Leaving On a Jet Plane
The most pressing thing that needs to be conveyed at this moment in space and time, from a blogging perspective, is this: next week there will be no new blog posts. This is because I’m taking a a week-long respite from Minor League Baseball, in the form of a vacation.
When I return, it will be nearly March. And if it’s nearly March it’ll nearly be baseball season. Therefore, it’ll be time for me to make some plans — where to go, who to see, and how to best cover this multifarious entity known as Minor League Baseball.
Suggestions welcome, and appreciated! Unique content is key, so please get in touch with any knowledge you may have about any particular corner of this Minor League universe.
I look forward to your reply. But, in the meantime, here’s a nice-sized portion of that typical Biz Blog content you’ve come to know and tolerate.
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As I’ve mentioned before, we’re in the midst of “promotion unveiling season.” One of the more interesting ones to come down the pike this week comes courtesy of the Memphis Redbirds, who have put an interesting spin on the increasingly prevalent “social media” sub-genre.
Reports the team:
The first 500 fans through the gates that use Twitter can write down their Twitter username, allowing the Redbirds to follow them. Prior to the game, a Twinterview will be held with one of the Memphis Redbirds players. Twitter handles from each player will also be included on their headshots on the Redbirds’ new video board.
Fans will be encouraged to take a photo from where they sit at the ballpark and share it on Facebook. Adding their seat location to the picture caption will give them a chance to win a social media themed prize during the game. One fan will also receive a prize pack that includes a bird watching book, a team-signed hashtag and a box of figurines containing 140 characters.
Not surprisingly, my favorite aspect of this promo is the “prize pack.” I look forward to seeing what a “team-signed hashtag” looks like, and, especially, what sort of figurine characters end up in the box.
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My last post had a Valentine’s Day emphasis, but now that particular holiday is firmly in the rear-view mirror. Or, is it? In honor of the Red Sox’s new manager, the Lowell Spinners are hosting their own “Valentine’s Day” on July 14.
Ya gotta love it:
The first 1,000 fans through the gates will receive a pink Bobby Valentine’s Day Spinners’ baseball. Fans who do not receive a baseball will be rewarded with Valentine’s candies and cards so no fan is left lonely on Bobby Valentine’s Day.
The concourse will feature a Valentine’s card swap area, with Valentine’s available for younger fans to give to each other, leave for their favorite Spinners players or, of course, leave for Bobby Valentine. The area will also have an abundance of Valentine’s Day favorites, including Hershey’s Kisses and NECCO Hearts.
Outside of Valentine’s Day, the Spinners will also salute Bobby Valentine by exploring some of their favorite Bobby V-isms. The concession stand will feature wrap sandwiches, in honor of their inventor, and the team will celebrate Bobby’s fabulous ballroom dancing moves, with a between innings dancing contest.
As I mentioned on Twitter earlier this week, a component that needs to be added to this stellar promo is a mustache giveaway. And all fans in disguise should get in free!
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A reasonable question to ask at this juncture is “who cares about any of this stuff? The world is ending!” The Frederick Keys understand such apocalyptic angst, and are therefore staging “Six Months Until the End of the World Night” on June 21.
“We will be paying tribute to what is supposed to be the end of life on earth with our six months til the end of the world celebration. Enjoy survival of the fittest events, last meal eating contests, zombie interns and more!” reported the team. “Oh, and there will be Keys baseball too.”
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If the above didn’t satiate your appetite for apocalyptic images, then perhaps this will.
Photo: Laura Brinkman
Yep, that’s Visalia Rawhide mascot Tipper with his ol’ buddy Newt Gingrich at Tuesday’s World Ag Expo.
“Newt Gingrich” sounds like a good name for a Zooperstars character. This beloved troupe of pun-obsessed inflatables are visiting Charlotte on May 26, with five of the characters confirmed. The team has launched a fan poll to determine the final two characters, with the choices as follows:
- Manatee Ramirez
- Yao Flamingo
- Jeff Gordog
- Centipete Rose
- Mackerel Jordan
- Nolan Rhino
A manatee, a clam, and a centipede walk onto a baseball field...
The triumvirate of above characters look like they could be gatekeepers to the afterlife, but fortunately we won’t have to deal with such matters for another six months. In the meantime, all you need is Like!
The New Hampshire Fisher Cats are aiming for 10,000 new Facebook fans this month, and will donate $5000 to New Horizons soup kitchen and homeless if this goal is met. So CLICK HERE and like away!
