Farewell to Dodgertown

Rob Naddelman: Through a Parent’s Eyes

On December 30, 2008 the last baseball event was held at the hallowed grounds of Dodgertown, the Spring Training home of the LA Dodgers. The final event happened to be Baseball Factory’s Christmas Camp and Tournament. Dodgertown has hosted Spring Training for the Dodgers since they resided in Brooklyn New York. Dodgertown holds a very special place in the history of baseball and it is sad to see the facility coming to an end due to the Dodgers moving their spring home to Glendale, AZ starting in 2009.

Baseball Factory has been calling Dodgertown home for its Player Development events since 2000. Dodgertown’s door opened to us based upon a personal relationship I had with Kevin O’Malley. Kevin was my teammate at the University of Pennsylvania and is the son of former Dodgers owner Peter O’Malley. I told Kevin that Baseball Factory wanted to hold a Pre Season All America event to showcase the best players we had seen throughout the calendar year and we needed a premier facility to host the event. He introduced us to the General Manager of the complex and the relationship grew from there. Fast forward to December 2008, and we have held 24 similar events at Dodgertown over the past nine years including our August World Series, November Select Training and Competition, and our December Camp and Tournament. Thousands of players and parents have traveled to Dodgertown to participate in Baseball Factory programs and left with such positive feelings and emotions for this iconic facility.

Here are my Top 10 most memorable Dodgertown moments, from these past nine years and 24 events, that I will always cherish:

1. The Dodgertown Staff. What a pleasure they were to work with (especially our contact Vicki Hahn). The whole staff made us feel at home and worked hard to provide our players with the best baseball experience of their lives. The grounds crew, conference center staff, and dining room workers treated our kids like big leaguers and they will be missed by our staff.

2. The Dodger Memorabilia and Nostalgia. Dodgertown was like a baseball museum. It was amazing to see the photos of Gil Hodges, Sandy Koufax, Roy Campanella, Jackie Robinson, and many, many others. As a baseball fan, you couldn’t help but get chills thinking about staying in the same hotel rooms as these former great players. The Dodgertown staff would always remind me that the room I stayed in each time was Tommy Lasorda’s favorite.

3. In January 2000 during our All America event, watching a young Galvin Floyd (current White Sox pitcher) toe the rubber at the bullpen strings mound as a HS Junior and light up the radar gun for the fifty plus college coaches and pro scouts in attendance. Anyone who was there that day knew we were watching someone who was going to be pretty special at the MLB level.

4. In January 2000 and 2001 at our All America events, watching in awe of a young 3B from Virginia as we moved through the defensive workout and batting practice rounds like a polished veteran. He was also the most respectful player that I have interacted with over my many years of running Baseball Factory. I knew that not only would this player excel at the MLB level, but he would be the type of personality to build a franchise around. This player was David Wright, perennial All Star and the face of the NY Mets.

5. In January 2000 at our All America event, watching a relationship build between a young RHP from NJ that I knew intimately over his development, and a scout for the Baltimore Orioles. This RHP from NJ had participated in Baseball Factory events going back to his 7th grade years. He was a diamond in the rough that nobody knew about besides Baseball Factory. The scout from the Orioles took a liking to him and drafted him out of college. The big RHP grew into his body, developed a devastating fastball, and exploding off-speed pitches. He made his debut in the Oriole bullpen in 2006 and is named James Hoey. The scout was Dean Albany, who was just recently named National Crosschecker for the Baltimore Orioles.

6. In January 2001 and 2002 at our All America events, watching the three best HS athletes I have ever seen in person, Lastings Milledge, Delmon Young, and BJ Upton. Lastings hit six consecutive home runs in his batting practice round at Holman Stadium, Delmon jumped on the mound in a joking manner and touched 92 mph with his first pitch, and BJ glided all over the field as a young HS shortstop. These three guys were all 5 tool players with incredible upside.

7. In January 2000 and 2003 at our All America events, watching two HS arms from Florida that were destined to excel in the bullpen for any MLB club. They both made their debut in 2008 with the St. Louis Cardinals (Mark Worrell and Chris Perez) and should have fine pro careers. Those guys were bulldogs in high school with a ton of competitive flair.

8. Hearing the incredibly moving and motivational speeches from Clint Hurdle and Rick Sofield. These guys can really get you going and know how to push players to achieve greatness.

9. Seeing former legendary college coach, Jim Spooner, share his knowledge of the game with thousands of players. Spoon was the Baseball Factory’s version of Don Zimmer. Sadly, Coach Spooner passed away this year after a long battle with Leukemia.

10. Watching countless high school players learn, attack their weaknesses, improve their game, and develop into fine college players with great careers due to the great programs that Steve Bernhardt, our EVP of Baseball Operations, put together for these boys.

Thank you for the memories Dodgertown! Although Baseball Factory has some very exciting plans for new events in 2009 that will be released shortly, Dodgertown will always be remembered fondly in our hearts.

Rob Naddelman is the President of Baseball Factory. Naddelman is a former two-time All Ivy League Third Baseman at the University of Pennsylvania, where he competed in a College World Series Regional. He has served as the President of Baseball Factory for the past 13 years, and also is the Executive Director of Baseball Factory's charitable arm The B.A.S.E. - H.I.T. Foundation. Naddelman and Steve Sclafani (CEO) have been featured in Business Week and CNN for their work in building Baseball Factory into the nation's leader in player development and college placement.

Carlos Quentin – Chicago White Sox

Justin Roswell: Where Are They Now?

