Indy Baseball Chatter: BIG LEAGUE STAY LONGER THAN IN FRONTIER LEAGUE

Sunday, April 30, 2006

BIG LEAGUE STAY LONGER THAN IN FRONTIER LEAGUE

When I saw that Tampa Bay had designated Jason Childers for assignment I couldn't help but reflect back to our search earlier this spring to learn about the righthander's time in the Frontier League. That's what we do when a former Independent Baseball product gets to the majors.

The Frontier said he was with the Richmond (IN) Roosters in 1996, but he didn't show up in The History of Independent Baseball Leagues which tracks every player in a non-affiliated league between 1993 and 2002. It did show a Jason Childress pitching in one game in 1997. So we went to the source.

The Devil Rays' public relations department went to Childers. He confirmed he was at Richmond for all of one day in 1997, and he pitched in the game that day. Mystery solved.

The 31-year-old got into five games with Tampa Bay (0-1, 4.70) in his first major league opportunity. Childers should be back with the Devil Rays or some major league team before long because 46 Triple-A saves the last three years prove this Kennesaw State product has the ability to get key outs.

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