Touring the Bases With…Dick Bosman

Dick Bosman is the minor league pitching coordinator for the Tampa Bay Rays, rated the best young organization in the game.  Much of that is derived from the unbelievable pitching talent Dick has the pleasure to work with.  Here are his thoughts on his pupils. TL.  The Rays have the lowest runs per game allowed [...]

Touring The Bases With…Anna Petersen

Anna Petersen is the Community Relations Coordinator for the West Michigan Whitecaps located in Comstock Park, Michigan. They have been a class”A” Affiliate of the Detroit Tigers since 1997. Seamheads:  Did you ever expect to have a career in baseball? Anna Petersen: In all honesty, I was probably the last person expected to have a [...]

Touring The Bases With…Brent Mayne

Catcher Brent Mayne was drafted by the Kansas City Royals in the first round (#13 overall) of the 1989 amateur draft and made his major league debut only a year later, rapping an RBI single off Twins pitcher Scott Erickson in his first major league at-bat.  Mayne spent 15 seasons in the big leagues with [...]

Touring The Bases With…Ken Henderson

“The press started to build me up pretty heavily, and the thing that they used to write quite often was that I was the next Willie Mays, which I don’t think was the right thing to do. I don’t care if a player is black or white, it doesn’t make any difference, there was nobody [...]

Touring the Bases With…Milt Wilcox

Milt Wilcox, a righthanded hurler from Hawaii, was drafted by the Cincinnati Reds in the second round of the 1968 amateur draft, a draft that included Tim Foli, Thurman Munson, Bobby Valentine, Greg Luzinski, Gary Matthews, and Bill Buckner.  Coming straight out of high school, Wilcox began his career in the Rookie League before moving [...]

Talking With Jack Perconte About Comiskey Park, Municipal Stadium, and the Kingdome

Last year I looked up the story of the first game at the original Comiskey Park on July 1, 1910. Months later I talked with Jack Perconte about his time playing for the Mariners in the mid-’80s to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Kingdome’s implosion this March. I realized that Jack closed his career [...]

Touring The Bases With…Heather McKeating

Heather McKeating is the Group Sales Director for the Norfolk Tides located in Norfolk, Virginia.  They are an Affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles. SEAMHEADS: When did you start working for the Norfolk Tides? HEATHER: I started working for the Tides when I was sixteen.  I went to my first baseball game, an afternoon game with [...]

Touring The Bases With…Bob Bruce

Bob Bruce was signed as an amateur free agent by the Detroit Tigers at the age of 20 but it took him six years to make his Major League debut.  Bruce went 18-8 with a 3.20 ERA in his first professional season with the Wausau Timberjacks of the Wisconsin State League in 1953, then went [...]

Touring the Bases with…..Craig Wright

Craig R. Wright was the first of what today would be called a “Sabermetrician” to be hired by a major league baseball team. He was the primary author of “The Diamond Appraised” (1989), and with Texas Rangers play-by-play announcer Eric Nadel has done a radio pre-game show called “A Page from Baseball Past” since 1984. [...]

Touring The Bases With…Randy Jones

Former major league hurler Randy Jones spent only 10 years in the bigs and lost more games than he won, going 100-123 for the San Diego Padres and New York Mets, but for two magical seasons, he was among the best pitchers in the game.  After leading the National League in losses with 22 in [...]

Touring The Bases With…Kristyne A. Haver

Kristyne A. Haver CPA, is the Controller for the Reading Phillies located in Reading, Pennsylvania.  They have been an Affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies since 1967.  They are in the Eastern League. SEAMHEADS: What does your job consist of?  What are your responsibilities? KRISTYNE: My job title is Controller.  Mainly, I’m in charge of all [...]

Touring the Bases (Again) With…Jack Perconte

After batting .334, .322 and .326 in three of his first five minor league seasons, second baseman Jack Perconte made his major league debut with the Los Angeles Dodgers on September 13, 1980.  He was back in the minors in 1981 where he batted .346 for Albuquerque, then was traded to the Cleveland Indians, with [...]

Touring the Bases With…Melanie Levy

Melanie Levy is the Senior Group Events Executive for the Sacramento River Cats Baseball Club, Sacramento, California.  They are an Affiliate of the Oakland Athletics. SEAMHEADS: What does your job consist of? MELANIE:  I am a Senior Group Events Executive for the Sacramento River Cats. My job in particular involves working closely with schools K-12 [...]

Touring the Bases With…Craig Breslow

Relief pitcher Craig Breslow has been referred to as “the smartest man in baseball” because of his degrees in molecular biophysics and biochemistry earned at Yale University, and his performance on the field has been equally impressive, boasting a 2.78 ERA in 172 career games.  Breslow was drafted out of Yale by the Milwaukee Brewers [...]

Touring the Bases With…Janell Bullock

Janell Bullock is the Assistant General Manager of the Kinston Indians located in Kinston, North Carolina. They have been an Affiliate of the Cleveland Indians since 1987. SEAMHEADS: How did you get your start in baseball? JANELL:  I was in college and majoring in accounting and as I was going into my 3rd year, I thought [...]

Touring the Bases With…Roger LaFrancois

Boston Red Sox catcher Roger LaFrancois spent only eight games at the Major League level but made the most of it, batting .400 with a double, a run, and an RBI in 10 at-bats in 1982.  Drafted by Boston in the eighth round of the 1977 amateur draft, LaFrancois spent most of his nine professional [...]

Touring the Bases With…Juliana Paoli

Juliana Paoli is Chief Marketing Officer of the San Jose Giants located in San Jose, California.  They are an Affiliate of the San Francisco Giants. SEAMHEADS: You spoke at the Baseball Winter Meeting in Indianapolis last year and Las Vegas in 2008. You also said you were not comfortable as a public speaker.  Do you [...]

