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A Just MVP
Blue Crabs second baseman gets top honor at All-Star Game
Friday, June 26, 2009
 Click here to enlarge this photo File photo by EMILY BARNES
Blue Crabs second baseman Mike Just was named the most valuable player of the Atlantic League All-Star Game for his ninth-inning heroics Tuesday night.
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Just another player? Only in terms of his last name.
Still, Mike Just has dealt with his share of skeptics and being overlooked throughout his baseball career.
From shaking the perception that his 5-foot-9, 182-pound stature is too diminutive by baseball standards to discovering his college coach adversely impacted his Major League Baseball draft potential, the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs second baseman is no stranger to confronting obstacles that question his ability.
That's why Tuesday was so thrilling and satisfying for the 25-year-old Just, as he dealt a serious blow to his naysayers with the climactic achievement of his career.
Just was named the most valuable player of the Atlantic League All-Star Game for his ninth-inning heroics in leading the Liberty Division to a dramatic 7-5 comeback victory over the Freedom Division.
This time, there was no overlooking or questioning the ability of Just. And the Newark setting could not have been more ideal for him to bask in the spotlight as the northern New Jersey native was playing 25 minutes away from his hometown in the stadium of his former club before coming to the Blue Crabs in a trade.
"It was great, just perfect circumstances with my family and friends being here and a picture-perfect moment coming across the plate [with the winning run]," Just said about being the star of stars in front of those closest to him. He obtained a block of 50 tickets for the many that came to watch him play. "The general manager of the [Newark] Bears came up to me afterward and said Walt Disney couldn't have scripted it any better.
"My whole career has been like a movie. I don't know if it's going to have a happy ending, but whether or not I get a shot at affiliated ball [of a Major League organization], this is the highlight of my career."
With Liberty down, 5-3, to start the top of the ninth, Just delivered a two-run single with one away to tie the contest.
He then stole second base and scored the game-winning run on a single from Bridgeport's Luis Lopez, who was later plated as an insurance tally to seal the win.
All four earned runs in the final inning came against former big leaguer Armando Benitez, who Just ironically rooted for growing up as a New York Mets fan.
Just finished 2 for 5 with two runs scored and the pivotal two RBIs as Liberty's leadoff hitter in a talent-laden affair that featured the best players from what is considered the top independent minor league in the country, on par with Double-A and Triple-A skill in the affiliated leagues.
Just is one of the rare players in the league not to be drafted nor play in the affiliated minors.
But Tuesday, with a reported 20 Major League scouts in the stands to watch the all-star game, Just showcased his worthiness as a player full of intangibles and physically gifted beyond his scouting report.
"My whole career I've been overlooked," Just said. "If you look through the history of the Atlantic League All-Star Game, I don't know that you'll find a guy who's played that hasn't had an affiliated at-bat, let alone be the MVP."
"Mike Just did a great job offensively and defensively," said Blue Crabs shortstop Travis Garcia, another of the six All-Star selections for the team that also had skipper Butch Hobson managing Liberty. "I told [Just] a quarter way through the game that he was going to be the MVP. He made a sick diving play up the middle [on an infield single early in the game], turned to throw from his knees and nearly threw the guy out.
"Mike is one of the those guys that hustles on every play. The kid has heart. He goes out there and proves to people that he can do it. He'll surprise you. You just don't expect him to make the plays that he does. He's a baller."
Garcia is Just's roommate on the road, and the two middle infielders have evolved into best of friends on the team.
It's Garcia, who went 1 for 4 in the All-Star Game, that is putting up most valuable player numbers for the season: a league-best 11 homers, second with 40 RBIs (tied with All-Star teammate James Shanks) and third with a .323 average.
Yet, nobody is more impressed with Just in crucial situations than Garcia.
For just reason.
In the ninth, Just engaged in an epic at-bat against Benitez before coming through with the clutch two-RBI hit.
After Liberty led off with back-to-back singles, Just came to the plate with one down. A passed ball during his at-bat enabled both Liberty base runners to move to second and third. Just desperately wanted to produce with a hit, not wanting to settle for a walk to load the bases.
So with the count 3 balls, no strikes in his favor, Benitez threw a borderline called strike that Just waited in the box to hear the call from the ump instead of moving towards first as if he wanted to walk.
