Indy Baseball Chatter: COLABELLO HOMERS, HELPS TWINS TO TWO WINS IN A DAY

Saturday, July 27, 2013

COLABELLO HOMERS, HELPS TWINS TO TWO WINS IN A DAY

We talked at length in Thursday's Independent Baseball Insidercolumn about the fates--at least for now--of former Independent sluggers Chris Colabello and Brock Peterson depending on whether they were able to take advantage of their new opportunities with Minnesota and St. Louis, respectively.

Oh, how things change swiftly. Peterson (1-for-7) was sent back to Memphis today when Matt Holliday returned from the disabled list. The good news for this 11-year minor leaguer, including '11 and half of last year with Bridgeport, CT (Atlantic League), is that he got to taste the major leagues, drove in two runs in his short stint and remains on the Cardinals' 40-man roster, which can be a hurdle itself for a player hoping to return.

Colabello, after struggling in three brief call-ups and again in a lengthier test this time, finally has clicked in less than 24 hours. He banged his first major league home, a two-run job, in the 13th Friday night in Seattle to provide a Minnesota victory, then came right back to help in a 4-0 win Saturday afternoon with two singles (2-for-4), a walk and a run. He hit fifth on Saturday and lifted his first-year average to .182 as the Twins continue to give him a solid look to see what they have in the 29-year-old, who was in the Can-Am League his first seven professional seasons.

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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