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Do IT this week: Layering
Son of Red Sox coach learns ins, outs of game growing up at ballpark
By Stephanie Storm
Beacon Journal sports writer
Published on Saturday, Apr 25, 2009
When you're a kid growing up around a ballpark, the game just kind of seeps into you.
The lush field is your backyard. The stands are just like the seats in your living room. The locker-room camaraderie is not much different from the conversation around your dinner table.
Over time, the players — even the superstars — don't come off so awe-inspiring and the managers and coaches feel like your neighbors across the street who wave and know you by name.
That's how Aeros first baseman Beau Mills grew up as the son of Brad Mills, a former major-leaguer and current bench coach for the Boston Red Sox.
''He's a baseball player through and through,'' Aeros hitting coach Lee May Jr. said of the younger Mills. ''He's been around the game all his life and has a good feel for it, which makes him seasoned beyond his years. One of Beau's best attributes is definitely his baseball IQ.''
Now as a Double-A rookie and the Tribe's No. 5 prospect according to Baseball America, Mills' background gives him an enviable and indispensable pedigree.
''Growing up around the game has prepared me for a lot of things — on and off the field,'' Mills said. ''There's the obvious on-the-field stuff. And away from the field, there's small things like the long bus trips, how to take care of your body and how not to gas out the first half of the season.''
On the field, Mills has been the beneficiary of an alphabet of major-league friends who can be called on for advice regarding his swing or a slump. That includes the nuances of switching positions, such as when he moved from third base two seasons ago at low Class A Lake County.
Yet for all the fringe benefits the 22-year-old had growing up around the game, Mills has still had to prove himself since becoming the Indians' No. 1 pick (13th overall) in the 2007 draft out of little-known NAIA school Lewis-Clark State in Idaho.
And so far, the 6-foot-3, 220-pound, left-handed hitter has done just that.
In his first two professional seasons, Mills combined to hit .282 with 27 home runs and 132 RBI. Last year at high Class A Kinston — his first full pro season — he proved to be the best in the Carolina League by claiming the MVP award in hitting .293 with an Indians organization-high 21 homers and 90 RBI.
''He has such a good feel for the game, making adjustments tend to be easier for him,'' May said. ''Plus, he's got a real good idea what he's doing out there with his swing mechanics.''
That's why neither May nor Aeros second-year manager Mike Sarbaugh were worried when Mills got off to a slow start the first two weeks of the season before trying to find his way at the plate the last week.
''At times Beau can get a little over-aggressive [at the plate], but that's just a part of his development,'' Sarbaugh said of Mills, who's now batting .255 in 13 games. ''He's learning that there's times when you don't need to force the issue and just have to be more patient.
''At the same time, that's just Beau — an aggressive-type hitter. And you don't want to take that natural aggressiveness away from him. But that's why he's here in the minor leagues, to learn how to fine-tune the little things,'' Sarbaugh said.
The big things that tend to trip up a lot of other players, Mills absorbed a long time ago.
Stephanie Storm can be reached at sstorm@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Indians and Aeros blog at http://www.ohio.com/tribematters.
When you're a kid growing up around a ballpark, the game just kind of seeps into you.
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