Columnist Dean Juipe: Wins, losses secondary in the minors

IT WAS STILL 2 1/2 hours before the scheduled first pitch. Four-thirty p.m., to be exact.

It was hot. Real hot. One-10-plus hot, even on the absorbent, green felt of Cashman Field.

It had to be hotter still in the aluminum grandstands. Yet there was Charles Poe, running up and down the bleachers, starting from the left-field corner and systematically working his way around the semicircle to the right-field boundary.

Twenty-two sections and Poe touched them all.

Up and down he went, seemingly oblivious to Tuesday's late-afternoon pounding sun, a silent reminder of the effort, desire and self-discipline it takes to stay in professional baseball at the age of 26. For all Poe knew, no one was watching.

Ordinarily, no one is.

"I had a lady tell me just the other day that being a ballplayer isn't a real job," Poe, an outfielder, said later, between batting practice and another tiresome run along the outfield wall. "I said to her, 'You've got to be kidding.' People don't see it that way, but this is very much a job."

Had they been asked, Poe's Las Vegas Stars teammates could attest. But they were busy, with many voluntarily on the field for some pre-pre-game warming up while others were stretching or being stretched by the training staff in the runway behind the dugout.

Sixteen of them were on the field by 5 p.m., a baked and browning collection of roasted nuts.

Manager Jerry Royster stood off to the side, seemingly carefree. Pitching coach Dave Smith kept an eye on his staff while playing pepper with a visiting son.

It was a reminder that for all the disappointments of another Stars season going nowhere and failing to match expectations, wins and losses are essentially meaningless to these guys. They're here to chase a grander goal.

"My pitchers are at the park by 3 o'clock every day," Smith said. "That makes for a long day, especially in this heat.

"But they do it and they work hard and I don't have to push anybody. Each of them knows what he has to do to reach the next level."

The next level for the more gifted Stars will be in the major leagues with the San Diego Padres. Until then, they're minor leaguers with only incidental interest in such superficial pursuits as their triple-A team's win-loss record.

The fact that the Stars are all but hopelessly behind the Fresno Grizzlies with 54 games still to play is of only passing interest to the individual players. While they may not be indifferent toward a game or a season's outcome, it isn't life or death and never will be.

General managers, fans, even sportswriters may make a big deal out of the standings but minor-league sports are what they are: Training sessions for players with still-developing skills and stopover points for older players skidding toward retirement.

Neither those on the upswing nor those past their prime will lose any sleep if the Stars miss the playoffs again. While they play within a team concept, in reality they're playing for themselves.

That truism was obvious once again after seeing Charles Poe do his Mount Everest routine. He may have some concerns about the Stars but Poe (.278, 5, 27) was apt to be dreaming of San Diego.

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