BASEBALL PLUS : STALKING SUCCESS : Jacobs Finds the Right Teacher Amid Iowa’s Cornfields

It has been a season of junk cars and mechanics for pitcher Greg Jacobs, though the two haven’t been related.

The journey from draft day to the major leagues is long, but Jacobs never dreamed it would involve a summer tooling around Cedar Rapids in a 1984 Ford Tempo.

Jacobs and his roommate, Will Croud, bought the beast for $100 each, and Jacobs customized it by painting flames on the tire wells and the Angel logo on the hood. He could dress it up, and sometimes he could take it out.

“First gear felt like neutral,” said Jacobs, who was the Angels’ 13th-round pick out of Cal State Fullerton in 1998. “You kind of have to guess when you’re shifting.

“I thought about trying to drive it home for fun, so my friends could laugh at me. But I think I want to crash it into a wall with a full gas tank.”

That would make a nice bookend to Jacobs’ year with the Cedar Rapids Kernels, an Angel Class A team. He wants to see the town in the rearview mirror of his Ford.

“I have had the best corn I have ever eaten in my life and I’ll never have corn again as long as I live,” Jacobs said. “You drive out of town and all you see is corn. I never even want to see corn again. I’ve worked my butt off so I never have to come back here.”

Which is where the mechanics come in.

His tune-up specialist has been Kernel pitching coach Greg Minton, who has turned Jacobs’ raw ability into big-league potential. Unlike what may be in store for his car, Jacobs’ career isn’t about to crash and burn. Like his fastball, it seems to be picking up speed.

Only about 10% of the players signed spend a day in the major leagues, let alone make a career of it. Jacobs, though, has taken steps toward beating the odds.

His 2-5 record won’t impress people, and his 4.39 earned-run average is just that--average. But with what Minton has been able to do with Jacobs’ delivery, the ceiling has been raised.

Being a left-handed pitcher helps. Being left-handed with a fastball that has been clocked at 94 mph and a deadly curveball helps more. In 98 1/3 innings, he has struck out 99 and walked 34.

“He has a tremendous arm and absolutely no idea how to pitch,” Minton said. “Right now, he already has two major league pitches, his fastball and his curve . . . when he doesn’t think about it. During the course of the game, he sometimes outthinks himself and slows his arm down trying to get it to break more. He has to start believing that he already has a good breaking ball and throw it naturally.

“Even though he has a losing record, he’s made tremendous progress. In my year-end report, he is one of the two pitchers here I said have major league ability.”

The Angels take that as gospel and have Jacobs ticketed for the Arizona Instructional League. He’ll fly, not drive.

A Different World

Jacobs was in the Kernels’ bullpen when he caught a glimpse of a kid eyeing his glove, which was on the bench. He ignored it as the kid snatched the mitt.

“He reached down and walked off with it like nothing happened,” Jacobs said. “I said to myself, ‘Go ahead, you probably don’t have one.’ I just hope he’s left-handed.

“It has been a humbling experience the way people live out here. You take things for granted when you grow up and have a nice car, nice clothes, nice things, nice house, clean clothes.”

This has been a radically different experience from Jacobs’ first year in professional baseball. He spent a short-season in Boise, a fast-growing college town.

Cedar Rapids may be one of the largest cities in Iowa, but it is definitely small town.

For Jacobs, who was born and raised in Orange County, attended Canyon High School while living in Anaheim Hills, it’s been an eye-opener.

“We have an awful lot of kids from California and Florida and it is quite a culture shock,” Minton said. “They are stuck in Middle America and things are a little slower here.”

Even so, the place is big enough that a guy needs a car to get around. Like many of their teammates, Jacobs and Croud picked up a junker for transportation. Theirs was far from the worst.

“[Pitcher] Greg Jones had this Volvo that didn’t have a clutch,” Jacobs said. “He had to rev it up really fast, then drop it in gear. And he made fun of our car.”

Call it rustic, or merely rusty, Cedar Rapids seems stuck in neutral.

The city has had baseball since 1891. Famed Giant Manager John McGraw played here that first season. Veterans Memorial Stadium only looks like it’s that old. It was built in 1949 and every effort, short of a VA loan, has been exhausted in trying to replace it.

The field isn’t level and, although the capacity is 6,000, the stands are rundown. Nearby is a grain factory.

“It smells like pancakes all the time,” Jacobs said. “I’m never eating pancakes again either.”

Look east and you see two large granaries. But look west and Jacobs can see Anaheim.

“Ramon Ortiz was here last year and now he is with the Angels,” Jacobs said. “I try to keep tabs on Ramon. I like his style and we’re about the same height. I try to pick up tips. He’s in the big leagues for a reason.”

And if there is one thing that you can do in Cedar Rapids, it’s focus on your career.

“There are maybe two clubs in the town and they close at 1 a.m.,” Jacobs said. “The Florida State League, that’s the life down there. It’s the club league. I talk to friends who are playing there and they are staying out late and coming in late. But they are not doing very well because of it. I’m glad I’m in this town.”

Lunar Sighting

Minton started talking about the custom paint job on Jacobs’ car and laughed.

“All of them get these $100 clunkers,” Minton said. “We lead the league in tickets.”

And Jacobs’ version? “We never said Greg was the sharpest pencil in the bunch,” Minton said.

Minton could use a little honing as well. Called “Moonie” throughout his 13 seasons with the Giants and Angels, he is a little left of center.

“We were playing golf one day and I was bouncing the ball on my club, like that Tiger Woods commercial,” Jacobs said. “Moonie said, ‘Bounce it a little higher, I want to hit it off your club.’ He missed and shattered two $300 clubs.

“This guy is a character and that makes it real comfortable for players. He jokes around, but when it’s time for business, he is all serious.”

Minton has tinkered with Jacobs’ mechanics all summer. Jacobs has been more than receptive.

Jacobs has received little formal training as a pitcher. At Cal State Fullerton, he played outfield and was a designated hitter when he wasn’t pitching, so he spent little practice time with the pitchers.

“In a way, Greg’s lack of pitching expertise helped him,” Minton said. “He is not afraid to try what we bring up. If I explain to him that what we’re working on will help him, he grasps it.”

And keeps coming back for more. Call it puppy love.

“As soon as he understood I could help him, Greg wouldn’t let me out of his sight,” Minton said. “If I went to the bullpen, he went to the bullpen. If I went to the clubhouse, he went to the clubhouse.

“After about two weeks, some of the players were calling him my son. I had a little meeting with them and no one called him that any more. Greg just wants to work and sometimes he gets a little overzealous.”

Whatever breeds success. After a rocky start, Jacobs seems to have hit his stride.

He is projected as a reliever, but was moved into the starting rotation in July to allow him to pile up more innings. Twice he took one-hitters into the eighth inning.

“Moonie said I had the worst mechanics out of all the pitchers, but he liked my live arm,” Jacobs said. “He fought to have me come to Cedar Rapids, and the Angels said I could as long as he worked with me. I owe the guy a lot. He’s made me the pitcher that I am now.”

Which is one headed to Arizona.

“I’ve heard a few guys say that if the Angels send them back [to Cedar Rapids], they will ask for their release,” Jacobs said.

“When the season started, it was freezing, then it got boiling hot with 70% humidity. I would shower, drive 10 minutes to the park in shorts and shower again when I got there because I was dripping wet. Of course, my car didn’t have air conditioning.”