The 2009 American Association season came to an end with a dramatic Game 5 earlier this week in Pensacola. The Lincoln Saltdogs, who finished the first half of the season four games below .500, but clinched the second half title on the final day of the season, defeated the Pelicans by a narrow 2-1 final.

It was a remarkable come-from-behind season for the Saltdogs who battled back many times. They were on the verge of elimination in the North Division Series before rallying to defeat the favorite Wichita Wingnuts in the final game.

They took a two games to one lead in the championship series before losing Game 4 and then winning a squeaker in the finale. The Saltdogs’ pitching staff was unquestionably the strength of the team down the stretch and into the playoffs with Jim Paduch and Jarrett Gardner leading the way.

As the Cats witnessed, the Pelicans were a difficult bunch to face, using clutch hitting, team speed and timely execution to play their way to the championship series. But in the end, it was the Saltdogs that prevailed.

Congratulations to manager Marty Scott and the Lincoln Saltdogs on their first American Association championship.

It has been some time since I’ve “blogged” about the internal workings of Cats’ baseball and LaGrave Field.Now, with our departure in the near future, I feel I have two or three blogs left in me while I’m still fully involved.   I say “fully involved” because I feel I will always be a part of the Cats.  I was the emcee at the groundbreaking for the new LaGrave Field on December 3, 2001 and I’ve been pretty much immersed in “everything Cat” since then.  In fact, my relationship as a friend and consultant to Carl Bell began when Bobby Bragan introduced us on opening night at Goldstien Field in June of that year.  Although we had not met before, we did share the common bond of working for the Rangers at old Arlington Stadium in the early years.  Carl was a gate supervisor and I was a member of the grounds crew back in the early ‘70’s when the team first arrived from Washington.  (I would later work in the Rangers’ front office for four years in the ‘80’s.)

But that is another “blog”, for another day……

This is a bittersweet time of year for most minor league baseball people.  The season has come to an end and for all but a few, the hopes and dreams of a championship have been officially dashed.  Only two teams in the American Association remain in the running for that ultimate thrill while the other eight of us have said our goodbyes and players and coaches are scattering to return to their “other lives”.   One of the most frequent questions we get in the business of minor league baseball is “what do the players do during the off-season?” or….(since it is well known that minor league salaries are not lavish) “how do they make a living?”Well, the answer to those questions is not a simple answer.  The “other lives” that minor league players return to consist of a wide range of activities.  

Some, having been drafted by major league teams out of high school, junior college or even before they completed their academic career at a four-year school, will return to college classes for fall semester.  Others will go to another league which has yet to complete its’ season and make a few more dollars playing baseball, while others may play in one of the winter leagues in the tropical climates.  Many will return to their home area to teach, coach or provide instruction at one of the many baseball schools or training centers that have become popular with young ballplayers on the “select” or “travel” teams these days.But most players are involved in non-baseball related jobs during the off-season, such as sales of all sorts (everything from security systems to multi-level marketing), construction, banking, mortgage brokers, retail sales, and we’ve even had a minister or two in the mix over the years!  

A few players are fortunate enough to have support from family, spouse, etc. which allows them to relax and unwind from what is always a grueling season for body and mind.  Still others have enjoyed the luxury provided by a hefty signing bonus when they were drafted and just take a few weeks, or months, to “lay low” and work out in the hopes of yet another opportunity to prove that they belong with a big league club.

Whatever the case may be, as we said, it is a bittersweet time.  These guys have spent every single day together for the last five months…. And I mean TOGETHER!  Virtually every waking minute of every day is spent with teammates.  Many of them share apartments in Fort Worth, and of course ALL of them live in the hotel together on the road.  They eat and sleep together, dress in the locker room together and practice every afternoon together…. Of course, we can’t forget the bus…. Hours and hours of road time sleeping, talking, reading, listening to music, watching movies on the bus’ video system and sharing that tiny little bathroom in the back!

Do they get SICK of each other?  Sure, sometimes.  But for the most part…. they “bond”.  And trust me… this kind of “male bonding” lasts a lifetime.   All you have to see to realize this is look at guys like Carroll Beringer, Mike Napoli, Joe Macko, Maury Wills and Jack Lindsey.  Those men know exactly what I am talking about.   They have been friends for over half a century and their friendship started in a minor league clubhouse like ours.

And now, today, with e-mail, Facebook, MySpace and Twitter they can keep in touch literally minute-by-minute.  And they will… Some more than others.  But they will all know what the others are up to and what is going on in their lives.

So… Today… the day after the season ended…. They said their good-byes, packed their bags, got in their cars or on a plane and headed into another off-season.  Some will be back next year, others will surface on other teams in our league or around the country and yet others will move on with their “life after baseball”.  They will keep in touch in various degrees, some closer than others. But none will forget that they were a part of the Cats in 2009.  None will forget the guys who dressed in the locker room with them.  They will remember many moments, good and bad, from the just completed season.  They will remember umpires, coaches, announcers, bus drivers, clubbies, front office personnel, and…. They will remember the fans.

