For Cain and Lawrie, two very different roads to the All-Star Game

By Aaron Morse

Just call Huntsville Stars’ outfielder Lorenzo Cain “The Natural.”

It’s not often a player can start playing baseball in high school and eventually end up on an all-star team, much less a major league club’s 40-man roster. But that’s exactly what the relentlessly upbeat 24-year old outfielder out of Tallahassee Community College has accomplished.

Cain laughs when asked what led him to baseball. “I don’t tell too many people this, but I got cut from my high school basketball team,” Cain said. “I was tired of just going home every day after school; I wanted something to keep me busy.”

Hitting was never an issue, which is impressive considering as Pete Rose once said, “It’s a round ball and a round bat, and you got to hit it square.” But fielding was another matter. “I played third base in high school and I was terrible,” Cain said with a grin. “So one of the biggest challenges was finding a position I was comfortable playing.”

He did exactly that at Tallahassee, shifting to center field where he could most take advantage of his plus speed. But there was still more to learn.

“I didn’t know how to crow hop,” Cain said. “So that was something that required an adjustment in how I threw the ball.”

The Brewers made Cain their 17th round draft choice in 2004, which came as no surprise to many, but stunned Cain.

“I wasn’t expecting to be drafted at all,” he said. “I mean, my game was so raw at that time, it was a pleasant surprise.”

Cain didn’t watch baseball very much growing up, but since taking up the sport has modeled his game after one man: Torii Hunter.

“I love watching him play,” Cain said. “I want to be able to play the outfield just like him.”

Cain tracks balls down in the gaps with an ease that belies his relative inexperience. Asked if he’s ever robbed anyone of a home run like Hunter does routinely, he flashes a smile and says that he has, but that Hunter is on a whole different level.

The man they call “Lo-Cain” credits his mom with keeping him focused throughout high school and college as well. She was able to see him play with the Stars when they were in Jacksonville last week for a six-game series.

Cain is currently on the Brewers’ 40-man roster, but his rise to the Southern League All-Star game has not been easy. Like so many young players, injuries have slowed him down at times. In particular 2009 was a rough time as he only hit .218 in the minors. This came the year after he got a cup of coffee in triple-A with the Nashville Sounds.

“Taking care of my body has got to be priority number one right now,” Cain said. “I have to do everything in my power to avoid another trip to the disabled list.”

But for now, it’s full speed ahead as he prepares to represent the Stars on July 12 as the All-Star Game comes to Huntsville.

Just call Stars’ second baseman Brett Lawrie “The Chosen One.”

The Brewers have a lot of hope and money riding on the 2008 first round draft pick out of Brookswood Secondary (Langley, British Columbia). He received a bonus of 1.7 million dollars upon signing, and so far he’s been just as good as advertised.

Lawrie, 20, talks a mile a minute and likes to joke about his short attention span.

“I have a really hard time watching a baseball game all the way through,” Lawrie said. “Growing up I liked to watch individual players; I didn’t really have a particular team I rooted for.”

Lawrie has often been characterized as a hitter without a position, something he cringes at.

“I know I have to work on my defense, but I can play anywhere they need me to,” Lawrie said. “I can play third, catcher, second base, whatever they need.”

Currently Lawrie is holding down the fort at second base and improving every day. He says that he loves watching Dan Uggla and Dustin Pedroia play. Their combination of powerful hitting and slick glove-work is something that appeals to the Southern League’s total bases leader.

Lawrie comes from a family of athletes. His sister Danielle recently graduated from the University of Washington, where she led the Dawgs to the 2009 NCAA softball national title.

“Oh yeah, it was a pretty competitive household growing up,” Lawrie said. “Nowadays we’ve kind of gone our separate ways, but when we were younger we definitely pushed each other.”

Lawrie says he’s never tried to hit a pitch from his sister. He smiles and says that she’d probably get him the first few times, but he’d make the necessary adjustments.

The confident infielder played in the MLB “Futures Game” last year at age 19, and said it was an amazing experience.

“It was the same day as that softball game they play with all the baseball legends, so I got to meet a few of them,” Lawrie said. “This year, with the game in Los Angeles, I expect there to be even more star-power at All-Star Weekend.”

Lawrie’s schedule is about to get hectic, as the Futures game is a little earlier this year, allowing him to play there and play in the Southern League All-Star game.

“It’s very exciting to have the game in Huntsville,” Lawrie said. “Normally that would mean I wouldn’t have to go anywhere, but I don’t mind the flight to LA and back.”

Cain and Lawrie’s backgrounds are very different, but they share a few similar qualities. Cain has his trademark grin while Lawrie always seems to have a twinkle in his eye.

Both love almost every minute of their journey to the big leagues. But Cain does caution those fans who think it is all fun and games that the minor leagues are definitely a grind. The long bus trips to Jacksonville, Carolina, and other SL destinations are taxing.

“You have to have serious mental toughness to make it through a minor league season,” said Cain.

Lawrie agrees and says now that he plays baseball for a living, he tries to avoid it as much as possible during his rare off days.

Like Cain, Lawrie played a lot of basketball growing up; he played all the way through high school. Despite his avoidance of baseball on days off, America’s national pastime remains the Canadian’s favorite sport.

He makes no bones about his goal for the remainder of the season.

“At the start of the year my goal was to begin the season in Double-A,” Lawrie said. “I’ve accomplished that, I’ve hit the ball well, and now my goal is a September call-up to the major leagues.”

Confident? Yes. Realistic for the youngest player on the Stars? Quite possibly.

The Stars have already seen catcher Jonathan Lucroy promoted first to Nashville, then to Milwaukee. Meanwhile, another young player, Starlin Castro, formerly of the Tennessee Smokies, became the first player born in the 1990’s to play in the majors when he debuted with the Chicago Cubs this year.

“The Natural” and “The Chosen One” aren’t far behind.