Where are they now?

[Texsox]

Terry Bevington had an opportunity to return to affiliated baseball, but instead opted for the Shreveport Sports and the independent Central Baseball League. The Sports announced on Monday that Bevington will return as the team's manager for the 2004 season.

 

Bevington led the Sports to a 51-44 record in their first season in the Central Baseball League.

 

"When you get a guy like Terry Bevington, it brings credibility," Sports General Manager Brian Viselli said. "Players love to play for him and the greatest thing of the whole deal is he loves to be here. Now that he's got a little bit of independent baseball under his belt per se, he's going to be fine. We'll be competitive."

 

Bevington said managing independent baseball last season was a new experience for him, but professional baseball is the same no matter the level.

 

"I came in late and we didn't have a lot of players at the time," he said. "As far as the caliber of play, I really didn't know what type of level it would be.

 

"When it comes down to playing baseball, it's pretty standard - you want good hitting and pitching. The mentality of the player and what's on their mind is a little different too."

 

With a year of managerial experience with the Sports, Bevington hopes he and the team can make a run for the Central Baseball League championship.

 

The Sports open spring training on April 26. They begin the season at Fair Grounds Field against San Angelo on May 6.

 

"We have to stay competitive and competitive for us is winning a division, not just being over .500," Bevington said. "If a guy can't cut it, we might make a change more so than we did last year, but yet in a fair time frame.

 

"If somebody struggles for a week, we're not going to get rid of him, but if he's struggling for a month or six weeks, we've got to sit down and think if we want someone else."

 

The Central Baseball League will have a new look for the 2004 season.

 

The Alexandria Aces and the Rio Grande Valley WhiteWings will not be operational for this season. A Pensacola, Fla., ownership group purchased the Springfield-Ozark franchise in January for relocation to Florida.

 

The franchise movement doesn't bother Bevington. If it did, he would have taken the offered position in affiliated baseball.

 

"I really think in the next two or three years it's going to get back to where baseball was years ago in Shreveport as far as the excitement in the community," he said. "The caliber of play will surprise a lot of people who come out."

[Old Socks]

If Robin Ventura gets released this year, do you think Bevington would try to sign him?