By Steve Lyons
FOX Sports West and PRIME TICKET
LYONS ARCHIVE
Ahh, yes, the Winter Development Program.
Never heard of it?
You probably should have.
It's probably every bit as important as Spring Training, or the Arizona Fall League, or even the draft picks a team takes after the sixth round.
More and more, teams are seeing the value in programs like these. The Dodgers are holding their "Winter Development Program" this week, and have done it now for four years running.
This is an expense the team endures to get most of the organization's top minor league talent together in L.A. to show them what it means to be a "Dodger." They put a big league Dodger uniform on their backs - some of them, for the first time, and workout for a week at Dodger Stadium. Run, hit, field and try to make an impression on the new skipper, Don Mattingly. This in itself is worth the money. Spring Training is going to be a blur for the first-time manager and quite frankly, Donnie Baseball is going to have to make some pretty crucial decisions based on what his coaches have told him rather than what he gets to see in March. This week he gets to spend some serious hands-on time with the top tier talent that's knockin' on the door of the big league clubhouse door.
Minor League Pitcher of the Year Rubby De La Rosa will be in attendence, and so will Minor League Player of the Year Jerry Sands. Speedster and top infield prospect Dee Gordon will get a chance to show his stuff, along with local product Trayvon Robinson. Pitchers like Stephen Ames, Ethan Martin and Chris Withrow, among others, will be at Dodger Stadium all week. And if you don't know much about any of those guys, you're beginning to catch onto the point. The Dodger organization wants to make sure Mattingly and his coaching staff know who they are by March 31st.
In the four years they have run this program, 23 players that have come to the winter program have made it to the big leagues, including Clayton Kershaw, Kenley Jansen and Xavier Paul.
But that's not even the best part.
Some minor league prospects tend to think they're God's gift to the world. A little too young and a little too cocky. This program not only gives them a chance to shine on the field, but also teaches them respect and responsibility off it.
Each player is immersed in the Dodger community and treated like Major Leaguers. The trade off is, they're expected to start acting like Major Leaguers. They visit sick kids at the Children's Hospital of Los Angeles to help them get accustomed to dealing with how little it takes to inspire a child, and to face real life situations that are bigger than they are. They get to experience a little night life at L.A Live, take in a Kings game to better understand what the fans are all about at a big-time sporting event.
Tommy Lasorda talks to them about confidence and what it takes to win. Don Newcomb speaks to them about the harder days of yesteryear and what it means to be a man. Newcomb has about as much style and grace as any human I know. People should listen when those two guys speak.
They are educated on how to deal with media situations the will come up and how to try and avoid problems with members of the media. They have seminars on diet and travel and a code of conduct that is expected by all members of the Dodger organization.
John Wooden came in to speak to these kids one year. Phil Jackson, as well.
Anything an organization can do to make these athletes better prepared for everything they'll face is a good investment. If it gives a player some humility, or exposes him to something he didn't know about so far in his young career, it may be the difference between a more polished player and person, and somebody who may become a potential problem child in the organization later.
They didn't have these programs when I played. Many things in this game have changed since then, and not all of them are good. This is one of the good things and should be recognized as such. I'm not sure how much smarter or better I would have been if I got to participate in a program like this.
But it couldn't have hurt.