And you know what? That’s going to do it for me. I’ll be back on the blog come 2/27, but in the meantime please meditate on what you like about this blog, what you don’t, and what you’d like to see from it in the future. I’d love to hear it.
benjamin.hill@mlb.com
twitter.com/bensbiz
Lonely in Love, Learning to Like, and, of course, Logos
We are born alone, and die alone. And often, as the case may be, we spend Valentine’s Day alone. Fortunately, at least two Minor League teams expanded their traditional Valentine’s Day offers to include those unencumbered by an actual relationship.
The Charleston RiverDogs’ “Lonely Hearts Package” is a mere $18, and includes an upper reserve ticket, frozen dinner, and pint of ice cream. It will be delivered by this sympathetic soul.
Or, perhaps a flying groundhog would be more to your liking? If so, then get thee to Gwinnett, interested singles:
The G-Braves’ identically-named “Lonely Hearts” package includes a ticket to May 14′s “Singles Mingle” night, as well “as vouchers for a box of Nestlé Drumstick® Ice-cream courtesy of Edy’s and a frozen TV Dinner.”
I wondered what kind of “reception” these TV dinner offers had been getting, and if teams had been dealing in the “volume” expected. In response to a Twitter inquiry, the RiverDogs reported that There were a decent amount of Lonely Hearts. @ThePigglyWiggly got a lot of business in the Hungry Man frozen dinner area from us.
As for what “decent” entails, I have no idea. I’m going to guess somewhere between eight and 4,400.
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In keeping with the contrarian Valentine’s Day theme, let’s now move on to the world of logos. This is, after all, a word that in Jungian psychology means “the principal of reason and judgement.” Not very love-like at all!
Today’s logo of choice comes courtesy of the Lake County Captains. But perhaps the club should change it’s name to the “CapTens”:
If you think anniversary logos are for the birds, that’s cool. But you know who else should be for the ‘Birds? You. Here’s why:
The Delmarva Shorebirds, class “A” affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles, are excited to announce the launch of a brand new campaign leading up to the home opener on April 12 designed to raise money for Big Brothers Big Sisters. The Shorebirds will donate one dollar per new Facebook ‘Like’ from now through April 11 to Big Brothers Big Sisters.
The goal of the initiative is to donate a maximum of $1,400 to Big Brothers Big Sisters by growing the Shorebirds Facebook fan page to over 10,000 likes.
So go ahead and give ‘em a like. Right HERE.
And speaking (again) of being for the birds, how about this visual out of Des Moines? The Iowa Cubs sure know how to play to their audience:
Also playing to their audience: the Fort Wayne TinCaps. The team launched it’s “All About You” sweepstakes last week, and it’s chock-a-block with great prizes. But one prize, in particular, towers above the rest.
Yes, a life-size bobblehead! Forget mummification, taxidermy, cryogenics and afterlife-based belief systems. Grotesquely-sized ceramic statues featuring crazily disproportionate bodily dimensions are how one achieves true immortality.
This has been post #768 of the greatest Minor League Baseball blog of all time.
benjamin.hill@mlb.com
twitter.com/bensbiz
Events of a Largely Unprecedented Nature
The unveiling of 2012 promotions has not yet reached a deluge, but it has far surpassed a trickle. And within this intermediate zone in which we currently reside, one of the most exciting (and sure-to-be-copied) new promotions is this:
But the above photo, while helpful, doesn’t really do the promotion justice. Per the team:
The River Bandits are proud to announce, for the first time ever in professional sports in the U.S., a photo jersey auction to benefit local cancer organizations. Small squares in the Bandits players’ numbers are available for purchase, $25 each, to feature a photograph of yourself or a loved one who has been affected by cancer. The jerseys, which will be worn during the game on Friday, August 10th, will be auctioned off during the game.
I’m sure I’ll be covering this one as it develops, but for now let’s stick with the “Quad” theme and check in on a most distressing development in Lake Elsinore.
Thunder, the mascot for the Lake Elsinore Storm, had his trusty quad stolen from a stadium storage shed! This sounds like it could be a joke, save for the legitimacy bestowed upon the situation by a local ABC news team.
The video is well worth viewing — check it out HERE.
My extensive reporting on the above topic led me to the Storm website, where I discovered the existence of the “Thunder Across Time” web series. How had I not known? This may turn out to be one of the greatest MiLB team video series of all time!
More creative use of video from the West Coast comes courtesy of the Fresno Grizzlies, who are conducting their annual National Anthem auditions in a most unique fashion.
