By Ryan Finley,
GolfArizona.com Staff Writer
TUCSON - Jim Donovan tells the story so well. The current general
manager of the Tucson Sidewinders, the triple-A affiliate for the
Arizona Diamondbacks, is talking about golf.
“I used to play with (former San Diego Padres second baseman)
Jerry Royster all the time,” Donovan said, “God, he
would bring those damn clubs everywhere. But let me tell ya…”
You would think that a man so involved in baseball would take
up music, film, or, well, just about anything else but golf. As
he carries on, one can’t help but wonder if he’s in
the wrong game. In the state of Arizona, baseball and golf go
hand in hand. It’s a lot like how actors want to be musicians
and musicians want to be actors. You can’t explain it. Well,
maybe Donovan could.
Golf in Arizona is a way of life. During the summertime, it’s
just a matter whether or not the average player can handle the
100-plus degree temperature. That is where you’ll find members
of the Sidewinders ballclub, trying to sneak in a quick round
before it’s time to return to “work,” if one can
call it that.
“I would say about 50 percent of the club golfs”, Donovan
said. “It’s just a nice way to unwind.”
But why golf? The average minor league ballplayer is accustomed
to long road trips and seemingly endless hours on the team bus,
hopping to and from such towns as Albuquerque, Rancho Cucamonga,
and Walla Walla, to name just a few.
Why would he want to spend even more costly hours walking a course?
Donovan seems to know.
“In the minors, players learn to be patient, with the bus
rides and the lethargy of a road trip. I guess 3-4 hours on the
course doesn’t bother them as much,” he said.
Donovan also sites a very ordinary reason: most players love
the man-versus-himself aspect of the game. “All ballplayers
are a little bit selfish in that aspect,” Donovan said. “We
all grow up with very dramatic baseball dreams. Being up with
two outs and the bases loaded, pitching in the World Series, hitting
a home run. This is no different. Nobody is more in the spotlight
than when they are in the tee box.”
Not to mention the fact golf is one of the few sports sanctioned
by most baseball teams as safe.
“Baseball players are competitive guys,” he said. “Since
they can’t get away with playing pickup basketball of touch
football during the season, golf seems to be a safe answer.”
With the exception of back problems, most baseball players are
safe playing golf on a regular basis. The naturally competitive
nature that fuels most of these athletes will also carry over
to the recreational realm of life. Just look at the states that
hold spring training camps: Florida and Arizona.
Both are virtual golf havens. A common trait for major leaguers
during the spring is a phantom disease occurring right before
the twilight tee-times start. Major leaguers in Arizona and Florida
pull themselves from meaningless exhibition games and disappear.
Call it golfitis.
A tall leftfielder from the Padres organization is late to his
tee time. He runs up to the box, where some of his Las Vegas Stars
teammates have already teed off. No warm-ups, not even a measly
practice swing. He shoots par. His name is Dusty Allen, heir apparent
to leftfielder Reggie Sanders and, from all accounts, one hell
of a golfer.
“Dusty Allen is one of the best golfers I’ve ever heard
of,” Donovan said. “There’s this story going around
about shooting a par…cold. People talk so darn much about
his golf game, they forget he’s going to be a major leaguer
someday soon.”
Despite his talent on the links, Allen, sadly, has no plans to
change his sport.
As a matter of fact, only one major leaguer on record has ever toyed
with the idea of joining the tour. Ken “Hawk” Harrelson.
As a player, "Hawk" played nine seasons, helping the 1967
Boston Red Sox to the American League pennant. He also played with
the Washington Senators and the Kansas City Royals. Before retiring
in 1971, Harrelson finished his career with a .239 batting average,
hitting 131 home runs and knocking in 421 runs.
“The Hawk went and played in a few qualifiers, but he was
so bad that he decided to come back to baseball,” Donovan
said. “And that was the end of that.”
That’s really how golf is if you’re a baseball player.
A player may score par and decide to take golf seriously, but
it usually ends up as a passing fancy. It doesn’t matter
if it’s the La Paloma Golf Club in Tucson or the finest course
in Dodgertown, Fla.
Until the average baseball player can make the same amount of
money playing golf, it will remain a leisurely addiction, much
like it is for the average American. Just don't tell the Tucson
Sidewinders.
ARIZONA
GOLF
TPC at Scottsdale - Stadium Course