Tigers' pitching prospect finds relief in sub

Subject: Tigers' pitching prospect finds relief in sub Sun Feb 03, 2008 8:30 am

BASEBALL HERO: Tigers' pitching prospect finds relief in sub shops

February 3, 2008

BY JON PAUL MOROSI

FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER

The lunch rush had ended, and it was finally Anthony Tomey's turn to eat. So he hopped behind the counter and fixed a heaping salad that was roughly the size and shape of a football. It amounted to a vegetable shopping spree -- lettuce, tomato, cucumber and onion -- along with turkey and Italian dressing.

He emerged from the kitchen, slid into a booth near the back and tossed his creation onto the table. He positioned himself so that he could keep an eye on the door as patrons came and went. And then he dug in.

"I make all kinds of stupid things," Tomey said, smiling in between bites. "Nothing here tastes bad."

Tomey was in mid-sentence when one customer walked in. He interrupted himself and bellowed, "HOW YA DOIN', SIR?" He explained later that he recognizes many of the people who walk in to this Jimmy John's Gourmet Sandwiches location on Grand River near Haggerty in Novi.

He never forgets a face, he said. He's pretty good with names, too. Like the British guy who orders the No. 2 with cheese all the time. To Tomey, he's known as "Two with Cheese."

"I know everybody," Tomey said. "I'm just that guy."

As friend Nick McIntyre put it: "He can hold a conversation with a wall."

And it's good to be gregarious when you own the place.

Tomey, though, is not your average restaurateur. He is a 26-year-old right-handed pitcher in the Tigers minor league system, which explained the carbohydrate shortage in this particular meal.

He will report to Lakeland, Fla., for spring training on Feb. 23, and he is at a point in his career where one small detail -- from his conditioning to the cut on his fastball -- could determine his future in baseball. Tomey knows he'll never be skinny -- he's around 6-foot-3 and 250 pounds, he said -- but he can't be too big, either.

"If I come in a little on the hefty side, they won't be happy," he said. "I have to look the part, you know?"

His fastball, by most conventional measures, does not look the part. It might have touched the low-90-m.p.h. range when he pitched at Eastern Michigan University, but those days are gone. He throws in the mid-80s now. The Tigers aspire to stock their farm system with power pitchers. Tomey is not one of them.

Still, he was 3-0 with a 1.97 ERA in 32 games at Double-A Erie last year. He has a 3.21 ERA in 252 1/3 innings during his minor league career. He reached Triple-A Toledo briefly last year. Often, a pitcher with those credentials will receive an invitation to big-league spring training. Not so with Tomey. His fastball, it seems, is not fast enough.

"He understands how baseball works, how prospect status works," said McIntyre, his teammate throughout the Tigers minor league system. "He's going to have to (perform well) every year to maybe one day get a chance."

Growing boy

Tomey was dominant in Little League, at least in part because he was so much bigger than the other boys. He was 6-foot-1 in the seventh grade.

"He looked like a man when he was 12 years old," said Frank Gallagher, who coached Tomey with the Michigan Bulls summer program. "He was probably shaving then."

His appetite, not surprisingly, matched his size. Tomey's mother, Georgette, usually picked up a hamburger for him between games of his doubleheaders at Detroit Catholic Central. One day, she returned from Rally's only a few minutes before the second game began. Anthony had two choices: go hungry or eat quickly. He opted for the latter.

Bobby Malek, Tomey's close friend since grade school, will never forget what happened next.

"He was playing rightfield and I was in center," Malek recalled. "I looked over there to warm up, and he's eating this hamburger out of his baseball glove.

"Then the first pitch comes, and they hit it out to him. You could see him finishing that last bite of the burger. Then he just went over there and made the catch. He had mustard in his glove."

The Tomey family now feeds metro Detroiters at three locations -- they have a Jimmy John's on Beck Road at Five Mile in Plymouth Township and another at Beck and Pontiac Trail in Novi -- with plans to open more.

"We've put so much time into this place -- a lot of hard work, a lot of hours, a lot of (frustration)," Anthony said. "Thank God we're reaping the rewards."

Anthony owns the stores along with his father, Fawzi, and uncle Tony. And many Tomey family members pitch in.

"We never leave," Anthony said. "We're always thinking about it. You pour your blood, sweat and tears into a place. You have to sit back and say, 'This is awesome. This is mine.' "

A lot of athletes own restaurants, but it's safe to say that Tomey is more involved in the day-to-day operations than most. He's busier in the winter than during the baseball season itself. He conducts pitching lessons and works out, in addition to his obligations at the stores.

He runs deliveries. He makes sandwiches. He hires and fires personnel. He takes sample trays to local businesses, with the hope of attracting new customers.

"I do everything," he said. "I take the garbage out. I don't care. I'm not too big to do anything."

Tomey loves the work but doesn't want to do it year-round. He has a dream to chase.

Overtime in Lakeland

Two years ago, Tomey's career arrived at a crucial moment.

Tigers director of player development Glenn Ezell and pitching coordinator Jon Matlack called him into a meeting at the end of spring training to deliver some unsettling news: The farm system's pitching rosters were set, and Tomey was not on any of them.

They offered him an alternative: He could stay in Lakeland for extended spring training, and if he pitched well enough, he could join an affiliate when there was an opening.

In a telephone interview last week, Matlack recalled Tomey's response: "I can't do baseball forever. Jimmy John's will be there for me when I'm done."

Tomey is fortunate to have Jimmy John's because of the income that accompanies his ownership share. Baseball has not yet been particularly lucrative for him.

He signed for $1,000 as a 30th-round draft pick in 2003. (Tomey had no collegiate eligibility left, and thus no leverage.) Then he earned roughly $10,000 last season -- a typical wage for a Double-A player who is not on a team's 40-man roster.

In that sense, the successful family business has bought Tomey some time. He hopes to start this season at Toledo, one step away from making it to the majors with his hometown team.

"That's why you play," said Malek, an outfielder in the Los Angeles Dodgers organization. "He doesn't need to make the $10,000 playing baseball. He's got Jimmy John's. That's where he can make his money.

"He wants to play in the big leagues. That's why he keeps coming back."

It's difficult to predict whether the Tigers will call upon him this year. They used 25 pitchers last season, including one, Aquilino Lopez, who was not invited to the team's big-league camp.

This much is certain: Tomey has earned himself the benefit of the doubt. He impressed Matlack with his willingness to remain in Lakeland two years ago and with his performance ever since.

"He never gives in," Matlack said. "He always thinks, 'I can make this pitch.' And he does it a lot of the time.

"He will put you on the edge of your seat, but he almost always comes away with a positive result.

"He's the guy who won't go away."
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bow

Good "fall-back" career. He is a sandwich artist!!

It pays to have plan B in the offing at all times!
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There are three things in my life which I really love: God, my family, and baseball. The only problem - once baseball season starts, I change the order around a bit. ~Al Gallagher, 1971