Road Trip-Eastlake

The 2017 barrage of August road trips began early with a hastily scheduled trip alone to Eastlake, Ohio for another Cleveland Sports Night.

The ballpark to your right is NOT the home of the Lake County Captains and yet it was still special to me for a few reasons that I'll write about later, but for now- you'll have to wait a bit for that!

The Lake County Captains always do a great job with this annual event with one small problem wait until the very last moment to announce their guests!

This creates several problems -the first is that both Cherie and I have to gamble on the guests and getting the days off work.
The second is that you have to hope that you can find items quickly to be signed.

The end result for this year's event meant I drove to Cleveland alone, which had its own style of fun, but I did miss some company, although this is something to be said for lots of time to think on the road.

I needed a Browns helmet badly as I didn't want to use my "two bar" helmet, but it was looking like I might have to use it, but I had a bounce go my way as a trip to Rocky Ridge found a Browns helmet for 7.50 signed by a one year Brown running back-journeyman James Jackson.

Rather than paying 20 or 25 dollars for a helmet in Ohio (and the time spent running around trying to find one), I bought this and a few swipes of the Staedtler eraser later, Jackson's signature was gone and the helmet was ready for Eastlake!

I left after Cherie went to work and drove out with just one stop, so I arrived around three o'clock for a gate opening of six.
That's way too much sitting around for my taste, but the more money that I could save the better as I have so many trips coming up and need to get budgets under control.

Fortunately, I caught a break and the Captains learned from past events with the lines for the guests and opened the gates at FIVE for the seven o'clock game against the West Michigan Whitecaps (Tigers Low A).
Due to this decision and a tip to go to a side entrance for the Francisco Lindor bobblehead, I was sixth in line and in the stadium far earlier than expected!

CSN featured Len Barker of 1981 perfect game fame from the Indians, former Browns Greg, and Mike Pruitt (no relation), Cavalier announcer and center on the Miracle of Richfield team Jim Chones, and forward Campy Russell, who I had gotten two years ago and a few others that I didn't need.

You were supposed to be limited to one each, but I was able to get Mike Pruitt on three cards in the parking lot (he parked a car down from me) and when Len Barker saw one of my Kellogg's cards, he seemed to like it.
I asked if he had it and he said no, I told him he could keep it if he did all of my stuff and he was happy to do so.

Greg Pruitt signed two cards and my helmet and Jim Chones signed both of my cards as I waited in line for Len Barker (Chones's table ran right by the line for Barker).

Chones was the chattiest of all as we talked about his time playing for Larry Brown in the old ABA with the Carolina Cougars and his memories of the Capital Centre in Landover, Maryland.

It was quick as the lines moved fast and everything was so well done and I had time to work on the West Michigan Whitecaps or rather the one player that I wanted on their team-former first rounder Derek Hill, who had a 2015 Top 100.

I've written in the past about Lake County's graphing being in the air and space is at a premium.
I didn't try to squeeze in for Hill among the throng, because I didn't want to be "That Guy" from out of town that didn't respect local protocol.

So I went to field level for Hill-He signed two for others and left, so I went to the other side of the field and tried-no dice "Gotta stretch".

Now, I'm getting desperate as I need him plus I wanted to get Kendall Morris' Top 100 and Mike Landucci's baseball for his collection too.
I like to help the people that help me, but I was alone and things weren't looking good.

Hill walked by after his stretch and I asked him to sign two cards, which he did, but when I asked for the ball," Naw, man got you two".

I asked a kid next to me if he would run to the far side of the dugout and get him on the ball, would he for five bucks?
I don't like doing that, but the ball won't be for sale anyway and I needed to get the ball done for Mike.
It worked out, the kid made five bucks and Mike got his ball for his collection, so all's well that ends well.

After leaving and getting a few hours of sleep, I was up and on the road before 6:30 AM.
Why so early? Had to get home for the annual IFL Draft and I wanted to be back in plenty of time to hang out with the guys.