Because for one more summer, maybe the last, maybe not…they were still “living the dream”   They were professional baseball players.So, we say, good luck to the Cats of 2009.  Have a good winter…  we will look forward to seeing many of them again next season at LaGrave Field and we wish them well in all that life may have in store for them!

JPD

Former Cats’ pitchers Steve Hahn (pictured left) and Mike Smith (right) were back at LaGrave Field this weekend as coaches in a youth baseball tournament being played at the ballpark.

Hahn pitched for the Cats in 2002 and 2003, posting a 9-4 record with a 3.73 ERA in 16 starts in 2003.

Smith, a veteran in his 40s when he pitched for the Cats, joined the team in 2004 and was 2-1 with a 3.86 ERA in four starts. The next year, he led the team with 11 victories and was part of the team that won the 2005 Central League championship in five games against the San Angelo Colts, the first of three Cats’ championships.

We’ve had several e-mails about the news that one of our best pitchers, Lee Gwaltney has gone to the Mexican League.  Some fans seem to think that we “sold” Lee to the Mexican League for money.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  We do not receive a penny for Lee’s contract from the Mexican League.

Lee went to the Mexican League because they offered him nearly three times what he can make in our league due to our salary cap. Mexican clubs are not bound by American laws and/or contractual agreements so there is nothing we can do to stop them from raiding our rosters and offering much larger salaries. The Mexican League teams play in mostly large cities and in larger ballparks so they have a much higher salary structure than all American independent leagues. They are also much more impatient. They have roster limits for American players and if an American pitcher has two or three bad outings in a row, or a hitter has a bad stretch of games, they will bring in another guy immediately. They are constantly scanning the independent league teams’ statistics and offering contracts to players who are racking up great numbers, such as Lee. It happened to us last year with Pedro Flores. They offered Pedro several thousand more than we were paying and he left in mid season. He had a couple of rough outings down there and he was back with us pretty quickly. There are other factors which enter into the player’s experience and length of tenure, such as the language barrier (which was NOT a problem for Pedro) with regard to not understanding what the other guys in the clubhouse are talking about all day and what the manager or coaches may be saying in team meetings, etc, some rugged bus rides, spotty playing field conditions, and unruly fans who deride players, especially Americans when their performance is the least bit shaky. It all adds up to make the big bucks WELL EARNED. So… We have to let him go, wish him well, and let him know that we will welcome him back when the Mexican League season ends (which can be in time to rejoin us if his team is not involved in playoffs), or sooner if he wishes to return to the comfortable surroundings in good old Fort Worth USA.

In the meantime, the Cats’ players, coaches and staff will press on with the mission of presenting the best possible effort we can put forth on the field and off, every day.

JPD

We’ve lost two outstanding broadcasters in the span of a week.

First it was Harry Kalas, the Hall of Fame voice of the Philadelphia Phillies, who passed away just hours before calling a game in Washington, D.C. Then yesterday, someone closer to home: the great Merle Harmon.

Harmon was best known around the DFW area as the TV voice of the Rangers from 1982-1989. He was behind the mic fr Mike Witt’s perfect game in 1984 and the night Nolan Ryan whiffed Ricky Henderson for his 5,000th career strikeout in 1989.

He gave a touching speech at the memorial service for Mark Holtz in 1997 at The Diamond Club at the Ballpark, detailing a personal conversation he had had with Mark about faith and believing that all thing, no matter how bad they were, happened for a reason.

Perhaps Harmon’s biggest claim to fame was the years he spent as the voice of football’s New York Jets and his time on network TV calling The Game of the Week.

But when I think of Merle Harmon, I think of a sunny Saturday afternoon a little over a year ago, when I had the privilege of driving Merle and our good friend Carroll Beringer over to Dallas for a special lunch with a number of their baseball friends from over the years.In the 45 minutes each way to and from lunch, I was entertained with some of the most riveting baseball stories I’d ever heard. It was absolutely enthralling, from the Ballpark Way exit in Arlington where we met Merle, over to Dallas and then back.

It was just two guys talking baseball. Who needs a radio when you have entertainment like that?

Even though I only had the chance to visit with Merle three or four times in my life, everything I had ever heard about Merle Harmon was confirmed in those brief encounters: he was an absolute class act.

I am eternally grateful to Carroll Beringer for introducing me to Merle and allowing me to bask in the presence of broadcasting greatness.

Thanks Carroll, and thank you Merle.

With the start of the new year came the new cable channel the MLB Network. Since all of my friends are tired of hearing about it, I decided to tell someone else: you, the blog reader.

The MLB Network has provided a much-needed baseball fix during these downright mild winter months. The studio shows and “hot stove” talk has been interesting at times, especially when the panel of experts includes erstwhile Rangers’ GM John Hart. If people in Detroit had a problem with Matt Millen being part of the Super Bowl broadcast crew, people in the Dallas-Fort Worth area should be equally up in arms about the idea of Hart’s talent evaluation ability being showcased. 

My question is, what golf course is he playing near the MLB Network studios in New York?

But back to the original point, the MLB Network’s best feature is its look back at baseball’s rich tradition.

They have dusted off Ken Burns’ Baseball for another well-deserved viewing. They are replaying old World Series highlight films, which have given us the chance to see some of the great names from baseball’s past, including many of those who have visited LaGrave Field in the last few years.

