Sunday, July 31, 2005
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

51s' HAPPY HOMEBODY

Utility player Theodorou, 30, shuns neon glitz for low-key life

By MATT YOUMANS
REVIEW-JOURNAL

Las Vegas 51s player Nick Theodorou looks out from the Cashman Field dugout during a game Thursday night. Photo by K.M. Cannon. Theodorou, left, and 51s first baseman Brian Myrow watch a Los Angeles Dodgers game on television in the Summerlin apartment they share with teammate Eric Stults. Photo by K.M. Cannon. Theodorou tends to his laundry during a homestand. Photo by K.M. Cannon. 51s utility player Nick Theodorou, right, relaxes in the dugout with teammate Derek Michaelis before a game at Cashman Field. Photo by K.M. Cannon.

It's midnight in Las Vegas and the dance clubs are heating up. Drinking, gambling, loud music and pretty girls converge to create a scene that is almost every single guy's dream.

Nick Theodorou is single, plays professional baseball and has no trouble attracting the opposite sex. He could be living it up and telling stories the next day.

Instead, he turns a page on the "Count of Monte Cristo" and winds down in the silence of his Summerlin apartment, keeping his distance from the fast pace of the Strip.

"That's not usually my style," he said of prowling the casinos.

Theodorou recently turned 30, is in his second full Triple-A season for the Las Vegas 51s and has two priorities, not necessarily in any order: finding a potential wife and making it to the major leagues with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

"As I've gotten older, I want to find someone and try to settle down. But if my lifestyle is so unsettled, it's going to be hard to settle down," he said.

Most of the stereotypes that apply to pro athletes -- specifically partying and womanizing -- don't fit Theodorou. An inside look at this baseball player's off-the-field life doesn't warrant an "R" rating. He's often home at night and not alone in that regard, either.

Almost half of the 24 players on the Las Vegas roster are married, and he says "probably only four or five guys" routinely roll in at sunrise.

"It's tough for minor league players ... it's not as exciting as someone might think," Theodorou said.

"I try to do as little as possible off the field to kind of conserve energy. I'm not going to be going out at night until 5 a.m. and not get the sleep that I need in order to come out here and perform. When you're younger, 21 or 25, you can do that. When you get to 30, it's tough to do that."

• • •

Jerry Royster played in the majors for 16 years and is in his second stint as a manager in Las Vegas, also managing the Stars from 1996 to 1998. Royster has an idea what his players are doing once they leave the controlled environment of the clubhouse. Very few lose control, he said, despite the temptations of the city and life on the road.

"You don't see girls following the team. In the major leagues, obviously they're around. I've been in minor league baseball for a long time, and that's just not the case," Royster said.

"I think money is always an issue. That's why you don't run into the big gambling problems, or guys going out on the town. It's very expensive to do in Las Vegas and most cannot afford it."

Playing golf or poker and going to movies are his players' most common activities, but Royster said he doesn't discourage guys from having a good time at the casinos.

"I would hope they do, to be honest. That's normal," he said. "They're kids and they're in Vegas.

"I don't know how many are gamblers. That's the thing that can get you in trouble. We haven't seen anything bad yet, though."

In his tenure in Las Vegas, Royster said he has been notified by casino security three times, once this year, concerning a player who might be causing trouble. Before the season, Royster said Major League Baseball security personnel talk to his players and tell them what "hot spots" to avoid in town.

"I've gotten calls from the casinos, saying, 'Hey, make sure you keep an eye on such and such.' It wasn't so much about gambling itself, but about having too much to drink or something and making sure they didn't disturb the casino guests," Royster said.

"My teams in the mid-90s, those were guys that did do the Vegas thing, and we did have to stay on top of it. These guys are pretty good."

Heath Totten, a 26-year-old pitcher in his second season with the 51s, admits he was a hard partier last year and said he frequented clubs at the MGM Grand and Palms

"I was out a lot having a good time," Totten said. "But I'm pretty boring this year."

Totten met a girl in Tucson during last season, got married in February and the couple has a baby due in November. Totten rents a one-room apartment and his wife lives in Arizona.

"This year, I don't think I've been out once in Vegas," he said. "After the game, I pretty much just go home and get on the computer, play video games or watch TV, talk to my wife and see how the baby is doing. There are some guys who go out and some guys who do a little gambling."

