Most of their minor-leaguers were home Tuesday. Working out. Possibly hitting a Halloween party. Doing something that might not have involved, for a change, a bat and a ball.
Seven other Tigers prospects were busy playing a game in Arizona, in front of scouts and player-development people and with maybe a handful of fans sitting in an otherwise empty Phoenix-area ballpark.
Why most prospects get the school kid’s equivalent of summer vacation and others are asked to work (play) overtime can be a subjective but generally flattering burden most players relish.
It’s because they’re identified as youngsters with a real chance to crack the big leagues, men who can benefit from that rarefied desert air in the Arizona Fall League.