Indy Baseball Chatter: KRIS JOHNSON AND EDDY RODRIGUEZ AMONG LATEST WITH NEW AFFILIATED CONTRACTS

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

KRIS JOHNSON AND EDDY RODRIGUEZ AMONG LATEST WITH NEW AFFILIATED CONTRACTS

Several more former Independent players have gotten new contracts with major league organizations, including southpaw hopeful Kris Johnson (Kansas City, KS, American Association) who will be among those featured in this week's Independent Baseball Insiderwhich subscribers will receive on Thursday. Johnson is continuing in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization.

Others with new deals include infielder Mark Minicozzi (Worcester, MA, Can-Am League; Camden, NJ, Atlantic League; Kansas City and Winnipeg, Northern League) with San Francisco, third baseman Jimmy Van Ostrand (Sugar Land, TX, Atlantic and Canadian World Baseball Classic star) with San Francisco, catcher Eddy Rodriguez (Sioux Falls, SD and El Paso, TX, American Association) with San Diego and infielder Amadeo Zazueta (Sugar Land) with Toronto.

Among those on the long list of minor league free agents, which we also will cover in the Insider, are veteran outfielder Justin Christian (River City, Frontier League, and Southern Maryland, Atlantic) and right-hander Chris Jakubauskas (Lincoln, NE, American Association; Orange County, Golden League; Ohio Valley and Florence, KY, Frontier). Christian spent a sizeable portion of 2012 with the World Champion San Francisco Giants while Jakubauskas's most recent affiliation was with Toronto.

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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