Watching Bobby Bragan’s double in the 1947 World Series was outstanding as well as seeing some of the stars like Maury Wills, Duke Snider and Harmon Killebrew in their prime has been very enjoyable. Last Sunday, they replayed Nolan Ryan’s 7th No-Hitter in it’s entirety as well as the White Sox-Red Sox game from 1981, Carlton Fisk’s first against his old team.

At a time when major league baseball’s image is in crisis, it’s great to be reminded of why we care about the game in the first place.

If you get the MLB Network through your cable or dish provider, check it out and enjoy.

The days and weeks immediately following our season are always a time of change in our business.  People move on to new opportunities, most often by choice but sometimes not.  Teams and leagues make many changes at this time of year.   Everything from relocations to changing the colors or logos even sometimes changing leagues!  Minor league baseball has always presented an ever-changing landscape.  I don’t know that there will be many changes in the makeup of the American Association this off-season.  We had a year of great changes last year with the addition of Grand Prairie and Wichita to the league.  Both teams have proven to be very good additions to our league in their inaugural seasons in the American Association.   

As we enter into yet another off-season, it is a time for recognition and reflection in the baseball business.   We recognize the accomplishments of players, coaches, teams and executives who have performed well over the just completed season and we pause to reflect upon the season.  In doing so, we also have a tendency to reflect upon seasons past.

As I reflect upon the seasons, I have much to be thankful for.  We’ve crossed paths with many wonderful people over the years.  We recently received some very nice news about one of those people, Josh Buchholz, General Manager of the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks.  Josh was named Northern League Executive of the Year for 2008.   We hired Josh as a clubbie for the 1996 season when we were starting up the Fargo franchise.  He came into my office at the end of the 1997 season and reminded me that I had promised him an opportunity in the front office if he did a good job in the clubhouse.  So, we made good on the promise and Josh joined us in the RedHawks’ front office.  He served two seasons as the clubbie and has been climbing the ranks in the RedHawks’ front office ever since.  He was named GM three years ago….. and he is a good one!

I sent a message of congratulations to Josh on the aabfan / nlfan website and he responded by sending me the e-mail below, which, of course makes me very proud……    

Hi John,

Thanks for the kind words on nlfan.com.  I will always appreciate the opportunities you gave me, and still remember and implement a lot of the lessons you taught me.Also…you actually had me in the clubhouse for 2 summers…into the front office in Oct., 1997 (after I “reminded” you about our discussion)…hahaha.

The Fort Worth operation has also seen three people move on to the Texas Rangers, one to the Sacramento Kings and another to the Dallas Cowboys….   these folks were hired by our organization…. and we are proud of them too!

But not everyone who comes to work at the ballpark stays in the sports world.  There are so many other folks that move into “real life” in such a positive way.   One point of pride came to me in a message just a couple of days ago when one of our former employees (she started with us as an intern in Columbus, GA), Kristen Turner, was invited to the White House by President Bush in recognition of a program she started called “Operation Remembrance” (Memory Boxes for families of fallen soldiers).  She worked very hard fund raising, processing, sending the boxes. The boxes are a comfort to the families.  Kristen now lives in El Paso.  Her husband has done a couple of tours in Iraq and they are stationed at Fort Bliss.   Her brother-in-law was killed by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan and I was privileged to attend his burial at Arlington National Cemetery last year.

There are many more stories about many more people who are out there contributing both in the sports world and in other walks of life.   So many fine people have passed through our ballparks over the last 35 years.  Sometimes I feel like a dad with literally dozens of children.

JPD

Before I go too far into this particular blog, I want to let you know that while the playoffs and our run for a fourth straight championship is very important to everyone in the Cats’ organization, we have to admit to being a little distracted by “real life” priorities right now.

Our “First Lady”, Linda Bell is at the top of everyone’s prayer list these days.  I don’t want to intrude on her (and Carl’s) privacy but I don’t think it is a secret around the ballpark that Linda is dealing with some very serious health issues at this time.  Many people have asked “where is Carl?”.  He is right where he should be…. at Linda’s bedside.  I am confident that she will be well again soon and Carl will be back at his familiar spot behind section J….   He told me he might try to make it over next week!  I hope he will have to do that!

We are also thinking about our own Dick Smith, who fell ill last night at the ballgame.  Dick was taken to Harris Hospital and is receiving excellent treatment there.  Again, in the interest of Dick’s privacy I will ask you all to pray for him and that he will be back at the ballpark again soon. 

On a more cheerfuI note, we want to thank several members of our Knothole Gang booster club for meeting the team bus early Sunday morning as the boys pulled in after an overnight ride from El Paso.  They had clinched the second half title out there and itmeant a lot to the team for fans to get up early on a Sunday morning and greet them with coffee, juice, fruit, donuts, kolaches, cookies and other snacks.  I don’t want to leave anyone out, so I won’t name names, but let me give you a hint on a couple of the people….  there was a big blue Cats’ flag being waved and cowbells were ringing!   There were a couple of other “props” that didn’t work quite as well as planned, but you’ll have to ask someone in the group to explain that incident!  Anyway…. thank you all… you know who you are and I hope you know how much our team appreciated it.  I heard many of the players express their thanks to those who were handing out the fo od and generally providing a warm “welcome home”.  This year’s team is a good group…. both ON and OFF the field.

