PAYING TRIBUTE TO SPARKY LYLE AND TWO RECENT INDEPENDENT HURLERS

It will be one sentimental evening at TD Bank Ballpark in Somerset, NJ Friday when the Patriots host Sparky Lyle Tribute Night to honor the mustachioed one for his 15 years of managing the Atlantic League team which included five championships and more than 1,000 victories.

Now 68, Albert Walter Lyle also won 99 major league games and saved another 222 plus still more before the first official save rule went into effect. That is a lot of winning baseball for the left-hander now considered manager emeritus for Somerset.

ADDING ON TO KYLE SCHEPEL'S STORY

I singled out Arizona farmhand Kyle Schepel in last week's Independent Baseball Insider column because of the seven-inning no-hitter he threw for South Bend, IN in his initial season after being signed out of an Independent league. Mal Fichman, who signed the right-hander after an invitation-only tryout camp in Joliet, IL last September as one of his final feats before moving on to scout the Indy leagues for Baltimore, added some perspective on just how meaningful it can be to move into a major league organization for anyone who starts his career in a non-affiliated league and for those close to him.

Schepel spent last summer with Rockford, IL in the Frontier League. Fichman said Rockford Manager Rich Austin "may have been happier than Schepel" that his pitcher impressed enough for the Diamondbacks to sign him. While it seems unlikely the manager was actually happier, the comment says a great deal about how much someone like Austin wants the best for his players.
Fichman's email also said "Schepel and his father sat in the dugout for a few minutes (after the signing) to go over some things" before the three of them walked to their cars. "I thought they were going to fly home rather than drive," Fichman concluded.

The 22-year-old Schepel won again Saturday to run his record to 2-0 for four starts, and he has allowed only 15 hits in 24.2 innings while building a 2.55 earned run average.

ADD ONE MORE TO MAJOR LEAGUES

The newest Independent leaguer to reach the major leagues is southpaw Vidal Nuno, now with the New York Yankees less than two years after his contract was purchased from Washington, PA in the Frontier League.

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