Fake Neal Huntington

Great article from ESPN’s Jim Caple on Jose Canseco that provides a fascinating look into the world of independent baseball:

Chris Nowlin is waiting on the Yuma bullpen mound, waiting to audition his knuckleball for Jose. Nowlin didn’t play baseball in high school or college but taught himself a mean enough knuckler by playing whiffle ball that he has been signed (and released) by seven teams, including one in Perth, Australia. He has worked with Charlie Hough and R.A. Dickey. He says he can be the next Tim Wakefield. He is 30 years old and says he will give baseball a go until he is 32. When asked why 32 is his cutoff, he replies, “I have no idea. Maybe I’ll go to 33.” Nowlin lives in Phoenix, about three hours away (faster if you push the speed limit). He just showed up at the ballpark, looking for a tryout. “If you email or call, there’s a chance they’ll say no,” he says. “If this doesn’t work out, I’m going to go to El Paso [Texas] because they have a 9.00 ERA. … It isn’t hard. You just look up on the Internet to find the teams with the highest ERA and then show up at the GM’s office.”