At least it didn't happen earlier.  Tuesday the Angels traded infielder Sean Rodriguez to the Tampa Rays to complete the deal for Scott Kazmir.  No doubt the Angels got an incredible talent in Kazmir. It makes sense then that they had to give away a star to get one.

I'm not saying that Rodriguez is on the same level as Kazmir at this point.  Obviously Kazmir is an All-Star and Rodriguez is still solidifying his Major League status.  What I can say is Rodriguez is a star person.

Every day I'd see Sean in the Bees clubhouse, he had a smile on his face.  Often he'd ask how I was doing before I got the chance to do the same.  If I beat him to the punch, he'd invariably say, "Just chilling." 

Rodriguez had a mellowness that was unmistakable.  I'd like to think that was contentment.  I'd like to think, as other Bees players would tell you, Rodriguez has a quiet confidence that, as long as he tries his best, everything will be all right because he trusts that Someone else is looking out for him.

There's little doubt in my mind that Rodriguez consistently gave his best in the field and at the plate for the Bees. When Rodriguez recently urged reporters not to count the Bees out of the playoffs, repeating himself multiple times for emphasis, he spoke with conviction.  It was hard not to believe him.  Hard not to believe that Rodriguez could lead Salt Lake to the summit, no matter how big the mountain.  After all, Rodriguez ranked second in the PCL in home runs and slugging percentage and tied for third in RBI.

    That night after Sean finished his postgame remarks and the Bees enjoyed a win, a tray of cookies sat on the table in the clubhouse.  Undetected, or so I thought, I spied the delectable goodies for a moment. Sean caught me in the act.  "Have a cookie, have two cookies," he said, with the same force he had just conveyed to reporters.  I wasn't so sure I should, but I knew he was serious so I followed orders.  I enjoyed the special treat and appreciated Sean looking out for me, much the same as when I needed to speak to him or another player for a media request.  Whenever I'd see him, Sean would surely ask me if I needed help with anything.

Too bad he won't be here for this weekend's final series.  I will be, and I will miss him.

Sam Miller/Salt Lake Bees

Last year, Bees manager Bobby Mitchell ran into a friend in Sacramento. It wasn't like it had only been a couple of years since the two had lost touch. No, Mitchell had not seen this friend since 1967 when the two were teammates on the West team that advanced to the Little League World Series out of Northridge, Calif.

That summer the team played more than 30 games together and forged bonds that endure today.

"You never forget that kind of stuff," Mitchell said. "I remember a lot about it because it was a big thrill for all of us. We felt like we accomplished a lot. There was a lot of pressure, but we just liked competing."

As the center fielder and occasional relief pitcher, Mitchell's team played more than 30 games in the run to Williamsport, Pa. and won in any number of ways. The first triumph came against a Woodland Hills team that featured future Milwaukee Brewers Hall of Famer Robin Yount. For the next 10 games, fans, parents and West teammates alike subscribed to myriad superstitions to keep the roll going.

At that time, the tournament was single-elimination format with four US teams and four clubs from around the world. Mexico ultimately stopped Mitchell's West team in a 1-0 heartbreaker in the first round of LLWS play.

The West then regrouped to defeat Spain 3-2 in the consolation bracket. Naturally, the kids were devastated that they came up short in fulfilling their goal, but also like kids, they were back on the diamond a very short time later playing the beloved game. 

This week, the Bees manager has caught bits and pieces of LLWS action between Salt Lake games. In spite of the tournament's tremendous exposure on ESPN and on the web, Mitchell senses that the classic has not changed that much since he manned the same baseball field.

The hoopla is bigger, the stadium is nicer, he says, but players still received plenty of attention back then. Mitchell recalls the rise of signing autographs as a youth. For him, today's games prompt wonderful memories of a lifetime baseball fraternity. 

Sam Miller/Salt Lake Bees

Quarterback Brett Favre's latest apparent comeback got me thinking today. Don't worry, this post won't be about Favre. He is merely the starting point. If Favre, the only three-time NFL MVP, can keep coming back from retirement, why can't the Bees flip the switch on the way-back machine to bring back one of Salt Lake's prolific record holders?