If you think you have what it takes to sing in front of the best fans in Minor League Baseball at a 2012 Grizzlies home game, then upload your audition video to the Youtube between Wednesday, February 8th and Wednesday, March 14th. Winners will be chosen by the Grizzlies front office with the input of the number of video likes on YouTube.
We’re still a ways away from having a mascot sing the National Anthem, but boy oh boy can they ever dance. The latest (and therefore greatest) example of mascot rump shaking comes courtesy of Tulsa’s Hornsby. Or, as I like to call him, “Bull-yonce.”
Funny that the video is called “All the Single Hornsbys,” as in actuality there appear to be duplicates. But at least Hornsby is a known commodity. Up there in Michigan, the Great Lakes Loons are dealing with an extremely mysterious situation.
So who really does know what’s in the box? It could be anything. Or, maybe, there’s nothing at all. There would be some precedent for that, you know.
benjamin.hill@mlb.com
twitter.com/bensbiz
(Nacho) Typical Blog Post
The previous post on this blog ended with an anniversary logo (the Hickory Crawdads 20th, to be exact), so in the interest of seamless transitions let’s keep that particular train right on a-rollin’:
Good natured ribbon
It should be self-explanatory, but the above mark commemorates the fact that 2012 will be the Northwest Arkansas Naturals’ fifth season. They played their first season way back in 2008, when George W. Bush was president, the price of a postage stamp was a mere 41 cents, and Ben’s Biz Blog was less than a year old.
But enough about bygone eras. Let’s celebrate the future! The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers announced that there will be a nacho stand at the ballpark in 2012, and the team is currently conducting a Facebook poll to determine what the stand should be called. I am pleased to report that my submission of “Nacho, Nacho Stand” is one of the finalists.
I am not pleased to report that, as of this writing, my submission has received all of 16 votes. “Class A Nachos” is currently in first, and, really, that one is not nearly as good as mine or fellow contender “Nachossss.” Biz Blog readers, now is the time to rectify this egregious wrong! Vote HERE! (If I win, I’ll donate my free full-size free nacho grande helmet to charity).
I've had all I can stands, and I can't stands no more!
2012 will also be Season 1 for the new-look Swoop, mascot of the South Bend Silver Hawks. When Swoop last appeared in this blog, he was engaged in an intimate moment with a Miss America contest.
But those days of tongue-in-beak insouciance are over. For last week, the Silver Hawks gave Swoop a makeover:
Speaking of the Silver Hawks, they were, to my knowledge, the only MiLB team to run a local TV ad during the Super Bowl. That spot, cinematic in scope, can be viewed HERE.
Of course, a far more common Minor League approach is to engage in a spot of parody. The Frederick Keys did just this, putting their own spin on a FIAT ad (the original can be viewed HERE).
And speaking of the Super Bowl, you’ll no doubt recall that the last post on this blog started with info on the Lowell Spinners us-against-the-rest of the New York-Penn League big game bet.
It was a sizable gamble, and the Spinners lost. Therefore, mascot Canaligator is in for a summer of abject humiliation.
Even more so than usual:
As for me, I’ll be “writing a blog…all summer long.” Don’t you forget about me.
benjamin.hill@mlb.com
twitter.com/bensbiz
Groundbreaking News, Familiar Terrain
It’s nearly impossible to comprehend, but I am writing this on a Friday and you are reading on a Monday. Whatever sundry delights the weekend had to offer have since passed, including that inimitable annual Sunday delight that is the Super Bowl.
Thus, the consequences of the following bet are now known to the world:
As the lone Massachusetts-based entity in the New-York Penn League (go figure), the Spinners have made the following wager with no less than seven teams:
The bet, vastly superior to the minute wagers made by city mayors, would find each team’s most beloved figure donning enemy colors for a home stand: each team’s mascot would wear the opposing team’s jersey during a homestand.
Now those are some high stakes! I imagine that some mascots would commit hari-kari before succumbing to such an indignity, but that’s just idle seppuku-lation on my part.
After writing that last line, it took a long time for the applause in my head to die down. Now that it has, let’s look at another team that found a way to commemorate the Super Bowl: the Fresno Grizzlies.
But nothing can top the Super Bowl efforts made by host city denizens the Indianapolis Indians, whose Victory Field environs were totally transformed:
Read all about it on MiLB.com, a website that employs me to write such things.
Another MiLB.com dispatch of note (note: they’re all of note) emanates from Birmingham, as the Barons have broken ground on their new ballpark.
Rendering!
