Aug. 19, 2007

By Don Leypoldt

Aaron Garza is a Bum. And the former Silkworm standout has worked hard to be that way.

On June 30th, Garza was signed by the Traverse City (MI) Beach Bums of the independent Frontier League. In just his third professional at-bat, the left fielder belted a middle-in first pitch fastball for a grand slam. Since that auspicious debut, Garza has quickly become one of Traverse City's best hitters.

Garza's 1,500 mile route from his Austin, Texas home to Western Michigan was circuitous. "There was no doubt in my mind that I was going to get drafted, maybe in the 20 something rounds," he recalls. "I had a great summer at Manchester and a pretty decent year in college (a .341 average, 16 steals and 51 runs while starting all 60 of Texas State's games). I figured that somebody would give me a chance to see what I could do."

Silkworms' fans thought someone would give him a chance too because Garza's 2006 was one of the best in Manchester history. The starting All-Star right fielder hit .348- a Silkworms' record- and good for fourth best in the NECBL. He also ranked second in the league in doubles (15), RBIs (28) and hits (56). For good measure, Garza slugged over 170 points above the NECBL average, swiped five bases and made just two errors.

Garza, listed at 6'0" and 190 pounds, does not have the prototypical size of a left fielder; perhaps that is what caused his draft snub. Regardless, the measurements failed to account for Garza's oversized heart and work ethic.

"Once I didn't get drafted, I knew that I wasn't ready to be done playing baseball. I wasn't going to pout about it and feel sorry for myself," says Garza determinedly. "I wanted to be proactive so I went to a couple of professional tryout camps, but it is hard to get signed there. I got hooked up with the Frontier League because I sent about 60 e-mails to just about anyone I could think of: Presidents. GMs. Coaches. The Frontier League. The Golden Baseball League. The Northern League. An independent league in Texas. The Can-Am league. Fortunately, Traverse City said `Do you want to come up here?' I said `Absolutely.'"

The Beach Bums, as Huck Finn might have said, "gave him an inch and he took an ell." After opening the season with a .250 average, Garza compiled a 12 game hit streak and blasted 8 dingers over his next 87 at bats- including a stretch where he homered in four straight games. "When I first got up here, I hadn't played in an actual game with live pitching in over five weeks. Baseball is all about timing and being comfortable. It took me a little while to get my timing back and get comfortable in the box. Also, it was only a couple of weeks ago that I felt good at the plate because of two adjustments- in my stride and in my hand positioning. That has made a big difference," Garza explains.

Traverse City is an ideal place to play. Located in a resort town, the team regularly draws 5,000 fans per game, provides its players with host families and boasts some of the nicest facilities in professional baseball. Nonetheless, Indy leagues know that every player dreams of making it to The Show and to do that, players need to sign with a major league affiliate.

"The Frontier League is really good about letting guys sign," Garza notes. "There is an age limit on this league, everyone has to be younger than 27, which is good because scouts come around more and are more likely to sign a young guy than an older guy."

This coming offseason, Garza's sights are set even farther than Michigan. As he describes, "They are looking for players to go play in a professional league in Australia from October to March. I'm really putting my hopes in trying to go over there and play. It would be an awesome experience and I'd be getting paid to do it, so I can't think of anything better."

Garza has used his talent and work ethic to advance one more rung higher in his baseball career. While he may not know who his Presidential candidate will be in 2008, he is content to vote Independent in 2007 as he works and plays as far as he can go.