AMARILLO, Texas —
As Phil Wellman dressed for an afternoon workout last month at Hodgetown, his eyes darted from the major league highlights splashing across the flat screen on his wall to the time of day. A former pupil of his was readying for his Padres debut in Toronto that evening, and Double-A Amarillo’s 57-year-old manager hoped the Sod Poodles’ pregame schedule allowed him to glimpse that precious first at-bat.
“What makes me feel good,” Wellman said, “is when you feel like you might have had a little bit of an impact on their development … and when they get called up, they text you.