Long Beach State University Athletics
College Teammates Adjusting to Pro Ball
6/30/2008 12:00:00 AM | General
June 30, 2008
The same first name. An indentical desire to play professional baseball. The talent and dedication to make that dream come true.
Now, the former 49ers hold more in common: the same big-league organization that drafted them, the same minor-league uniform and real estate in the Hudson Valley Renegades' clubhouse.
"It's cool. It's exciting," said Corder, an outfielder taken in the seventh round of this year's draft by the Tampa Bay Rays, who picked Tweedy with their 25th-round selection. "We played for the same team in college, so we play the game kind of the same way, have the same type of experience. It's fun."
Both hailing from the Golden State - Tweedy is a native of Newark, Calif., up the coast from Corder's Mission Viejo home - having a familiar face with whom to share a first pro season has been a welcome luxury, Tweedy said.
"A lot of guys come out here all by themselves, not knowing anybody," the infielder, one of 11 Long Beach State players taken in this spring's draft, said before Hudson Valley hosted the Brooklyn Cyclones Tuesday. "But for me and Corder, we're pretty fortunate. You've got me and him together; we were on the same team last year. We've got a lot of guys on other teams that we've played against, so we're kind of familiar with everybody.
"It just makes the transition a lot more comfortable."
And that transition to the pro game - be it playing every day, or ditching aluminum bats for the wooden sticks, or arriving at the ballpark early in the afternoon for 7:05 p.m. first pitch - often takes some getting used to.
"To me, the transition as far as playing every day is not such a big deal, it's what you do prior to the game," Renegades manager Joe Alvarez said. "That's what these young men are finding to be a little more stressful. They're not used to doing so much before the game."
Hence, Corder said, having Tweedy go through the same experience can ease the acclimation period for both players.
"It's cool to have someone that you've played with for a few years here," the outfielder said.
Tweedy said former Long Beach State player Troy Tulowitzki, now an infielder with the Colorado Rockies, and Evan Longoria, a 2006 Renegade who signed a Rays-record $44 million contract earlier this season, returned to the college in the offseason to work out with the team and prepare the future pro prospects for what they'd expect in the minors.
"Just kind of how different it is, college ball to pro ball," said Tweedy, recounting what the big-leaguers told him and his Long Beach State teammates. "You play every day, so you kind of have to limit yourself, what you do. It's quality over quantity, as far as work."
That was wise advice, as it turned out, given Tweedy's first week as a pro.
"The first couple days are pretty tough - you're here all day, you barely sleep," he said. "It seems pretty hectic at first, but then you start to get used to it."
