Some impressive young
prospects came through the Midwest League this past
season. Eric Patterson, Matt Tuiasosopo and Javier
Herrera headed a stellar group of young hitters, and the
pitching was just as impressive with Eric Hurley, Sean
Gallagher and Homer Bailey heading up an impressive group
of young arms. The late season and playoff call-ups are
always interesting, and this season brought some of the
biggest names to the Midwest League toward the end of the
season. Kane County brought Travis Buck in, The Swing of
the Quad Cities added the Cardinals 1st and 2nd round
draft picks, Mark McCormick and Nick Webber to their
arsenal, the Twins added their 1st and 2nd round picks,
Matt Garza and Kevin Slowey to their playoff drive and the
Timber Rattlers brought in Jeff Clement, who had begun the
year at USC, played briefly in Everett after he signed,
then joined Wisconsin to bolster their playoff drive.
Talk about some impressive young talent! It's great to be
a baseball fan and an autographer and live near the
Midwest League. Jeff Clement is from Marshalltown, Iowa,
and his trip to Burlington late in the season brought more
autographers to the stadium than I've ever seen for any
prospect. A busload of fans came down from his hometown,
and we had autographers show up from as far away as St
Louis. Jeff is a personable young man who did his best to
accommodate the autographers' voracious appetites. Yeah,
I'm honest. I was right there too, as was my patient and
tolerant wife Nancy. At least Clement's arrival gave Matt
Tuiasosopo a break. He would've been the player targetted
by most autographers until Clement appeared. It must be
fun to cheer for teams that are in the playoff race and
have something to play for. For the 6th straight season
my Bees haven't finished with a winning record. That's
the downside to being affiliated with the hapless Royals.
While the other teams were bringing in their draft picks,
the Royals and Alex Gordon couldn't get their act
together. Typical for the Royals. Regrettably the teams
in the playoffs near me got eliminated early. Despite the
late seqson influx of talent, the Quad Cities finished
with a fizzle and failed to show up for the first round of
the playoffs The Clinton Lumberkings didn't fare much
better against Wisconsin. Congratulations to the West
Michigan Whitecaps who took the league championship,
coming on strong after a less than stellar first half.
Matt Walbeck is a manager with alot of potential, and very
accommodating to us autographers as well. He's a man whom
I hope gets a chance to manage in the majors someday.
AN AGENT'S PERSPECTIVE
Stu forwarded me an e-mail from Sean Gallagher's agent.
He mentioned how much he enjoyed the last column and my
recounting of my disappointment with the way Ryne
Sandburg's appearance was handled in Peoria. The agent
says that he's an autograph collector himself, having
about 25,00 signed cards in his collection. So he can
understand the attraction of the hobby. He talked about
some of the out-of-control fans, including the greedy
dealers who would go up to Sean with 3 pages (9 cards on
each page) of the same card to get signed, or fans who
become stalkers. It makes one understand how some players
develope such hostile attitudes toward autographers. (Can
we say "Jimmy Journell?). Anyway, he said that he could
understand Sandburg's agent's stance since he's an agent
too.
Yeah, I can understand it too,
when I see Ryno and his agent sticking it to Cub fans. A
recent SCD magazine had Sandburg charging $79 for an
autograph at a recent appearance. No wonder he was loathe
to sign the items that the fans in Peoria brought for a
paltry $10. Be a man though, Ryno. Don't use your agent
as a shield to hide behind when you appear at functions
like Peoria. That was my biggest gripe. You can ask
whatever you damn please for your autograph, but don't sit
there like a hypocrite and smile and shake hands with the
fans while you let your agent play the "asshole.' That's
where I'm coming from.
The most I'd ever paid for an
autograph was $50 for Mickey Mantle when he appeared in St
Louis in the early 90s. That $50 also got you Tom Tresh,
Johnny Blanchard and Hank Bauer and Bill Skowren who came
with to keep Mick company. That same show I got Ted
Williams for $45. I finally broke that record. The Iowa
Cubs have invited 4 Hall of Famers to headline their
annual fanfest in January. Luis Aparicio charges $25, Rod
Carew $30, Tom Seaver $35 and Reggie Jackson $75. SEVENTY
FIVE DOLLARS! The hell with calling him "Mr October. Try
"Mr Greed" instead. Des Moines isn't the venue to charge
that kind of price for a signature. Yeah, I gritted my
teeth and bought one though. I want him on his HOF
plaque.
Thinking of Reggie Jackson got
me thinking. How many presidential names have had
baseball playing counterparts. It's a fun exercise. I
immediately think of Benjamin Harrison, who played with
Cl;inton(a Presidential tie-in) in the Midwest League.
Start with Washington and you've got Claudell, Herbert,
U.L and Ron, among others. Adams nets over a dozen,
including Glenn, Ricky and Terry. The Sage of Monticello
has his baseball playing counterparts in Jesse and Reggie,
Madison has Scotti and Dave. Monroe has Craig and Zach,
among others. Old Hickory has lent his name to alot of
ballplayers, including Hall of Famers Travis and Reggie,
and a host of lesser luminaries including Grant (another
Presidential tie in, Ransom and Roy Lee. Van Buren
finally found a counterpart this year when the Cubs called
up their closer from Iowa. William Henry and Benjamin
Harrison lead ione to Roric and three other Harrisons.
John Tyler has a John Tyler who debued in 1934. Old Rough
and Ready leads one to over 30 ballplayers named Taylor in
the latest Smalling. Pierce is represented by 6 from my
Smalling, including Chicagto's Billy. Our bachelor
President, James Buchanan, ties to a couple ballplayers,
and Old Abe ties to Mike Lincoln. The Johnsons Andrew and
Lyndon tie to a page of ballplayers, including 3 Hall of
Famers: Ban Johnson, Judy Johnson, and of course perhaps
one of the greatest pitchers in baseball, the "Big
Train." Grant ties int Mudcat and Mark. Hayes makes me
think of Von, and Cleveland of Reggie. Woodrow Wilson
leads to Hack and Willie, and Hoover to Dick and Joe.
John Kennedy has his namesake as a ballplayer, and Nixon
has Russ. Carter has Gary and Joe, among others. Reagan
has Phil if you overlook the spelling difference. The
Bushes Senior and Shrub have Randy, Homer and Guy, and
Clinton ties to Lou. Some impressive names. I'd have to
give the nod to "Johnson" though as to having the most
impressive allotment of baseball players of the same name.
Presidents who haven't spawned
a major leaguer yet (I'm only looking at debuts of 1920 or
later) are Polk, Fillmore, Garfield, Arthur, McKinley,
Roosevelt, Taft, Coolidge, Truman, and Eisenhower.
Man, that was an
anal-retentive exercise. I got it out of my system
though. Anyway, I've rambled on long enough.
Take care and have fun with the
hobby. I sure try to.
