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Friday, July 25, 2008

KAPOW! KAPOW!

By Randy Harrison
Journal Staff Writer
      Thursday was the night John Gall, Albuquerque Isotope, became John Gall, Olympian.
    The parent Florida Marlins discharged him from his duties before the game, and the 30-year-old All-Star outfielder said goodbye to Isotopes fans. He says hello to a uniquely golden opportunity with Team USA in the upcoming Beijing Games.
    "It's exciting," said Gall. "I'll try to keep my video camera on to document as much as possible. I have a 7-month old baby, and the baby and my wife aren't coming. So I'll try to do my best to document every moment."
    Albuquerque figures to miss his .313 hitting for the next few weeks, but didn't so much on this night. Outfielder Jai Miller hit a titanic homer beyond the Vantage-RayLee homes sign in left field, one that the longtime watchers are calling the longest hit here, giving the Isotopes a walk-off 9-8, 10-inning win over Sacramento.
    "The longest I've seen here," said Isotopes hitting coach Steve Phillips. "That ... was a bomb."
    Tagg Bozied had led off the inning with a tying shot off Jeff Gray that ultimately was upstaged. It was the third straight win for Albuquerque over a River Cats team boasting one of the Pacific Coast League's best records (60-45).
    Meanwhile, it's a chance for other outfielders to step up, and so far, so good.
    Miller had just come off the disabled list. Tommy Murphy is hitting .304 and has been a catalyst atop the lineup. And the Marlins have assigned free-agent signee Michael Ryan to Albuquerque as well. Ryan, 30, played parts of 2002-05 with Minnesota, hitting .265 in 127 games.
    "I saw him with Edmonton in 2002 when I was in Calgary," said manager Dean Treanor. "He had 31 home runs as a leadoff hitter and 101 RBIs. We need him, obviously, with Gall gone. He'll be in the lineup (today)."
    Gall came out on the field in a pregame ceremony, where he slipped on a pullover white jersey with his familiar No. 7 and the Team USA cap.
    The Isotopes also unveiled a Team USA Olympic field on one of three flagpoles beyond the right-center field fence.
    Then he walked off the Isotopes Park field, perhaps for good. After Beijing, he rejoins the Isotopes in the final week of the Pacific Coast League regular season, but that will be on the road. And even if the Marlins were to bring him up for September, he is a free agent at season's end.
    For now, Gall joins the rest of the Team USA candidates in San Jose, Calif., for drug testing and other procedural chores. Then the team flies Monday to Durham, N.C., where it will have workouts and four exhibition games against Canada before heading to China.
    Gall has previous Team USA experience, though this will be his first Olympics, so he knows international baseball's nuances.
    "For instance, Cuba will be a hard-throwing, free-swinging team," he said. "Then Japan is very much more a 'small ball,' patient team that takes pitches. Canada's like here. So you're not only playing a game but preparing for a style."
    And if this is it for Gall in Albuquerque, it's been a great place to make his name. He's batting .404 at home, after a .300 season with the Isotopes in 2007. He hit in a Pacific Coast League-best 25 straight home games from this April 11 to May 28. In a three-day span in June, he was 11-of-12.
    "I just love this guy," said Treanor. "This was his goal, to make the Olympic team. I couldn't be happier for him."
   

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