Indy Baseball Chatter: FINALLY! JOHN LINDSEY NOW A MAJOR LEAGUER

Monday, September 06, 2010

FINALLY! JOHN LINDSEY NOW A MAJOR LEAGUER

It finally happened!

John Lindsey, the onetime star of the New Jersey Jackals of the Can-Am League, is now a major leaguer, some 15 years and 1,445 games after starting his pro career.

He is the fourth Independent player called up to the major leagues in recent days. (See story immediately below this.)

Lindsey was expected to join the Los Angeles Dodgers in San Diego in time for the Monday night game. The 33-year-old won the Pacific Coast League batting championship with a .356 average for Albuquerque.

Dodgers General Manager Ned Colletti and Manager Joe Torre both praised the first baseman to MLB.com. "Well earned, well deserved," said Colletti. "He's worked hard to make his dream a reality." Torre said Lindsey would be used mainly as a pinch hitter. "It's a good story", the manager said. He's a strong young man. He's not the best defensive first baseman but the son of a gun works like crazy and tries hard. And he is a threat, there's no question, from the right side of the plate."

We will have much more on Lindsey and the other new major leaguers in this week's Independent Baseball Insider column.

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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