Indy Baseball Chatter: INDEPENDENT LEAGUE PROVIDE 24 NON-ROSTER INVITEES

Friday, February 07, 2020

INDEPENDENT LEAGUE PROVIDE 24 NON-ROSTER INVITEES

This is that time of year when the words "non-roster" are seen with frequency since most major league teams will supplement their 40-man roster with around 20 invitees from their minor league system to train full-time in spring training camps throughout Florida and Arizona.

Presuming this spring training will follow recent years at least a handful of the invitees will make the decisions more difficult as the American and National League teams pare down to the 26-man limit by Opening Day on March 26.

The Independent Baseball Insider's exclusive compilation of former players from Independent leagues owning major league invitations is up to 24. Recent additions, including both the team and the Indy stops, are:

PITCHERS--Hunter Cervenka, Baltimore (Sugar Land, Atlantic League); Ross Detwiler, Chicago-AL (York, Atlantic); Tim Melville, Colorado (Long Island, Atlantic); Alex Powers, Cincinnati (New Jersey, Can-Am League); Caleb Thielbar, Minnesota (St. Paul, American Association).

POSITION PLAYERS--SS Peter Mooney, Minnesota (New Jersey); 1B John Nogowski, St. Louis (Sioux City, American Association); C Josh Thole, New York-AL (New Britain, Atlantic).

Melville bears watching closely since the right-hander finished last season in the Rockies' rotation after starting the year with the Long Island Ducks in the Atlantic League.

We will have a complete rundown of all players from the Independent leagues who will be in major league camps when spring training begins next week. Which league will have the most representation? Stay tuned.

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.

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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