But that’s not the only big Southern League ballpark news. Pensacola has a new ballpark opening in April — it will house the Blue Wahoos, of course — and this facility has now turned on the lights. Here’s the view:
Meanwhile, in Altoona, the Curve are relying on a different sort of energy. This week the team announced that, as the result of a new naming rights deal, Blair County Ballpark will be known as “Peoples Natural Gas Stadium.”
This news sent Twitter all a-twitter (or at least my Twitter feed), with flatulence jokes a-plenty. But, lest we forget, the Lake Elsinore Storm have already staged the preeminent natural gas-related promotion.
And, finally — who wants to see a new logo? Anybody? Okay, at least that one guy over there does.
So here you go: at last week’s hot stove dinner, the Hickory Crawdads unveiled this anniversary mark.
Guess that’ll do in a pinch.
benjamin.hill@mlb.com
twitter.com/bensbiz
Meat, Fire, Bobbleheads, Silence, and Announcers
As a hardened veteran of the anthropomorphic pork beat, I’m rarely phased by any of the news which emanates from this durable sub-genre of the Minor League Baseball experience.
But the Lehigh Valley IronPigs are really taking things to the next level. First came the announcement that “Barbie Q” had been added to the team’s stable of meat racers:
Barbie-Q will be racing against Hambone, Chris P. Bacon, and Diggity this season, and despite her newness on the scene she has already been granted a rare form of immortality:
This mammoth installation is called — what else? — Mt. Porkmore. On Tuesday the team asked fans to come up with a caption for the above image, and while many of the respondents didn’t quite seem to grasp the concept of “making a joke”, there sure were some good ones.
I think my favorite was “Do you smell what the rock is cooking?”, but one Dave Johnson deserves special mention for his submission of “We should give Dave Johnson from Bethlehem, PA some free Iron Pigs tickets.”
UPDATE: The team has since chosen a winning caption. One that is, in my mind, thoroughly “meaty”-ocre:
“Don’t take them for granite.”
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But Pork isn’t the only thing cooking in the Keystone State. On Tuesday, the State College Spikes announced that Ted Batchelor would be making a Friday (July) the 13th appearance at the inimitably named “Medlar Field at Lubrano Park.” I’ve written about Ted Batchelor quite a bit on these virtual pages, but in case you need a visual refresher:
I have always been and always will be an advocate of the quixotic endeavor, and greatly appreciate that Minor League Baseball as an industry supports them as well. Batchelor’s goal is to be lit on fire in all 50 states — why not help him out?
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Moving on to that which is only metaphorically incendiary, the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers have released the first in a series of videos promoting their Opening Day bobbleheads. I believe this is the first time that “Kill Bill” has been parodied within the Minor League landscape:
I also believe that, with this, the Omaha Storm Chasers have become the first team to make an online video stylistically inspired by the classic film era.
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I’ll close with this random bit of uber-impressive information:
You may recall that way back in April I wrote about a post which mentioned the four Pacific Coast League announcers that had called at least 2500 games. Eight months after the fact, Toledo Mud Hens director of public relations/broadcaster Jason Griffin wrote in with this:
Jim Weber has been calling Mud Hens games since 1975…he has called 4,720 Toledo games in a row without missing a SINGLE broadcast…if you assume a game of 2:40 that is 45,312,000 seconds of play-by-play.
Whoa! Has any active Minor League broadcaster been able to log that many seconds? Please write to me in September with your answers!
benjamin.hill@mlb.com
twitter.com/bensbiz
In the Year 2013…
My current “making do with what I’ve got” logo stance continues unabated with today’s post, as the lead item is this:
For those who need things spelled out for them — this is the logo for the 2013 Triple-A All-Star Game, an annual contest which pits two historically rich but misleadingly-named leagues against one another (International vs. Pacific Coast). As you can see, the 2013 edition will be taking place in Reno. The “biggest little city in the world” is home to the Aces, who played their inaugural season in 2009.
The lines orbiting the baseball in the above logo directly reference the sculpture that greets fans upon arriving at Aces ballpark:
Photo: DAVID CALVERT/RENO ACES
The logo was designed by Brandiose, who once upon a time in a faraway and distant land were known as Plan B Branding. Those looking for more insight into the company’s philosophy and history would do well to read this supremely simile-laden interview with co-founder Jason Klein on apennysworth.com
A sample:
Q: Logo designers sometimes fight disparaging perceptions ranging from proverbial snake oil salesmen to glorified finger painters. How do you persuade clients of the tangible benefits of identity design?
