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| The Jacksonville Suns opened the 2014 Southern League season with a 3-1 victory over Huntsville. (Photo by Will Brown) |
By Will Brown
Few things elicit more optimism than Opening Day. A player’s
slate is wiped clean, a fan’s hope has yet to be extinguished and the jokesters
among us have spent all winter waiting to unleash their best.
That was all on display Thursday night when the Jacksonville
Suns opened the 2014 season against Huntsville.
The Suns went on to win the game 3-1 after starting pitcher,
and top Miami Marlins prospect, Anthony DeSclafani allowed one run on two hits
in six innings.
As fascinating as the action may have been on the field, one
person’s one-sided conversations with Huntsville outfielder Mitchell Haniger
may have been just as captivating.
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| Mitch Haniger (Courtesy Huntsville Stars) |
Haniger is the No. 3 prospect in the Milwaukee Brewers
organization. He’s a 23-year-old right-handed outfielder from California who
spent Thursday night adjusting to life in AA baseball.
More than 7,500 people came to Bragan Field Thursday night,
which is probably bigger than anything Haniger saw while playing for the
Wisconsin Timber Rattlers and Brevard County Manatees in A ball the last two
years.
Nonetheless, this fanatic, in particular, was in midseason
form. He was a stationed in the first row of the bleachers in right field,
bearded, appeared to be in his 20s and wore a gray and black Suns hat like so
many others — myself included — on Opening Night.
The fan made it his mission to heckle Haniger every time he
took his station in right field. From the warm up tosses before the second
inning to his anticipation for a delivered pitch, the fan rode Haniger as
though the season depended on it.
The Huntsville outfielder made the first of his two putouts
in the second inning. Two innings later the Californian showed why some scouts
say he has the best outfield arm in his organization.
DeSclafani hit a liner to right field for what he thought
was his fourth career single in 22 career minor league at-bats in the home
fourth. Haniger fielded the ball, took a crow hop and fired a dart to first
base to beat DeSclafani, earn oooohs from the crowd and quiet his heckler…momentarily.
When Haniger fired, a group of us wondered what one local
sportscaster would say when he heard a player was thrown out at first base on a
ball hit well into the outfield. While we kibitzed, the in-form fan was keeping
his verbal volleying in reserve for the later innings.
Jacksonville took a 2-1 lead into the bottom of the eighth
inning. Our fan, recovered from the sting of watching Haniger show off his
howitzer, to razz him unmercifully. There was whistling, noisemaking and trash
talk. The grief-giving rose in volume when the Suns pushed across an insurance
run.
When the Suns grounded out to short to end the home eighth,
Haniger sprinted toward the dugout faster than any other frame all night. We
joked it was because he wanted nothing more with our heckler. In truth, it was
because he led off the ninth inning.
Haniger flew out to center to finish 0-for-3 on the night.
The heckler, feeling he did his job, kept quiet for the final two batters and
the Suns won their home opener for the third straight year.
Afterward, Haniger and his teammates trudged back to the
visitor’s dugout, undoubtedly understanding that while hope may spring eternal,
it’s not as everlasting as the jabs from the cheap seats.
Laughs and liveliness,
-Wb
