Godwin: Training and hard work keys to success in baseball

By Ricky Adams/Ledger Correspondent
Published: May 10, 2008

There’s excitement in the Suns’ clubhouse in the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville these days.

First, Thursday night the Suns pulled to within a couple of games of improving to .500 on the young season.

Also exciting is the arrival of a former major leaguer looking to stay in the game at the AA level.

“Mark Bellhorn is coming in this week and that’s gonna be fun,” said Enterprise native Adam Godwin after Thursday’s win against the Carolina Mudcats.

“He’s been on a World Series team – Boston – and we’re excited to have him.”

Bellhorn a 10-year Major League veteran, is a second baseman who’s played for Oakland, the Chicago Cubs, Colorado, Boston, the New York Yankees, San Diego and most recently, Cincinnati.

Godwin said excitement on a professional team is somewhat unusual this early in the season.

“Without a doubt when you walk through the door of our clubhouse, it’s all business,” the fleet-footed leftfielder said. “In college it’s all about the team; you work all week getting ready for that weekend’s games. It’s a rah-rah situation, and you really play for the love of the game.

“But pro ball is definitely a business. You have to realize that and you gotta understand that at the end of the day, even though you always want to win, you have to think about yourself and get ready for the next day.

“The manager’s job in minor league ball is to get the players ready for the big leagues. It’s a business that’s about putting up numbers.

“Whoever plays the best gets promoted. This creates a situation where you really might not want the others at your position to do well.

“In college, you spend half your time in class or hanging out with friends. Pro ball is a lifestyle change in that we’re with the same guys for 150 games, plus spring training, and that’s more time than we get to spend with friends and family at times.

“In pro ball there are no classes to go to or friends to hang out with; we’re working almost all the time. But I’m not complaining.

Playing professional baseball is my dream come true.”

The Suns have had two off-days since the season began April 3, and both followed long, overnight bus rides. Things can get testy with that much togetherness and that little time away from the ballpark.

“We have a 25-man roster and we’re all different people,” said Godwin, who’s currently hitting at a .297 clip. “Teams have everything from 19-year-old kids who think they’re God’s gift to the world, to 30-year-olds trying to hold on.

“Jacksonville is great and so is our ballpark, but if you’re satisfied being here, at the AA level, you’re different from most players. The ultimate goal we all have is to play in L.A. for the Dodgers.”

For professional players, Godwin said, every statistic matters; every day is different and every day is important.

Every day also takes a toll and off-seasons are highly anticipated.

Godwin, who set the NCAA single-season stolen base record as a Troy University senior, typically spends his off-seasons between Birmingham where his parents, Al and Karen Godwin, now live and Dothan, where he conducts camps for youngsters.

Godwin is a young man who long ago began spending time teaching and encouraging youngsters to reach for a dream, and to be willing to work for it.

Increasingly, Godwin noted, he’s concerned about what he sees in youth baseball.

“I have a teammate and a roommate since I’ve been in pro ball, Shane Justice, who gets his bats from Dick’s Sporting Goods and gets used batting gloves from some of us,” Godwin said. “And he’s one of the best utility players in our league.

“He’s one of those guys who never needed a $300 bat or a $200 glove to play. Some kids may be encouraged by having expensive bats and gloves but I won’t ever buy a son of mine a $300 bat.

“What I will do is show him that to become a hitter or a better hitter he’s got to be willing to work hard every day. He’s going to have to put in the hours working to get better. Proper training and hard work, not expensive equipment, are what it takes to succeed in baseball.

“I may be the first to tell every kid that it ain’t the arrow, it’s the Indian.”