To me, three offensive choices come to mind from circa 1996:
 
Brent Brede: Brede hit for the fifth-best batting average (.348) in the club record book in 1996. His .446 on-base-percentage was tops the PCL and is second in franchise history. Thirty-eight doubles tie for eighth all-time in the team category. One hundred and sixty-eight hits ranks fifth and 102 runs scored sits sixth.

Brian Raabe: Raabe led the PCL with a .351 batting average in 1996. That mark ties him for fourth among all-time Salt Lake players. His 39 doubles equal sixth-most, 169 hits are fourth all-time and 103 runs are fifth.

Todd Walker: Walker set the '96 Pacific Coast League pace in hits (187), home runs (28), RBI (111), extra-base hits (78), slugging percentage (.599) and total bases (330). Walker's hits, total bases and extra-base hits are tops in Salt Lake history.

On the mound, I'd take the 2006 version of Joe Saunders. Saunders netted 10 victories, which are three fewer than Dustin Moseley netted the same year to assume the top post in club annals. In addition to 10 wins, Saunders also compiled a SL best-ever 2.67 ERA and a consecutive scoreless innings streak of 31.1 IP.

Here's the thing, those might sound like good options, but in reality the 2009 Salt Lake squad does not need any of these guys. While he is a native of Favre's new destination, Minnesota, Raabe is two years Favre's senior. Walker and Brede are a couple years younger than the quarterback at 36 and 37, respectively.

More so, the current Bees lineup is plenty talented. The team just needs to re-discover the early-season form. After a 13-0 triumph on May 5, Salt Lake stood 11 games over .500 at 18-7.

At that time, it seemed like a healthy Chris Pettit could not stay off the basepaths for even one at-bat. Pettit hit .424 with nine doubles, a triple, a homerun and 13 RBI. Beyond that, the Bees outfielder batted .522 (35-67) during a 17-game hit streak that lasted from April 22 to May 9.

Less than a month later, however, and Pettit landed himself on the Disabled List for 1 1/2 months with a left hamate fracture. Pettit's injury was not the first sustained by the Bees this season, but his leadership was sorely missed.

These days Pettit is back. As a matter of fact, most of the early-season lineup is settled in to Salt Lake at this point once again after inevitable callups.

No, the Bees don't need to jolt the way-back machine. The team only needs a slight tweak back to what seems like yesterday. Who's to say that won't happen?

Sam Miller/Salt Lake Bees 

Trevor Bell started the season at Double-A Arkansas. So how exactly did he end up as the starting pitcher Wednesday at Angel Stadium?

Since his first promotion to Salt Lake, Bell has acknowledged a new mindset. In the past, it was as if Trevor were the boy in "Where the Wild Things Are." Slightly spooked and bewildered, Trevor gave too much credit to opposing hitters.

Nowadays, Trevor, like Max, the boy who slays his fear of the animals "by staring into their yellow eyes without blinking once," has newfound confidence. Wednesday's Major League debut was no different for the 22-year-old right-hander.

"After the first pitch, it was game on," Bell said. "I just had my legs under me. It felt good."

Bell threw 5 1/3 innings with four strikeouts and kept his new Angels teammates in the game against the Tampa Bay Rays. Bell gave up four runs, but the Halos provided more than enough offense for his no-decision in a 10-5 victory.

Bell's latest debut should not be a surprise. Facing Colorado Springs in an all-out battle for first place, Bell pitched a complete-game, two-hit shutout in a 1-0 Salt Lake triumph in his introduction to Triple-A on June 16.

In case you are wondering, Bell limited stalwart Sacramento to three hits and no earned runs in seven innings in his second start with the Bees. We'll see if Bell has another brilliant followup the next time he takes the mound for the Angels.

Sam Miller/Salt Lake Bees

As Bees infielder Freddy Sandoval continues his rehab assignment with the Tempe Angels following hand and wrist surgery in mid May, why not take a look at some of what's involved in a rehab process? The Bees training staff and outfielder Chris Pettit were gracious to provide perspective.

