He also found the love of his life in Winnipeg, a nurse, Alison Adduno. They were married four months ago. The higher draft picks aren't there. In the lower minor league of a major-league organization guys like me are going to get released because there's other guys they have more money invested in, or they feel have more promise. In the Northern League everybody's equal.
Nobody means more than anybody else.
When he wasn't playing for the Goldeyes for the last few weeks of the '97 season and all of '98, Sparks was back in Marshall's trailer, learning the screwball and tweaking his game. It's the best pitch there is. Sparks signed as a free agent with the Pirates and was assigned to Triple-A Nashville before being traded to Tampa Bay. He appeared in 18 games at Durham before being called up to the big leagues. Realistically, he pitched his way off the Rays roster in the spring.