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GOLD & BLACK ILLUSTRATED VOLUME 25, ISSUE 4 8 Former Purdue catcher Kevin Plawecki, now a Mets' farmhand, took a break from a Florida pool to call six days before pitch- ers and catchers were set to report for spring training in mid-February. Q. What do you think the chances are of making the Mets' opening-day roster? A. "It's just kind of hard to know what people are thinking, especially in the front office. I want to stay healthy and learn as much as I can and hopefully I'll get the call sooner rather than later and be ready to take advantage of the opportunity." Q. Do you feel ready? A. "Yes. I do. Obviously, anybody would say that there are parts of their game they could work on. There's areas I could improve on, but any player in the major leagues you could say they are still working on stuff. But physically, I'm in a good place, mentally I'm in a good place, and health-wise, I'm in a good place. So it's important to stay healthy and continue to learn here in spring training." Q. Does your experience in spring training a year ago help you now, the sec- ond time around? A. "Yeah, I think so. Last year I really didn't know what to expect. This year, I have some- what of a real (jersey) number: I'm 22 this year rather than 72, so that's a nice little jump from last year. "Hopefully, I'll get a few more at-bats in spring training this year than last year; I think I only had sev- en or so last year, but didn't really expect more than that. I was happy to be there last year. This year, it's the same situation, try to learn as much as I can and compete a little more than last year." Q. Well, the jump in jersey numbers seems telling. A. "It's a little bit more promising." Q. Did you remember the first time you thought about playing in the bigs? A. "Not really. I always just told myself that one day it would happen. Now, obvious- ly, it's starting to getting a lot closer to reality now, so it's kind of hard to believe. I try to remember the moment it clicked, but it's all gone by so quickly. It's hard to think about." — Plawecki, as told to Kyle Charters Victories needed by Boilermakers to be safely — we think — in to the 2015 men's NCAA Tournament. It had 18 entering the last week of February. Distance in miles to Ross-Ade Stadium from football recruits Peyton Truitt (shown) and Anthony Mahoungou, respectively, from their childhood homes. Hammer throw distance for Chuk Enekwechi, the fifth-best in NCAA history. He set that mark at the Fred Wilt Invitational at Purdue on Feb. 13. Seating capacity of Purdue's new softball stadium, which opens with the Boilermakers' first home game on March 20. By The Numbers Boiler Index 21 .4/4,167 80-.0025 1,000 Photos by Tom Campbell (Painter); Bob Smith (Truitt); Purdue (Enekwechi); Purdue (Stadium); New York Mets (Plawecki)