During my high school career I had the privilege of competing against players including Cole Hamels (Philadelphia Phillies), Mark Prior (San Diego Padres), Adrian Gonzalez (San Diego Padres), Barry Zito (San Francisco Giants), Danny Putnam (Oakland A’s), Brian Barden (St. Louis Cardinals), and several other current big leaguers. But no other player that I played against stood out more than Carlos Quentin.

I remember one home game in particular. Los (as his teammates called him) had already hit homeruns to left center and right center. He came up for his third at bat, while facing a teammate of mine and future draft pick Joshua Muecke (AAA Round Rock-Houston Astros). Josh threw a split finger that grazed the dirt and Los proceeded to hit it 400+ feet over the batters eye. To this day, I cannot remember a high school player hitting a baseball that hard and that far. After his high school career, he went onto make a name for himself at Stanford University.

The Arizona Diamondbacks drafted him in 2003 and after getting the call to the majors in 2006, he received limited playing time at the big league level. Since being traded to the Chicago White Sox during the off-season, Los’s numbers have exploded. At the All-Star break he is hitting .275 with 22 HR’s and 70 RBI’s. As you can clearly see, Los broke out of his shell and has become the player we always thought he would be.

Carlos attended a couple of Team One Showcases during his high school career.

Team One West 1998
Team One National 1999

We wish him the best of luck and many successful years as a big leaguer. In addition to Carlos, eight other Team One and Baseball Factory alumnus played in the 2008 MLB All-Star Game. Check out the All-Star Review.

Ryan Braun, Milwaukee Brewers, OF
Aaron Cook, Colorado Rockies, RHP
Roy Halladay, Toronto Blue Jays, RHP
Josh Hamilton, Texas Rangers, OF
Ian Kinsler, Texas Rangers, OF
Brian McCann, Atlanta Braves, C
Nate McLouth, Pittsburgh Pirates, OF
David Wright, New York Mets, 3B

18 Team One and Baseball Factory alumnus have now played in the All-Star Game with a total of 29 appearances. Roy Halladay leads the way with five total selections (2002, 2003, 2005, 2006 and 2008).


Justin is the Director of Team One Baseball. Justin Roswell joined the Baseball Factory in 2001 serving in the scouting, event coordination, and player development departments. In 2007 he became the Senior Director for Team One Baseball, the showcase division of Baseball Factory. As Senior Director, he leads the player identification process for all Team One Regional Showcases. Justin also runs the Under Armour Tournament Division. Justin graduated from California State University - Fullerton, where he received his degree in Business Administration, with an emphasis on management.

All-Star Beef

Jason Budden: Un-Common Sense?

Every year there is a debate about the players selected to the All-Star Game:

- “How did the fans vote in that guy?”
- “I can’t believe the manager is playing favorites and taking him over a guy who really deserves to be in.”
- “Why do they need to have a player from each team? So-and-so should definitely have made it before that guy.”

There are always going to be a few players that got the All-Star snub. Who fits the mold for this year’s game?

What A Snub:

A.J. Pierzynski, Chicago White Sox, Catcher
Pierzynski is hitting .296 with the same number of homeruns as Jason Varitek, and six more RBI. Not to mention 21 more runs scored. Varitek clearly got preferential treatment from Terry Francona. No one hitting .215 should be chosen as a reserve.

David Wright, New York Mets, Third Base
Seriously, how did he not get selected? He has scored 56 runs, hit 17 homeruns and driven in 70, while stealing nine bases and hitting .288. Hopefully he receives the “Final Vote” from the fans because he should be there.

Jermaine Dye, Chicago White Sox, Outfield
Head-to-head, his stats match up with J.D. Drew and Manny Ramirez, both of whom are in the game. While I personally would put him in over Drew, I can’t fault that selection by Francona. Dye is another candidate who could get in the game through the “Final Vote” by the fans on MLB.com.

Carlos Lee, Houston Astros, Outfield
I think the fact that Lee was left off the team is a complete reflection of the fans voting in Alfonso Soriano and Kosuke Fukudome. Soriano and Fukudome both have solid numbers, but not in comparison with Lee and some of the other reserves that were selected. It would not surprise me if Soriano was still hurt and Lee was named as his replacement.

Cole Hamels, Philadelphia Phillies, Pitcher
Of all the pitchers not selected, Hamels can raise the biggest argument. He is 9-5 with a 3.22 ERA, 1.02 WHIP and 110 strikeouts in 128 2/3 innings pitched. This may be another case of favoritism as Clint Hurdle selected Aaron Cook from the Rockies. Cook is 11-6 with a 3.66 ERA, 1.29 WHIP and only 64 strikeouts in 132 2/3 innings pitched. He is having a career year, but Hamels deserves it more.

Regardless of the snubs, the game should be a classic and help bring an end to the era that is Yankee Stadium. I know that whatever players are competing, I’ll be watching.


Jason Budden is the Vice President of Operations and Marketing at Baseball Factory. Jason joined the Baseball Factory in 1997 while still a junior in high school. After going through the Baseball Factory's college recruiting program he was placed at Johns Hopkins University where he played two years of college baseball before graduating with a degree in Economics. After working part-time at the Factory throughout college, Jason joined the team as a full-time employee in January 2002 when he was promoted to Director of Marketing. He currently oversees all marketing projects and sponsorship opportunities at Baseball Factory. He is also in charge of development and marketing for Baseball University, the leader in online baseball education and a division of Baseball Factory.