University of Utah athletic training student and Bees intern Nick Nakagama says that athletic training requires an aggressive approach toward exercises and getting players back to full strength. Nakagama listed four key factors the staff pays particular attention to during a player's rehab - pain, range of motion, strength and agility.

Most basic rehab begins the day a player suffers an injury and initially involves icing or electrical stimulation followed by ultrasound, stretching and special heating techniques. The key for rehab success is ensuring that a player returns to pre-injury performance benchmarks set in spring training. A number of benchmarks have to do with strength and range of motion, as there is typically a decrease. More involved injuries, including Pettit's left hamate fracture, require treatment at the Angels state-of-the-art spring training facility in Tempe, Ariz.

The Bees placed Pettit on the Disabled List on June 5. After his surgery to remove the left hamate bone, Pettit had to rest his immobilized hand in a soft cast for a little more than a week.

Then it was time to begin rehab, which started slowly before accelerating. Rehab was not difficult, Pettit said, only tedious. Weakened muscles need plenty of strengthening exercises, which in his case focused on gripping and forehand work.

The Angels athletic training staff in Tempe prescribed a daily program that Pettit started in the afternoon about 2:15 p.m. Once he finished his exercises, Pettit took the field for typical baseball drills with the Rookie-League team at 3:30 p.m.

In total, the injury sidelined the outfielder for a little more than four weeks. The staff considered Pettit fortunate because he did not lose a lot of strength during his time off, nor did he break his hand as badly as some past players.

A week and a half out of surgery, Pettit played catch because there was little risk of doing more damage. Hitting required more patience. Deemed ready to swing a bat, Pettit took 25 swings at first, then 50, then 75. After a day off, he took soft toss for a couple days before he resumed batting practice.

Naturally, Pettit felt tentative at first. He needed to regain his timing and get an overall feel back. He needed to trust himself. Four games of rehab readied Pettit for his first steps with Salt Lake. He is still finding his comfort level but says playing is the best way for his hand to get stronger. Already he has shown flashes of the league-leading form he demonstrated before the injury. No doubt those flashes will soon turn into a solid beam of light. Opposing pitchers have been warned. 

Sam Miller/Salt Lake Bees

It didn't matter whether Sean O'Sullivan faced a little league team, a big league ballclub or the top team in the Pacific Coast League on Tuesday night. The Bees right-hander was bound to bring his best. Step aside, Sacramento.

Up against the PCL's first-place team by a wide margin at a time when Salt Lake had lost 11 straight games and 20 of the last 22, including the postseason, to Sacramento, O'Sullivan cast all the negatives aside.

In his first Bees start since being optioned from the Angels to Salt Lake on July 22, O'Sullivan threw Salt Lake's first complete-game no-hitter. (Frank Rodriguez pitched a no-hitter in a seven-inning contest on May 8, 1999.) 

Why was O'Sullivan so determined? After the 2-0 triumph at Raley Field, the 21-year-old credited his grandmother, Rose. Rose passed away Sunday night, and Sean wanted to give her the best tribute he could. Especially in light of the string of defeats to the River Cats, some might call Rose a hero.

Personally, I'm reluctant to call my grandmothers heroes. The word hero is used far too often, in my opinion. Someone who hits a tie-breaking single is deemed a hero the same as someone who saves another person stuck in a fire. Someone who gets pizza for a college kid "suffering" from the munchies might also receive that misplaced distinction in today's popular culture. I think you get my point. We've made a "hero" far too commonplace.

In lieu of using the word hero, I think I'll stick to "grandma" to affectionately honor two of the most important people in my life. Emphasize the first part of the word - grand - and it appears the same could be said for Sean's grandma, Rose.

One of my grandmas passed away earlier this year. I think of her often with love, admiration and fond memories. We played Scrabble together, watched sports (she was one of the most boisterous fans I ever knew and never missed her favorite team's games), and she baked the most amazing brownies. They melted in your mouth! Grandma also raised seven children, all while working as a teacher. To use her understated phrase that conveyed infinitely more, she was "very good."

