July 1, 2002

Where is Everybody?

I thought I would take a minute and try to fill you in on where some of our people are and what they're doing.

THE STAFF Jim Lyttle has begun his retirement from his duties as our hitting coach. I don't know that we will ever quite fill his shoes. Jim taught me a lot during his time here. He not only did a great job with our hitters, but was an invaluable asset to me in the dugout during games. I remember my instructions to Jim prior to the championship game in Alabama, "Jim, don't let me do anything stupid." Jim is up on Beech Mountain in North Carolina spending some time fishing and playing golf. He should be in town soon for the impending birth of another grandchild.

John McCormack is on a short vacation in the Knoxville, TN area. He and Katrina are enroute back from Jon Anderson's wedding in Maine. Before Mac left, he put in three hard weeks running baseball camp in the deluge that was the month of June in Florida.

Bob Deutschman is hard at work as the new head coach at Broward Community College. He has said that he has a new respect for the job of a head coach. Bob thought writing diaries and shaking hands was all there was to being the head coach. It is, if you have the good assistants with whom I have been blessed.

George Roig is back from Dartmouth and will replace Bob in the handling of the pitchers. While working here before, George used to spend a lot of time talking pitching with Bob. I am confident that he'll do a good job. I also plan to work closely with him on our guys' mechanics, so he won't be out there alone.

Somewhere in East Tennessee is our new volunteer coach. Dickie Hart is spending this summer working for his uncle's natural gas company. His job has something to do with land acquisition. I am excited to have Dickie join us in the fall. He has worked our camps the last few years and has shown that he will be a real good coach.

Our seniors who signed pro contracts are off finding that the reality of pro baseball isn't all rosy.

We have two players in the Northwest League.

Nelson Lopez has thrown two and two third innings and is 1-0 for the Salem Volcanoes, and LJ Biernbaum is still after his first professional base hit for the Eugene Emeralds.

Three of our pitchers went to the NY-Penn League. Of course, now there are teams in Maryland and Massachussetts as well.

Tim McNab has four innings and a broken nose in two appearances for the Brooklyn Cyclones. Timmy has pitched well but got hit with a throw during BP.

Jim Cooney will see Timmy tomorrow, as the last place Aberdeen Ironbirds arrive in Brooklyn for two games. Jim has given up three hits in eight and one third innings, while striking out six.

Tom MacLane is with the Lowell Spinners and has pitched a strong five innings picking up a win, and at one point, throwing thirteen straight strikes. Strange but true!

Bobby Spano signed with the Marlins and is playing in Melbourne in the Gulf Coast Rookie League. Bobby was on the Marlins telecast the other night. He mentioned that life is good with games in the morning and time for fishing the rest of the day. He didn't mention the eleven o'clock curfews.

Gabe Somarriba has not signed. He has worked camp and has done a great job. He also cuts my neighbor's grass in Jim's absence. He has school each morning and gets to see a lot more of his Dad.

I haven't seen Mike Valdes , but I was away for awhile. Mac spoke with him and he's doing well.

Greg Eubanks did a stint with baseball camp as has Danny Core, Sterling Pell, Eddie Young, and Robbie Orton. Brad Ingwell is expanding his horizons around something other than baseball. He is spending his summer in Washington D.C as an intern.

Matt O'Brien is in Wasau, Wisconsin for his second year with the Woodchucks, Rusty Brown is hitting home runs for the Manchester Silkworms in the New England Collegiate League, and Derek Hutton is part of The Big Train in Bethesda, Maryland.

Down in Luray, Virginia, Travis NeSmith and Jeremiah Creech are playing for the Wranglers in the Shenendoah Valley League.

Up in NY State, Andy Thoms, Matt Pali,and Shaen O'Connor are hitting real well for the Mohawk Valley Redlegs. Shaen and Matt are playing in the All-Star game tonight. Teammate Aaron Miller threw a no hitter last night in his first start for the Reds. Not a bad debut.

The furthest away is Mike Cox. He is in the Alaskan Collegiate League with the Peninsula Oilers. His Dad says Mike hasn't hit a home run yet, but he did hook two salmon the other day.

Eric Nodes is with the NJ Colts of the Atlantic Collegiate Baseball League. We spoke last night and he is not real pleased with his lack of playing time. No one wants to sit in the summer.

Chris Pillsbury had another good start last night for Cotuit in the Cape Cod League. Two runs, four hits through eight innings. So far a good start for Chris in a tough league.

Well I think that's most everyone. Oh yeah. D Roc and Fiorentino are here doing some extra academic work. That should be everyone.

There are good links at Baseball America Online for the College summer leagues, and Minor League Baseball.com keeps you current with the pro guys.

Thanks to Andrea Biernbaum for some photos she sent today. I think I will enlarge and frame the shot of the Alabama scoreboard at the end of a game that I can't get out of my mind. KC