There are few guys around the game of baseball with a more positive outlook than second-year Curve manager Tim Leiper   Even when his Curve team was struggling in the stretch run of the 2006 Eastern League season, Leiper maintained a positive attitude   He talked the same way about his team when it was racking up win after win earlier in the season   That's Leiper's style - ever positive - so it's not surprising he's excited about the Curve's 2007 prospects

"Last year was great" Leiper said
"It was fun
Everything about it from Day 1
You hear all of the stories about how great Altoona is, and when you get there, it is
Everything's taken care of, and the thing I really like is that it's so positive around the stadium" he said
"From Parney (general manager Todd Parnell), to the ushers, to the people who take the tickets, to the people who run the field promotions, everything is real upbeat, and all of that positive energy really makes a difference in the clubhouse"

In his first season at Altoona, Leiper guided the Curve to a second-place finish in the Southern Division before losing a heartbreaking best-of-five playoff series to Akron

"Obviously, you want to win that thing, but when you reach the playoffs you realize how difficult it is to come away with the Championship" Leiper said
"You have to have all of your pieces fall into place
It was a great series - very even -- and came down to the fifth game, maybe home field advantage, and they got the better of it
It was really nice the way we battled back after being down 0-2, to come home and win a couple" he noted
"Everybody left everything on the field, and you can't ask for anything more than that"

Leiper hasn't had much time to stop since the 2006 season ended
He had a full season in winter ball before coming to Florida a couple weeks ago

"I went to the Dominican Republic on Oct. 12, and we were fortunate enough to get to the finals and win the Dominican League" he said
"Then we went to the Caribbean World Series, and we won that, too
So it was nice
I got home about a week or ten days before coming here, so I haven't had much time off, but that's what we do"

Neil Walker was only in Altoona a couple of weeks late in the season, but he says Leiper's positive attitude rubs off on the players as well
"He demands your best, but he and his staff put you in good positions to succeed" Walker said
"I think we'll have a good ballclub this year" said Walker, who will open the season as the Curve third baseman

Leiper said he won't know for a couple more weeks what his Altoona roster will be, but he knows a few

"You know you'll have Walker, and (OF Andrew) McCutchen, and probably (pitchers) Romulo Sanchez and Dave Davidson
Those four guys - plus (OF) Nyjer Morgan - are in Spring Training now, and we've got a good corps of young guys coming along"

Leiper credited Pirates' minor league boss Brian Graham with always providing good veterans for teams like the Curve, and noted players like former Reading Phillies all-stars Randy Ruiz and John Castellano, along with 2006 Curve MVP Brett Roneberg as other possibilities

"I think we'll have a real competitive team, it'll come together in a couple more weeks" said Leiper