My other grandma is still going strong at approaching 89 years young. She never ceases to amaze me, and she's about the only person I make sure to call every week without fail. Every time we talk, it's my privilege. When I was a "young fellow," as she says, we played double solitaire, had Tombstone pizza on Friday nights, and when she would come to my house, grandma even helped me organize my sports card collection. She took great care not to hurt the corners on the cards.  These days when I visit her at her retirement center, she is like a celebrity. She knows everybody and everybody knows her. It's tough to get a word in sometimes.

My guess is Sean's grandma Rose had some of these same qualities. If so, I would bet you that, even if the game had not gone so well, Rose would have been equally proud, simply knowing her grandson had given it his best. That's the way grandmas are.

Sam Miller/Salt Lake Bees

You probably saw Rays outfielder Carl Crawford reach over the wall to rob the Colorado Rockies' Brad Hawpe of a home run that would have given the National League the lead in a tight Major League Baseball All-Star Game last week. Crawford secured not only MVP honors, but also the 13th-straight unbeaten contest for the AL.  

The Bees have also had a number of good outfield performances this season, so I thought who better to ask about playing the position than Salt Lake's Brad Coon?  Earlier this season, Coon was one of only three Pacific Coast League outfielders to have recorded more than 150 total chances in the field without a miscue.

If you're going to play the outfield, you have to be willing to do a little homework, Coon says.

Soon after he arrives at a ballpark when the team is on the road, Coon begins to survey his territory. During batting practice, he pays acute attention to how the ball flies and how it lands. Is the outfield grass short or long? What is the warning track surface like at the edge of the stadium?

For example, Portland's PGE Park is all turf, which means the ball reaches a fielder quickly. In turn, it is easier to hold baserunners. By contrast, Spring Mobile Ballpark has thick grass. This enables a fielder to take more chances in his aggressive pursuit of the ball. He knows the ball almost certainly will not skip by him. Coon also recognizes that the thin air in Salt Lake City carries the ball farther, which leads him to play deeper in the outfield than he otherwise might.

These principles apply regardless of who is pitching for the Bees. Typically an outfielder's positioning depends more on who is at the plate. A power hitter tends to pull the ball, while a scrappy hitter is likely to slap the ball to the opposite field.

Coon prefers playing center field for its view. A center fielder is responsible for covering more territory, but he has a clear view of the action directly behind the pitcher, which almost gives the center fielder a heads up about where the ball is going to go. In left field, the fielder does not have the luxury of lead time, and who knows what angle the ball will ricochet off a bat. The ball can hook and slice or fly in any number of directions.

Realize, though, that studying will only take a ballplayer so far.

"A lot of it's just instinct," Coon says. "No matter how much you practice, you have to let your instincts take over. You just go out there and go play."

On a sacrifice-fly, if there are runners at first and third, the key is to know one's limits as an outfielder and to stay behind the flight of the ball at all times. When Coon catches a deep fly ball, he knows his best option is to throw to the cutoff man. The frequent Bees leadoff man makes up for average arm strength in other ways such as in anticipation and in the routes he runs.

Coon's final rule: The bigger the situation, the more the catch means - There's no better catch than when go-ahead runners could score if a fielder doesn't get a glove on the ball. Crawford took home MVP honors for his grab.

Sam Miller/Salt Lake Bees 

Awarded the first Bees PCL Pitcher of the Week Award for the 2009 season this week, there's a little more to right-handed pitcher Brad Salmon than the average fan might know. Take a look:

Born: January 3, 1980

Birthplace: Pensacola, Florida

Acquired: Selected by the Cincinnati Reds in the June 1999 First-Year Player Draft.

Years in Pro Baseball: 11

Offseason Home:  Pensacola, Florida

Hobbies: hunt, fish, and hang out with family and friends

First Car: 1990 Chevy Silverado

Favorite Team as a Child: New York Mets

Player Look up to Most: Ken Griffey, Jr.