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Let’s move away from eloquent analogy and distant 2013 talk and back toward the present. Or, more accurately, the recent past. Whatever. Writing 500+ segues a year is exhausting.
Have you ever wanted an expedient tour of a Major League team’s offseason publicity event? The Frederick Keys have you covered, and then some:
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And how about something that could be happening in the near future. On Monday, the Tri-City ValleyCats put out the following on Facebook:
We are thinking about a Jimmy Fallon bobblehead this year at “The Joe!” He has ties to the area attending the College of Saint Rose and is a huge hit on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon Would you come for a Fallon bobblehead?
“Artists” rendering of said bobblehead:
As I remarked on Twitter: “Hopefully this idea doesn’t Fallon deaf ears!”
See, there’s a reason I get paid the big bucks. But if it’s small bucks you’re into, let it be known that the State College Spikes are desirous of a new Ike!
Guess that gives new meaning to the term “deer hunting season.”
Blogger…OUT!
benjamin.hill@mlb.com
twitter.com/bensbiz
Recommended Reading
The posts on this blog are rarely team-specific during the offseason, simply because there is rarely enough content from one team to comprise an entire post.
Today is one of those rare occasions, as the Reading Phillies have unleashed a torrent of notable news upon the world. First and foremost, the team’s plans for the 2012 Eastern League All-Star Game Home Run Derby are downright hallucinogenic.
The above visual (yes, that is an intern on a crane out in left field) will all come to life on July 10. Perhaps some extensive quoting from the press release would be warranted at this juncture:
[P]layers will be trying to hit select targets around the field to earn points….targets include outfield dunk tanks, R-Phils fanatics jumping on a trampoline, and pink flamingo yard ornaments sprinkled around the outfield.
Conversely, there will be obstacles hitters will want to avoid in order to not lose points. The Reading Phillies mascots will be scattered around the field, trying to snag balls hit by the all-stars. For each ball the mascots catch, the hitter will be penalized with negative points.
While the hitting challenge is going on, an exclusive VIP party will actually take place right on the infield. These VIP quests will be protected by a net as they party away with homerun balls sailing over their heads.
Grammy Award-winning musician and Berks County resident David Cullen will also be performing uncomfortably close to the pitcher’s mound in a protected area as he entertains fans and all-stars in attendance.
Those desirous of a detailed visual explanation would do well to watch the team’s five-minute explanation video, linked to in the aforementioned press release.
My guess is that the R-Phils were influenced by the Quad Cities River Bandits, who last season put some very unique twists on the Midwest League Home Run Derby. Any other 2012 All-Star Game hosts planning something similar? Let me know!
Meanwhile, a new logo has come out of Reading as well. This:
Because nothing says "charity" like meat with a malicious smirk?
The above frankfurter, designed by the artists formerly known as Plan B Branding Brandiose, is the new mark for the club’s Baseballtown Charities. Some explanation:
Baseballtown Charities, a non-profit 501(c)(3) entity, was launched ten years ago in association with the Reading Phillies in order to keep baseball alive in Reading through charitable donations to underprivileged youth, who otherwise wouldn’t have the opportunity to play baseball. The organization was also founded to pay tribute to Reading’s rich baseball history.
Since its inception in 2002, the Baseballtown trademark has played a necessary part in the baseball community of Berks County. Under the Baseballtown namesake, FirstEnergy Stadium has played host to the High School All-Star Game and the Olivet’s Boy’s and Girl’s Club Championship. Each year, the organization crowns the King or Queen of Baseballtown to honor the past by recognizing that individual’s accomplishments and contributions to baseball/softball.
And, finally, with Valentine’s Day on the horizon the R-Phils have put out a video in which team employees explain the significant role that mascots have played in their love lives.
Maybe one of these days I’ll put out a video explaining how mascots played a role in mine.
benjamin.hill@mlb.com
twitter.com/bensbiz
Making Do With What You’ve Got
It is of course not something that I can control, but I’ve received several complaints this offseason regarding the relative paucity of new logo unveilings.
And, indeed, times have been tough (especially when compared to a particularly fertile 2010-11). This year’s crop has been limited to the Daytona Cubs, new franchises in Pensacola and Grand Junction, and two Blue Jays affiliates (Dunedin and Bluefield) who responded to changes made by the parent club. The rest have been anniversary marks, All Star Games logos, and various subtle tweaks.
But if it’s logos you want and logos you demand, I’ll do my best. For example, the Billings Mustangs recently unveiled a logo celebrating 60 seasons of professional baseball.
