Nick Anderson began last week on a 12-hour bus trip from Lincoln, Neb. across the Canadian border to Winnipeg, followed by another long trip over to Sioux Falls for a weekend of games.
Such is the life of minor league baseball.
Anderson, a former baseball standout at Fort Bend Kempner and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, has learned to embrace the long and grueling seven-to-15-hour road trips. It’s a means to an end when the ultimate end game is an eventual shot at Major League Baseball.
“I kind of enjoy that part of the game,” said Anderson from his hotel room in Winnipeg. “One day somebody is not going to ask you to get on the bus to go play for them and you will wish that they were. So, I’m happy to enjoy all of the little moments and not take it for granted.”
Anderson, a center fielder with the Lincoln Saltdogs of the independent American Association, is certainly leaving nothing to chance as he works toward another major league affiliate opportunity hopefully at some point this season. He just needs one scout in the stands from any one of the MLB clubs to be impressed enough to sign him to a minor league deal.
The fourth-year pro has been impressive so far in his first season with the Saltdogs. Through the first 38 games of the season, he hit .280, while leading his team with 12 home runs and 33 RBI.
Showing unusual power for a center fielder, Anderson has easily been among the top three or four players in the American Association this season. He is second in the league in home runs, and he has quickly become a problem for pitchers who are also looking to make a name for themselves.
Earlier this month, Anderson was named the American Association Player of the Week after a five-day stretch in which he hit .438 with four home runs and nine RBI.
Anderson’s increased production has coincided with his first real opportunity to play every day during his professional career. His previous season-high for homeruns was four and he is well on his way to obliterating that mark.
“I feel like this is the biggest peak baseball performance I’ve ever had,” said Anderson, who spent time in the Minnesota Twins organization two years ago. “It’s a constant learning process and you have to be in the field, you have to be in the game. You can train or do whatever in the offseason but like any sport, you have to go out there and play it to get better.”
Anderson has been the power hitter the Saltdogs have needed all season long, while also holding down centerfield.
“He knew if he got a chance to be an everyday player that he could be really really good and he has been exactly that,” said Michael Dixon, who is the director of broadcasting for the Saltdogs. “This league is full of guys who have played at the very high levels of minor league baseball, some played in the major league and some have played overseas. So he is doing what he is doing in a very tough league and I seriously don’t think it’s an overstatement to say he has been one of the best players in the league.
“Hopefully he gets picked up, but if he is here all year he would have a chance to win league MVP.”
Playing in the American Association for Kane County in 2021, it happened rather quickly for Anderson. His contract was bought out by the Twins organization just seven games into the season and a little over a week after he was working as a wine salesman at Krogers in Houston.
While Anderson’s resolve has certainly been tested, the uncertainty and the possibilities are what continues to drive him.
“I went from selling wine in Kroger to a week later being in the Twins organization,” he said. “So there has definitely been a lot of unpredictability. I believe in my abilities. It’s just going to take the right situation and right opportunity for me to get seen.”