Today is a tough day.  You would think it would get easier as we get older, more experienced and (supposedly) wiser.  But it doesn’t.

Looking back, a quick count tells me that this is the 17th time in our 35 pro seasons that we’ve been in the post-season derby.  Seems by this time, I should be able to shrug off some pressure….. WRONG!

When a team makes it into the post season everyone involved with the team from the owner, to the coaches and players, to the staff and, of course the most important people…. the FANS….  can feel how close we have come to the BIG PRIZE.  Once we get that close, we start thinking…… wow…. we’re just two or three wins away from winning everything!   Then, there is a tension and pressure that we all feel to get it done.  But, we have to remember, the guys in the other dugout, the players, coaches, trainers, staff and FANS of the other team have the same feeling, including the pressure and tension.

What we all need to understand is the fact that this IS a rivalry and that we want to win just as badly as they do.  Rivalries can be a good thing.  I think it is great that their fans came over in pretty good numbers to root them on.  I didn’t hear anything negative about the cheering… I think they kept the cheers and calls from the stands positive.

We have some fans who take delight in “insulting” the other team’s players.  I don’t agree with this, and we have actually asked some of them not to return after getting complaints from several season ticket holders and other fans in the vicinity of heckling fans.   In my opinion, heckling and insulting the other team only serves to motivate them to want to try harder to beat us and also makes for a very uncomfortable and non-family atmosphere.   We do receive e-mails about these kind of fans from time to time, and they are NOT positive emails.  I’ve never gotten an e-mail saying “the heckler sitting near me and my family was hilarious and made our experience more enjoyable”….   but fans do write to say that they were feeling very uncomfortable due to this kind of thing.

Another reason I do not like insulting or heckling is the fact that it is always possible that we will acquire a player from another team.  On our current team, Brian Fryer, Ed Montague, Paul Bartolucci, Jon Hunton, Pedro Flores, Aaron Sisk and Tim Haines have all played against the Cats at LaGrave Field.  It is hard to imagine how uncomfortable they probably feel when they first come out in a Cats’ uniform and hear some ugly remarks being directed at the other teams and remember when it was directed at them.

A lot of hecklers think that the “banter” they dish out is humorous… and sometimes, it can be a little funny.  They delight in getting a reaction from the player they are heckling and they seem to think that the players think it fun or funny.  Most of the time the players try to laugh as a means of sending a message that it is not bothering them, even though it is.  Fortunately, most players refrain from getting personal with fans and usually handle it quite well.  We did have an incident a couple of seasons ago when a Pensacola player became quite enraged at some of the things that were being said and he reacted very poorly and inappropriately.  Naturally, that is a nightmare of a situation.  On one hand, we have to get the player, who is NOT EVEN ON OUR OWN TEAM and thus, not completely under our control, to calm down…. and on the other hand, we have to get the people who are now cranked up and yelling some pretty ugly things to STOP.& nbsp; When this kind of thing gets fueled up… it can turn pretty vulgar and even sometimes threatening.  Last season, several fans asked me to deal with a fan who had made a very ugly sign with a very negative and borderline vulgar message.  I took his sign away (admittedy I could have been a little more tactful) and he told me he was going to be waiting for me in the parking lot!   I don’t think a civil discussion of the merits of his sign was what he had in mind.  Ironically, most of the people I know who are prone to this type of behavior are completely different when they are not sitting in stadium seats. �

That’s why we are saying that a rivalry like the Cats and AirHogs can be a good thing, as long as it is kept in the proper perspective.  And, with the tension involved in playoff baseball between two rivals, ugly chants, insults, foul language and generally unprofessional behavior creates a ripe opportunity for things to get out of hand.  We (the Cats) have had some incidents of unproffesional behavior in our history, and we have taken direct and immediate action to correct those situations.  I hope this type of behavior on the part of the Cats never occurs again.  If it were to happen again, we promise to deal with it swiftly and correctly as we have in the past.

There are two descriptions that ballplayers often use to describe the actions and other circumstances that surround them during the season…. “Big League” is one, meaning “classy” or “first class”…. and “Bush League”, meaning “second rate” or “undesirable” is the other.  Many of the managers and coaches in our league have been in the big leagues.  In our dugout, we have Wayne Terwilliger in that category.  He exemplifies the class and dignity that a true “major leaguer” in the best sense of being a “major leaguer”.  Our manager, Chad Tredaway is a true professional.  He did not play in the big leagues (his did play AAA and was traded for a big league manager!).  But he carries himself like a big leaguer.

We want to win.  Our players and coaches are putting a lot of pressure on themselves to repeat as champions for the fourth time.  Chad Tredaway is acutely aware that he was hired to continue a tradition of winning.  We also know that everyone outside of the city limits of Fort Worth wants someone other than the Fort Worth Cats to be champions of the American Association.   We are the only repeating team in the American Association playoffs this season.  Our players and coaches have high standards for themselves.  They don’t have to be told that there is pressure to repeat, because they are winners and they play to win.

