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- Oregon Daily Emerald Sports —
Emeralds catcher down to earth
By Carrie Vincent
f<y if** > t'ijcf Qa»*ty f
Murray Olderman's sportsyvritmg ( lass is not a
mob uf raving, digging media lunalii s In fat t. the
students are a hit quiet, almost shy for journalists,
treading on new ground. Not unlike the intervie
wee
Mike Sweeney, the catcher for the Eugene Emer
alds baseball team, is also treading on new ground.
Having just turned 20 years old and in only his
second year in the minor leagues. Sweenev,
although a little reticent, seemed to enjoy being
the center of attention He (luckily for the c lass)
has not experienced the prying, negative media
in his career so far
At Tuesday's game against the Everett Giants,
the i ntcher. who leads the team in runs scored
(17). seemed to tic- the darling of the crowd The
y oung man inspired the older fans to take almost a
parenting tone in their cheering and the young
kids seemed to love the sound of Ins name rolling
<iff their longues "Sweeeeeney!"
in tolls of tif adulation bs la r-i aiving tins year
from the ‘arts, last year wasn’t so easy.
"The 1 rowds bothered me last year a lot." he
said, "but (his year is no! so had."
Bui he was still willing to talk openly with the
i lass, politely listened to questions, tried (n be
aware of the names of the students and answered
everything as honestly ns any journalist could
hope for At the end of the interview he even
offered to get passes for any of the students for an
Kmeralds game and shyly added to each and
everyone as they were leaving. "Bye! It was really
nice to meet you "
His manners can probably be attributed to his
Irish-Catholic upbringing As the second oldest of
eight children, he often spends his off-seasons
helping w ith his younger siblings in his home
town of Ontario. Calif
But Ins leva for baseball can probably l*t attrib
uted to the fai t that Ins father (Mike Sweeney,
also) was a i enter fielder for the California Angels
from 1971 to 1973. But neither his dad nor his
mother ever pushed him into athletics, though
they were supportive
"It's always U*en my lifetime goal to play base
ball.” Sweeney said.
Sweeney said that though his father plac ing lor
the Angels gave him the love for the team, it was
Brian Downing, who used to be a catcher, desig
nated hitter and finally an outfielder for the
Angels, who was his true idol
"I remember when I was five." Sweeney said,
"at the opening of the T-hall c eremonies my dad
had him come and speak I remember (Downing)
looked like some big, mammoth man But I always
go! a real thrill watching him play
Sweeney, at fi-foot-2 and 195 pounds, is not
exactly polite himself, but he said Ins si/e is fair
ly recent.
"When I was a freshman in high school, 1 was
only 5-foot 3 and 120 pounds.” he said
Sweeney is confident that bis decision to play
baseball, instead of going to college, was the right
one.
"1 don't feel any regrets.” he said. "1 feel I've
learned a lot more in the last couple of years in pro
ball than I would have in college."
‘Even if I make it in the big
leagues, I’ll probably still be
driving my Honda Accord, not
a Mercedes. That’s not for me.’
Mike Sweeney,
Eugene Emeralds catcher
Sweeney said, however, that if he ever went to
m fioot he would like to stay in the area of sports,
possibly studying physical therapy or sports med
icine.
According to his contract, if he should get
injured, the Kansas City Kovals, the parent team of
the Kmeralds. would pay Sweeney for four years of
college
Sweeney, even at his young age. has a good
financial sense Instead of blowing his signing
bonus of $30,000 on cars or other luxuries, he
invested two thirds of it in stocks and mutual
funds
"Kvun if I make it in the big leagues. I'll proba
bly still be driving my Honda Accord, not a Mer
cedes," Sweeney said "That's not for me."
Sweeney lives with three other players in an
apartment near the University campus, which
makes their $950/month stipend fairly easy to live
on The occasional Top Ramon is about as gourmet
as Sweeney and his roommates get, he said, so
most of his money goes toward food.
Because this is his second year with the Kitier
alds — he is the only returnee on the roster — he
had hoped at the beginning of the season that he
would advance to Rockford, III., the next-step-up
the-ladder from hise for the Royals. Although he
thinks his young age is usually an advantage.
Sweeney said this time it worked against him.
"I was told I was only 1*) and they wanted me to
stay with the Kmeralds and learn from my manag
er. John Mize rook, who used to be a major league
catcher." lie said
Sweeney was a pitcher in high school, hut he is
confident that the move to catcher was the right
one. But when Olderman playfully questioned
him about the "tools of ignorance" — the designa
tion for ret eivers — Sweeney agreed
"They certainly aren't tools of intelligence, get
ting balls thrown at you all the time," he said.
His contribution to the Kmeralds and his hum
bleness were summed up in one sentence when he
was asked how he felt about leading the team in
extra-base hits.
"I am?" he replied I didn't know that 1 guess
you learn something new every day."
It didn't really hit Sweeney until he was a junior
in high school that he might he able to play hall
jiast his senior year. After his team went 28-0 and
won the California state title in baseball was when
it really hit him.
Sweeney believes the chances of making it to
the majors with the same team that recruited him
(in the 10th round) are pretty slim Which is fine
with him
"I'm still an Angel fan." he said, "even though
they're lousy."
--- N'
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