Indy Baseball Chatter: WILL SURPRISES CONTINUE IN NEW PLAYOFF ROUNDS?

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

WILL SURPRISES CONTINUE IN NEW PLAYOFF ROUNDS?

Three more Independent Baseball league championships go up for grabs starting tonight (Tuesday), and based what has already taken place the form chart can be tossed aside.

The championship round team seemingly on the biggest spot is Fargo, ND-Moorhead, MN of the Northern League. The perennially contending RedHawks won both the first and second halves in the Western Division. How much does that mean? Not much, if you ask North Shore (Lynn, MA) of the Can-Am League or Lincoln, NE of the American Association. They won their division twice only to be cast aside before the championship round of the playoffs. Edinburg, TX dominated the United League, but bowed out in the playoffs. We will examine these upsets in more detail later this week in our weekly Independent Baseball Insider column.

So who made it to the championship series in the three leagues starting play tonight?
Quebec, which barely made the playoffs at all, is hosting Brockton, MA in the Can-Am League 21 hours after eliminating North Shore in a rain-delayed series. The Northern League has a repeat of last season with '05 champion Gary, IN hosting Fargo-Moorhead. In the Frontier League the regular season divisional runnersup meet with Evansville, IN hosting Chillicothe, OH. All three series will be best three of five affairs.

Fort Worth, TX (American Association); Reno, NV (Golden League); and Alexandria, LA (United League) have already won championships.

The Atlantic League continues regular season play through September 24.

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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