M's Farm Report in Seattle Times

Everett's Halman works way back

To understand how Everett AquaSox star Greg Halman felt when he began the season in a horrible slump in Wisconsin, you have to understand how much baseball means to him.

Born in Haarlem, the Netherlands, he began playing baseball at age 3, learning from his father.

"He really put the love of the game into me," Halman said. "For me it wasn't just a sport, and from early on, I knew I wanted to make it [as a professional]. I did well in school, but for me it was only one thing, and that was baseball. I set baseball above school, above everything."
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He had a good spring training this year, he said, and was expecting to start the season no lower than high Class A High Desert. Instead he was sent to low Class A Wisconsin, just one step above Everett.

"I had played in some big-league games in spring training and did very good," he said. "I didn't feel right going to Wisconsin. I thought I was better than that, and I didn't think I should be there. To be honest, I was being arrogant.

"But in baseball, it just humbles you down, right then."