Cody Ross, a 24-year-old outfielder who was called up for a brief stay with the Dodgers this summer, also got married in the offseason to a girl he knew from high school in New Mexico.

One of Theodorou's two roommates, 28-year-old first baseman Brian Myrow, has been married for six years and has a 3-year-old son. His wife, Terra, lives in Fort Worth, Texas, and brings their son to visit Las Vegas about twice a month, explaining the toys on the floor of his apartment.

Myrow is a mainstay at the Mirage poker room, where he heads after most baseball games to sit in on low-limit Texas Hold'em games. "I play almost every day when my family is not in town," he said.

• • •

In the two hours before games at Cashman Field, it's common for 10 or more guys to be playing cards in the clubhouse, but Theodorou is never in on the deal.

He is more inclined to sit in the trainer's room and read a book or watch TV. "I'm not a freak reader," said Theodorou, who isn't a sports freak, either.

"A lot of people think if you're an athlete, you're a sports fanatic, and I'm not," he said. "I don't like the NFL, I don't like the NBA and I don't like the NHL. I watch baseball and some tennis."

After games, he usually hits a movie or a restaurant and heads home. If he has friends in town, he'll go to a casino, though rarely crosses over to the wild side.

"I'm one of the few guys I know of that don't necessarily like alcohol," Theodorou said. "I'll have a couple drinks, but I don't drink. That's not why I go out. It's one of those things I've never really needed, so that in itself keeps me boring."

Players are sometimes asked by the team to make visits to local schools or attend clinics for kids. "Nick never says no to a public appearance," 51s president Don Logan said. "He does a great job representing the Dodgers and representing us."

Royster said Theodorou is as wholesome as the milk he drinks with breakfast.

"You can't get any straighter than that guy. He's just a good kid. He's very focused on baseball and very aware of what's going on in the world. You can sit and talk to him about any subject," Royster said. "Some girl out there is going to get a good catch."

Theodorou grew up in Rialto, Calif., east of Los Angeles, and graduated from UCLA in 1998 with a degree in history. He does substitute teaching in the offseason and is pondering attending law school.

But he spends six months of the year on the road playing baseball, and said that's part of the reason why he can't meet the girl of his dreams. He says he "absolutely" wants to have a family.

"It's so hard on relationships. I'm single because I've almost had to be, because you either have to be totally committed to somebody and get married or live the single lifestyle," Theodorou said.

"I haven't dated any girls in Las Vegas. Most of girls I've dated have been back at home in L.A. and you try to make it work from a long distance, and it hasn't worked. It's hard to be dating someone when you never see them."

• • •

After seven years in the minor leagues, Theodorou is not a rich man. He received a $1,500 signing bonus for being drafted in the 27th round and now earns $5,000 a month, or $25,000 for the five-month season.

He drives a 1999 Honda Accord and in the offseason lives in Rialto with his parents, Tony and Georgia, who have had Dodgers season tickets for more than 30 years.

"The minor leagues is a great experience, but no one wants to be there," Theodorou said. "You see all these guys making so much more money than you are and there's no middle class, you're either rich or you're poor, and you struggle every day. I have my degree, but I make so little money. But it's fun because you're playing baseball.

"I'm older and people ask me, why are you still playing? The most important thing for me is that I finish what I started when I was 4 years old. I don't care about the glory and the money. I just want to get there to finish the journey, just to say that I've done it."

Theodorou is hitting .265 with one home run, 18 RBIs and six stolen bases for the 51s. He's not an everyday player and a lot of his value to the team is his versatility -- he has played seven positions this season, all but pitcher and first base.

He won't appear on any list of the Dodgers' top prospects, and Royster calls him an "organizational player" who could someday be a coach. He said Theodorou has a realistic chance of getting a September callup to Los Angeles.

"I can see it happening for him. I wouldn't be surprised at all," Royster said. "Guys like that sometimes get rewarded. I would love to see him get that call."

Theodorou said he doesn't want to coach, and while he knows the Dodgers have a high opinion of him, it might not be for the reasons he prefers.

"I know they want me around. If I'm going to do anything in baseball, I would rather do something in the front office. I want to get off the field once I'm done playing," he said.

"I know they really like me as a person, and I think they like me more as a person than they do as a player, which being a player is hard to swallow. But unfortunately, that's the reality of it."