I tried a twist on what we call the "back way" home from Ohio.
It's about an hour longer, but avoids the PA Turnpike and more importantly keeps 25 dollars in my pocket and not in the state of Pennsylvania's!

The twist was arriving at I-77 at a different point and that allowed this -As I looked over the area, and I saw baseball lights, which always trigger something,
I wondered briefly and quickly thought, "I wonder if"...

Two stoplights and a turn or two later, I arrived at Thurman Munson Memorial Stadium in Canton Ohio and the gate to the parking lot was open!

I turned in and saw the stadium gate was open as well and started snapping pictures as I figured someone could tell me to leave at any time.
I took field pictures and stepped out on the field for more and then the groundskeeper asked what I was doing.
I explained and he said all was fine, just asked that I not step on the dirt, and then told me what the former home of the Eastern League's Canton-Akron Indians (now the Akron Rubber Ducks) was up to.

The stadium now hosts college league games and the Ohio senior league and the field itself is still in very good shape-I'd rate it better than Hagerstown Municipal's playing surface for sure, even I wouldn't from the fans' perspective.

Thurman Munson Stadium (named after the native late Yankee catcher) was built in 1989 for the AA Indians and was a basic structure intended to bide time until a better stadium was finished.
Canton wasn't willing to do so, Akron was and after the completion of Canal Park in 1997, the team moved to the neighboring city.

Honestly, you can understand why the team left. it seems more of a 1940s field than a 1980s and it might not have more amenities than Hagerstown.

I always made time to see Canton-Akron during their run in the EL with Hagerstown and one of my favorite pictures of Ryan as a little boy has him wearing the cap of the Canton-Akron Indians.

For those sentimental reasons, I was thrilled to add this stadium to my list as a trip bonus.
I had a nice time and after Munson, drove straight through and made it to the Holiday Inn in plenty of time to spare.

Glad I was able to get this trip in at the last minute and had a nice time.
I will be back over the next day or two with the sad news of the passing of Glen Campbell and my trip to Bristol and Salem VA to complete my set of ballparks in the state of Virginia!!! 

Cleaning out the inbox- Mostly Non-Sports edition

Time to clean the non-sports inbox and we'll start with someone managing to stick it to ESPN,which I'm usually in favor of!

When ESPN made their massive layoff of both on-air talent and writers on their website,many of which were very talented and which I wondered about at the time-one of the names that I really questioned was Jaymee Sire,who I ranked right at the top of the anchors that I liked best with ESPN retainees Lisa Kerney and John Anderson.
I was a fan of Sire from her time at Comcast Bay Area (Now NBC Bay Area) when I was just starting to watch the Giants and my fanhood developed from there,so I liked her and was surprised to see her name as one of those let go.
Part of all the ESPN "layoff" was that in order to take their buyout package,they couldn't work for another competing network (AKA the Non-Compete clause).
Sire has apparently found her way around that by surfacing at Food Network as a "floor reporter" on an Iron Chef America spinoff named Iron Chef Showdown,hosted by another TRS favorite in Alton Brown of Good Eats fame.
Good for Sire in finding another profile gig and keeping her ESPN money to boot!

USA Today writes of an upcoming change for Coke Zero,which will soon be known as Coca-Cola Zero Sugar.
The article says the ingredients are exactly the same,so the recipe must only be mildly changed.
Coke says this tastes even more like original Coke than Coke Zero (like they aren't going to say that),but coming from the company that brought you New Coke,I'll have to be convinced!
Leave it to big business to fix something that isn't broken as Coke Zero was my favorite brand of cola-when I had to drink cola that is!

Former baseball reporter (in Boston and Baltimore) Jen Royle,who after leaving the baseball business is currently a chef,tossed off the gloves in this Twitter battle for the ages against former ESPN'er (and locally in Washington) Britt McHenry.
Royle,who was known for her non-homer reporting,took on McHenry over what was reported to be Royle's NOT owning a restaurant.
The language turned colorful really quickly and reads much better on Awful Announcing than it will here!
I didn't see any of these tweets in "real time",but I lean toward Royle because of the track record of McHenry,who has blamed her ESPN release on her being a conservative and especially for this memorable night against a parking lot attendant....


