Indy Baseball Chatter: MARLINS, RED SOX LATEST TO ADD FORMER INDEPENDENT PLAYERS

Sunday, September 05, 2010

MARLINS, RED SOX LATEST TO ADD FORMER INDEPENDENT PLAYERS

All of a sudden two more former Independent players are getting major league opportunities, bringing the total of additions this week to three. It also means 28 onetime Indy players have been on active rosters this season, equalling the total for all of last season with more likely to come since the Triple-A and Double-A leagues end their regular season on Labor Day.

Right-hander Justin James, who was with the Kansas City (KS) T-Bones in the Northern League earlier this season, is now with Oakland and he has been joined by catcher Mike Rivera with Florida and another righty, Robert Coello, with Boston. Rivera, with Milwaukee much of the last two seasons, played his Indy baseball with Atlantic City, NJ of the Atlantic League in 2005 and Coello played for both Edmonton and Calgary of the Golden League two years ago.

James and Coello are in the majors for the first time.

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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