Good morning, all. I hope your week is off to a terrific start.
Minor League Baseball has certainly come along way, since I started broadcasting games in the minors in 1983. Clubs now play in what can be termed as mini-major league ballparks and major league players rehab in minor league games on a regular basis, which is a treat for fans.
On Sunday in Hartford, CT, the New York Yankees had two players in the lineup, who were rehabbing, pitcher Nestor Cortes and outfielder Willie Calhoun. The game between the home team Hartford Yard Goats, a AA affiliate of the Colorado Rockies, and Somerset, a Yankees affiliate, was already sold out. It was not made official, until late Sunday morning, that Cortes would be starting for Somerset. Imagine the surprise, then, when fans arrived to learn that a key component of the New York Yankees starting rotation, was starting against the Yard Goats?
Cortes was on a hard, 42-pitch count, and once he reached that limit, in the middle of an at bat, he was removed. The southpaw, who scuffled with several clubs until he found his mojo with the Yankees last season and made the All-Star team, is recovering from a strained rotator cuff. He looked fairly sharp on Sunday, although he did serve up a home run to Hartford’s Kyle Datres. It really didn’t matter though. The fans in the sellout crowd of more than 7,000 got to see a couple of major leaguers on a sunny, warm Sunday afternoon.
Major league players rehabbing in the minors has become a major deal and adds another dimension to the fun of following minor league baseball.
Happy for McGriff and Rolen
Fred McGriff and Scott Rolen were inducted to the baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown on Sunday and I am happy for both of them. In 1983 and 1984, I wanted to broadcast professional baseball so badly, I agreed to drive the team bus. That would be unheard of today, a broadcaster also driving the ball club, but there I was behind that old double clutch GMAC 4200 bus, driving the Kinston Blue Jays throughout the Carolina League.
Among the players on that 1983 club was Fred McGriff, acquired by the Toronto Blue Jays from the New York Yankees in one of George Steinbrenner’s knee-jerk reaction trades. McGriff, selected by the Yankees in the ninth round of the 1981 draft, was part of a five-player deal. The Yankees acquired Tom Dodd and a past-his-prime pitcher Dale Murray. McGriff went on to the Hall of Fame. Imagine the number of home runs McGriff would have hit, if he played full-time at Yankee Stadium? As it is, he hit 493 homers in his career.
McGriff would sit opposite me on the passenger side of the bus, as I drove through the night to our next destination. He was quiet, but fun and always seemed to have a smile on his face. He was also determined to make it. Make it he did and now he has a plaque in the Hall of Fame. I could not be happier for him.
Gone fishing with the Howe’s
Each season, the aforementioned Hartford Yard Goats stage a Whalers Alumni Weekend, inviting back members of the old Hartford Whalers, the NHL team that moved to North Carolina in 1997. After 25 years, the Whalers still maintain a grip on the region. Their jerseys, caps and other memorabilia are still big sellers.
On Saturday, during the Yard Goats broadcast, I had the chance to interview Marty Howe, who played for the Whalers, along with his brother Mark and famous dad, Gordie. We talked about the night in March of 1980, when the Whalers played at Detroit, and Gordie, Marty and Mark started on the same line. There they were, as Gordie returned to the city where he played for 25 seasons as a Detroit Red Wing.
Marty recalled being nervous as he started that night, but also proud to be a part of history. Even though the Howe’s had hockey, Marty said his brother and dad bonded more, each summer, when they would take a small plane to remote Canada and fish for 10 days. There were no electronic devices, no smart phones, no tablets, no laptops, just a dad and his sons bonding each summer for 10 days, tossing a line into the water. Marty described those fishing trips as among the best times of his life, and it cemented his love for fishing. He still fishes regularly.
That is going to do it for this week’s newsletter. As always, thank you for your support and have a terrific week.
SPORTSCASTER DAN