Take him out to a ballgame? Why, yes

"It's like a dream come true," Christopher Rosenbaum of Nassau recently told The Evangelist in a telephone interview from a truck stop in Idaho. "Ever since I got here, I've been living out of a bag."

Mr. Rosenbaum, 23, is a parishioner of Holy Spirit in East Greenbush. The Catholic catcher recently signed a one-season contract to play baseball with the Los Angeles Angels' rookie-league team, the Orem Owlz.

Mr. Rosenbaum, who has been slugging baseballs for most of his life in Little League, high school and college, graduated from the University of Tampa in Florida last year with a degree in finance. While getting that degree, he played baseball for U.T. as a catcher.

He was sidelined for a season by a blood clot in his shoulder, putting him on the disabled list, but made up for that by playing another season while in the university's graduate program in business administration.

In 2006, he drove in a game-winning run in extra frames to earn the national championship for U.T. He finished that final season hitting .341 with 44 RBIs, and was a second-team all Sunshine State Conference selection and a first-team Academic All-American.

Under contract

When the L.A. Angels called Mr. Rosenbaum in June with a minor league offer for a single season, he decided to sign.

Earlier this summer, he headed out to Orem, Utah, having officially been added to the roster of the Orem Owlz. In the first game he played for the Pioneer (rookie) League team, he hit a two-run homer; by the end of July, his batting average was .323.

Mr. Rosenbaum said he's been working hard at succeeding as a ballplayer since he was 12 years old and made the Little League All Star team.

"I have to give the credit for where I am now to my Little League All Star coach, Joe Franchini. He got me interested in developing myself as a serious ballplayer. He had me hitting wiffle balls at Holy Spirit gymnasium and working out to develop myself. Both he and Father [George] St. John were instrumental in my development," the catcher said.

That discipline is coming in handy now for Mr. Rosenbaum. "The schedule is pretty tight. We're usually on the field by 1 p.m. every day and don't leave until about 11. It's a long day and that's every day," he said. "But the fans are great. They usually have sell-out crowds because we really are the only game in town.

"There's not a lot of structure. When we're not playing ball, we're on the road," he added. You catch sleep and eat whenever you can. The only structure is on the field when we're playing baseball."

Owlz' flights

The Owlz play ball in the northern and southern divisions of the Pioneer League, from Billings, Montana to Casper, Wyoming -- and, of course, Orem, Utah, where they play home games. During July, the team played 28 games with three days off; in August, they are scheduled to play 29 games with two days off. The "off" days are actually travel days.

"Sundays we always have a light turnout, especially when we play in Utah, because it's a Mormon area and the team used to have its home games at Brigham Young University. We don't draw a lot of Sunday crowds," Mr. Rosenbaum noted.

"But the fans make up for that, especially the kids. They're great. They're always looking for autographs or want to talk with the players," he added. "It really boosts your ego."

Mets memories

The children's eagerness reminds Mr. Rosenbaum of his own childhood, when he attended Major League Baseball games at Shea Stadium in New York City. As an avid Mets fan, he said he knows how the little kids feel about Major League players.

"It really gives you a different perspective," he noted.

Mr. Rosenbaum said that being part of a minor league team is a little different from playing college baseball. He's had to make a few adjustments. Most of his teammates are about his age, but are from places like the Dominican Republic. Many don't speak English.

"We don't really talk much, especially with the guys that are just learning English. But we have one thing in common, and that's baseball. We can communicate with no problems in that area," he noted.

(Learn more and check out stats at www.oremowlz.com.)

Peer volunteer

When he's not playing baseball, Mr. Rosenbaum enjoys volunteering. At the University of Tampa, he started a "Red Ribbon Campaign" to help families of students killed by drunk drivers after four college students in four years were killed in the Tampa Bay area during the Christmas season.

"I got the idea from one of our teachers who started a similar program at Columbia High School [in East Greenbush] when I was a student," he said.

Mr. Rosenbaum was also president of U.T.'s Student Athlete Advisory Committee. Under his leadership, the group

* solicited donations to St. Jude's Hospital,

* raised more than $4000 for orphans and neglected children at the Hope Christian Children's Home in Tampa,

* helped raise money for the victims of Hurricane Katrina, and

* collected $2,600 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

"It's important to help those that need help. SAAC is a wonderful way for students to be involved in that," the catcher said. (PP)

(8/2/07)