For John Bowker, the future looks bright. Hell, it's his middle name, as in "Brite," which he inherited from his father (Brite Bowker). Although, if you were to ask the native Sacramentan after a recent loss at Sacramento's Raley Field, he may not have been so encouraged.
(Bowker recently was traded from the SF Giants to the Pittsburgh Pirates, and currently plays on the Pirates' Triple-A affiliate, Indianapolis.)
Bowker took a rare 0-5 for the extra-inning affair, and left the plate mumbling to himself after striking out in the ninth with a runner on second. Which may have been due, in part, to his role in a misplayed fly ball in center field the inning before.
In the bottom of the eighth, with the Grizzlies holding a 3-2 lead, lead off hitter Steve Tolleson hit a long drive to deep left center. Center fielder Eugenio Velez, whose long, lean body type would blend perfectly on planet Pandora, easily would have made the catch. But Bowker the left fielder and Velez arrived simultaneously, their gloves, stretched across their bodies-both in position to catch the ball-effectively cancelled each other and the ball dropped to the warning track. It seemed that RiverCats owner, Art Savage, gave a heavenly assist as Velez picked up the ball directly beneath the retired Number One jersey on the outfield wall that honors the team's owner, who passed away last fall.
Official scorer Mark Honbo raced to the press box video monitor, and after studying two super slow motion replays, ruled it a triple for Tolleson. "If that's an error, who do I give it to?" Honbo wondered aloud. One batter later, Matt Watson drove in the tying run.
Moments after the outfield misplay, Bowker came to bat and had an embarrassing three-pitch strikeout, missing an off-speed pitch down and away.
In a pre-game interview, Bowker admitted that he needs work more on his outfield play. But he was sent down by the Giants this spring to make room for Pat Burrell, a journeyman slugging outfielder, and to work on hitting lefties.
Grizzlies skipper Steve Decker is very high on Bowker, who led the Pacific Coast League last season with a.342 average, 21 home runs and 82 runs batted in. Bowker was sent down to Fresno needs to get some at bats, relax, and learn how to capitalize on the situation when he isn't playing every day (in the big leagues). "You don't always need a home run to win the game. Sometimes, you need to take the ball the other way."
Bowker says he tries to concentrate playing the game "one pitch at a time, being 'in the present' all the time." He admits it's a challenge, especially when "you're out there thinking of past failures, or even successes, which can take your focus away from seeing that pitch or seeing the ball in the outfield."
About this Author
To read stories like this one on John Bowker, visit http://BaseballSacramento.com
Rick Cabral is a Sacramento baseball historian with published articles in newspapers and magazines and currently edits the web site BaseballSacramento.com.
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