Toros return to Hi Corbett Field

TUCSON (AP) — Two years after shoulder surgery, righty Blake Eager still believes he can pitch in the major leagues.

"That window's still open," said Eager, a former New York Mets prospect. "You don't want to give it up."

Thanks to the newly revived Tucson Toros, Eager doesn't have to.

The Toros will open their inaugural season in the independent Golden Baseball League at Hi Corbett Field on Thursday night against the Chico Outlaws. It'll represent a sort of homecoming for Tusconans such as Eager and Jim Rushford, an outfielder who played 23 games for the Milwaukee Brewers in 2002.

It's also a homecoming for the Toros, Tucson's beloved home team from 1969-97.

The Toros served as the Triple-A affiliate for the Chicago White Sox, Oakland Athletics, Texas Rangers, Houston Astros and Brewers.

In 1998, the Toros morphed into the Tucson Sidewinders, the Triple-A affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks. But when the Sidewinders moved to Reno this season, the Toros returned.

Tucson was scheduled to play an 80-game schedule — 40 home, 40 away — before the Golden League's expansion Tijuana franchise pulled out due to health concerns. The move robbed the Toros of six home and six road games.

The Toros will play in their previous home, Hi Corbett Field, the spring training base for the Colorado Rockies, whose pennants fluttered atop the grandstand in the hot breeze this week.

The aging ballpark served as the spring home of the woebegone Cleveland Indians in the hit comedy "Major League." Now it's home to another ragtag collection of diamond dreamers and their mascot, Tuffy the Toro.

Some, like Eager, are hoping for one more shot at the big leagues. Others, like righty Lorenzo Barcelo, want to make it back.

Barcelo pitched for the Chicago White Sox from 2000-02, posting a 5-3 record and a 4.50 ERA in 43 games.

"I'm not giving up that dream," said the 31-year-old Barcelo, scheduled to pitch the opener. "If I make it back to the big leagues, then I can say I made it twice."

The Toros' most famous name is Yount. First baseman Dustin Yount, raised in Paradise Valley, Ariz., is the son of Hall of Famer Robin Yount.

Their manager is Tim Johnson, who has his own back story. Johnson managed the Toronto Blue Jays to an 88-74 record in 1998 but was fired the following spring after admitting that he had lied about his military service in Vietnam. Since then, Johnson has managed in the Mexican League and with an independent club in Lincoln, Neb.

"I'm really excited to be in Tucson," Johnson said.

It appears that Tucson is excited to have the Toros again. With the Sidewinders gone, and the Diamondbacks and Rockies considering moving their spring bases, it looked like the end of professional baseball in Tucson.

Enter Jay Zucker, who also owned the Sidewinders. He brought the Toros back, and he said fans have been "overwhelmingly embracing" them.

But it's a tough economy to start a team.

Hoping to attract budget-conscious families, the Toros have three ticket prices — $5, $8 and $10 for VIP boxes.

Zucker said the Toros have sold more season tickets than the Sidewinders did in their final season at Tucson Electric Park, the Diamondbacks' antiseptic spring home. He wouldn't disclose specific numbers but said, "It's a few hundred, which is more than what we had for Sidewinders, embarrassingly.

"I never comprehended the impact on this community that giving them back the Toros at Hi Corbett would have," Zucker said. "And that's what we've been experiencing."

Tickets are cheap, but so are the players. Each team has a salary cap of $83,000, Zucker said, and players on the 22-man roster are paid between $500 and $5,000 per month.

Many have other jobs to make ends meet. Because of that, the players believe fans will identify with them more than they do with highly paid big leaguers.

"Nobody here is making millions of dollars, that's for sure," said Yount, drafted by Baltimore in the ninth round in 2001. "I'd say a lot of your fans are probably making more money than we are. So it's kind of the opposite of what's going on with major league baseball."

Eager's story is typical in the Golden Baseball League. Drafted by the New York Mets in the 30th round in 2004, Eager spent four seasons in the minors, posting a 16-13 record with a 4.09 ERA.

He rose to Double-A before injuring his shoulder. Eager underwent surgery on his labrum in 2007 and hasn't pitched since.

Eager returned to Tucson, his hometown, and took a job as a manager at a baseball and softball training facility on the city's east side. But even as he coached children who dream of playing in the majors, Eager wasn't ready to give up his own dream.

Health permitting, Eager is expected to be in the Toros' rotation.

"We're still getting paid to play a kid's game," Eager said. "There's an opportunity there for all of us, as long as we can prove that we can still do it — and get lucky."