August 6, 2006 - Ho, ho, Hoey, it's magic: Rider product gets save (BY DAVID GURNEY)
Ho, ho, Hoey, it's magic: Rider product gets save
Sunday, August 06, 2006
BY DAVID GURNEY
Special to the Times
TRENTON -- It all came together nicely for Bowie Baysox reliever Jim Hoey V yesterday.
Almost too Hollywood scripted.
The hometown hero, making his long-awaited return in front of friends and family in a professional uniform, and pitching the ninth in ning to clinch a victory and collect the save.
Even a line drive off the right knee and a run allowed with two outs in the ninth couldn't sour Hoey, the Hamilton native and former Hamilton High and Rider University player, after the Bowie Baysox's 7-6 victory over the Thunder in the first game of a day-night doubleheader at Waterfront Park.
The Thunder won the night game, 11-3.
"I kind of got fired up, with a lot of my family and friends in the stands," said Hoey outside the Bowie locker room. "I was fired up and I just hope I can pitch to morrow after getting hit."
Despite ice packs on both his shoulder and knee, Hoey downplayed the emotion of playing in front of over 60 friends and family.
"I was as anxious as any game to get the save," said Hoey, who recorded his second save with Bowie in three appearances since getting called up from Class-A Fredericksburg. "I just wanted to get out there and I tried to tune them out. It was just like any other save."
Hoey's save was the capper of slow and occasionally sloppy contest between the two squads.
The Thunder took a 2-0 lead on RBI hits by shortstop Grant Plumley and first baseman Randy Ruiz. Over the next two innings, Trenton matched Bowie, holding a 5-3 lead heading into the sixth.
Bowie scored once in the sixth, capitalizing on an error by Gabe Lopez and an RBI single by Bryan Bass before erupting with three in the eighth off Thunder reliever Jeff Kennard (3-5). Start ing that rally was a low throw by Plumley, which put leadoff man Dustin Yount on second.
The Bowie bullpen took over from the sixth inning, allowing only one run on four hits to clinch the win. A big part of the bullpen effort was Hoey's two-strikeout ninth inning.
As much as Hoey wanted to downplay the excitement of his return to Mercer County, he couldn't ignore the many supporters in the crowd and box suite, who all stood up and didn't sit when he began warming up in the pen in the seventh inning.
"Everyone got up, my family especially in the box," Hoey said. "They were all looking down at me. Just watch and admire. That's what parents do, and family and friends."
For other members of the Hoey contingent, especially Jim's father, Jim Hoey IV, it was a bit more exciting.
"It's amazing," Jim Hoey IV said before the game yesterday. "He played here (Waterfront Park) in high school against Pen nsbury and it's very exciting. All the other friends and family are trying to calm me down because it's a dream come true for him.
"It's especially amazing coming off the injury."
That injury was an tear in Jim's elbow that resulted in Tommy John surgery in 2004. Hoey and his father trained together at St. Raphael's gym in Hamilton for 2-3 months during the rehab process.
"We trained for about two to three months and the priest was nice enough to let us use the gym," Jim Hoey IV said. "I went to school there when I was a kid and we threw in the gym.
"It was nerve-wracking be cause there I was throwing with him in the gym after his injury and thinking that something was going to happen. It's always in the back of your mind as a parent."
Getting to Trenton was a quick climb for Hoey following the surgery, jumping from the different levels of Single-A to Double-A in a year.
"I was telling everybody else (on the team), to come from Delmarva to Fredericksburg to Bowie off of one year took a lot," Hoey said. "This is my first healthy full season in pro baseball in the four years I've been playing. So to come off and do that is quite a feat for me and I'm excited."
Already Hoey has earned the admiration of his manager, Bowie's Don Werner.
"That was the first time I've seen him pitch and you have to love his demeanor on the mound," Werner said. "You gotta love his fastball stuff, too. There's nothing not to like out of the guy."