Touring the Bases With…Darryl Hamilton

Darryl Hamilton was drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers in the 11th round of the 1986 amateur draft and spent seven seasons in Milwaukee before signing as a free agent with the Texas Rangers in 1996.  After only one season in Texas, Hamilton played for the San Francisco Giants, Colorado Rockies, and New York Mets, with [...]

Touring the Bases With…Carlos May

Carlos May, brother of major league slugger Lee May, was selected 18th overall in the 1966 draft, which also featured Reggie Jackson, Gary Nolan, and Richie Hebner.  He spent parts of three seasons in the minors, batting .311 from 1966-1968, before making his big league debut on September 6, 1968 with the Chicago White Sox.  [...]

Touring the Bases With…Tout Wars

Not long ago the Society For American Baseball Research (SABR) announced that it had partnered with Tout Wars, a fantasy baseball league founded in 1998 that pits the top fantasy baseball experts in the industry against each other.  On March 26, F.X. Flinn, a long-time member of SABR’s Board of Directors, awarded the very first [...]

Touring the Bases With…Ron Kittle

Right-handed slugger Ron Kittle belted 90 homers, drove in 247 runs and batted .337 between Double-A and Triple-A from 1981-1982 before settling in as the Chicago White Sox’s full-time left fielder in 1983.  His pyrotechnics display continued in the majors when he slammed 35 homers and drove in 100 runs in his rookie season, earning [...]

Touring the Bases With…Seattle Pilots Documentarian Steve Cox

I don’t have any special knowledge of the Seattle Pilots; like many thousands, I’ve read Jim Bouton’s Ball Four, but I’m nowhere near old enough to have firsthand experience of the team. Still, that book, along with an interest in baseball in Seattle, made me curious about Rainer Valley’s one-year wonder. So a few months [...]

Touring the Bases With…Dick Drago

Pitcher Dick Drago began his career with the expansion Kansas City Royals in 1969 and split time between the rotation and the bullpen, winning 11 games in 26 starts and 15 relief appearances.  He led the Royals with 17 wins in 1971, but from ’69-’74 he went only 68-80 as a starter before becoming a [...]

Touring the Bases With…Carmen Fanzone

A former versatile infielder turned accomplished musician who once played the “Star Spangled Banner” before a game at Wrigley Field, Fanzone–a flugelhorn player–was originally signed by the Red Sox and spent five years in the majors from 1970-1975, four of them with the Chicago Cubs.  Click here to watch a video of a conversation I had [...]

Touring the Bases With…Ron Swoboda

My good friend Bob Lazzari, award-winning sports writer with the Connecticut Valley Times and NY Sports Day, has offered us fantastic material featured at his web sites, Bob Lazzari On Sports and Monday Night Sports Talk, which broadcasts on cable channel CTV-14 in North Windham, Connecticut.  Those of you who are used to reading interviews [...]

Touring the Bases With…Gates Brown

My good friend Bob Lazzari, award-winning sports writer with the Connecticut Valley Times and NY Sports Day, has offered us fantastic material featured at his web sites, Bob Lazzari On Sports and Monday Night Sports Talk, which broadcasts on cable channel CTV-14 in North Windham, Connecticut.  Those of you who are used to reading interviews [...]

Touring the Bases With…George Culver

George Culver pitched for the Cleveland Indians (1966-67), Cincinnati Reds (1968-69), St. Louis Cardinals (1970), Houston Astros (1970-72), Los Angeles Dodgers (1973), Philadelphia Phillies (1973-74), and Nippon Ham Fighters (1975), and tossed a no-hitter in 1968.  He only led the league in one category once in his career – hit batters (1968). In nine seasons, [...]

Touring the Bases with Ray Sadecki

Ray Sadecki threw 2,500 innings in 18 major league seasons with the Cardinals, Giants, Mets, Royals, Brewers and Braves. He took the time to sit down for a Seamheads.com interview over the phone from his home in Arizona.

Touring the Bases With Tommy John

Tommy John was a major league pitcher from 1963 to 1989. He won 288 games and, most famously, underwent a risky elbow surgery that ended up bearing his name. Now, he’s one of several players who supports a children’s book called A Glove of their Own. The book has a great message for kids, and [...]

Touring the Bases with…Gary Gillette

The Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) is giving away free copies of The Emerald Guide to Baseball 2009.  Here esteemed baseball historian and editor Gary Gillette discusses the new Emerald Guide, his current and past projects, and his beloved Detroit Tigers.

Touring the Bases with…Jack Perconte

On October 2, 1983, Red Sox legend and Lynch family hero Carl Yastrzemski lofted a high pop-up to the right of second base in his final major league at-bat, the ball finally settling into the glove of Indians second baseman Jack Perconte.  Only a few months later, Perconte moved west and spent the next two [...]

Touring the Bases With Brian Bannister

In an industry that’s getting brainier by the day, Brian Bannister is the epitome of the thinking man’s pitcher. After an unexpected breakout season in 2007, he shared an interesting sabermetric theory to which he attributed some of his success. Unfortunately, his sophomore campaign did not go quite as well, as he lost 16 games. [...]

Touring the Bases With… the Veterans Committee

Several weeks ago, I had the opportunity to speak with two members of the Hall of Fame Veterans Committee about the selection process and the thought that went into it. Both men declined to disclose their votes, but were forthcoming about other aspects of their involvement. Here are the edited transcripts of my conversations with [...]

Olympic interview: Scott Crawford, Canada

Olympic interview: Peter Bjarkman, Cuba

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