Back to School with Justin Hoyman
Junior All-American Max Scherzer was on the mound for Mizzou and showed why is considered by many to be the top pitcher available in this year's draft, likely to go within the first five selections. Hoyman got to spend time as a fan at McKethan Stadium, a luxury he was rarely afforded during his playing days with the Gators. Here's a look at how the evening unfolded with Hoyman sharing his thoughts on everything from playing for Florida to life in the Minor Leagues to his high school encounters with Prince Fielder.
Hoyman will be heading to Winter Haven later this week to begin his third season in the Indians organization. He's coming off a ligament injury in his right elbow that limited him to 48 innings last year, but he is healthy and ready to return to action.
Hoyman arrived at the park shortly before 6 p.m. and as he waited on line at the will call window, it would have been tough to single him out from any other UF student. With a blue Gators sweatshirt draped over his shoulder and a white Florida hat turned backwards on his head, he looked like he had never left campus.
The dead giveaway, though, as he stood in line with Jen was the fact that several fans came over and shook his hand, congratulating him. Several scouts also stopped on their way into the building to say hello, so it was becoming apparent that this was more than some student who was just out looking to have a good time on a Friday night.
Hoyman, who lives a few hours away in Melborne, in the shadow of Space Coast Stadium (where the Washington Nationals conduct their Spring Training), returned for several games last season and was making his second trip back to Gainesville this year.
"You know, you come back and you don't remember everyone," said Hoyman as he walked into the stadium and up the ramp onto the concourse behind home plate. "It's a whole new environment. I've gotten to know all the people with the Indians, but you can only hold so many people in your memory bank. I remember a lot of the people who followed the baseball program closely. They take pride in their sport.
"Even though baseball isn't as big as football or basketball here, I always felt so accepted. I can remember crowds cheering for a strikeout and the crazy chants and going down to the wire to win games against Florida State. Stuff like that."
While Hoyman felt comfortable among the fans, he wasn't necessarily at ease being up in the stands watching the Gators and Missouri get loose on the field. He still has ties to the team, close friends in right-hander Darren O'Day and slugging infielder Matt LaPorta, the NCAA's reigning home run champ.
"It's weird being on this side of the net," he said. "You look down and it's awkward. I used to be the one down there looking up and checking everyone out. It's weird. It makes me feel old already.
"To an extent I'm still involved with the team. I couldn't tell you their record but that's the luxury of having the internet. You can find out anything in a couple of minutes."
Hoyman has seen what LaPorta can do to a baseball first hand. While he isn't in the business of offering up suggestions to Cleveland's scouting department, he was quick to point out that if anyone asked, he'd endorse LaPorta without hesitation.
"I'd be the first one to tell you how incredible he is," Hoyman said. "Matt LaPorta would make a great addition to any team. If the Indians want to look at him, I'd love to have him in our organization. If you gave him a two by four he could hit it out. He's that kind of guy."
By 6:15, Hoyman and Mandes had settled into seats behind the home dugout, sneaking down like a pair of kids, hopeful that they wouldn't be asked to move. Hoyman exchanged some smiles and waves with several of the players on the field and began to take particular notice when Scherzer began warming up in the visiting bullpen.
"See how loose his arm is?" he asks. "Man, he throws a hard slider."
The studs pitch on Friday night in collegiate baseball, and Hoyman made his share of starts under the lights to kick off the weekend in Gainesville. He said he also pitched a lot on Saturdays, as well, because head coach Pat McMahon knew that he could eat up innings that were needed because the bullpen was often taxed on Fridays and Sundays if a younger pitcher got the call.
Senior Bryan Ball got the nod for the Gators. A College World Series veteran, Ball is considered a pro prospect but not in the class of Scherzer. Still, as he warmed up, Hoyman had high praise for his former teammate.
"'Guts' is the first word that comes to mind about him," he said. "He's not going to blow anyone away with his stuff. He reminds me a lot of myself. He just gets them to put the ball in play with as few pitches as possible. When he was younger he would overthrow a little bit he grew up and got polished."
Ball, however, had more guts than actual stuff going for him against Mizzou. He got pounded for seven runs on nine hits and was chased in the second inning. Ball gave up several long shots to the right-center field alley and to straightaway center. Though the ball wasn't carrying particularly well, it traveled far enough to do damage. Add in five Gator errors and there was plenty of head scratching.
"The wind really swirls here when the ball gets above the seats," Hoyman said. "Look at the flags in center field. They're not moving. But the ones above the stadium are. If you hit a ball to either corner here, it will go out. But if you hit one to dead center, it just dies. It never seems to fly." As the Tigers race to a 14-0 lead, Hoyman's thoughts are laced with "We." He says he still considers himself very attached to the team and probably will feel that way for at least another season, after which everyone with whom he had played will have graduated.
"It's always going to be 'We', though," he said. "That's not going to change. But this is probably the sloppiest game I've ever seen here. It's tough. I don't know what the deal is tonight. We usually hand this out. We're not on the receiving end of this kind of beating at home. Coach will probably wear them out after the game. This is bad."
Meanwhile, Scherzer had little trouble with the Gators, prompting Hoyman to move behind home plate, where he could stand with the scouts and watch the radar gun. Scherzer hit 96 on the gun in the first inning and settled in comfortably at 94 thereafter.
"When I was down there [on the field as a player], we were always like, 'We'll get this guy, he's not that good'," Hoyman said. "But from up here. Wow. He's pretty good. They have their hands full tonight."
As the game tumbles out of reach for the Gators, the conversation in the stands moves on to other topics. One of which was Fielder, whom Hoyman faced while at Cocoa High School.
"He was a man among boys," Hoyman said, shaking his head. "I could never get him out. My junior year in high school, he hit me pretty hard. He never hit a home run off me, which I'm happy about. But I never struck him out."
Perhaps someday the two will meet again in the Major Leagues, but for now it appears as if Hoyman is headed back to the Sally League to the start the season, or to the Carolina League if he can show enough once camp opens. He says he still consults with Florida pitching coach Ross Jones from time to time, occasionally coming to Gainesville in the offseason to throw a bullpen for his former mentor.
Hoyman had a year of eligibility remaining and, had he chosen to stay in Gainesville, would have been part of last season's team that went to the finals of the College World Series.
"That was something we didn't accomplish while I was here," he said. "I thought of that last year, all the while knowing I was given the opportunity of a lifetime [by Cleveland]. There was a chance I could have been there, and I dreamed about it. It was really cool, but I enjoyed watching it on television. I was bragging to all my teammates."
As the evening wears on, Hoyman continues to move in and out of his seat, pressing hands and saying hello to old friends. It's getting colder out as the temperature drops into the 50s and the wind picks up. But Mandes stays in her seat, eager to see the game play out.
She and Hoyman recently got engaged but haven't decided on a wedding date. After majoring in sociology at UF, she is currently working on a second degree in mechanical engineering at The University of Central Florida. Hoyman said they'd talk wedding dates after graduation.
"When we first started dating, I didn't know a lot about baseball," Mandes said. "But he's teaching me. I make an effort because it's his job so I'm still learning. And he's learning from me about volleyball."
Though the game is hopelessly out of reach, Hoyman is still having fun, talking to the fans and roaming through the park. He'll be headed a few hours south by week's end but his heart, at least a piece of it, will always remain in Gainesville.
"If I'm still around I'll always come back here," he said. "I love it here. I love Gainesville. If I could have a house here, I would."
Kevin T. Czerwinski is a reporter for MLB.com.