Indy Baseball Chatter: JOHN LINDSEY MAKING DODGERS TAKE NOTICE OF BAT AND VOICE

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

JOHN LINDSEY MAKING DODGERS TAKE NOTICE OF BAT AND VOICE

Bulletin! Bulletin!

I don't really know how often that term is used these days, but this one seems to qualify, at least in the world of Independent Baseball.

With the launch of our dedicated Monday-Wednesday-Friday coverage of the former Independent players in major league spring training camps in this space three days away--this Friday--I could not wait to share the first meaningful development to come to our attention.

John Lindsey, who played for the New Jersey Jackals (Little Falls, NJ) in the Can-Am League in 2005 and 2006 and is entering his 14th professional season, appears to be off on the right foot in convincing the Los Angeles Dodgers he is ready for his first major league opportunity.

Lindsey, a first baseman, "crushed the ball in each of his at-bats" in the Dodgers' first intrasquad game, according to the team's public relations report. He had two singles, a double, scored twice and drove in a run. Cynics might stress it was only an intrasquad game, but 31-year-old rookies must take advantage of every opportunity. The 245-pound righthanded hitter is coming off a monster season in which he led all Los Angeles farmhands with 30 home runs and 121 runs batted in while splitting the season between Double-A Jacksonville and Triple-A Las Vegas. He hit a combined .317 one season after hitting .311 in the Can-Am League.

The intrasquad explosion was the second recognition already this spring for this native of Hattiesburg, MS. The team reported he provided the loudest "I got it" during a wind-infested pop-up drill.

Okay, so the 3-for-3 performance probably was more important.

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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