the Autograph Corner
BEES HOT STOVE, FANTASY DRAFT
& SPRING TRAINING SO FAR
I'll use this column to catch up
a bit. On February 20th the Burlington Bees held their
annual winter fundraiser. It's an event that we look
forward to, not so much for the food as the chance to talk
baseball, listen to talk about baseball, and to bid on
interesting items donated by major and minor league teams.
The keynote speaker was Royals
broadcaster Ryan Lefebvre, the son of former Seattle Mariner
and Chicago Cub Manager Jim Lefebvre. Ryan is entering his
sixth season in the Royals radio booth and his tenth in
major league baseball. Most people don't know it, but he
was a 3 time all big 10 selection in baseball and
established University of Minnesota records for hits,
triples and at bats. He was drafted by Cleveland and played
briefly in the organization in the New York/ Penn League.
Ryan gave a very good talk about growing up in baseball,
following his father to different major league stadiums and
the pitfalls and faux pas that can embarrass a radio
announcer. A couple warrant mention. When he was
broadcasting baseball games for the University of Minnesota,
the team was getting blown out in a game by something like
18 to 2. Between innings he assumed the live feed was off,
and turned to his companion in the booth and remarked what
an f'ing blowout the game was. The trouble is, the
technician had forgotten the live feed off for the
commercials. Oops! Major league announcers aren't immune
to embarrassment either. A potato chip company in the
Kansas City area called "Guys" contracted for several blurbs
during the course of the game. These consist of plugs for
the product during the course of conversation rather than as
a commercial. Ryan's partner suggested that with a
nice weekend coming up, that fans go out and pick up some
"Guys" potato chips. That went pretty well, so a
little later he urged his audience to stock up on some
"Guys" pretzels. That went smoothly, so without
thinking, a little later in the broadcast, he urged his
listening audience to go out and "grab some Guys nuts".
Oops again. Lefebvre demonstrated a sense of humor and
a light touch with an audience that was very much
appreciated, as is Kansas City's support of their Burlington
affiliate.
My budget didn't allow me to bid
on any of the live auction items. The Bees have retired
Paul Molitor's number 16, but last year, when Paul came to
Burlington, he autographed a Bees jersey #16. After some
spirited bidding, that went for $900. All Kansas City
affiliates have retired numbers 5, 10 and 15, the numbers of
George Brett, Frank White and the late Dick Howser. George
Brett was kind enough to autograph a #5 Bees jersey, and
that sold at auction for $625. Four tickets to a Royals
game and 2 rooms at the hotel across the street from the
ballpark went for $400. Me, the best I could manage were
bobble heads of Harold Baines and Von Hayes in their Midwest
League uniforms for my MWL bobble head collection. Still, I
had a great time and its a good fundraiser for the team,
too.
This past weekend we had our
fantasy baseball draft. Twelve of us spent 5 hours drinking
beer and thinking baseball in the only tavern in Bishop
Hill, Illinois. I don't think I ended up with too bad a
team. Second base is Mike Young, shortstop Bobby Crosby,
outfielders are Carlos Beltran, Manny Remirez, Lance Berkman,
J.D. Drew, and Cliff Floyd, third base is Tony Bautista,
first base is Aubrey Huff, catcher is Benito Santiago and my
two other infielders are Nick Johnson and Sean Burroughs.
My six starting pitchers are Javier Vasquez, Roy Oswalt,
Kevin Brown, Brandon Webb, Brad Penney and Mark Redman. If
any of these go down, my reserves consist of second base
Jerry Hairston Jr., Rich Aurilla, outfielders Jason Bay and
Termal Sledge and pitchers Jeff Weaver, Chad Cordero and
Damaso Marte. Not bad for drafting 11 out of 12 places.
Last year injuries doomed me to a last place finish.
Hopefully this year the injury bug will leave my team alone.
I hit spring training pretty
heavy, sending out 244 autograph requests. As of today,
March 22nd, I have received 101 back, including first
rounders Brian Anderson, Paul Malhom, Ryan Wagner, Ian
Stewart, Tim Stauffer, Adam Loewen, Michael Aubrey, Kyle
Sleeth, Aaron Hill, Ryan Sweeney, Connor Jackson and Adam
Miller. Other impressive names that I was pleased to get
back include Leo Mazzone, the best pitching coach in
baseball, Franklin Guiterrez, Chein-Ming Wang, Dionar
Navarro, Shannon Stewart and Kerry Robinson. I always have
pretty good luck with spring training.
Today, March 22nd, was a ham and
bean fundraiser for the Burlington Bees. General Manager
Chuck Brockett always tries to keep me appraised of players
coming to the team. He's excited about this year's team.
He's pretty sure that the Royals #1 pick, Chris Lubanski,
the fifth player picked in the 2003 draft, will be starting
his season in Burlington. The more I read about this young
man, the more impressed I am with his work ethic. He's up
and taking swings at 5:30 every morning but Christmas when
he allows himself to sleep til 6. Mitch Maier, the Royals
second pick, should be joining us as well. He's learning to
play third base, a new position for him, since up to this
season he's been playing catcher. He's an accomplished
hitter already. I don't know about Burlington's pitching,
but there's a good chance the team will score some runs.
Chuck says there's a good chance we will see Chris Goodman
and Brian McFall in Burlington as well. Burlington will
have to score some good players to remain competitive, as I
expect to see Twin's number one picks Denard Span and Matt
Moses playing for the Swing of the Quad Cities (suckey name
isn't it?), and power hitter Dusty Gomon should be back as
well. As you can tell, I'm already getting excited about
the season coming up.
Keokuk, Iowa will be the scene
of an interesting reunion this season. Between 1947 and
1962 the city of Keokuk, Iowa was host to a minor league
baseball team with the exception of two seasons. Many
future leaguers came through Keokuk, including Roger Maris,
Mudcat Grant, Tim McCarver and Gus Bell. Pinky May managed
the Keokuk Kernels from 1955 through 1957, Art (Superman)
Pennington played for them as did future Twins Bill Dailey
and Hank Izquierdo. From August 13 - 15 the old Keokuk
players have been invited to return, and activities
including a dinner and golf tournament have been set-up for
them. Hopefully there'll be a good turnout. I know I'll be
there. Hopefully the players feel about Keokuk as Bill
Dailey does. He says "the 1955 Keokuk Kernels were one of
the greatest teams I ever played for. Keokuk was one of the
nicest towns to play in. The team was fantastic, and I
can't wait to get back to see everyone."
Time to end it. I've rambled on
long enough. Take care and have fun with the autographing
hobby. I sure try to.
~Rich Hanson
