the Autograph Corner
A SEASON IN RETROSPECT
Well, my 2003 baseball season is over. There's always a
let-down this time of year. Not only is my minor league
season over, but my work schedule starts to pick up steam at
this time as well. It's time to see if my football fantasy
team can do better than my baseball team. So far it has.
The Anarchist Bombers has begun the season 2-0. I'm looking
for big seasons from Matt Hasselbeck, Kerry Collins, Shaun
Alexander, Tiki Barber and Steve Davis, among others. Last
week I was ready to acknowledge Tampa Bay as one of the
greatest football teams of all time after they crushed
Philadelphia. After week 2 I'm inclined to think that
Philadelphia was way over-hyped and that Tampa Bay needs
more horses on their offense yet. Such is football, and
that's what makes picking winners so interesting.
Going back to baseball, I did very well autographing in the
Midwest League this season. Every year you'll run into a
player or two who can be a jerk when it comes to autograph
request. This year there were none. My pick for the team
that came across as the nicest bunch of guys though, this
year in the Midwest League, is Kane County. Maybe they took
their cue from their coaching staff. Eddie Williams was a
tremendous signer, always giving one a nice, legible
signature and willing to sign more cards than you would
expect of someone who had played in the Big Show as long as
he had. A more personable and friendly individual would be
awfully hard to find. Webster Garrison was fine too, if you
could catch him when he wasn't busy. He obviously took his
job very seriously, and his peers recognized it, naming him
Manager of the Year in the Midwest League.
Ft Wayne's Mike Harkey is another former major leaguer who
hasn't let his time in the majors inflate his ego. He is
always willing to stop and sign. The worst autograph in the
Midwest League this year was Wesf Michigan's manager, Phil
Regan. Phil would sign 1 item, grudgingly, making it clear
that he has little use for autographers. That didn't bother
me as much as his shooing us graphers away from the dugout
15 minutes before the game, saying that "his players need
time to focus." For someone like me who can rarely stay for
the entire game on a worknight, it made getting bullpen
pitchers especially, difficult. Maybe Phil was just tired.
I see that he's annnounced his retirement from managing
after West Michigan's last game.
The Bees had a special ceremony
for Donnie Murphy the last home game of the season.
Regrettably, it rained that night and it was held in the
concourse rather than on the field where he performed so
well. Prince Fielder won the league MVP award with a .313
batting average, 27 home runs and 112 RBIs, but except for
the power, Donnie Murphy put up just as impressive numbers,
hitting .313, setting a new Burlington record with 98 RBIs,
and showing a great glove in the field and stealing 15
bases. Donnie Murphy didn't get the press and hype of the
Prince , but remember his name. Burlington's "Donnie
Baseball" will be in the majors someday. "I don't get any
respect, " the phrase that Rodney Dangerfield made famous,
could be applied fittingly to West Michigan's pitcher Jon
Connally. He watched pitchers from other teams in the
league do well and earn promotions, yet he outshone them
all, posting a 16-3 record with a low, low 1.41 ERA. Not
only that, but he posted a 3:1 K to walk ratio and only gave
up 128 hits in 166 innings pitched. Yet, no promotion for
Jon. It puzzled me and puzzled alot of other MWL fans.
Another MWL player who was
overlooked undeservedly in my own immodest opinion was Alex
Romero of the Quad Cities. He struggled in April, barely
hitting his weight, but persevered, and fans who attended
the games at John O'Donnell on a regular basis got to watch
him learn, make adjustments and by the end of the season
finish in the top 10 in the league in hitting, hitting a
solid .296 and providing great defense in the outfield. The
Quad Cities team had a losing record and their players
tended to be overlooked. Trent Oeltjen, another of their
outfielders, hit .298, finishing 8th in the league in
hitting. Pitching was the bane of the Quad Cities this
season, but it was heartening to see Scott Tyler,who had
struggled most of the season, finish with a couple strong
outings.
I had the thrill of seeing my
first no-hitter in person this year. Jonah Bayless, a
pitcher for the Burlington Bees, hurled a 1-0 gem against
the Peoria Chiefs this season, walking 2 batters and seeing
one reach on an error. It was a nail-biter of a last
inning, with the crowd cheering every pitch. It was a great
experience. Jonah is another player who deserves alot more
consideration. His record suffered some from the Bees often
anemic offense. His 7-12 record won't attract much
attention, but he posted a solid 3.86 ERA, which was
inflated due to a stretch when the wear of pitching for qa
full season for the first time just tired him out. You'll
hear alot more of him in the future too if I'm any kind of a
judge of baseball talent.
My shelves are full of mementos
of this season in the MWL as well. The Quad Cities gave
away bobbleheads of Garrett Anderson and Jim Bunning, former
QC players, and I took home Jim Thome, Jim Tracy and Wally
Joyner from Peoria. Joyner was present at Peoria that
night for a ceremony which included the retiring of his
jersey. I was fortunate enough to get a few cards signed
from him as well. Clinton gave away an Orel Hershiser
bobblehead and I went to Cedar Rapids to get Manny Aybar and
Alex Dvorskey. I'd love to find Alberto Callaspo, whom they
also gave away, but have been unable to score one of them
yet. I did make trips to Beloit to pick up bobbleheads of
Prince Fielder and Brad Nelson too. As you can see, I keep
busy during baseball season.
My only regret was not getting
up to Joliet to see more Northern League games. I only made
3 this season, but managed to pick up boobleheads of Ryan
Sienko and Bubba Smith on two of those occasions. I-80- was
so torn up that it became an adventure to travel up that
way, which certainly did act as a deterrent to my driving up
there more often.
Well, now I'm loading up for
next year, ordering minor league sets from the short season
teams in the Northwest, Pioneer and New York/Penn League
that will move players up to the Midwest league. I'll be
ready the first week of April.
Anyway, I've rambled on enough
for now. Take care and have fun with the hobby. I sure do.
~Rich Hanson
