Cooper adjusts to New Jersey, Double-A

Cooper, who's played 13 games with the Double-A Trenton Thunder since being called up from the Tampa Yankees, isn't used to a few things at the higher level of play, but the manic road rage of New Jersey residents is high on his list.

"Here, especially in Jersey, people ride your tail when you're driving," Cooper, a native of Los Angeles, said. "In California, there's a lot of traffic, but here, if you're not going fast enough, they'll be right on you and zoom right on by you. Back home, we don't have that."

Another East Coast characteristic Cooper doesn't embrace is the weather.

"In California, you'll have the heat, but you won't have the humidity. That's definitely been one of the biggest things that I've noticed," he said.

The 24-year-old outfielder who resides in Bensalem, Pa., will take the good with the bad, however, as the nightly crowds at Waterfront Park's 6,500-seat stadium have delighted him.

"It's been a huge difference for me, as far as playing in front of a lot of people every game," he said. "As you know, in the Florida State League, you don't play in front of that many fans, maybe 700-800 unless they have an event going on. You can pretty much hear yourself talking.

"The game doesn't change -- it's still the same game -- but it's more exciting when there are a lot of people and they're rooting with the game on the line, or you make a good play and everybody yells. It just makes it that much more exciting."

A product of Loyola Marymount University, the ninth-round Draft pick in 2005 was hitting .311 in the Florida State League before his promotion to Double-A. At the higher level, the left-handed bat, who throws right, is still adjusting to the accelerated game, batting .180 (9-for-50) with nine RBIs and one run scored.

"Making that adjustment as far as the pitching [has been difficult]," he said. "They're more consistent, but as you move up, even in hitters' counts, they start throwing you off-speed pitches, so I've been dealing with that type of stuff."

Cooper has also had to adjust to the unique outfield wall at Waterfront Park. Though he hasn't been involved in any controversial plays yet, the 32-foot high wall of ads is separated from the "real" eight-foot high wall -- which determines home runs -- by just a foot. That makes it very difficult for umpires to observe whether the ball has actually cleared the fence.

"There are a lot of the posters up on the wall," Cooper said. "I remember one time when I was DH-ing, I looked up and I thought that ball hit the bottom of the wall, but it actually hit the top and it was a home run.

"They said they could tell the difference from the sound of the two walls, but for me, it's hard to tell whether it's a home run or not. The ball might hit one of the posters and you don't know if it's over the wall or not."

Home run controversies aside (instant replay anyone?), Cooper said his experience in Trenton -- his first time playing at a level higher than Class-A Advanced -- has been the best of his professional career. Right down to the bat "boy."

"In Trenton, when you hit, they have a little dog named Charlie who goes and picks up your bat for you and brings it back. I've never seen that before. I like that a lot," he said.

"All the parks that I've played at so far have been really nice parks. Overall, I've been having a lot of fun, and I've been enjoying it and trying to go out every day to find a way to help the team win."