Indy Baseball Chatter: FOUR INDY PLAYERS ON TEAM CANADA WITH MORE ANNOUNCEMENTS LATER THIS WEEK

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

FOUR INDY PLAYERS ON TEAM CANADA WITH MORE ANNOUNCEMENTS LATER THIS WEEK

It is our understanding preliminary rosters for the third World Baseball Classic will be revealed on Thursday, but news is already coming out on various teams.

We know that Canada will have at least four players with Independent experience, three of whom were in non-affiliated leagues last summer. It appears right-hander Shawn Hill (York, PA, Atlantic League) and southpaw Andrew Albers (Quebec, Can-Am League, 2010) are among the likely starting pitchers. Third baseman Jimmy Van Ostrand (Sugar Land, TX, Atlantic) and 2012 Quebec outfielder Jonathan Malo are among the position players. Hill is a spring training invitee of the Detroit Tigers while Albers is in the Minnesota farm system and Van Ostrand belongs to Washington. Stubby Clapp, a former member of the Canadian team as well as a Northern League infielder at Edmonton, is a coach for Canada. His regular job is as a minor league coach for Toronto.

We fully expect the Italy, Spain and Australian teams will have Independent players of past or present.

STU POMERANZ BACK WITH O'S; PAXTON, ROARK GET SPRING TRAINING INVITES

Stu Pomeranz, the onetime Can-Am League pitcher (New Jersey Jackals), is once again in the Baltimore organization with a new contract. We expect him to get some spring training innings whether he is an official invitee or not.

Meanwhile, add hot pitching prospect James Paxton (Grand Prairie, TX, American Association) and 26-year-old catcher Tanner Roark (Southern Illinois, Frontier League) to those now officially invited to major league camps. Paxton is rated the No. 4 Seattle prospect by Baseball America. Roark is with Washington.

YORK HURLER GETS ANOTHER AFFILIATED DEAL

Lefty Ryan Feierabend, who won eight of 13 decisions for the York Revolution in the Atlantic League last season before getting a look from Cincinnati's Triple-A Louisville, KY club (1-4, 6.75 in seven starts), has just signed with Texas. This former Seattle hurler will not turn 28 until August.

SUBSCRIBE TO THE INDEPENDENT BASEBALL INSIDER FOR 2013. 40 issues for only $48 through December, 2013; Scouts: $32

REQUEST A FREE WEEK OF THE INDEPENDENT BASEBALL INSIDER

Get the independent minor league baseball trivia question of the day by clicking this link: Independent Minor League Baseball Trivia Questions

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.

No comments:

Post a Comment

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