In honor of the club’s 60th Season, the Mustangs, in association with Studio Simon, have developed a 60th Season commemorative logo, which will be featured on multiple applications and platforms throughout the season. The logo will serve as a sleeve patch for both the home and road jerseys, and it will also be available on team merchandise and souvenirs.
Keep in mind that there have been a few small gaps in Billings’ baseball history, which is probably why the words “Since 1948″ don’t appear on the logo. That would be confusing, as would the slogan “Celebrating 60 Mostly Consecutive Years of Baseball Since 1948.”
The Rancho Cucamonga Quakes will be sporting new uniforms in 2012, and it’s easy to find “fault” with them. The logo remains the same, but the team is emphasizing its affiliation with the (relatively) nearby Los Angeles Dodgers.
Try this on for seis
Arguably the most noticeable change will take place on the numbers in the uniform, as the 2012 uniforms will feature the Quakes’ customary “fault line” running through the middle of each digit, giving it a unique and truly “Quake” look.
An addition to the 2012 uniform will feature a red number on the lower left-half on the front of the jersey, which is also a popular feature of the current Dodgers’ uniform.
Quakes’ jerseys will have sleeves in 2012, a change from the sleeveless style worn in years past. The jersey will no doubt be “Dodgerized”, as the left sleeve will feature the traditional “LA” logo.
Missing from the pants this year will be any piping down the sides, as the new pants will be solid white, also emulating that of the Dodgers’ home pants.
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I’ve put my weekly Twitter Round-Up on ice for a bit, as I’m not sure if people were getting/enjoying the concept. But I remain committed to that form of social media, and hope that @BensBiz slow march to 1500 followers transitions into a tidal wave to 10 million. I mean, let’s be honest here, I’m worthy of far more followers than I have.
Follow @BensBiz on Twitter!
One new Twitter account that should be of interest to readers of this blog is @milbstaffprblms — a compendium of, you guessed it, Minor League staff problems. A few samples:
when you see your season ticket holders more than your spouse/girlfriend/boyfriend #MiLBStaffProblems #noweekends #noholidays
the shoes under your desk covered in orange clay and the mildewy smell that accompanies them #MiLBStaffPrblms
chicken fingers are a staple of your summer diet #milbstaffproblems #fatgut
I would like to note that I am not the one running this account, despite my (subtle) presence in the @milbstaffprblms avatar.
Update! And, wouldn’t you know it, @broadcastrprobs has now emerged. Follow that one too!
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Let’s end the week, as we often do, with a video. This one hails from Tennessee, land of the Smokies, and is to be lauded for its commitment to absurdity. (Another Update! Episode Two of the McGinty and Cunningham series is out, and can be viewed HERE.
Commitment to absurdity: a Ben’s Biz Blog guiding principle since 2007. Thanks for reading.
benjamin.hill@mlb.com
twitter.com/bensbiz
A Quarter-Century After the Cardboard, Volume 3
For the first installments of this series, click HERE and HERE. Thanks for all the great feedback thus far, and feel free to comment freely on this one as well (your memories of ’87 Topps, the players involved, the Minor League teams involved, etc).
25 years ago this month, Topps’ 1987 baseball card set was unleashed upon the world. I was eight years old at the time, and like many others of similar age and disposition I quickly became obsessed with this 792-card collection.
The cards were sold in iconic green wax packs, at a cost of 40 cents per:
And the cards contained therein? They have proven to themselves to have a Phil Niekro-esque endurance.
With the exception of the indomitable Jamie Moyer (who signed with the Rockies on January 18!), all of the players contained in the set have long since retired. But many are still within the professional ranks, working as Minor League managers and coaches. This series of blog posts represents an attempt to bring the general public up to speed on who among the 792 are currently toiling within the vast world of Minor League Baseball.
Volume 3: Players Now Coaching In An AL Central Organization
Card #176 Steve Buechele
Then: Third baseman/second baseman, Texas Rangers
Like a man drinking premium soda, Buechele had above-average pop. He was a steady presence in the Rangers line-up from his July ’85 debut through 1991 and then went on to the Pirates and Cubs before ending his career back in Arlington. The final game of Buechele’s career was July 29, 1995, when he went 0-for-4 against Tim Wakefield (who pitched a complete game as Boston cruised to a 7-1 victory).
Now: Manager, Frisco RoughRiders (Double-A affiliate, Texas Rangers)
Begging to differ
2012 marks Buechele’s third season at the helm in Frisco, and his fourth overall as a manager in the Rangers’ system (he spent 2009 in bucolic Bakersfield). His pitching coach is a man by the name of Jeff Andrews, not to be confused with this glorious baseball name.
