December 2: Between Golf Games, Baldwin Signs On With Fish

Goldeyes southpaw Zach Baldwin says that if it wasn’t for our winters, he’d consider mov to Winnipeg full time.

“I just love it up there,” said Baldwin, who signed with the Goldeyes today for another season. “The golf is great and it’s a terrific place to play. Honest, it’s one of my favourite places in the world. If it wasn’t for the winters, I’d move there.”

Of course, the winters are a problem. Especially when your first love is baseball and your second love is golf. This winter, while he teaches pitching at the Tri-State Baseball Academy in Huntington, West Virginia), Baldwin has spent much of his time playing golf with his close friend, mini-tour professional Drew Whitten. For those who don’t know, Baldwin plays regularly at the 27-hole Quarry Oaks Golf Course outside Winnipeg and shoots from 68-74 depending on the course combination, the weather and the accuracy of his driver.

“We’ve been having fun playing at Sleepy Hollow Country Club,” said Baldwin, who lives in the bedroom community of Barboursville. “It’s about a 7,000-yard golf course and we go at it pretty hard every day. Drew, a guy I’d played with and against in the big golf tournaments throughout high school, had moved to Atlanta to play and prepare for a couple of mini-tours and he made 30 cuts in the last year. But he ran into some financial and sponsorship problems, so he came back home to work with his dad and just plays around here. We’ve been playing a lot.”

Along with his off-season golf, Baldwin offers pitching lessons. He says when he gets a good, young high school star that wants to take it to the next level, that’s when he has the most fun.

“When you get a teenager who already has some idea how to pitch well and you help him get to the next level, it’s pretty satisfying and a lot of fun,” said Baldwin, who has about a dozen kids in his stable now, but usually gets 25-30 by February. “I teach them how to throw everything and the kitchen sink. You know me. They’ll learn a lot of pitches.”

Baldwin went 4-0 in 29 relief appearances with a 2.65 ERA last season. After going 5-7 with a 4.70 ERA in 2008, he went 4-4 with a 3.71 ERA last year. He has a career record of 7-2 with two saves and a 3.08 ERA in 49 games out of the bullpen.

He’s so excited about coming back, he expects to be in Winnipeg by mid-April.

“I’d go back right now if the weather was good enough to play golf,” he said with a laugh. “It’s nice to be back home with family and friends, but I love Winnipeg.”