Each team reflects the character and professionalism of the leadership….. they can act like major leaguers or they can act like bush leaguers….. 

 The four teams in our American Association playoffs are all excellent ballclubs.  The management, staff, coaches and players of all four teams are all to be commended for their excellent seasons.  We salute them….  we congratulate them….. we’re proud to be their “partners” in the American Association….. at the same time, from the first pitch to the last pitch of every game, we will try to beat them…. when it’s over…. we hope that the winners, be it Fort Worth, Grand Prairie, Sioux City or Sioux Falls, will handle it in “major league” style.

It is time for me to “pay some bills”.  I owe a lot… to a lot of folks.  I don’t have a lot of money, but I am a wealthy man.  Because I have been fortunate to accumulate many friends and loved ones.    I have some people to talk to you about.   These are not all of the people I should acknowledge, but they are all important people… so don’t put too much stock in the order of the list… just a little…. because these are all special people……  here’s a short list:

Our “Knothole Gang” booster club.  These people are incredible.  They do so many nice things for the team… most noteworthy are the “feeds” that they have put on after various games.  They cook and prepare food for the players from BOTH teams several times each year.  The idea is to do it one time for each visiting team….. and of course, the home team gets in on the action also… so we get fed several times a year.  Now, the Cats clubhouse manager, Corey Troxell, puts a meal out in the clubhouse for our players after every game, but the booster club “feeds” are more than just a meal…. it is a full course “feed” and in includes some warm and friendly smiles, conversation and just plain good feelings.  The tradition has been carried on each year since we’ve come back to LaGrave.  There are too many people to name, but you know who you are.  It is one of the reasons that players say Fort Worth is where they want to play.  So if you think the fans don’t have something to do with the fact that we are in the playoffs for the sixth time in our eight seasons… you’re wrong.  It is much appreciated by the ownership, staff, and players.  We love our booster club…. the “Knothole Gang”

Our team and staff.   I know that a lot of fans are wondering why we “overhauled” the team this year.  Just this morning, I was asked about why “T-Dog” was not around and who were we supposed to root for since we were so used to T-Dog, Mirizzi, Adolfo, etc.   Let me tell you…. minor league baseball is a game of change.  If you were a fan of the Frisco RoughRiders, you would NEVER get to see anyone more than 2 years.  If those guys in affiliated ball are there 2 years, they are OUT!  Even with our changes this season, we have several players who have been here for one or more of our previous championship seasons…. think about Joel Kirsten (what a pitcher!), John Allen (what a hitter!), Charles Carter, Ken Lup, Bryan Fryer, Dan Grybash, and Lee Gwaltney.   Meanwhile, who can argue that Jake Gautreau, Ed Montague, Nelson Teilon, Pedro Flores and Jon Hunton haven’t been FANTASTIC for us this season ! 

But here is the reason that I like this team as well as any we have had before….    These are genuinely GOOD YOUNG MEN.   This morning… after a very exciting game last night…. the ENTIRE TEAM got up early and went to Veterans Administration Hospital to visit with sick, recovering and disabled veterans.  I mean the ENTIRE TEAM…. from 83 year-old Wayne Terwilliger (a WWII hero himself) to the youngest and newest members of our team.  Trust me when I tell you that this is a good group.  Good guys who want to do good things.  They deserve our support.

Chad Tredaway assembles the team.  He has proven that he is a great young manager.  He is a four time manager of the year, and for my money, he should be the manager of the year again this season in the American Association.

Our front office staff is just as impressive.  They work hard every day.  They do it under great stress and often in less than ideal conditions.   They seek no recognition and just want to be a part of a successful organization.

The hours are long and the rewards are few for those who work on our staff.  Some of them will move on to other careers and some will stay in baseball, either with the Cats or with other organizations.  Either way, in the long run, they will look back on their experience with the Cats as a special time in their lives and even though they may not realize it right now, they will have learned a great deal.   

We (Lois and John) have many alumni who have gone on to a variety of successful careers.  Do we accept credit for their success?  YES.  Maybe it was because we taught them what NOT to do…. maybe it was because they learned something good… either way, they learned something and they move forward and it is a good thing.

Wayne Terwilliger.  This is, indeed, a special man.  It is hard to find words to describe Wayne Terwilliger.  Not only is he a solid, knowledgeable and passionate baseball man, he is an even better human being.  He sets an example for living that inspires everyone who comes in contact with him.  It is not surprising that we won our first of these consecutive championships with Twig as our manager.  He is the kind of man who brings out the best in everyone who works for him or with him.  I was not surprised that we won the pennant with Twig at the helm in 2005.  There was not a player on our team who wanted to let him down.  If you have not had a chance to know Wayne Terwilliger, that is too bad.  I consider the opportunity to work with him to be one of the greatest thrills and privileges of my baseball career.

