Mitch Talbot & Zach Brinkerhoff

Mitch Talbot

Photo courtesy of Cleveland Indians

    You’ll have to wait until the off season to find Mitch Talbot in Cedar City– the place he still calls home. Presently, he is knee deep in Major League Baseball pitching for the Cleveland Indians. However, if you want to follow his 2010 pitching season you will find it on the marquee at Cedar City’s own Pizza Factory. Both the late owner, Bill Kringlen, and the present manager, Chris Weaver are baseball diehards. The marquee frequently reads, "Mitch Talbot wins again."

To most, Cedar City is known as the home of the Utah Shakespearean festival, gateway to three National Parks, and a locale that is only a stone’s throw away from the amazing snow at Brian Head. However, in the summertime head to the east side of town and you will find the baseball complex where Talbot first began pitching little league and where the up and coming Zach Brinkerhoff just completed his twelve year old All-Star Season. 

Talbot has reached the dream of many of the boys who have played at this eastside complex over the years. Wander through the ball fields at dusk and you will hear echoes of cheering crowds, and the zing of the leather ball flying through the air.

Photo courtesy of Cleveland Indians

Mitchell R. Talbot was born October 17, 1983. He is the youngest of six children born to Art and Mary Talbot. Talbot was drafted in 2002 in the 2nd round. He began his career in the Houston Farm System. The Cleveland Indians recently acquired Talbot in a trade with Tampa Bay. Prior to his 2010 season, Talbot had only made three Major League appearances. Thus far in the present season, Talbot has seen success. Presently he has eight wins and an earned run average of 3.89 both behind team leader Fausto Carmona. 

However, getting to this point has been a journey--a journey that has not been free from discouragement, false hope, and adventure. Talbot has had to exercise patience as he has played the "wait game." For Talbot, the minor league experience had the hometown community feel to it, but once in the majors Talbot has experienced the true "bigness" of it all.

Ross Atkins, director of player development for the Indians is impressed by Talbot. According to Atkins, Talbot knows how to use three pitches effectively. Atkins said, "He has been everything we had hoped for and a little bit more." 

According to Talbot’s mother, he has always had a ball in his hand since he was tiny. It is his love of throwing that has taken him on this baseball adventure. Talbot expresses deep gratitude to Cedar City residents including a host of coaches for their support and encouragement. While there have been many who have contributed to Talbot’s success, it is Howie Rossman and Mark Johnson who taught him about true sportsmanship and have influenced his work ethic.

As a kid, Cal Ripken Jr. was Talbot’s favorite major league player. Now that he himself is a major leaguer, he enjoys the competition which a life in baseball demands. As well as the competition, he and his wife Julie are enjoying going to new places and meeting new people. He misses the small town atmosphere found in Cedar City, his family, and the rugged hills of Southern Utah where he spent much time hunting, fishing, and camping, 

Zach Brinkerhoff

For twelve year old Zach Brinkerhoff, playing in the Major League is presently a dream. However, with his cobra like wind up, his pitching career is a reality in the making. Brinkerhoff fell in love with baseball when he was seven years old while watching the cubs play in Sunday night baseball. He still recalls that precise moment. That moment and many others have been Zach’s driving force. Moments like those and the feel of the leather ball in his hand ignite his enthusiasm for baseball. 

Zach has four pitches which many find hard to hit. They include a four seam fastball, a two seam fastball, curve ball, and a change up. These pitches work wonders. When Brink is on the mound, there is not much of a defensive workout happening in the field. Brinkerhoff has enjoyed playing with various teams including the Cedar Red Sox, Outlaw Trucking, Hillsports, the Wildcats, and Cedar Crush. While he has enjoyed the camraderie with all of these teams, he prefers to play with the Crush. Why? When you play with boys that long... they become family. 

Zach threw his first no hitter when he was nine while playing for the Cedar Red Sox. Up until that point, the team had not won a single game. For Brinkerhoff, this was a pivotal moment- it is what literally got the ball rolling or perhaps throwing for him. 

Recently Brinkerhoff traveled with the Wildcats based in Las Vegas to historic Cooperstown, New York to play in a baseball tournament this summer. He enjoyed this "Old School Baseball" experience. His performance there was incredible; He hit 8 home runs, placed eighth out of 104 competitors in the road runner competition (a base running competition) and the Wildcats placed 3rd overall out of 104 teams.

Brinkerhoff is presently a Minnesota Twins fan, but his favorite pitcher is John Lester with the Red Sox. When I asked him why Lester he replied, "Because he is a cancer comeback star." He admires Lester’s perseverance when faced with adversity. Brinkerhoff himself is no stranger to adversity. At two days old it was discovered that Zach had two holes in his heart, two leaky valves, and a condition known as stenosis of the arteries. At six months of age his health was failing and surgery was inevitable. During this surgery, the holes in his heart were repaired, his arteries were cleaned, but unfortunately the valves will always leak. Further surgery in efforts to repair the valves in his heart will take place once Zach is fully grown. 

While "Brink" compares his heart to the engine in his big brother Mitchell’s truck which is always breaking down, the onlooker would view that he has a heart far better than most. Zach is not only a leader on the field, but off the field as well.

Actually Zach has had the opportunity to participate in many more activities then the doctors first believed possible. His mother Kathleen attributes this to that fact that she and her husband Wes were determined to not raise him in a bubble. While they exercise caution and limit the activities in which Zach participate- he can’t play football, they encourage him to be smart, but they want him to have as much fun as possible. "Let him be a kid." Zach’s heart remains healthy and strong and that can be directly linked to the healthy and active lifestyle which Zach maintains. 

Before the Brinkerhoff family added the lawn in their backyard there was an old dirt mound from which Zach would spend hours pitching to his dad. His father, mother, older siblings, Nicole and Mitchell are Zach’s loyal cheering squad. The Brinkerhoffs are a quietly competitive bunch, but occasionally you will hear Wes mutter under his breath, see Mitchell walk away, observe Kathleen pacing, but most always you will see Nicole smile. They are a team, and it has taken a team effort to get Zach where he is today. 

Coach Derek Black, Cedar Crush, has had a great influence upon Zach. Black is quoted for often saying, "There is no better feeling in the world than winning." Zach Brinkerhoff embodies the winning spirit. 

I am certain both Mitch Talbot and Zachary Brinkerhoff would both agree with Babe Ruth when he said, "Baseball was, is, and always will be the best game in the world."