Indy Baseball Chatter: CATCHING UP WITH PLAYER TRANSACTIONS, THE WINTER LEAGUES AND THE AFL

Friday, October 24, 2014

CATCHING UP WITH PLAYER TRANSACTIONS, THE WINTER LEAGUES AND THE AFL

A surprising release we picked up today. Julio DePaula, who made that meteoric climb from York, PA (Atlantic League) to the Baltimore Orioles in 11 days in mid-summer, has been given free agency. He had not been in a major league uniform since 2007 (Minnesota) when he reported to the Orioles for a day before being designated for assignment and eventually returning to Class AA Bowie, MD.

BEVY OF INDEPENDENT PLAYERS IN WINTER BASEBALL

While the winter league season still is young, two hitters who had strong regular seasons are off to flying starts. San Francisco hopeful Mark Minicozzi, a well-traveled Independent vet, is hitting .417 (15-for-36) after 10 games in Venezuela. The versatile Minicozzi has two homers and has driven in eight runs. His Independent time was in the American Association (Kansas City, KS and Winnipeg), Can-Am League (Worcester, MA) and Atlantic League (Camden, NJ).

Third baseman Andy Marte, who was with the parent Arizona Diamondbacks for a very brief time this summer, has started fast in the Dominican Republic by going 5-for-11 with a homer and seven RBI in only three games. Now a free agent, Marte spent his Indy time at York.

Among pitchers, Chris Smith (Sugar Land, TX, Atlantic, and Wichita, KS, American Association) has worked 12 innings in two starts in Venezuela without allowing an earned run. He is in the San Diego minor league system.

CATCHING UP WITH ARIZONA FALL LEAGUERS

The only two former Independent players we have identified as playing in the Arizona Fall League are struggling so far. Frontier League grads Brandon Cunniff (Southern Illinois)and Alex Smith (River City) have 4.76 and 11.81 earned run averages, respectively. Both have worked five plus innings in multiple appearances. Cunniff is in the Atlanta farm system while Smith is with the New York Yankees.

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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