SUMMER LEAGUE NOTEBOOK

July 19, 2006

Mills’ Career Back On Track In Alaska

BY ALLAN SIMPSON

Beau Mills had no inkling his promising baseball career would rebound as quickly as it has this summer after he was declared ineligible for the balance of the 2006 college season, costing him a chance to play for Fresno State in the school’s first NCAA tournament appearance in five years.

Rather than sit and stew about his misfortune, Mills made a well-timed trip to Boston in early June to visit his father Brad, the bench coach for the Red Sox. The unscheduled meeting has paid big dividends as it not only led to Mills playing a starring role in the Alaska League this summer, but also put the wheels in motion for his transfer next season to NAIA power Lewis-Clark State . He is expected to be one of the top college prospects in the 2007 draft.

While Mills was in Boston , his father mentioned to Red Sox righthander Keith Foulke that his son was looking to transfer from Fresno State . Foulke indicated he ought to consider Lewis-Clark State , his alma mater.

“Keith talked to me when I was in Boston and told me how much fun he had when he was at Lewis-Clark State ,” Mills said. “He also told me how much progress he made, both physically and mentally, when he was there and how it helped prepare him for the big leagues.

“One thing led to another, and the next thing I knew we contacted (Lewis-Clark State ) coach (Ed) Cheff. We worked things out about school and coach Cheff also encouraged me to come up to Alaska and play for him this summer.”

Cheff coached Lewis-Clark State to its 14^th NAIA World Series title in 23 years this season, winning his 1,500^th game in a 30-year career in the process. He also is in his fifth summer of coaching the Alaska Goldpanners, who have sent more than 200 players to the major leagues in their 47-year history.

He knows a good talent when he sees one and is delighted to have Mills play for him, both this summer and next season at Lewis-Clark State . “He’s the best prospect up here,” Cheff said. “He’s a premium commodity: a lefthanded power bat who can play third base.”

Mills has starred this summer for the Goldpanners, leading the Alaska League with seven home runs. His nearest pursuer had two. He also led the six-team circuit in RBIs.

The 6-foot-3, 205-pound Mills is no ordinary prospect. A 44^th-round draft pick of the Red Sox out of high school, he batted .319-22-63 for Fresno State as a freshman, leading the team in home runs and RBIs. This year, he hit a team-best .355 while tying for the team lead in homers (14) and RBIs (58), despite missing 11 games when he was placed on academic suspension for missing classes.

“He’s a special hitter in that he hits for both power and average,” Cheff said. “He’s very proficient at hitting the ball with power to all fields.”

Mills’ dad played four years in the big leagues, from 1980-83 with the Montreal Expos, where he was a teammate of Terry Francona. When Francona was named manager of the Red Sox in 2004, Mills became his bench coach.

“Beau was born to baseball privilege,” Cheff said, “but you’d never know it. You never hear anything from him that comes out of the Boston dugout. He’s a great kid.”

Mills continues to be bothered by a sore shoulder, which caused him to spend part of his sophomore season at Fresno State in a DH role. He also has spent most of the summer in that role as well. It’s not viewed as a long-term issue, however.

“He’s had an MRI and it’s nothing structural,” Cheff said. “It’s just an impingement in his shoulder, a little swelling in the tendon. The Boston trainer had a look at him when he was there and told him it would be OK to play. He just pushes the ball a little bit when he throws it.”

Mills says he is in good academic standing at Fresno State and could return to the Bulldogs for his junior year. But he had made his mind up he wanted to transfer and he’s become very comfortable with his decision to play for Cheff, both this summer and down the road.

“I’ve been in baseball my whole life,” he said, “and coach Cheff is one of best coaches I’ve ever been around in developing the mental side of the game. He’s all about making you mentally tough. I’ve learned so much from him already and I’m excited about the idea of joining him in the fall.

“Everything’s worked out well. I’ve just had a blast this summer. I love Alaska . I’m an outdoors type of guy anyway, big into hunting and fishing. I’ve been fishing quite a few times already and my host family has promised to take me salmon fishing at the end of the season.”

No matter what he catches, Mills will be hard pressed to top anything that’s happened to him this summer.

SUMMER LEAGUE NOTEBOOK

--Not only is Mills, one of the nation’s top third base prospects, on the move in 2007, but North Carolina State third baseman Matt Mangini has also indicated he will transfer next season, to Oklahoma State. Mangini hit .343-7-60 for the Wolfpack as a sophomore this spring, leading the team in RBIs. He was hitting .312-1-11 this summer for Hyannis , fifth in the Cape Cod League.

--Cotuit and Yarmouth-Dennis, division leaders in the Cape Cod League, recently met in a two-game, home-and-home series, with the two teams splitting, winning on each other’s turf. Cotuit beat Y-D 6-5, scoring all six runs on home runs to snap a Y-D nine-game winning streak, while the Red Sox turned the tables on Cotuit in the second contest, beating the Kettleers 12-0. The two-game set featured nine hit batsmen and home runs in each game by Y-D outfielder Michael Taylor (Stanford), the No. 1-ranked prospect in the Alaska League in 2005 who was hitting only .189-4-11 this summer in the Cape.

--Outer Banks outfielder Nate Parks, who scored the winning run in the eighth inning on a walk, stolen base and two wild pitches to lead the American All-Stars to a 7-6 win over the National All-Stars, was named the most valuable offensive player of the Coastal Plain League All-Star Game. Park, a speedy junior outfielder from Virginia Tech who went undrafted in June, went 1-for-2 with a triple and two runs scored.