I'll finish with the passing of former Phillies catcher Darren Daulton at the age of 55 from cancer.
Daulton was such a tough and gritty player that he was one of those guys that was loved by teammates and grudgingly respected by opponents that would have loved to have had him on their team.
The lefty swinger was a pretty average player on the stat sheet with the exception of career years in 1992 and 1993,which were very divergent years for the Phillies ranging from last place to the National League pennant,but I loved watching Daulton play with such hustle and vigor.
Daulton will be missed....

Boxing Challenge-Lomachenko dominates Marriaga

The boxing challenge continues after a three fight weekend that saw me score four points and Ramon Malpica score three.
I lead the challenge 98-90.

In the weekend's biggest fight,Vasyl Lomachenko won every round in stopped an overmatched Miguel Marriaga,when Marriaga's corner made the correct decision in stopping the fight after round seven after Lomachenko knocked Marriaga down and battered him around the ring.
Lomachenko also dropped Marriaga in the third and was never tested by a solid fighter that showed guts by raising to 130,but might have been better suited to have stayed at 126.
I had Lomachenko ahead 70-66 after seven and clearly there is no one at 130 pounds anywhere near his ability.
I scored two points for the Lomachenko knockout,with Ramon getting one for his victory..

Because I was in Ohio (story coming in a few days),I missed the Lomachenko fight live and as of now,I haven't watched the co-feature in which Ray Beltran won a majority decision over Bryan Vasquez.
Ramon and I each earned a point for Beltran's win..

Friday night on ESPN had the best action of the weekend as aging welterweight warhorses hooked it up in a sterling action battle as Mauricio Herrera won a majority decision over Jesus Soto-Karass.
The fight had been billed as a loser should leave boxing bout,but both showed enough to be considered to still have a little bit left,assuming they are matched properly.
The tenth was spent with plenty of toe to toe action and I wouldn't be against a rematch as I scored it 95-95,but no quibbles with the two cards that gave Herrera a 96-94 edge.
Ramon and I each scored one point for the Herrera victory.

I'm quite busy coming up,but I plan on catching up later in the week with my trip to Ohio and Bristol VA and some notes on today's passing of Don Baylor...

Boxing Challenge

The boxing challenge continues with a three fight weekend,one of which features one of the top fighters in the world as Vasyl Lomachenko defends his WBO junior lightweight title against Miguel Marriaga on ESPN.

Marriaga made a very nice showing in a spirited effort last time out in losing a close decision to WBO featherweight champ Oscar Valdez,but losing to Valdez is one thing-making the giant leap up to Lomachenko is another.
It will be nice for the regular fan to see the talents of Lomachenko as the Top Rank-ESPN arrangement continues to flourish..
The co-feature has Ray Beltran staying busy before his lightweight title shot vs Bryan Vasquez in a ten rounder.

The third bout is also on ESPN,but on Friday as the Golden Boy series continues with two faded warhorses hooking up in a welterweight bout.
Mauricio Herrera might best be remembered for being robbed against Danny Garcia a few years back along with a disputed (on my card) decision win over Ruslan Provodnikov,while his opponent Jesus Soto-Karass has fought many exciting wars against most of the welterweight division,losing most,but winning the occasional fight (Andre Berto and Selcuk Aydin) to remain a fringe contender/gatekeeper.
The winner will stick around for another fight against a prospect or contender,the loser should consider hanging the gloves up.

I lead Ramon Malpica in the boxing challenge 94-87.

