Indy Baseball Chatter: NEW NORTH AMERICAN LEAGUE STEPS OUT TO SPONSOR CAR IN 24 HOURS OF DAYTONA THIS WEEKEND

Friday, January 28, 2011

NEW NORTH AMERICAN LEAGUE STEPS OUT TO SPONSOR CAR IN 24 HOURS OF DAYTONA THIS WEEKEND

How is this for an interesting venture by the North American League?

The league, made up of franchises from the Golden, Northern and United Leagues, has yet to play a game and still must deal with issues such as the economic mess involving the Schaumburg (IL) Flyers, but it is stepping up promotional activities by sponsoring a car in this weekend's Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona race. Photos show a huge NAL logo on the hood of a car owned by TRG/Nadeau Motorsports so it presumably is not exactly a nickel and dime sponsorship.

Bob Doyle, Jim Michaelian and Coulter Mulligan will take turns behind the wheel of the Porsche, and race/baseball fans can follow the action that starts at 3:30 p.m. EST Saturday via Speed Channel or www.DaytonaInternationalSpeedway.com.

Meanwhile, the Illinois Department of Revenue and the Village of Schaumburg seem to have agreed the Flyers will be evicted from Alexian Field if the team is not sold and its sizeable debt repaid by February 24. The clock keeps ticking on this issue.

THREE MORE GET NON-ROSTER INVITATIONS

The Continental League is no more, but it has its first former player with an invitation to a major league spring training camp. Left-hander Brandon Sisk, who started his pro career in the Houston region with the Bay Area Toros in 2007-08, is an invitee of the Kansas City Royals after two full seasons of averaging well over a strikeout per inning.

Another who started his career in Independent Baseball, Greg Burke, is back for another shot at making the San Diego Padres bullpen corps. Burke was with the Padres for much of 2009. He started out with Atlantic City, NJ in the Atlantic League. The other new non-roster invitee is infielder-outfielder Erick Almonte (Long Island, NY, Atlantic League), who will get another look from Milwaukee after hitting .320 with two homers and 38 runs batted in during 110 games for Triple-A Nashville last season.

Our count of former Indy players with major league non-roster invitations is up to 22with a few more expected.

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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