Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, August 14, 1994 TAG: 9408170012
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RAY COX
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
This story will have you hopping like a 'roo wearing a rocket pack.
The thrills and chills may bring on an appetite. Go ahead and proceed to the kitchen to make yourself a sanda.
Such light fare may not be enough for you after so much excitement. Why not fire up the barbie and put on some shrimp?
All that eating is bound to bring on a thirst. How about an ice-cold can of Foster's?
If you're confused by all this, fret not. How do you think members of the Danville Braves feel now that they have to sort through the down-under phraseology of not one but two Australian teammates?
A crash course in international relations is nothing new for rookie baseball players, what with all the Mexicans, Dominicans and Venezuelans (not to mention the occasional Japanese or Koreans) in the minor leagues. But now they're meeting guys who grew up playing the same game in a season that goes from November to February (summer in the Southern Hemisphere).
Did somebody say ``language barrier?`` Oh well, that never hindered Yogi Berra.
Not much has obstructed Damian Moss and Glenn Williams as they have traveled halfway around the world in pursuit of the American Dream of making it to the big leagues.
All that travel gets a bit expensive, though, doesn't it?
``I wouldn't know; I haven't had to pay for it,'' said Moss, a left-handed pitcher who has hurled one five-inning no-hitter since arriving stateside this summer.
But of course, these Aussies are among the privileged. The Atlanta Braves have a lot invested in them. And as with any investment, it costs money to make money, so what's the big deal about a minor matter of airline tickets?.
The Australians don't come cheap. In the brave new world of international scouting, the amateur draft doesn't apply to Australia. So what that amounts to in practice is an old-fashioned player auction.
The Braves reportedly plunked down $800,000 to sign Williams, a switch-hitting shortstop who has drawn comparisons to another sure-fire Atlanta infield prospect, Chipper Jones. Atlanta also spent a substantial sum to sign Moss, who rejected offers from the Los Angeles Dodgers, Minnesota Twins and Houston Astros.
The Astros were more interested in Moss as an outfielder.
``I have a better chance to pitch in the big leagues than I do of hitting 40-plus home runs there,'' he said.
There will be plenty of time for Moss and Williams to make it to The Show. Williams turned 17 in July, and Moss celebrated his 17th birthday in November.
Just a couple of growing boys a long way from home.
``At times, Moss has been one of the best pitchers in this league, which is pretty good for a 17-year-old kid,'' said Paul Runge, Danville's manager. ``And Williams ... his baseball instincts are unbelievable for somebody that age.''
Williams joined the Danville team in late July after prepping with the Braves' Gulf Coast League team in West Palm Beach, Fla. Moss, who lives about 10 minutes from Williams in Sydney, Australia, and has played against and with him on various teams, has been with Danville all season.
``When I got here, I was a little behind everybody in the Appalachian League,'' Williams said.
Perhaps with the bat. In his first two weeks with the team, he was hitting .204 with 10 hits and five runs scored. The glove work is another matter entirely.
``Since he's arrived, our defense has tightened up considerably,'' Runge said. ``He's a quarterback out there, almost an extension of the coaching staff.''
Practice and genes converged to form what could be the best player ever out of Australia. Williams' father, Gary, was a shortstop who quit playing only a couple of years ago. These days, the elder Williams runs a baseball specialty shop in Sydney.
``I grew up around the game,'' Glenn Williams said. ``When I was 3 days old, they took me to a baseball game that my father was playing in.''
Later, he was a batboy for his father's teams. Not long after that, he was playing in the same league.
By the time he came to Florida in the fall to play in the instructional league, Williams was an experienced international traveler.
Such a life for a young stranger in a strange land was not without peril, however.
Williams hardly had set foot in Veracruz, Mexico, for an international tournament when he almost strolled into the path of an oncoming car. South-of-the-border traffic patterns being what they are, he might have been better off stumbling onto the track at Franklin County Speedway during an Any Car race.
``I forgot that they drive on the wrong side of the road,'' he said.
``Wrong'' for an Australian means driving on the right-hand side.
Moss knows what Williams is talking about. When a Braves representative arrived to pick him up at the airport upon his arrival in Florida, Moss went to the left side of the car to get in. That, of course, was a mistake. He didn't yet have his driver's license.
Williams has been strictly a baseball guy for as long as he can remember. Moss, on the other hand, has dabbled in cricket, basketball and soccer. He took up baseball about 10 years ago, when one of his soccer coaches started a tee-ball team.
Moss lives about 30 minutes from one of Australia's spectacular beaches, and he's a regular there when he isn't playing baseball. Surfing and eyeballing the girls are right sporting, in his view.
So how does he do out there slicing up a wave?
``Nothing to brag about,'' he said.
Such modesty may not be entirely in character for Moss.
``Every time I tape the lineup for the night's game up on the dugout wall, he pencils his name in with the extra hitters,'' Runge said. ``And he does it for both the right and the left side.''
Moss is one of the team's free spirits, which may or may not have something to do with the fact he's left-handed.
``He's a little rowdy,'' Williams said.
The two Australians are among four in the organization, the other two being shortstop Ben Utting and outfielder Craig Burton. Utting, another slick fielder, was hitting .219 in 114 at-bats with Idaho Falls of the Pioneer League.
Moss and Williams say the adjustment to stateside living hasn't been that difficult, even though not everybody here knows that 'roos are so ubiquitous an animal that there's a bounty on them in Australia. And most think a sanda (sandwich) is something with which to smooth wood. Or believe a barbie (barbecue) is a child's doll.
``The culture is pretty much the same,'' Williams said.
Just as baseball is pretty much the same around the globe.
by CNB