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goorogleback · Vizitator

Cool head, hot stuff Corpas' calm demeanor, determination, tough pitches formula for closing success 
 
A scouting coup enabled the Rockies to sign reliever Manny Corpas, one that involved happenstance and blind luck rather than dogged persistence. 
It happened eight years ago this week in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Corpas is from Panama City, Panama. Tim Ireland, the scout who signed Corpas, never mentions words like "isthmus" or "canal" with good reason. He never has been to Panama. 
 
Ireland was the Pacific Rim coordinator for the Rockies in 1999. He was in Kaohsiung for an international tournament that included a team from Panama. 
And before Corpas, 24, who has gone 11-for-11 in save opportunities for the Rockies after taking over the closer's role from a faltering Brian Fuentes last month, threw a pitch in the tournament, Ireland signed him for $17,500, basically because of a chance encounter at a convenience store. 
It's easy to imagine a sweltering pursuit of Corpas in the equatorial heat of Panama, scouts slathered in sunscreen training their radar guns at a gangly teenager with a gifted arm. It's a little harder to envision the mystical experience that unfolded when Ireland saw the 16-year-old Corpas in a Kaoshsiung convenience store. 
"I walked in, and I just stopped in my tracks and my mind, it was like, 'pitcher.' It was a revelation. I literally stopped in my tracks because I saw this pitcher," Ireland said. "I speak Spanish, and I said, 'Who do you pitch for?' And he said, 'Panama.' " 
Truth be told, Ireland, to this day amazed by his coincidental meeting with Corpas, said it was entirely rational to hear this internal voice bellowing "pitcher" the moment he saw Corpas. 
"Not too many guys walking around Kaohsiung looking like Manny Corpas," Ireland said. "If you've been around the block a little bit, you can spot a Latin pitcher in Asia." 
Corpas smiled at the mention of Ireland but remembered being with a few teammates and had a slightly different recollection of the moments leading to the meeting with Ireland. 
"I walked into the convenience store and noticed that the guy was walking after me," Corpas said through Joe Diaz, a Rockies clubhouse attendant. "I told my friends, 'This guy's following us.' " 
There's no dispute about what happened next after they went back to Corpas' hotel and Ireland had the pitcher introduce him to his coach. 
Ireland knew the lay of the land in Taiwan, having managed Taipei Gida in 1998 to an upset win in the Taiwan Major League championship series. Ireland said he told Corpas to get his spikes and they "snuck" into an old stadium. 
"The kid had such a loose-looking body," Ireland remembered. "It was just mind- boggling. At 16 years old, he had these long arms. He just looked like the prototypical pitcher. He got on the mound, and I had a radar gun on him and like the fifth pitch, he hits 85 (mph) and he's 16 years old with an unbelievable body. 
"I tell him, 'Hey, slow down. Take your time.' And he goes, 'No, I'm fine.' That's how loose and free this kid threw. That's all I needed to see." 
Corpas got a different message when Ireland brought an abrupt end to the session. 
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