EXERT & EXHALE
ARIZONA DREAMING
DREW ELLIS IS IN SUNNY SCOTTSDALE RIGHT NOW , ON A JOURNEY TO MAKE A MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL TEAM . THERE ARE NO GUARANTEES . HE ’ S NOT ASKING FOR ANY .
BY STEVE KAUFMAN | PHOTOS BY TONY BENNETT
IN FEBRUARY , Drew Ellis of Jeffersonville , Indiana , got on a plane to Arizona , along with thousands of other people escaping winter snows .
It was the warmer weather and sunshine drawing him there . But he wasn ’ t going to sit around a resort pool . He was going there to work . He has a job in Scottsdale , which started in February , with April not far behind .
For the next couple of months , Ellis would be running and exercising , swinging a bat and scooping up infield grounders , throwing and catching . What he really hoped to catch was someone ’ s attention .
Ellis works for baseball ’ s Arizona Diamondbacks , who had their best season last year since the team of Randy Johnson , Curt Schilling and Luis Gonzalez won the 2001 major league championship . The Diamondbacks won 93 games in 2017 , third-best in the entire National League , before succumbing to their division rival Los Angeles Dodgers in the post-season .
Ellis wasn ’ t in Phoenix while all this was going on . He was in Hillsboro , Oregon , playing for the Hillsboro Hops of the Northwest League , Arizona ’ s affiliate in what is called Short Season A . Only the Rookie League is a lower designation .
Hillsboro did the parent club one better , winning its league pennant , beating out the Eugene ( Ore .) Emeralds , a Chicago Cubs affiliate ; the Boise ( Idaho ) Hawks , a Colorado Rockies affiliate ; and the Salem-Keizer ( Ore .) Volcanoes , a San Francisco Giants affiliate , in the league ’ s South Division .
Ellis was the Hops ’ starting third baseman once he got to Hillsboro , hitting what for him was a disappointing . 227 , but getting eight home runs and driving in 23 runs in his 41 games .
“ I played really well for the first 30 or so games , then struggled a bit ,” he said . “ My power numbers were good , but my average wasn ’ t where I wanted it to be . Probably good to have those struggles early in my career , though , so I know what it takes to overcome them , how to work out of them .”
And now it ’ s on to spring training camp . Hillsboro is far from Phoenix , and not just on a line drawn on a map . It ’ s the lowest rung on a very high ladder going up through four more minor league levels in the Diamondback organization , all the way to Reno , Nevada , the team ’ s Triple A affiliate in the Pacific Coast League .
The highest rung on the ladder , of course , is the ultimate goal – an Arizona uniform . A seat in the D-backs ’ dugout . Hearing your name called : “ Batting fifth and playing third base , Drew Ellis !” But first … For this summer , the Jeffersonville youngster has set his sights on an assignment to the Visalia Rawhide of the Advanced A California League . It would be a promotion , all part of the climb .
It ’ s a slog . And a numbers game . Most of the ballplayers in the Short Season League will likely never get to the majors . Ellis knows that .
His short season was shorter than most . He wasn ’ t drafted until June , in the second round of Major League Baseball ’ s 2017 draft , the 44th overall pick . That spring , he had been a key cog in
40 EXTOL : APRIL / MAY 2018