summer rewind: a fresh start

(In lieu of one long, meandering season in review, I give you instead several snapshots spread out over the course of a few days that should, together, form a collage that my second-grade art teacher would be proud of. Here is part deux.)

Every summer, it's the same story. Big-time player who was a big-time recruit puts up big-time numbers for big-time college, gets recruited to play in the biggest of big-time summer leagues and by mid-August, has taken a big-time fall back to earth. Whether it's the wood bats or the pitching depth, the experience or the overall talent level, plenty of great baseball players who've had great springs end up having rough summers.

But it goes the other way, too, and when it does, you're bound to get a great story.

There were a lot of great stories this summer.

Sure, there were the inevitable bad Cape seasons for players who had great college seasons. That's always going to be the case. But quite a few players tore off the rearview mirror and colored over a bad spring with a spectacular summer.

There was Tom Milone.

The USC lefty had made a great first impression. As a true freshman, he was a weekend starter for one of the nation's most storied programs. Naturally, he would build on it. Only he didn't. Milone went 3-7 with a 6.17 ERA. He allowed 101 hits in 77.1 innings. But the Cape offered the chance for a turnaround and Milone ran with the opportunity. Working as Chatham's top starter, Milone put together solid start after solid start, but somehow wasn't picked for the all-star team. The day he found that out, he tossed a complete-game shutout, and from there he was dominant. By the end of the season, he was tied for the league lead in wins and his ERA stood at 2.92. He struck out 46 and walked only seven. Before his final start, which came in the playoffs against Y-D, Milone was presented with the league's top pitcher award.

There was Reese Havens.

He didn't exactly struggle for South Carolina, but for a guy who was one of the top prospects on the Cape as a freshman, his 2007 spring was a bit of a sophomore slump. Havens hit .274, eighth among South Carolina's everyday starters. He drove in 43 runs but only hit five home runs. In Havens' second year on the Cape, though, there was no slump. The Cotuit shortstop cemented himself as one of the league's premier players, hitting .314 with five home runs and 25 RBI. He finished with 17 extra-base hits and a .487 slugging percentage.

There was Terry Doyle.

He was the co-winner of the Cape League's top pitcher award in '06, a big righthander who was a workhorse and a dominant workhorse at that. Included in his big summer was a no-hitter and a championship-clinching victory for Y-D. Doyle's summer sent his draft stock skyrocketing, but it cam tumbling down this spring. He went 4-5 and had a 5.87 ERA for Boston College. His velocity was down, and he fell to the 21st round in the June draft. But a Cape League summer was once again to Doyle's liking. Pitching for Y-D again, Doyle tied for the league lead in wins and finished with a 2.35 ERA, lower than last year.

And then there was Jason Castro, whose turnaround was perhaps the biggest.

He was projected to be one of Stanford's top players, a big kid with all the tools who'd hit .283 as a freshman and .286 in the Alaska League. All the potential, though, seemed to crumble when the season began. Castro hit .167 this spring with just four extra-base hits. But he turned it all around on the Cape, starting hot and never cooling down. Playing mostly DH for the league champion Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox, Castro was second in the league in hitting with a .341 average. He belted four home runs and drove in 24. His OPS was .922. He was an MVP candidate and might have won it if not for Conor Gillaspie's ridiculous numbers.

Those are just a few of the examples, and together, they offer a new perspective on what a Cape League summer can mean. It's not just a chance to confirm perceptions, to build on past success. It's also a chance to change perceptions.

And really, it's one of the few chances. If a sophomore coming off a bad spring has a bad summer, his junior year will be his only chance to improve his stock before the next year's draft. That can give the summer an added sense of urgency, and with so many scouts on the Cape, it's even more pronounced.

Players deliver not just because they have to, but also because they want to.

Everybody playing for a major college program has talent, and all the way along, they've been the best. The best Little Leaguer, the best player on their high school team. Most of them have rarely, if ever, struggled. To struggle on the biggest stage yet has to be tough to swallow.

It's a motivating factor, then, to turn things around. Who's more focused coming into a Cape League summer? The guy who hit .380 or the one who hit .187. I'm betting on the latter.

It doesn't always work out, of course, but the fact that the Cape League offers a completely fresh start makes it more possible. It's a new team, new parks, a new place to live, new teammates.

And most of all, it's a new season. When struggles continue through a college season, I'd imagine they can get overwhelming. It's tough to break out. But when the Cape League summer starts, everybody's batting average is .000. Everybody's ERA is 0.00. A chance to start fresh so soon after a rough season has to inspire a feeling of freedom.

It's a valuable opportunity. Taking that opportunity and running with it can make all the diffrence.