To Royals fans, the 2008 season will probably be remembered for three things: Jose Guillen, Trey Hillman's first season as manager, and the revelation that has been Mike Aviles.
Aviles was 27 years old before the Royals finally gave him a chance in the big leagues. By then, he'd been insulted more times than he could remember, even if they were all indirect.
No Division I school offered him a scholarship. No big league team drafted him until after his senior year, and by then it was the Royals in the seventh round in no small part because they could sign him for a measley $1,000 -- an amount so small he can't even remember what he did with it.
The Royals made him repeat Class AAA last year, and even though they named him the organization's minor league player of the year, it was taken with the significant grain of salt that Craig Brazell led all of the minors with 37 homers, but would've been an awkward choice since the Royals released him.
Then, of course, the Royals left him unprotected in the Rule 5 draft, and the other 29 teams were so impressed that they all passed on him, too.
Aviles was hitting .336 with 10 homers and 42 RBIs in 51 games at Omaha when the Royals finally promoted him, and even then, it was a last resort, as Tony Pena Jr. was proving he's not a big league hitter and nobody else seemed capable of being the starting shortstop.
He started his first day in the big leagues, and before he ever took a swing, Hillman called him an "extra body."
Aviles started that first day, went 0-for-3 with a strikeout, and then was dismissed again by Hillman, who said Aviles didn't work out.
Aviles then sat on the bench for a full week, no pinch hitting, no pinch running, no defensive replacement, no nothing.
His debut was the first in a string of four games where the Royals used four different starting shortstops. They kept switching around, from Pena to German to Callaspo back to Pena then back to German before Aviles finally got his second chance.
He batted eighth that night, and in Yankee Stadium in front of 52,187 people --- his family is from New York and were the only ones in the place who had any idea who he was.
Aviles had two doubles in three at bats that day, a triple and a walk the next, and hasn't stopped hitting since. Entering last night, he was fourth in the American League with a .339 batting average since taking over as the starting shortstop, and the Royals have gone from 23-37 before Aviles to 31-27 since he became a regular.
He's hitting .335 with seven homers, 19 doubles and 31 RBIs in 58 games with an OPS+ of 130.
He is giving Joakim Soria and Zack Greinke a run as the most common man-crush among Royals fans, he's been cashing paycheck after paycheck bigger than that bonus he got five years ago --- and he knows what he's doing with each of them.
He's also the latest Ball Star interview subject, and talks about trying to calm his mother (her friends call her "Mother of the Major Leaguer"), the dirtiest pitchers he's faced, and perhaps the best day of his life.
As always, my jibberish is in bold, his answers are in regular type.
We usually start these things out with your favorite restaurant.
Hmm. Favorite restaurant? I'm not sure I have one, but I know what style of food I like. I like Hibachi type places, where they cook the meat and chicken right in front of you.
Like the one on the Plaza?
Yeah, I just went there last night, actually. I didn't like it. The one in Omaha I went to is way, way better. Kobe, it's called.
OK. You got a favorite baseball memory?
I'd say getting drafted.
Yeah, you said before you felt like that was the first time you felt like anybody outside your family believed in you.
Yeah, that's why it's my favorite memory.
(Smiles)
So far, anyway.
Have you talked to Alberto Callaspo to figure out what the price is on getting that number?
No, not yet. I haven't really talked about it.
You haven't made an offer?
No, I haven't really made it that big a deal. If he gives it to me, he gives it to me. If not, oh well. It's not the end of the world. It's just a number.
(Editorial comment: Aviles, whose birthday is March 13, wears a "13" gold chain and has a tattoo of the number on his arm. Of course it's a big deal. But the knows how to handle himself. Rookies don't demand jersey numbers.)
I talked to your mom for that story back in June. She told me a funny story that when you played Little League, you made her sit out in the outfield and cheer as little as possible.
Yeah. You know how Little League parents are. They're terrible. She would get so fired up about it, I'd have to tell her to stop or else we were going home.
I just think it's funny that when you were six years old you wanted everything calm.
She just cheers too much. I said, "You need to stop or you're not coming to the games anymore." I'd tell her that, "Relax, or you're not coming to the games anymore." I still tell her that.
I'm guessing that didn't work when you were at Yankee Stadium and you hit those two doubles.
At least I couldn't hear her. She didn't stick out like everywhere else. Like in college, she would stick out, it was like, "Mom, you need to stop."
Nice. Have you stepped back at any point this season and just looked at everything you've accomplished, that you're hitting (.335) and starting everyday at shortstop and everything else?
No, not really. I'll wait until the end of the year to reflect on everything. Right now, there's a job to do and why I'm here is to do my job, you know?
Fair enough. Is there anything you've done this year that you're the most proud of?
Yeah, actually. Just playing in the major leagues. I know my family believed in me, but it was something I wanted to accomplish. I'm just proud of actually getting up here and proving to my family that they were right, that I could get up here.
OK, so once you got here, was there any particular moment, you know, like hitting a double off this guy, a homer off that guy, a nice play you made in the field, anything like that you'll remember most?
I just like coming to the ballpark, facing pitchers that I'm used to watching on TV. That's the coolest thing to me. It's like, "Oh, I've seen that guy on TV. Let's see how he is in real life," you know?
Who in particular? Who really impressed you?
The two best pitchers I've faced since I've been here is (Josh) Beckett and (Tim) Lincecum. By far. Yeah.
The other night, Beckett faced me, and I saw the ball well my first at bat, and then my second at bat, four of the five he threw me were probably the dirtiest pitches I've seen all year.
I was like, "Wow, this guy's got good stuff." You can see why he (almost) won a Cy Young. Definitely, those two guys, they really impressed me.
You know on TV the ball looks like it moves way more than in person? Not with them. No, the ball moves just as much, and it's just as hard.
I think a lot of people have this image of a guy getting to the big leagues for the first time and then getting their first paycheck and just staring at it, like they can't believe it. Did you have that moment?
I was excited. That day I got my first check was on my sister's birthday. And I had my first home run on that day, too. So I got my first paycheck, my sister's birthday, and I had my first major league home run.
It was almost like I walk in, "Oh, wait, my check. Wow, finally feels like I'm earning something."
You buy anything special with it?
I just paid off bills. That's basically what I've been doing. Pay off bills, get myself in a situation where I don't have any debt and I'm clear and I can do what I want.
Nice. Sounds good. Thanks for the time.
Sure man.
The Royals made him repeat Class AAA last year, and even though they named him the organization's minor league player of the year, it was taken with the significant grain of salt that Craig Brazell led all of the minors with 37 homers, but would've been an awkward choice since the Royals released him.
AAA, really cool.
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