for you.’ I told him, ‘We’ll see.’
“He’s said it before,” Calfapietra said about Ott, with a
smile. “The big thing is he’s healthier this year, we’ll cross that bridge when
we get to it. I’m not giving him a hug yet like it’s a swan song, because I
don’t think that’s the case.”
The key to getting an independent team ready to play is a
tricky one. It involves players putting their egos aside, forgetting about the
statistics that will ultimately get them to an affiliate and focus on winning as
a team. Calfapietra, Ott and Pavlik have traveled that road enough times
together.
In his time as manager Calfapietra has sent 27 players to a
MLB team affiliate.
“We will play
as hard as anybody plays. We have
to remember that this is independent baseball we are in this to give these kids
an opportunity to get back to the major leagues. Nobody does a better job at
that than Joe Calfapietra,” Ott added.
The Jackals home opener is May 27 at Yogi Berra Stadium.
Game can be heard live on the Jackals Internet Radio portal, Stretch Internet,
linked on the Jackals website.
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