Card #192 Cory Snyder
Then: Outfielder/Shortstop Cleveland Indians
As denoted by that impressive piece of gold-plated hardware in the lower right-hand corner, Snyder was named to Topps’ “All-Star Rookie Team.” He received this coveted honor after hitting 24 homers and driving in 69 runs over 103 games, numbers which set the stage for his career-high 33-homer season in ’87. Snyder ended up playing five seasons for the Indians, and then played for four teams over the next four years before reaching the end of the line in ’94.
(apropos of not-quite-nothing: I used to have a VHS baseball blooper video which included a segment on Snyder’s inability to hit Roger Clemens. And, indeed, Snyder struck out in his first nine at-bats against the Rocket)
Now: Hitting coach, Jackson Generals (Double-A affiliate of the Seattle Mariners)
Snyder spent two seasons managing in the Golden Baseball League, in 2010 guiding the Hawaii-based Na Koa Ikaika Maui. 2011 was not only his first season in Jackson, it marked the first time he had held a coaching position anywhere in affiliated ball. He’s no longer an Outsnyder, in other words.
Card #249 Jim Pankovits
Then: Second Baseman/Outfielder, Houston Astros
When Pankovits made his Major League debut with the Astros on May 17, 1984, he was certainly no spring chicken. He was a man! By that point, the 28-year-old was in his ninth professional season and had already logged time with an abundance of Houston’s alliterative affiliates (Covington, Cocoa, Columbus, and Charleston, not to mention five seasons in the PCL with Tucson and Hawaii). But once he made it to the bigs, Pankovits found a way to stay. He spent 1984 through 1988 in a reserve role with the Astros, fully aware that in the Majors they were less likely to mess up his name.
What, me have dignity?
Now: Manager, Jackson Generals (Double-A affiliate of the Seattle Mariners)
“Planouits” has been managing or coaching for over two decades, beginning with some truly awful New Britain squads in the early ’90s. 2011 was his first season in Jackson, and he has now accomplished the rare feat of managing a squad in all three Double-A circuits (Eastern, Southern, Texas).
Card #297 Don Schulze
Then: Right-handed starter, Cleveland Indians
Schulze was one of those on-the-fringe Major League starters, playing in 76 games for five teams over the course of six seasons. He never appeared in more than 20 games in a season, never cracked the 100-inning mark, and never compiled a winning record. Not surprisingly he logged a lot of time in the Triple-A ranks, suiting up within diverse locales such as Iowa, Maine, Tidewater, Buffalo, Toledo, Columbus, and Rochester.
Now: Pitching Coach, Midland RockHounds (Double-A affiliate, Oakland A’s)
Since 2006, Schulze has been methodically working his way through the A’s Minor League system. He coached in the Arizona League in 2006, Kane County in 2007-08, Stockton in 2009-10 and is now tutoring hurlers wearing the uniform of the Midland RockHounds.
Card #349 — Storm Davis
Then: Right-handed starter, Baltimore Orioles
Storm Davis is, unquestionably, in the top one-percentile when it comes to the topic of “awesome baseball names.” But how did he get this name? The back of Davis’ 1987 card provides the answer: “Storm’s nickname was derived from a character in a book his mother was reading while pregnant.” (Yes, just a nickname unfortunately. His given name is “George Earl”).
Anyhow, Storm was a Baltimore Oriole starter for five seasons (1982-86) before becoming something of a journeyman. He went on to play in San Diego, Oakland (twice), Kansas City, and Detroit, and even made a return to Baltimore for the 1992 campaign (by this time he was a reliever). Davis was a member of two World Championship teams — the ’83 Orioles and ’89 A’s (for whom he won a career-high 19 games).
Now: Pitching coach, Hickory Crawdads
photo: John M. Stetzler, Jr (stetzler.net)
Davis turned 50 last month (Storm of the half-century!), and as the above photo makes clear he’s got some serious salt and pepper facial hair style. The 2011 season marked his first as a coach in the world of professional baseball, and here’s hoping that there’ll be many more to come. (Rumor has it that he’s being pursued by Omaha).
Card #369 — Brian Dayett
A pull-hitter throughout his career, which led to the nickname "Dayett Don't Spray It" (note: not true).
Then: Outfielder, Chicago Cubs
Dayett was fortunate to have been included in the 1987 Topps set, as the season before he had appeared in just 24 games for the Cubs. He received what was by far the most playing time he’d ever enjoyed with the ’87 Cubs, however, appearing in 97 games in a pinch-hitting and reserve role. But that was the end of the line for Dayett’s Major League career — following the season, he made his way to Japan in order to play for the Nippon Ham Fighters.