WBO Junior Lightweight title. 12 rds
Vasyl Lomachenko vs Miguel Marriaga
R.L:Lomachenko unanimous decision
TRS:Lomachenko KO 9

Lightweights.10 rds
Ray Beltran vs Bryan Vasquez
R.L: Beltran KO 5
TRS:Beltran KO 3

Welterweights.10 rds
Mauricio Herrera vs Jesus Soto-Karass
Both:Herrera unanimous decision

Road Trip:State College

We decided to make a short day trip to State College Pa and even with the baggage that I have towards this place,I always enjoy going here-go figure.

Mike Oravec had never been to State College and his list is even longer than my extensive list so that's saying something!
That means that this noon start was circled on the calendar early in the season for Mike.
We drove north and picked up Fred Landucci and drove to State College and breakfast at IHOP.
I've always liked IHOP although I don't eat out at ours very often-mainly because you can get whatever you want (I've noted in the past that I am not a big breakfast fan),I ordered something called the Denver Omelette Burger and it was decent enough.
It's funny,I like most breakfast foods,but I'm not a fan of breakfast-strange,I know.

After breakfast,we drove the few miles to Medlar Park through what appeared to be orientation park at Penn State,
It is the paradox of my visits to State College-I dislike Penn State,their "We Are" culture and particularly the looming giant that is Beaver Stadium across the street,yet this is one of my favorite ballparks to visit.
I love the way I'm treated by the staff (as long as I don't wear Buckeye gear,LOL),there isn't a bad seat in the place and it's a great graphing park for both pre and post game.
In other words,Medlar Park is a jewel.

Medlar Park is always a great graphing stadium,which isn't always the case with fairly new stadiums.
You can graph both teams from the same spot and get a lot of things finished at once-a plus when you are only doing a stadium for one day.
We graphed the visiting Auburn Doubledays and warned their players about their promotion to Hagerstown and what awaited them them as far as the Muni goes.
I didn't have many cards for Auburn-actually just a few for one player-pitcher Yonathan Ramirez,who I had in the Hagerstown Suns team set.
Ramirez asked Mike and I,if he could keep a Suns card and Mike said sure,if he signed all his cards.
It was odd though,when Ramirez got to the last card and started to sign it,I told him he didn't have to sign it since it was his.
Ramirez signed it anyway,smiled,said thanks and then put it in his clipboard and smiled as he walked away.
I only needed a few for the home Spikes,which was Bryce Denton on a newly acquired Perfect Game card and Scott Hurst on a USA card and then after a while,we were off to CC Peppers.

CC Peppers is a local cheese steak joint that must be a hit with the Penn State crowd as two tables down sat two assistant coaches from their perennial doormat men's basketball team.
It was a sparsely decorated place with posters of mostly Penn State,but had one that always is a must have picture!
The Richard Nixon picture that most oddballs such as myself go to for their Nixon of choice is the classic Nixon with Elvis Presley,but that's the "tourist" version.
The real Nixon aficionado uses the Nixon bowling on the White House lanes and that is what poster was featured at CC Peppers.

I ordered the special of the day,which was a steak sandwich,fries and a soda.
The ordering system might confuse a newcomer or two,but the steak was very good and as were the fries.
The place could have done a better job clearing tables,but it seemed to be more along the lines of just too much traffic to keep things running and that's not a bad way to go..
If you ever hit the Spikes,try CC Peppers-it's a little out of the way from the stadium,but nothing awful and worth the drive.

We went home soon after and I made it home to do the Hickory Crawdads in Hagerstown.
But another fun road trip with y friends and well worth the time-even if I did have to go to State College....

John Reaves

John Reaves passed away Tuesday at the age of 67.
Reaves, a former first-round pick of the Philadelphia Eagles and star of the USFL's Tampa Bay Bandits was well known for that and his record-setting career at Florida, where at one time, Reaves held the NCAA's record for passing yards, but in recent years might have been almost just as well known to college football fans as the father of Layla Kiffin, the beautiful ex-wife of controversial football coach-Lane Kiffin.