Carl and Linda Bell.   I don’t think anyone really realizes how much these people have done for those of us who have benefitted from return of the Fort Worth Cats.  There is no way that the new LaGrave Field was going to be built by any government entity in Fort Worth.  Local leaders and baseball enthusiasts in our town had tried to generate interest in this project for several years.  It was clear that the ballpark was going to have to be built with private funds.  No local resident was willing to step forward and take the risk.  Carl and Linda Bell did it.  As the President of the Cats, not only do I owe them my moral support and loyalty, I owe them everything I can give… as do all Cats’ fans.  Carl and Linda are truly the finest people in every sense of the word.  They have no “ulterior motives” and they are all about doing good. &nbs p;Carl has often been described as a man who is “generous to a fault” and truthfully, he is that.  He has never taken ONE DOLLAR out of the Cats.  He has only PUT IN money.  Only a handful of the most wealthy and powerful residents of Fort Worth can honestly be said to have done more for the town than Carl and Linda Bell.

Bobby Bragan.  This marvelous man has done much for baseball, for Fort Worth, and for me personally.  His is a life most well lived. It is an incredible fact that Bobby, who will soon celebrate his 91st birthday takes virtually NO medication.  I know why he has lived so long and maintained such good health.  It is because he goes to sleep every night knowing that he has done his very best to be a good man and that he has been totally and completely honest in his dealings with everyone he has encountered each day.  Even if that honesty is blunt, and unpopular, he will not compromise his standards and beliefs.  He is able to admit that he has made mistakes and he fears no man.  There is a motto which is mounted on the wall of one of our favorite places in Fort Worth… Del Frisco’s Steak House.  It says “DO RIGHT AND FEAR NO MAN”  Bobby Bragan epitomizes this motto.

When I consider what incredible luck I encountered when he took me “under wing” almost 36 years ago, at the age of 23 I am moved to tears!

Lois Dittrich.   Most of our fans and even our staff would not have any idea how much Lois contributes to our organization.   She is a rock of stability and common sense.  She has provided me with over 40 years of love and support (we started “going steady” on December 4, 1966) and she has been the “baseball mom” for numerous MAJOR LEAGUE players, broadcasters and executives.   I get e-mails almost daily from people across the complete spectrum of the baseball world…. Tim Flannery, one of our former players and now a coach with the San Francisco Giants…..  Rick Rizzs, the radio voice of the Seattle Mariners…. Bob Licht, the TV voice of the New Orleans Hornets(NBA)… Ken Schnacke, the GM of the Columbus Clippers….  Vince Nauss, the Executive Director of Baseball Chapel….  Mark Shapiro, the General Manager of th e Cleveland Indians….   Steve Stewart, broadcaster with the Kansas City Royals….    I have heard from all of these “Dittrich alumni” recently and their e-mails always begin with “Please give my regards to Lois” or something even more intimate than that!

These guys have seen my act on a day-in and day-out basis, and they realize that I would be NOTHING without Lois… and SOME OF THEM would not have made it without her either…..   she made them meals, washed their laundry, served up motherly advice and inspired them to be successful simply by setting an example for them in many, many ways….  What they know above all is that she has always been there to help and support me.  They have seen it first hand… not talk or lip service… but real, true actions.

In the middle of all this, she raised three fine people who have made us proud in so many ways.

She continues to do these things every day…..    without her all of these baseball dreams I have lived would have never come true.

To sum it up….. it is important to all of us to have a great support network if we are going to enjoy any measure of success.  It is not possible to be successful alone in this world.  I pray that each of you will be as fortunate as I have been.  That you will encounter just as many people to help you along the way…….   and that you will be as “wealthy” as me.

JPD

OK…OK… I have had a few e-mails asking where I’ve been!  Frankly, I have been pre-occupied with our season finale homestand and preparations for the playoffs…

Another request I’ve had from some readers is for more “inside” stories.  The following items do NOT qualify as “inside” stories on the Cats, but they do constitute an inside look at a pretty good portion of a baseball life, and I hope you, dear readers, find it of interest.

A couple of weeks ago I was contacted by an old friend, Kathy Gierer, in Columbus, GA.  Kathy is a teacher / journalist and she served as the official scorer for the affiliated minor league teams in Columbus for about 20 years.

Columbus is losing its’ minor league team at the end of this season.  The owner has decided to move the franchise to a new stadium in Bowling Green, KY and Kathy has been commissioned to write a feature for the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer focusing on the memories of those who have been involved in professional baseball in Columbus.

Kathy contacted me to ask if I could take a few minutes to send her some of my memories.  We spent 5 very enjoyable years as General Manager of the Columbus RedStixx (1991-1995).  We were the Cleveland Indians class A affiliate in the South Atlantic League.  There are enough memories from those five years to fill a book.  I narrowed it down to a “David Letterman” list of eleven…  No, I couldn’t whittle it any further… I actually combined a couple of the personality memories into one item to get it down to eleven.  It might be a little self-indulgent of me to send these to you, but it is my hope that you will find these items an interesting “slice” of a baseball life.  Here are some Columbus, GA “memorable moments” in a countdown to number one style:

#11 -  Charlie Morrow purchases the RedStixx from Henry Gilbertie in late 1994…..   Both of these men were good guys, but I knew the handwriting was on the wall for our departure when Charlie bought the team.  He wanted to run it himself and he had his own ideas about how to do it.  I could tell he didn’t really want the old GM to hang around.  We spent the next season (1995) familiarizing Charlie with the community and the baseball world, then we left for a new challenge in Fargo, ND.  Charlie did a lot of good in Columbus and it was a loss to the community when he died in March of 1998 at the young age of 42.

