Indy Baseball Chatter: LA RUSSA LIKELY TO CALL ON KINNEY MORE IN GAMES 5-6-7

Tuesday, October 17, 2006

LA RUSSA LIKELY TO CALL ON KINNEY MORE IN GAMES 5-6-7

To those fans driving the 30 miles on Interstate 70 from O'Fallon, MO to Busch Stadium in St. Louis--as well as the Fox TV audience nationally--for Game 5 of the National League Championship Series Thursday the chances seem really good they will see onetime River City Rascals hurler Josh Kinney take the mound at some time against the New York Mets.

We have been telling you both here and in our last Independent Baseball Insidercolumn about the rookie reliever coming from Independent Baseball and working his way into prominence in the Cardinals bullpen.

But St. Louis Manager Tony LaRussa seems more likely than ever to want Kinney on the mound once he has to relieve Jeff Weaver in Game 5 or when the series returns to Shea Stadium Wednesday and possibly Thursday.

It is a combination of Kinney's effectiveness this entire postseason, and the pounding most of the bullpen took in Game 4, when the Mets thumped their way to a 12-5 series-tying win.

Kinney was the winner in Game 2, but beyond that his four postseason appearances have seen him throw strikes (two walks) and limit opposing hitters to a .091 average. Fans should especially watch for the 27-year-old when righthanded hitters Paul LoDuca and David Wright or pinch-hitter Julio Franco are up in key situations in innings five, six, seven or eight.

Kinney can make Independent Baseball proud once more.

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Bob Wirz

Former chief spokesman for Major League Baseball Commissioners Bowie Kuhn and Peter Ueberroth. Six years as publicity director for the Kansas City Royals, and a background in newspaper, radio and television. Started Wirz & Associates, a sports PR and consulting firm, in 1985. Has written extensively on Independent Baseball since 2003.

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About 'My Nebraska'

It seems almost universally accepted that Nebraskans are friendly, hard-working people.

A native son, who eventually transitioned to the East Coast because it was the best avenue to follow his passion of continuing to work in major league baseball, has published a book to share a lifetime of memories of growing up in the Cornhusker state.

You may have guessed it when you saw the title: My Nebraska. Yes, Bob Wirz, now a youthful 85, is sharing his "rich memories of growing up in rural Nebraska" in the 1940s and 1950s in a delightful 136 pages in the book produced by Dorrance Publishing in Pittsburgh, PA.

Wirz, who got to live his passion of working at the highest levels of baseball and later developing his own sports public relations and marketing company, lovingly empties out his memories of everything from counting millions of tiny trees to playing grass-roots baseball where the age of teammates might run from the early teens to the 50s.

The colorful cover of My Nebraska, which features two paintings from Dunning, NE rancher/artist Laron McGinn that depict the beautiful landscape of rural Nebraska and the ranching lifestyle, sets the tone for the 5 x 8 book also filled with meaningful pictures.

It is "a wistful and endearing love letter to Nebraska filled with memories shared by generations raised in small towns throughout the Midwest", praises Shari Veil, who heads up the journalism and mass communications department at the University of Nebraska.

My Nebraska, a 5x8 paperback, is priced at $19.95 plus $4.00 for handling and shipping. Autographed copies may be ordered at www.WirzandAssociates.com