Reaves might have been an NFL failure as a starter, although he was shoved into a starting role as a rookie on a bad team in Philadelphia in a time that rookie quarterbacks rarely found success, but he was a star in the USFL as he was the triggerman for Steve Spurrier's Tampa Bay Bandits for "Bandit Ball", which was a wide-open and fun offense even for a league noted for such offense.

Reaves was not very mobile, so he was pretty easy to sack even behind the Bandits offensive line, which was one of the better lines in the league, so I can imagine how he was a sitting duck behind the line of the 2-11-1 1972 Eagles, which was his main starting stint in the NFL.
However, in the USFL, he was able to get the ball out quickly and avoid rushes far better than his mobility would suggest. which allowed him to throw for over 4,000 yards twice with the Bandits.
Reaves also was one of the replacement players during the three-game 1987 lockout as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers used the popularity of the Bandits (the lockout was barely two years after the final game of the USFL) to gain a little bit of familiarity with the non-union players for the fans.
Reaves went 1-1 for the replacement men in Tangerine and never played afterward.

Reaves spent some time coaching high school and on the Steve Spurrier staff at Florida along with a non-Spurrier stint at South Carolina, but battled drug addiction in the 1980s before getting clean for decades before a 2008 arrest for drugs and gun possession that sent Reaves back to drug counseling.
Reaves is currently part of the lawsuit of former players against the NFL for symptoms of CTE and the surviving family plans on offering Reaves' brain for examination for the suit.

I've written a lot about the USFL and I'm still planning forgotten superstars on the 1983 Chicago Blitz after the earlier post on the 1984 Arizona Wranglers. but the story that so many of you might want to hear (from conversations anyway) is the connection with Donald Trump and why I dislike him so-someday soon perhaps...

Pirates trade Tony Watson to Dodgers

The Pirates made a move at the trading deadline as the Pirates traded long time reliever Tony Watson to the Los Angeles Dodgers in exchange for two minor leaguers.

The 32 year old Watson had moved up the ladder through his seven years in Pittsburgh as he evolved from long man to LOOGY to setup man and at the beginning of this season-closer,which turned out to be a role that he struggled with and was removed from in June.
Watson will likely be used in a setup relief role as a Dodger and will be a compliment to the closer Kenley Jansen there.
Watson still throws hard and could have success with the team with the best current record in baseball..

Tony Watson was the last of a bunch of prospects that ranged back to the beginning of 2007-when I was in my first few years of autographing,still learning the ropes of the hobby and the first year of this blog.
The blog has changed through the years and back then it was prospect heavy.
I still enjoy prospects,but I've changed a little bit because I've grown tired of the large cost of prospect books (Baseball America is now to the point of after shipping and taxes of being over forty dollars!)
Watson and Jared Hughes (Released at the end of last season,now with the Brewers) were the last (other than Andrew McCutchen) of that initial Pirates prospect series to remain as a Pirate and I always enjoyed seeing how they managed to perform in their big league career.
It's fun to look back at those posts and see who I was right about and who I was wrong on as well....

The Pirates are bringing in two players from the Dodgers system that were at Low A Great Lakes,and were assigned to Low A West Virginia for the Pirates.
6'6 Oneil Cruz is playing shortstop currently,but appears to be headed to third base considering his frame.
Cruz hit .240 as a Loon with eight homers,so he shows power potential,but the bad news is that there is a LOT of swinging and missing with 110 strikeouts in 89 games.
Cruz did receive a near million dollar bonus from the Dominican Republic and considering his age (19) and the Dodgers aggressive handling of him (Low A was his first year playing in the United States),he still has potential..

Angel German is reported to be a hard thrower (mid 90's) and posted a 1.91 ERA for Great Lakes,which looks sharp.
German is 21,which isn't old for the level and throws strikes (37 strikeouts to 14 walks),but I always wonder when pitchers are already full time relievers in low A.
The normal handling of pitching prospects is to try them as starters for as long as you can before moving to the bullpen.
Guzman's arm is intriguing,but there has to be a reason...

Back later with more!