23 June, 2005

Braves' Goff getting his feet wet

In one short week, Wake Forest freshman Andy Goff has seen a little of everything the Cape Cod Baseball League has to offer. A new job assignment, an MVP award for his 2-for-3 performance Sunday, and a trip to Fenway Park between game nights have given Goff quite a bit to talk about in his limited time on the Cape.

"Things have been going pretty well," says Goff. "I received my job the other day and I'm very pleased with it. My job is to prepare the field on the mornings of our home games. I line the field, cut the infield grass, drag the infield and water the infield. It's not too taxing and I don't have to do it every day, which is nice."

Goff has started some games and sat out others, a situation he wasn't used to before here. His first outing was the opening night game against Cotuit on the road.

"Opening night wasn't so much nerves as it was just being a little over zealous. I mean everyone in this league is good and you don't have to prove yourself to anyone because if you couldn't play the game, you wouldn't be here. I was very anxious to get out there and play and I believe our team was as well. Maybe that could account for the errors and such."

Against Chatham Sunday, the utility infielder played second base and went 2-for-3 with a stolen base in the 5-1 loss. The performance earned Goff a game MVP and upped his batting average to .444. The next night, Goff started at shortstop and did his share to help the Braves take advantage of ugly fielding by the Wareham Gatemen to earn their first win of the season.

"I'm pretty satisfied with my performance up to this point. I'm seeing the ball well and making good contact most of the time. It's what I expected, I knew it would be hard coming in and I'm looking forward to the challenge.

"A realistic goal for me would be to bat around .215 or .220. I'd be ecstatic to be at or higher than that come August," he says. "The pitching is just lights out every night. You're usually seeing some big time school's Friday or Saturday guy every game. And then once he goes out, you see an All-American closer. The pitching is superior and it shows as some of the scores indicate. There is just so much talent in this league and the guys who are successful are the ones who can deal with an 0-4 night and bounce back the next day and go 2-4. It's very much a mental battle. You have to come to the ball park every night prepared; if you don't this game will kick your rear-end." 

In between practices, games and field maintenance duties, Goff has taken advantage of Bourne's proximity to baseball's shrine.

"Last Wednesday, some of the guys and I decided to go to Boston to see the Red Sox play. Beau Mills is our third baseman and his father is the bench coach for the Sox so we got tickets about 20 rows behind home plate at Fenway Park. It was no doubt the coolest place I have ever been to. Even the whole ride up there I was almost shaky or nervous. In fact, I was probably more nervous to see Fenway than to play the next day," he says jokingly.

After the game, the group took a tour of the clubhouse and met Red Sox players Keith Foulke, Edgar Renteria and David Ortiz. Goff called it "amazing."

"Being friends with Beau is pretty neat. He tells us stories and talks about the major leaguers like they're real people, when to me they are like Gods. I bet it's pretty cool to be on a first-name basis with the Boston Red Sox. I was just very grateful to have that opportunity and very grateful to have the opportunity to play in this great league."

Goff has seen some hard-throwing hurlers in his first five games when Bourne lost its first several outings. He's also had to deal with the curveballs thrown from the Cape fields themselves. "We tied our first game, 1-1, because it was called on account of darkness," says Goff, who then saw Monday night's game delayed because of the sun at Coady Field that blinds players at home plate.

"Believe it or not I did have some games get called due to darkness in high school. In Pittsburgh, high school baseball is not always a hot commodity. Football is the game, so a lot of fields, including mine, did not have lights. As a result, we had a couple games get called early because of darkness."

Goff is still a bit surprised at the level of knowledge in the bleachers and lawn chairs.

"It is very fun to play in front of so many people every night. There is not only an abundance of fans, but they also know their baseball. They cheer great plays even if the play comes from the opposing team."

Andy Goff, a freshman at Wake Forest College from Pittsburgh, is sharing his experience as a first-time Cape League player with the Bourne Braves, both on and off the field.