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You know, I had almost forgotten just how little amateur baseball Lorenzo Cain had played prior to his drafting by the Brewers, even though we discussed it regularly a couple of years ago -- one of the reasons he saw significant time in Maryvale his first pro season. His mom must have been so proud of his Hawaiian Fall League efforts in '07 in addition to his other accomplishments thus far. Nice story below...

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Mother's faith helps keep Cain on track
Daily messages give Stars player encouragement
By BRAD SHEPARD
For The Huntsville Times

Dear God, I pray that you keep Lorenzo safe and give him the strength to walk in your word. ...

Every night, whether he gets to speak to his mother or not, Lorenzo Cain always hears her voice. That's because every day, Patricia Cain leaves a prayer like this on the Huntsville Stars outfielder's voice mail.

"That's the love of my life right there," Cain said, shaking his head. "She's been through a lot with me all my life. More than anything else, she wanted to raise me to be somebody."

As a 22-year-old rising prospect in the Milwaukee organization, Cain has a strong start to becoming a household name in professional baseball.

Beyond that, he's already more of a man off the field than many at his age.

"When you ask for volunteers to do something like going to the Huntsville Hospital cancer ward, Lo-Cain is always there," said Stars general manager Buck Rogers, who also worked with Cain at Single-A Brevard County. "He's one of the All-American guys."

Considering Cain grew up without playing baseball until his sophomore year of high school, it's amazing how far he's come. Considering his father died when he was four, Cain's maturity at such a young age is perhaps more remarkable.

Cain isn't surprised, though. Not with someone as strong as his mom in his corner.

Lord, please help Lorenzo know everything is in your hands. Have him trust you in the good days and the bad. ...

Cain remembered this prayer his mother left him recently. The words were simple but strong, and they took him back to the days of his upbringing.

Growing up in rural Madison, Fla., 30 minutes south of Valdosta, Ga., Cain couldn't play organized sports. With his mother working two jobs driving to Valdosta to be a store clerk at Dillard's by day and working at a printing company by night, she barely had time to spend with him and his older brother. She definitely didn't have time to take them to practice.

After getting cut in basketball tryouts, a friend of Cain's - current Angels Single-A player Jeremy Haynes - talked him into going out for baseball.

"I just felt like I needed to do something," Cain said. "I got sick of going home every day after school."

Saying Cain "went out" for baseball is stretching it, however, according to then-Madison County (Fla.) High School coach Barney Myers.

Basically, the team had eight junior varsity players and needed one more. Two weeks after practice started, Cain burst into Myers' classroom.

"Mr. Myers?" Cain started. "My name is Lorenzo Cain, and I want to try out for the baseball team."

Cain told the coach he'd never played but was asked to come to the practice field that afternoon, anyway. That day, the second biggest love in Cain's life got off to a humble beginning.

"He came out to the field with no glove, no uniform, no cleats, nothing," Myers said with a laugh. "We told him where he could go get a glove in our field house, and, no joke, he comes back with a left-hander's glove on his right hand.

"I hit him fungo, and he goes and catches it, takes his glove off and throws it in. Then he yells, 'Coach, I can do a lot better if I have one of those other gloves.' "

When Cain informed his mother he made the team, she reluctantly embraced it although he didn't have a ride. With the help of Myers and the Haynes family, somebody got Lorenzo to practice every day.

"It definitely was a struggle," Patricia Cain said. "I really struggled all the time, but in my struggle, I was praying, asking God to make a better way for Lorenzo.

"I had to be the mother and the father, just having to work and meet their needs."

That first year on junior varsity was rocky, but Cain soaked in instructions. He played sparingly on the varsity as a junior. Then, with a chance to finally shine, he had a breakout summer between his junior and senior years.

He built on that the next year, hitting around .350 as a senior, flashing his immense speed and highlight-reel defense. Though he was raw, he began drawing interest.

"He became a fanatic," Myers said. "And to think, if he'd have been at 100 million other places and came out, he'd have gotten cut."

When it came time for the colleges to call after that stellar senior year, nobody did at first.

"I remember him saying, 'Mama, I want to go to college, but nobody's asking me,' " Patricia Cain recalled. "I told him, 'son, the day ain't over.'

"That afternoon when he came home, the coach at Tallahassee Community College called and asked him how he'd like to play baseball on a full scholarship."

The Brewers had been watching Cain, too, eyeing his 6.6 time in the 60-yard dash and watching him develop. Scout Doug Reynolds informed Brewers director of scouting Jack Zduriencik about Cain, and they picked him in the 17th round of the 2004 amateur draft. After a year at Tallahassee CC, he was in the Milwaukee farm system.

"He was a young, athletic-looking kid, and he's come on. We're very happy with him," Zduriencik said. "He was a typical draft-and-follow kid for us."

Dear God, please be with the guys and help them stay healthy and come out on top, and no matter what happens, always help them keep their heads up. ...

Prayers like that one helped Cain through difficult times, such as before this season when last year's first-round pick Matt LaPorta jumped him in the system to start in right field for the Stars.

Now that LaPorta has been traded, Cain - who was hitting .287 with seven homers, 41 RBIs and 19 steals at Brevard - has been called up.

"With (LaPorta) being a first-rounder, I kind of expected that," Cain said. "I just knew I had to go out and perform at the level they put me at. I just had to brush it off."

Manatees manager Mike Guerrero said he never saw any frustration carry over onto the field.

"The good thing is he puts so much into it, and he works so hard every day," he said. "To come as far as he has in such a short period of time, he deserves this."

Now Cain has to take advantage of the opportunity, working on his plate discipline and working on strength so his power will develop. The people who supported him through his early days have no doubts he will thrive even if they are stunned that he is where he is.

"He's an amazing story, no question about it," Myers said. "It's really miraculous when you think about it.

"But he just works so hard."

It's the same thing folks say about Patricia Cain. When people who know Lorenzo look at him, they see her. When he is away from home, he hears her voice. And more than anything, he wants her daily prayers to be answered.

"I just prayed and I prayed for that young man to be somebody," Patricia Cain said. "I never would have dreamed this would have happened to him. I just tell him, 'Look where you came from and look where you are now.' All I have to say is this is a blessing from God."