HANNIBAL, Mo. — As the morning sun beat down on them Monday, Colin Hofmann and Kyle Gaedele were like sponges, soaking it all in.
Yes, the weather was nice, but they listened intently as former Major Leaguer Don Buford taught the Hannibal Cavemen outfielders the nuances of the game he's learned in his 10-year Major League career, which included a World Series championship as a member of the Baltimore Orioles in 1970.
"That was awesome," Gaedele said after he and Hofmann had a captive audience with Buford for most of the Cavemen's first practice.
Buford was decked out in full uniform for the practice. The one-time All-Star who hit 93 home runs during his big-league career was as happy as the players to be playing a little baseball.
"(Caveman manager) Jay (Hemond) invited me out to give some suggestions to the young players and help them learn what it takes to be a professional baseball player," the 72-years-young Buford said. "I want to pass on some information and give them some suggestions on how to do things. Everybody's a little different."
Gaedele, a Valparaiso product, was impressed with Buford.
"He's big on fundamentals, getting the ball out quick," said Gaedele, who was a 32nd round draft pick of the Tampa Bay Rays last year. "He's not hung up on throwing it as hard as you can. He just wants you to throw the ball on a straight line to the cutoff man.
"I learned a ton."
Buford, who is just in town for this week, remembers gleaning a bunch of information when he played in a wood-bat league in Canada during his college days at Southern California. He said what he learned there helped him in his quest to become a big leaguer and now wants to pass that information on to other aspiring pros.
The Cavemen players will be able to draw upon a lot of professional knowledge by the coaching staff the team has assembled. Later this summer, the Cavemen pitchers will get some special instruction of their own when Jim Kaat, who won 283 games and 16 gold gloves, makes a visit.
Hannibal's hurlers will get day-to-day instruction from former big leaguer Jeff Juden, who was the first-round draft pick by the Houston Astros in 1989 -- the 12th pick overall. Lonnie Maclin, who briefly played for the St. Louis Cardinals in 1993, will be the team's hitting coach.
Juden didn't have the benefit of playing in a college summer league since he went straight from high school to the pros. He was eventually the youngest player in the majors when he broke in with Houston in 1991 at 20 years old.
"I'm excited to be here," said Juden, who was recruited to the Cavemen by Roland Hemond after the two met during a Major League alumni event in Arizona last winter. "I'm expecting to win."
Jay Hemond knows having the imposing 6-foot-8 Juden around will help.
"Jeff Juden wants to win," Hemond said. "When you have a guy who is 6-8 and as big as he is, when he says win, you'd better win, boys."
The Cavemen will surely soak up that message, too.
— dobrien@whig.com/221-3365
