[Bluellama44]

After reading those run-downs on the team, I made the 3 minute walk from my cramped office building to Raisin Bears Ballpark, which had opened early. A few small stores, mostly ones that sold baseball cards or memorabilia, had put stickers of our logo or player-signed posters back on their walls. With the sun shining and not a cloud in the sky to block it, breezy California days like this almost had a scent of baseball in the air. I heard some faint music as I approached our ballpark, while being stopped by a fan on the street who wanted to watch the action unfold and maybe get an autograph. There was no security by our gate, only a stray dog eating the remains of dropped food.

When the field would be revealed before me as I walked up the Section 50-51 steps, I expected to see Malone addressing the team in a brisk and orderly fashion about their first full-squad workout together. That couldn't have been further from what was actually happening.

The whole scene unraveled in front of my eyes all at once. About 20 guys, some in uniform and some not in uniform, were watching a circus act in centerfield. An elephant was walking around third base with a player on its back. There were guys juggling chainsaws near homeplate, and then lighting a bunch of baseball bats on fire and juggling those. Two thoughts rang in my mind the whole time. One, what in the world is going on, two, where the hell is Malone and the rest of the staff? I spotted Bench Coach Steve Brooks sitting with a few coaches in the dugout and ran through some of the chaos to greet him. "Hey, having fun on full-squad workout day, huh?" "If we're the worst team in the world, we're gonna have fun with it."

I still saw no sign of Malone, but did spot the Team Owner laughing uncontrollably in the announcers booth while commenting on the mayhem as if it was a game being broadcasted. I barged into the booth, which looked like it was in ruins. "Hey, where's Malone?" "No clue. A few players went off with him across the parking lot and disappeared." The place across the parking lot was to be my next destination. An older guy wearing a shirt that said "Old Bill" on it was walking to the park with some kids and asked me why smoke was rising from the home plate area. I told him to go see his team for himself.

I crossed the parking lot and came across a big brick building that featured a sign that said "Caution: Bears inside." I assumed that may have meant Raisin Bears, and I was right, as you should be able to tell by the fact I'm alive to tell you this story. At 1:12 PM, I finally saw some baseball being played. The building was split into 4 sections, all featuring different guys instructing each other on hitting. Malone snuck up from behind me.
"Mike! Glad to see you made it. Quite the circus going on back there, huh?" "Good to see you today Dustin, can you tell me what's going on?"

"I'm finding my leaders." He waved his arm around, seemingly trying to point at everything and everyone in the room at the same time.

Suddenly, it all made sense. This was what Malone was planning. He wanted to spot his diamonds in the rough. His flowers in a garden of concrete. Malone wanted to see which players meant business and would resist the temptation to have fun with the rest of the guys, instead practicing their craft. I was very pleased to see the players that showed up. Jonathan Ellis immediately greeted me when I was done talking with Malone, and complimented me in that I had gone out and traded for such well-behaved young ballplayers. I played it off like I intentionally grabbed the best clubhouse influences, when all I wanted was to find young, undervalued players. Juan Sanchez could be seen talking with Michelangelo Martinez as he smashed batting practice pitches from Pitching Coach Luis Dominguez. Rob Grabenstein was next door, quietly trying to hit his way onto the Opening Day lineup. Jorge Rivera and Ricardo Ramirez were chatting to each other while working out at the back of the building. Ellis, a 36 year old pitcher, was monitoring a bunch of 23-24 year olds as they did what they loved more than goofing off with their friends or watching people play with fire, playing baseball. Malone had done everyone in Fresno a huge favor. He had found the team's core.