Now: Coach, Spokane Indians (Class A Short Season affiliate, Texas Rangers)
A quarter-century ago, Dayett and Tim Hulett (see below) were making their living playing Major League Baseball in Chicago. Now, the two work together on the coaching staff of the Northwest League’s Spokane Indians. Dayett has been with the club since 2009, and prior to Spokane he logged time in Hickory, Clinton, Lexington, Tri-City and Winston-Salem.
Card #501 — Craig Lefferts
Then: Left-handed reliever, San Diego Padres
As you probably recall, Topps cards of this era denoted league-leading stats by listing them in an italicized font. And while Craig Lefferts pitched in 696 games over 12 seasons, only once were one of his stats italicized. That stat would be the “games” column for the year 1986, when he pitched in 83 contests for the Padres (going 9-8 with a 3.09 ERA). But it wasn’t all downhill from there — Lefferts hung around the bigs through the 1994 season, even enjoying one season as a starter (going 14-12 over 32 starts split between San Diego and Baltimore).
(And, apropos of close-to-nothing, Baseball Reference notes that Lefferts is the last Major League pitcher to have hit a walk-off home run.)
Now: Pitching coach, Stockton Ports (Class A Advanced affiliate of the Oakland A’s)
Since 1999, Lefferts has served as a pitching coach for five different Minor League teams (including, in 1999, the now-defunct Medicine Hat Blue Jays). 2012 marks his second campaign with the Stockton Ports, and I highly suggest that sometime during the season the team stages a “Killer Tomatoes Strike Back” night in his honor.
Card #502 — Dick Schofield
Then: Shortstop, California Angels
Schofield, the son of MLB-er Dick Schofield (Senior, natch) and uncle of Jayson Werth, played for four teams over the course of his 14-season career. But it is the Angels with whom he made his mark, as he suited up for Anaheim from 1983-92 and again in 95-96. A career .230 hitter, Schofield was never much with the bat (the Steve Jeltz of the American League?) but he sure could pick ‘em out there at the 6-hole.
Now: Hitting coach, Arizona League Angels (Rookie-level affiliate, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim)
After a couple of coaching gigs in independent ball, Schofield broke back into the affiliated ranks in 2002 as manager of the South Bend Silver Hawks. In each of the last five seasons, he’s worked with raw Angels talent amidst the sweltering back lots of the Arizona League.
Card #566 Tim Hulett
Then: Third baseman/second baseman, Chicago White Sox
Hulett played in the Majors from 1983-87 and again from 1989-1995, appearing in 720 games overall. And a major chunk of those games (291) came over the course the 1985 and 1986 campaigns. ’86 was particularly memorable, with Hulett suiting up in the South Side of Chicago and bashing a career-high 17 homers while sporting his uniform number on his upper left thigh. His average (.231) and on-base percentage (.260) left something to be desired, but hopefully he didn’t Hulett that bother him.
Now: Manager, Spokane Indians (Class A Short-Season affiliate, Texas Rangers)
Hulett is the longest-tenured manager in Spokane Indians history, and 2012 marks his sixth season with the club. He led the short-season franchise to a championship in 2008, the same season in which his son, Tug, made his Major League debut as a member of the Seattle Mariners en route to being the first Tug in the bigs since McGraw.
Card #591 Spike Owen
Then: Shortstop, Boston Red Sox
The Mariners’ first round draft pick in 1982, Owen made his Major League debut with the club the following year. He was traded midway in the ’86 campaign to Boston (just in time to live in infamy), and later logged time with the Expos, Yankees, and Angels. While not the most fearsome hitter in the world (he retired with a .246 career mark, and never hit more than seven homers in a season), Owen nonetheless ranked second in the National League in intentional walks in 1989. Also during that season, he set a record for “consecutive errorless games at shortstop,” with 61.
Now: Coach, Round Rock Express (Triple-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers)
Owen’s a Texas native who went on to play collegiately at the University of Texas, so it’s likely he feels right at home in his current position as coach for the Round Rock Express. He first coached with the club from 2002-05, and then returned in 2011. He serves as the right-hand man for manager Bobby Jones, although in his playing days he was a switch-hitter.
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We’ve now reached the half-way point, and there’s no turning back now. Stay tuned next week for Volume 4: Players now coaching in NL East organizations.
benjamin.hill@mlb.com
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