#10 - David Bell and Pete Rose, Jr.   In our first two seasons in Columbus (1991 & 1992), we had two young third basemen with a pedigree… David Bell, son of Buddy Bell, grandson of Gus Bell, and Pete Rose, Jr.

I remember that David, just 19 years old in 1991, struggled in the first half of the season, hitting something shy of .200 with no homers…. but by the end of the year, he had something like 5 home runs and about 60 RBI.  He went on to a pretty good major league career.  David was a class act.  Very mature for his age and a real pleasure to have around.

Both Buddy and Gus Bell came to Golden Park more than once to watch David play ball.  It was a thrill to get to know them as well.  I still have a framed item with all three of their baseball cards, signed.

Pete Rose, Jr.  “Petey”…  was with us the next year, in 1992.  He actually did get to the majors briefly many years later with the Reds.  For us, he was solid at third and he too was very professional in all his dealings with us.   I remember his car being vandalized and he handled it with class…..  and my son didn’t mind that after the incident, Pete asked him to drive his fancy Mercedes to our house during road trips and to feel free to use the car if he wanted to!

Although Pete Rose, Sr. never showed up at Golden Park (at least that we know about, because he was banned from baseball), Pete Jr.’s mom, Karolyn was there several times.   Lois got to know her pretty well… I recall she like to be called “Kettle”… and she was shaped like one by that time!

#9 - Columbus hosts the SAL All-Star game in 1993…….    We had a crowd of over 5,000 fans at “old” Golden Park that day.  I remember handing out the all-star watches at the luncheon that day and giving one to Derek Jeter, who was a South Atlantic League all-star with Greensboro that year.  Every time I see Derek Jeter play a game on TV for the Yankees, I wonder if he still has his little ol’ SAL All-Star watch from Columbus, I think about the fact that I still have mine…  how many people have that watch?   Me and Derek Jeter for two!   Also, our field manager, Mike Brown, was married at home plate before the all-star game in front of 5,000 fans!   I don’t know if folks in Columbus, particularly the “powers that be”, appreciated how neat that was to host that game.   If I had more time, I would look up the total list of players who played in that ga me…. Derek Jeter is not the only big name player who played in that game!

#8 - Willie Canate is picked in the MAJOR LEAGUE “rule 5 draft” by the Blue Jays.   This may seem strange… but at the time, Pat Gillick (now GM of the Phillies) was the GM of the Blue Jays.   One day, he called the RedStixx office to speak to me.  I was stunned.  I had met him on a few occasions, but we were hardly pals.  The reason he called is that he was thinking of buying stock in Synovus and he knew it was a Columbus company.  He wanted my take on the company!!!!    I happened to know a couple of people who had pretty good positions with the company so I made a call and got the head of investor relations to call Pat Gillick in Toronto.  Later, he actually travelled to Toronto and made a personal call on Gillick.   At the end of my phone conversation, Gillick asked me if we had any good players on the RedStixx.   I told him that Willie Canate had been very good for us and I thought he had an outside chance of playing in the big leagues.   Later that winter, the Blue Jays selected Willie in the rule 5 draft from the Indians…. they selected him in the MAJOR LEAGUE phase, which meant that they had to keep him in the majors for that next year…. which they did.   It was Willie’s only year in the majors, and I feel that it would never have happened but for that call from Pat Gillick.  Obviously, I am NO scout!

#7 - The 1991 rain-plagued season.   That first season in 1991 was the wettest of the five seasons we spent in Columbus… lots of rainouts and even more “rain affected” games.  We had a small staff and the field wasn’t in the best shape when we got there in the spring since it had been neglected all winter.  I raked a lot of mud and was very frustrated… I remember standing at second base with the umpires, our manager Mike Brown and the visiting manager, I believe it was Lorenzo Bundy, and having what was close to a nervous breakdown… totally frustrated about our inability to get any decent weather.  We must have played “Rainy Night in Georgia” 500 times on the PA system that year! �

#6 - The board of all-time greats.   I was very proud of the board which was mounted above the main concession stand at the “old” Golden Park.  It was my idea to create a very visible board listing the names of the baseball greats who had played on that historic spot.  The list is long and impressive…. something that makes a first time visitor to that park appreciate the historical significance of the place.  If it wasn’t my idea…. I am going to take credit for it anyway!

#5 - Fort Benning and the US Army.  Everyone knows how much Fort Benning means to Columbus, but what I appreciated about it most was the opportunity to meet so many great folks who were in Columbus because of Fort Benning.  Both active service, retired and civilian employees.   People like Rosemary and Linwood Johnson, Dave and Linda Turner, Jim and Judy Walker, Steve and Dot Thiele, and many, many, more good folks who work or have been stationed there.  These folks work or worked at the post and also for the team.  They are solid, dependable, honest, just flat out good people who we consider friends for life.  I was fortunate to be on the board of directors of the local chapter of the A.U.S.A. (Association for the United States Army) and got to meet the Commanding Generals and Bird Colonels who ran Fort Benning… We attended Ranger graduations, change of command ceremonies, and many, many more events that really reinforced my pride in America.