Favorite Baseball Moments: getting called up to the big leagues on April 28, 2007 with the Cincinnati Reds.

Best Part of Triple-A Ball: knowing you're that close to getting called up to the big leagues.

Teammate History: went to middle school and grew up in the same neighborhood as Daniel Davidson, also played with Dustin Mosley in Cincinnati. After getting called up to Salt Lake, saw that Daniel was with the Bees as well and thought it was kind of cool.

Favorite Thing about Pro Ball: playing a kid's game out there, it's what I love to do.

Advice for Kids: work as hard as you can and have fun doing it.

When I arrived in Salt Lake City this spring, I figured I'd have very few connections to back home in Central, Ill. Then the Bees roster took shape, and lo and behold, there was Terry Evans.

What do the 2009 Pacific Coast League All-Star and I have in common? Both Evans and I consider Peoria, Ill. to be our first proving ground.

Evans played his first full season of professional baseball in 2003 with the Peoria Chiefs, Single-A affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals. Meanwhile I was beginning my sports media career with the wonderful people at the Peoria Journal Star newspaper sports department.

I wrote mostly road recaps on Evans and the Chiefs, so I didn't have a lot to do with him at the time, but I definitely remembered him from back then and perked up when I saw his name on the Bees roster.

Sitting down recently with Evans for the web feature article, we discussed our memories of the Chiefs and his time there.

Right off the top, he and I both recalled one distinctive aspect of the Chiefs ballpark. Realize Peoria is in Central, Ill., about three hours southwest of Chicago and often subject to brutally cold winters. This of course makes it the perfect place for... palm trees???

"I was very surprised that they kept those things alive," Evans said, speaking from a Georgia native's perspective. "I remember my first year, it was so cold there. My parents came up, and they were probably literally two of the 20 people that were at the Chiefs game."

Besides that memory, Evans reflected on one of the more unique experiences he's had in his baseball career that occurred in Peoria.

The current Bees outfielder was supposed to have a night off, but Chiefs manager Joe Cunningham suddenly changed his mind.  In the bottom of the ninth, Evans, whose 2004 total of 66 RBI ranked sixth-most among Cards minor leaguers, went from recording secretary for the hitting chart to the heat of the action. With two outs and bases loaded, he hit a 1-1 slider out of the park for a come-from-behind win.

Off the field, Evans developed some of his closest relationships that he still maintains today with former Peoria teammates. Long before his tenure with the Bees forced a conflict of interest with division rival Colorado Springs, Evans roomed with current Sky Sox infielder Mike McCoy, as both players cut their teeth in Peoria. Evans also counted Colorado Springs relief pitcher Ben Julianel as a teammate and a good friend with Peoria.

"Peoria was kind of our first real baseball experience, and we all went through it together at the same time," Evans said. "I think that kind of gives you a unique bond that you have with those players that you may not have with other guys."

Sam Miller/Salt Lake Bees

Asked about the upcoming All-Star festivities, Bees outfielder Terry Evans said it is an enjoyable time no matter what. Either you are selected to play, or the All-Star Break is the first and only real slowdown of the baseball season.
 
Evans, infielder Brandon Wood and closer Jeremy Hill earned 2009 All-Star nods and are happy to represent Salt Lake in the midsummer classic, but what about their Bees teammates?  How will they spend July 13-15?

Trevor Bell:

I'm going to fly home to Los Angeles and play some golf. That's scheduled already. Then I'll probably go to the beach and lay out at the pool.

Brad Coon:

I'm going to spend time with my wife. We're going to go watch (recent Bees callup) Jean Segura in Orem.

Gary Patchett:

There are like 10 of us going to the lake. We are going to rent a boat and some Jet-Skis.

Adam Pavkovich:

I'm going to show up and I'm going to get five hits after the All-Star break because I'm not going to touch a bat during the break.

Bobby Wilson:

I'm going fishing, golfing and horseback riding.

Bobby Mitchell:

Fishing. Lots of fishing.

Sam Miller/Salt Lake Bees