Florida Marlins pitcher Daniel Barone just allowed a home run
over the right field fence, and all he could do was smile.
Gilroy
Florida Marlins pitcher Daniel Barone just allowed a home run over the right field fence, and all he could do was smile.
Barone, a resident of Hollister, hosted The Show, a two-day pitching and hitting camp last weekend at Gavilan College in Gilroy.
Approximately 30 aspiring baseball players came out, and while the home run off Barone came on a shortened field with a tennis ball, the former San Benito Haybaler was impressed with the amount of young talent on Saturday and Sunday.
“The kids have such a good time. It’s nice to see them smile and have a good time,” Barone said on Saturday. “The most fun they have is the tennis ball baseball game. We could play that all day.”
The camp ran from 9 a.m. until noon on both days, and after basic stretching, running and throwing to warm up, the campers were divided into groups, focusing on baserunning, infield, outfield and pitching.
On Sunday, the camp focused on hitting.
Michael Casarez, 8, of Hollister, attended The Show on Saturday for obvious reasons.
“Because I’m gonna be playing baseball and I wanna be good,” said Casarez, who’ll be starting Little League next year for the American League. “I learned how to do grounders … and I learned how to catch pop flys.”
Dakota Gaucin, 9, of Gilroy, came out last weekend because he loves the game of baseball and he wanted to become a better pitcher.
“[Barone] told me when I pitch to think of the steps,” Gaucin said. “To step backwards and to pick up your knee and throw the ball.”
Gaucin added that a lesson from a major leaguer like Barone was “amazing.”
Barone said he tried to teach the basics to the campers, that way the parents watching could continue the lessons at home.
But Adrian Garcia, 12, of Morgan Hill, may have been given the best advice. The Marlin pitcher suggested to Garcia, a second basemen who plays year-round travel ball with the Silicon Valley Express, to consider pitching, a suggestion that had the Britton Middle School student grinning from ear to ear.
“He knows that I could do better,” Garcia said. “So I’ll try to move toward that and be a pitcher.”
“Keep your weight on your back foot,” added Garcia, explaining what he learned from Barone, “and stride and just throw it.”
Barone taught the pitching portion of the camp, while Monterey Peninsula College assistant coach Kalev Betancourt instructed the outfielders. San Benito grad Nick Backich of MPC, Gavilan and Oklahoma taught the infielders and everyone helped out with the hitting.
Barone plans on having another camp in January, and is “trying to get some bigger names out here,” he said. The hurler also thanked Gavilan and Monterey Peninsula College, as well as the sponsors.
In its third year, The Show was hosted for the first time by a major league pitcher, as Barone was called up to the Marlins from Triple-A Albuquerque on Aug. 8. He made his major league debut just two days later against the New York Mets, and finished the season with the Florida ball club.
But even after a season of pitching in raucous ball parks like New York, Philadelphia and Colorado, the hopeful ball players at Gavilan College on Saturday may have given Mets, Phillies and Rockies fans a run for their money.
“The kids heckled me,” Barone said with a laugh. “They had better heckling than Phillies fans … They knew my stats better than I do. But they’re a good group of kids and I had fun today.”