#4 - Dayton Preston.  What a man!  Dayton had been the owner AND general manager of the Columbus Astros for most of the 20 plus years that the previous class AA club had been in town.  I had heard of him before we moved to Columbus, but you have to meet the man to understand his love for Columbus and for the baseball team.   He was so helpful to us in getting started and getting introduced to folks.  I’ve taken the reins of other teams in other cities where the previous management is of little or no help… they may be bitter about things in the past, etc.   But not Dayton… he was helpful, friendly, just an all around good guy.

#3 - The RedStixx staff… both full time and seasonal.  We had so many good, solid, dependable, honest, friendly, helpful, just plain GREAT people who worked for us over those five years….   I will list some of them…. I know I will forget some…. but here are some folks who I place on our list of FRIENDS FOR LIFE….   Rosemary Johnson, Dave and Linda Turner, Jim Walker, Rick Jacobson, Steve Thiele, Kathy Gierer, John Atkinson, Jack Rogers, Carol Dean, Dave Wilson, Kevin McNabb, Mark Littleton, and so many more… like Cecil Darby (our historian).

#2 - The announcement of the team…. in February 1991.   We held a press conference at the Holiday Inn to announce that the old class AA “Mudcats” were going to be replaced by a CLASS A affiliate of the Cleveland Indians.   The farm director of the Indians, Dan O’Dowd (now the GM of the Colorado Rockies) was there, as was Dayton Preston, Spec Richardson, Cecil Darby and a good media turnout.  If I recall correctly, it was February 14, 1991 or at least very close to Valentines Day…. and we were going to open the season on April 9!!!  We had the podium in front of a fireplace in the hotel and my back was to the burning fire.  Richard Hyatt of the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer wrote the article for the paper the next day.  He referred to having my backside to the fire… getting a new full-season franchise open and operating in less than 60 days!   The ballpark had been neglected all winter and the fiel d was knee high in weeds.  I remember mowing it myself the first time WITH A PUSHMOWER… just to get the weeds down!  But we did it… we were up and running with the INDIANS in less than 60 days.   We did not change to RedStixx until 1992… that’s another good story.

#1 - TIE…..  Willie Bowman and Spec Richardson.   These men are the two GREATEST BASEBALL FIGURES IN COLUMBUS.   Willie Bowman was the peanut vendor at Golden Park since the day it opened in 1950.  His sales pitch was hard to ignore….  “HEY, GOODY, GOODY, GOOODY, GOOOODY PEANUTS!”  and the famous ‘WE HAVE A SPECIAL TODAY…. BUY ONE - GET ONE!”  (Get it?  If you buy one bag…. you get just that…. ONE BAG!)  It wasn’t just his peanut salesmanship, it was the smile that he managed to put on everyone’s face just by walking past them with his famous call and booming voice that could be heard from anywhere in the ballpark.  He was truly a special, vital and unique part of the Golden Park experience.  I know it is hard to imagine calling a peanut vendor the greatest baseball figure in Columbus…. but that is what he is.  Anyone who has ever seen Willie do his thing would have t o agree with me.  He is the only peanut vendor I know who has a bobble-head and knowing Willie Bowman for me was a 100% pure pleasure.  He is in my hall-of-fame for sure.�

The same thing goes for Spec Richardson.  H.B.”Spec” Richardson grew up in Columbus.  He started his baseball career working in the concession stands at Golden Park.  Later, he became the business manager and eventually moved to the Jacksonville, FL ballclub and then on to the class AAA Houston Buffs.  When Houston was awarded a major league expansion team in 1962 Spec had already become the right-hand man of the famous Judge Roy Hofheinz who owned the “Colt .45’s (later changed to Astros).  In his job with the Judge and later as GM of the Astros, Spec oversaw the construction of the EIGHTH WONDER OF THE WORLD…. THE HOUSTON ASTRODOME.   A true local boy “made good”.  He was the general manger of two major league teams and the NATIONAL LEAGUE EXECUTIVE OF THE YEAR in 1978 with the San Francisco Giants…. he was, in his heyday, one of the most colorful and well liked executives in the major leagues.  Spec started hi s career in Golden Park…. and made it to the pinnacle of major league baseball as a major league general manager.  When he retired, Spec and his wife Tommye (also a local gal) returned to their roots in Columbus.  Spec made himself available to help me in any way help was needed.  He was not above sitting at a desk and answering the phones, nor getting behind a concession counter to sell popcorn.  Of course, his advice and counsel was the biggest help.

Getting to know Willie Bowman and Spec Richardson… that tops my list!

There it is.  A glimpse into 5 of 35 plus years in a baseball life.  Looking back on it, those were some pretty good years.  Our two oldest kids graduated from Columbus High School (also alma mater of baseball slugger Frank Thomas).  We were in the playoffs at least twice… I have to look it up to remember… it might have been three times… but we never won the league title.   The Fort Worth experience has been the only one in our career that may top Columbus, Georgia.

JPD