From: "Andrew Zarzour"
AZarzour72@earthlink.net
Sent: Thursday, March 30, 2000 9:09 AM
To: "Robbie Maine"
RoMaine@ncsu.edu
Subject: Checking in
Hey Robbie, whats up dude? It was so cool to see you down here in Vero Beach a few weeks ago. I can't believe you drove all the way from Raleigh on a whim one night just to see us play. Hope we put on a good enough show for you and your friends. Dude, I must say that Molly is quite cool and if I may, quite attractive as well. Nice job, my friend. And she's a junior, too - you always did like older women. She's going to change my perception of the ladies at NC State. I always thought they called it Moo U because of the lack of quality females. Ha, just kidding.
Well, we're about all wrapped up here as far as Spring Training. Soon, I'll be off to Albuquerque to begin another stint with the Triple A Dukes. I really enjoyed New Mexico last summer. It's just such a different world there in terms of scenery. Hopefully I won't start as shaky there as I did last year.
You had asked about me and Josh Hamilton and how we were getting along these days. Much better, thankfully. We didn't really talk or hang out much last year in Albuquerque once we got there. We just ran with different folks, and he was more into partying at the time than me.
But we worked out a lot in Raleigh in the off-season, well when we wasn't playing in fall or winter leagues. I think our friendship got repaired through that time and we really pushed each other hard. He told me a lot of what was going on with him last season, and I feel for him. The pressure of being one of the top prospects in the whole world really started eating at him, especially when I was getting a lot of the pub and posing with Tim Duncan and all that. But we're good, and he's going to have a great season, I can feel it. I see him as the left-fielder of the future for LA.
Right now, the Big Club is going with Dreifort, Martinez, Nomo, Park and Ismael Valdes as the starting pitchers. Chan Ho didn't really have a great spring and neither did Nomo. I think Nomo is still getting over getting beaned in the face by that line drive last summer. I can understand that.
I really like Trevor Hoffman as our new closer. The mug can flat out pitch your socks off. His stuff is dazzling. He's been friendly with me and told me I'd make a good closer if I ever wanted to move to the bullpen. I can't see that happening, but you never know. That was quite the compliment.
I think the Big Club will be pretty good and should push for another NL West title. It will be interesting to see what happens with Mike Piazza and Paul Lo Duca at catcher. Paulie had an amazing spring and believes he's an every day player. But you're just not going to bump off Piazza from the rotation that easily. The managers have talked of moving Paulie to first base but of course Eric Karros is over there. We'll see.
Right now, the other LA starters are Eric Young at 2B, Todd Zeile at 3B, Edgar Renteria at SS, Todd Hollandsworth at LF, Steve Finley at CF and Raul Mondesi at RF. Look for Wilton Guerrero to push for every day time. Devon White, off the record, looks done. He had a horrible spring.
If you check your latest
Baseball America, you'll see our boy Josh Hamilton listed as the No. 2 prospect in baseball. Coaches say his power has improved. I believe it. He's 5-star all the way and made me look silly during intrasquad games in Vero. For those who count stars, I'm now a 4-star guy but I'm listed as the No. 13 prospect in the league (No. 9 pitcher). That sounds 5-star to me but what do I know. My coaches told me I had better control and was throwing harder this spring than I was last fall. That's a relief. We'll just see what happens when the games matter. I get the call first when our Triple A season opens in a few weeks.
Take care, Robbie and have fun with Molly! If you get the urge for another road trip, Albuquerque is only three days away. Get on I-40 near the NC State campus and just keep coming West for a couple of sunsets...
Your friend,
Andrew "Big Z"