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 Keep Your Eye on the Dream....

.............Chris Cody, Eye on the Tigers ....

February 10th, 2007

by Don Leypoldt

Its lefty Chris Codys nature to open an interview discussing one of his earned runs..

Cody posted a 2.38 ERA and a strikeout-walk ratio of nearly 6:1 in his 11 starts for the short season New York-Penn Leagues Oneonta Tigers last summer. Despite such an impressive professional debut, there are deer ticks that are bigger than Codys ego. But then again, his miscue on July 20th against Brooklyn was no ordinary run.

"I hung a curveball. The batter knocked it down the line into a corner and the runner came around to score," Cody recalled. "At first I didn't think much of it. I went through six innings and I thought 'Wow, one run. That's a pretty good start."

"About three hours later-in the 20th inning or so-I'm thinking to myself 'Man, if I had just not given up that run in the first inning, we'd be home by now.'" In a 26 inning marathon that lasted over six and a half hours, featured 206 plate appearances and had 21 consecutive scoreless frames, the Tigers were eventual 5-1 winners.

For the record, Cody's father and college coaches lasted all twenty-six innings. But Cody's family played an important role in his adjustment to the minors, so it is no surprise that they showed unwavering support during the Oneonta-Brooklyn epic. "I'm familiar with Oneonta because I have a lot of family there. Another thing that was special was
being able to play in front of family, see them and get a home cooked meal every now and then," Cody commented. The marathon was one more memory in a fabulous 2006 for the Brewster, N.Y. native. Cody ended his senior year at Manhattan College with a 12- 2 record, a 1.42 ERA, nine complete games and nearly a strikeout per inning. He left as the school's all time leader in wins (29), ERA (2.94) and strikeouts (295).

While Cody's success stunned the college baseball world, it did not surprise Silkworm fans. In his 2003 summer at Manchester, freshman Cody posted a 4-2 record, a typo-like 0.91 ERA and 56 strikeouts in 49.1 innings. He also demonstrated the calm, cerebral persona that he would use- along with a mid 80s fastball and tremendous command- to eventually dominate both Division 1 and New York-Penn League batters.

The rubber armed Cody permanently elevated his game in the opening round of the 2006 College World Series. Manhattan, making their first CWS appearance in nearly half a century, sojourned to Lincoln, Nebraska for a date with the #7th ranked and heavily favored Nebraska Cornhuskers. If that wasn't pressure enough, Cody was going to square
off against the Huskers' Joba Chamberlain, the New York Yankees' eventual 2006 first round pick. And if that weren’t enough, there were over 8,000 screaming partisan fans in attendance. The last time a man had faced such a turbulent Red Sea, Moses was pitching against Pharaoh.

But just like the Moses-Pharaoh duel, the underdog won. Cody tossed a complete game, seven strikeout, one run gem as Manhattan knocked off Nebraska 4-1 in a national-news making upset. The Detroit Tigers rewarded the Brewster (NY) High School graduate by making him their 8th round pick in the 2006 Major League Baseball draft shortly thereafter.

The Nebraska game- as well as his defeat of then 15th ranked Tulane earlier in the year- helped to prepare Cody for professional baseball. "As far as the talent level goes," he observed about the New York-Penn League, "every game I pitched was similar to the nationally ranked teams I played. It was like top college talent every game out. That was
intimidating because you can't expect to pitch well against that type of competition every time."

Despite the collegiate success he had, Cody adjusted his pitching philosophy upon reaching the minors. "In Oneonta, they preach 'Pitch to contact.'" he said."“Try to get hitters out on the first or second pitch instead of wasting four or five pitches trying to get a strikeout. They didn't complain when I stuck guys out! But if you control your fastball and you
pitch low in the zone- it can be hittable but it is hit on the ground, which is what they want."

The instruction he received kept runners off the base paths; Cody walked just nine in 53 short-season innings. "I had been told by several people to keep your walks down. I have always had pretty decent control, so I was looking to continue that. What (Oneonta) taught me really helped me in terms of keeping my mechanics consistent. Better mechanics led to a better walk ratio," Cody noted.

The Tigers have not announced their 2007 plans for Cody, but the southpaw is unfazed. "I’m just aiming to have a really good spring training. I want to go there in shape and show them that I’ve been working hard," he said.

No matter where the Tigers assign Cody, the hurler is where every member of the 2007 Silkworms wants to be. He left this advice for the young arms coming to Northwest Park this summer: "I use this analogy, even though I don't even know how to play chess! But pitching is a chess game, not a checkers game. If I try to blow it by a batter, sooner or later it's going to get hit. But if you hit your spots and keep the hitters off balance, then that is even more important than velocity."

He may not be a chess player but Cody said "Checkmate" to many batters in 2006. He is hoping that 2007 sees more of the same.

The Manchester Silkworms have been a proud member of the NECBL since 2000. The NECBL is an NCAA and Major League Baseball-sanctioned wooden bat, summer developmental league. The Silkworms currently have 22 alumni playing in Major League, Minor League or Independent League baseball.