Dirtbags Baseball - Long Beach State 49ers

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Thursday, February 17, 2005

Hometown Paper Feature On Former Dirtbag Chad Bentz

Take a look at this nice feature article in the Juneau Empire on former Dirtbag Chad Bentz. Here's an excerpt:

...The 24-year-old left-hander is one of only two Alaska high school players to play in the major leagues, and for obvious reasons.

With its long, harsh winters, Alaska is hardly suitable as a breeding ground for budding baseball talent. Polar bears, yes. Ballplayers, no. And bears were plentiful around Juneau, where Bentz grew up. His surprise confrontation with a bear on a fishing and hunting trip a few years ago still haunts him.

"Ever since then, I've had nightmares about bear maulings," Bentz said. "That's how I got one of my nicknames - 'Bear."'

When he didn't have his eye out for bears, Bentz was perfecting his baseball skills, even though his fellow Little Leaguers regularly teased him about his hand. [He was born with an underdeveloped right hand]. Bentz said the ridiculing and taunting almost caused him to quit at one point. But he stuck with it.

"I took offense to it when I was young," Bentz said. "But then I just started using people's insults or comments as motivation to prove them wrong. If they said I couldn't do something, I would try everything to be able to do it, just to see the reaction. It's nice to prove people wrong."....

Bentz was no slouch with the bat, either....

... Bentz still holds the Alaskan high-school record of 23 career home runs, though he essentially swings with just the left arm while using the right to keep the bat propped and balanced.

But it was at Long Beach State where Bentz became a pitcher exclusively. The Montreal Expos selected him in the seventh round of the 2001 draft, and he eventually worked his way up to the big club for the first time last season. He made his major-league debut last April in South Florida against the Marlins, retiring Abraham Nunez on the first pitch he delivered....

posted on 2/17/2005 by Jeff Agnew

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