4/7/8:
Not quite on Rev's level
- "The chances of a guy making the club out of a tryout are not great,
but there are always guys who go to open tryouts and show they do
deserve a chance." One of those guys this time year ago was Aspito. Out
of pro ball at the start of 2007, by midseason Aspito was an integral
part of the Revs' lineup, before getting hurt toward the end of the
year. And it all started at a tryout camp. "I was a six-year free
agent, and nobody picked me up," Aspito said, "and I didn't know if
anyone knew I was available, (so) my dad said 'why don't you go to the
Northern League tryouts.' So I fly down to Tampa.
"I packed one bag with all my baseball gear. It gets sent to New York.
I'm in Tampa. I'm wearing almost the same thing (blue jeans and a
long-sleeved shirt), only I have flip-flops on, so I missed the first
tryout. (The bag) arrived the next day. "But it wasn't a bad thing,
because I got to talk to scouts and some other baseball people. Got a
call a week later, they said 'we'd like to sign you.'"
Aspito flipped his Northern League opportunity into a gig later in the
season with York and batted .312 in 54 games with the Revs, smacking 11
home runs and driving in 32.
"The guys who love playing are going to go to these things," Aspito
said. "I think they come out of it respecting what we do a little more
than when they came in."