The Benitez 3-1 pitch saw Just swing and miss at a slider. The hard-throwing Benitez came back with the slider on his full-count offering, and Just managed to foul it off.
He stepped away from the plate momentarily to collect himself, then suddenly got inspired.
"I got pumped up," he said, drawing inspiration in that moment from the 1987 movie "Over The Top" when star Sylvester Stallone turns his hat around backward while arm wrestling. "I made a beeline to the plate and got ready for the 3-2 pitch. I wanted Benitez to know I meant business. He threw me a fastball, inside and down –– not down the middle –– about 90-94 miles per hour that I hit."
"He's a very clutch player," Garcia added of Just. "He doesn't ever put pressure on himself. When he gets fired up, he gets the job done. He plays the game the right way and does a lot of things that guys can't do. He'll give you a bunch of doubles, steals and plays perfect defense."
"In the fifth inning with the score, 4-2, I was looking at the lineup and thought it might work out for me to face Benitez in the ninth," Just said. "If that worked out, I knew I'd have to capitalize."
Blue Crabs captain and All-Star center fielder Jeremy Owens happened to be coaching first base when Just delivered, and the two were slapping high-fives right after the game-tying hit.
"What a moment," Just said about embracing Owens after coming through.
But Just was not content with keeping the score tied. Due to pitching concerns, the league's All-Star Game does not go into extra innings so tied outcomes are possible.
"I knew this wasn't ending in a tie. We wanted to win," he added.
With Benitez not paying any attention to Just at first, he easily stole second before coming home with the difference-maker on Lopez's one-out hit.
Just registered his first run in the third, scoring on a Ray Navarrette (Long Island) two-run homer to trim Freedom's lead to 3-2. Liberty never led in the game until Just's ninth-inning run, trailing by as much as 3-0 after two innings.
Getting some Just due
The All-Star most valuable player honor, in the form of a trophy cup, was hardly the first time Just excelled on a big stage.
But he has not always been acknowledged for his standout work in such situations like he was Tuesday, when he was congratulated by every All-Star member of his Liberty team.
Last year before joining Newark, Just had a spring-training stint with the Houston Astros Single-A club. Despite putting up good numbers and nicknamed "Secret Weapon," he was released because the team went the direction of their big-money players.
"I hit .350 and stole 10 bases, and they said I did as good as anyone could do," Just said of the frustrating experience. "I knew I could tear it up. When they released me, I was devastated, crying."
In 2007, Just went to a Philadelphia Phillies tryout where more disappointment came his way.
"I went 6 for 9, stole two bases and ran the fastest 60-yard dash at the tryout," he said. "They signed all pitchers. I was told [by a Phillies scout] that I can't field and throw. I have the assist record at Liberty [University] and only made 10 errors in my college career, so that proves I can field and throw."
That Phillies scout was present at Tuesday's All-Star Game, where Just let his actions do the responding to such criticism.
While a college player at Liberty from 2003-06, Just said his coach, Matt Royer, blackballed him from being drafted among Major League scouts because of a personal vendetta.
"He viewed me as the guy who beat him out at second base when he played at Liberty," Just explained. "So my coach would tell scouts not to waste their time with me."
Just took his concerns about Royer all the way to the top of the college's totem pole to the late Liberty chancellor Jerry Falwell before he passed away a couple years ago. Falwell agreed with Just that Royer was a problem for the university.
In June of 2007, a year after Just graduated, Royer's resignation from Liberty was announced.
Results
Atlantic League All-Star Game
Liberty 7, Freedom 5
Liberty 002 000 104 – 7 10 0
Freedom 120 100 010 – 5 12 2
WP Simas, LP Benitez
Extra-base hits: 2B – Knott (L), Pachot (L), Jacobs (L), Colaro (F),
Turner (F) 2; HR – Navarette (L)
How the six Blue Crabs fared
Just, 2B: 2-5, 2 RBIs, 2R; defensively – 2 PO, 2A (Game MVP)
Garcia, SS: 1-4, BB; defensively – 4A, PO
Shanks, DH: 0-3, BB
Owens, CF/LF: 0-1, BB; defensively – 5 PO
Bicondoa, P: 2.0 IP, 3H, R, ER, SO, BB
Hensley, P: 1.0, H, SO
