We’ve been catching up on some long-delayed housework of late, going through old posts and fixing their formatting to suit the current WordPress site. Along the way, we’ve recategorized some old player interviews that I figure are worth reminding folks of, now that the players involved are (mostly) ripping through the Oakland minors on their way to The Show.

So what better opportunity to take a trip down memory lane and remember these guys when they were Vancouver Canadians:

JOE NEWBY - The Newb is listed as being headed for the Kane County bullpen. When we spoke to him, he was enjoying the first few weeks of his pro career.

Q: Ever get tempted to come up with a Satchel Paige mystery pitch?

A: Ha! I’d like to, but every time I try something funky the coaches tell me, “There’s no way you’re throwing that in a game.”

Q: Ever tempted to defy them and let one go anyway?

A: Every once in a while, like, when a guy starts fouling a bunch of balls off, you’ll think, “Well, I’ve been working on this, maybe I’ll try it now, but…”

CHAD BOYD: Tum-Tum will start 2007 in Stockton, but he had crowds in Vancouver on their feet on a regular basis during the two seasons in which he played at The Nat in 2005-6. When he first talked to us, the conversation got around to how he got his nickname:

Q: The Tum-Tum story – are you amazed at how far that’s traveled?

A: Well, that was a movie I did, I was a stunt double in 3 Ninjas Kick Back when I was a kid, and I enjoyed it, had a lot of fun, so they can go by whatever name they want. You know, in Oregon, the Eugene fans were calling me Tum-Tum, I don’t know how they got a hold of it, but I like the name.

Q: As far as nicknames go, it’s a lot better than most.

A: Oh yeah, definitely better than what I could have got. Tum-Tum I can stick with, because it came from a fun moment in my life.

ISAAC OMURA: The Flyin’ Hawaiian is preparing for his second season in Kane County at the moment, having hit a mean streak of contact hitting last season that caught just about everyone by surprise. when he talked to us in 2005, we asked him about a bus trip that included two break downs, 12 hours in delays, sweatbox weather and a rank odour or two…

Q: The bus back from Eugene that broke down, took half a day to get home, 100 degrees inside… I’ve been asking around who smelled ripest at the end of it all.

A: Haha! I think we were all… [A few seconds of silence] Yeah, Recker.

TRAVIS BUCK: WonderBuck debuted as a Major Leaguer for Oakland last week, but back in 2005, when he was in Vancouver briefly before shooting up to Kane County, he talked of his first taste of The Show:

Q: You took batting practice in Oakland for a day before they shipped
you up here, that must have been a little bit of an eye-opener…

Buck: Oh yeah! I went last Friday, I went down and took BP,
hung out at the big league club, got a feel for the guys and how they
run their organization. It was a lot of fun, there’s a whole bunch of
young guys in the clubhouse, and they enjoy playing baseball. They know
it’s a game, you know? They can have fun with it, but when they step on
the field, they know it’s all about business.

Q: Did anyone from the big club take you under their wing?

Buck: Oh yeah, Mark Kotsay, Swish, being an outfielder I hung out with them a lot and they were great. They just told me to just “do what got you here and you’ll be fine,” so that’s what I’m doing. It was nice to get that chance to see what it’s like in the big leagues, and they were really welcoming.

HAAS PRATT: The Burning Map jumped a few levels last season as Oakland tried to get a handle on where they wanted him to play - first base, DH or catcher (or outfielder, or closer, or…). When we spoke to him in 2005, he’d just experienced a power explosion that had the NWL talking.

Q: You seem to have no problem getting over the wall here, are you trying to keep it down or gun for the fences?

A: No, my game plan is to stay on top of the ball and hit line drives, and the ball will take care of itself. If they get the pitch up a little bit and you stay on top of it, you get a little backspin and it carries. Not something I’m really trying for, just a sign that my timing is right, I think.

There’s more: Mike Massaro, Fearless Affronti, Jermaine Mitchell, Prowling Greg Dowling…