TEMPE, Ariz. -- Minor league players making their first appearance at big league training camp are many things. Scared. Nervous. Timid. Excited. Delighted.
Dusty Bergman, who arrived in Arizona in mid-February when pitchers and catchers had to report, was in awe. Showing up to play ball with the defending World Series champions had something to do with that, though.
"You're running around with Troy Glaus and Tim Salmon and Troy Percival and Kevin Appier and seeing what they do," said the 25-year-old Bergman, who has been with the Anaheim Angels' organizations since 1999. "Then you sit back and say 'Well, I'm pretty close to that.' It's pretty much the beginning process right now but it's a very good experience to be in a big league camp as a young as I am. Although, the experience level is about 100 times what I can comprehend right now, it's an important step."
Bergman, who played most of last season with the Salt Lake Stingers, Anaheim's AAA affiliate, said he could get used to this lifestyle. He played two seasons of Single A ball after he left the University of Hawai'i following his junior year and then his third season was with the Arkansas Travelers of the Texas League, the team's AA affiliate. So it's understandable why the 1996 Carson High graduate would want to stay around the big league atmosphere as long as possible. As a non-roster invitee, he won't be around much longer, he said.
"This is pretty much the only place to be, as far as I'm concerned," Bergman said. "They got it pretty nice up here."
The Angels, who finished second in the American League West last season, earned the AL Wild Card berth into the first round of the playoffs, where they knocked off the New York Yankees. In the American League Championship Series, they got past the Minnesota Twins, but it was in the World Series against the San Francisco Giants where they experienced instant fame.
Down 5-0 and facing elimination in Game 6, and with Rally Monkeys and Thundersticks everywhere in the stadium, the Angels scored six runs in front of their home crowd and eventually won the game. They also won Game 7 to give them their first World Series championship in franchise history. The legendary Gene Autry bought the team in 1963.
According to what teammates have told Bergman, the buzz surrounding the team going into this year is at an all-time high.
"We had almost every single player back from that team except for like two guys," Bergman said "It wasn't one of those situations where they wholesaled them and had to replace the entire team. We have a lot of guys with World Series experience and everything else. And here I am, trying to break into it. It's just been a great time hanging out here."
BERGMAN NOTES
Like former Carson Capitol and current Arizona Diamondback Matt Williams, Bergman was also sad to hear that Ron McNutt discontinued the Capitols' program before last summer. He said the amateur summer team is one of the reasons he has achieved his dream of playing professional baseball.
"I was really upset to hear about that. You got guys coming in from everywhere, Tahoe, Gardnerville, Reno, California. It was really great ball. Every game I played with that team was a great time. The Capitol Classic is what got me into college. A Hawai'i scout saw me pitch two games in 1995 and next thing I know, I got a full scholarship offer. So I was really disappointed to hear they're not around anymore."
