Ex-Don could always go yard

7/16/05

MARK PATTON
NEWS-PRESS SENIOR WRITER

My baseball career fell many levels short of the major leagues, and I used to blame Dad for that.

He'd always make me work in the yard when the only thing I wanted to do was play ball. So I got pretty good with the rake, and not so good with the bat.

It finally hit me, during all those innings on the bench in junior college, that the only thing I'd be qualified to do in the big leagues was drag the infield.

But then there is Ryan Spilborghs, who first caught the eye of UCSB coach Bob Brontsema by showing up to work in a neighbor's yard every Sunday.

Spilborghs crushed all my delusionary excuses when he was called up to play for the Colorado Rockies on Friday. Maybe it wasn't Pop's fault, after all.

"He was one of those kids who stuck out because of his work ethic -- he'd even volunteer at his church," said Brontsema. "He was always a great kid, and from such a great family."

He kept his eye on Spilborghs as he set several hitting records at Santa Barbara High School, finishing in 1998 with a career average of .472. He set another one for Brontsema at UCSB when he hit safely in 35 consecutive games.

I never even saw the field for 35 consecutive games.

The thing that impressed the Rockies after picking Spilborghs in the seventh round of the 2002 draft was how he improved at every turn. He thrived in their instructional program last fall, earning a coveted invitation for winter workouts at Coors Field.

"He put in the time," said Glenallen Hill, one of the club's minor-league batting instructors. "He has this little routine of working out -- he did what he needed to do, and it paid off for him."

The Double-A manager at Tulsa was so impressed last spring he gave Spilborghs the most important slot in the batting order.

"He told me, you're our 3-hole hitter, because you can do a lot of things," he recalled. "That really helped to build my confidence."

Spilborghs hit .341 in 71 games at Tulsa. He was batting .355 after 15 games at Triple-A Colorado Springs when the Rockies chose him to replace injured outfielder Brad Hawpe.

Although Spilborghs could be back in Triple-A by next week, when outfielder Matt Holliday returns from a rehabilitation assignment, his future seems to get brighter with each summer day.

"I've been so fortunate to grow up in Santa Barbara," he said. "All those coaches were such a huge part of my success, from Larry Thomas in the Goleta Valley South Little League to Marcus Elliott, a phenomenal strength and conditioning coach who trained me this past offseason.

"All those guys have had so much faith in me. It's kind of cool, because so many of them own a little part of this. Seriously."

But no one more so than his dad, Rene, a Belgian immigrant who coached him as a youth.

"We were both learning the game together," said Spilborghs. "He ended up blowing out his arm by throwing tennis balls to me in the back yard."

That stirred a thought, buried deep in my memory, of my own dad slinging pitches my way.

On a freshly raked lawn.