More Baseball Passings

Two more passings related to Major League Baseball happened recently, with Mark 'The Bird' Fidrych and Harry Kalas leaving us on Monday.

Fidrych captured the imagination of the country with his antics for the Detroit Tigers during his rookie season in 1976. 'The Bird' taked to the baseball and raked the dirt around the pitchers mound with his hands on his way to Rookie of the Year honors. Fidrych also started the All-Star game his rookie season.

Kalas had been the voice of the Phillies since the 1970's, but was also involved with NFL films, and for some time the Campbell's soup commercials. He threw out the first pitch in the Phillies home opener last week, the same day of their World Series celebration. Kalas was able to call the last out of last year's Phillies World Series win in what turned out to be his final postseason game.

Fidrych was found dead near his Massachusetts home, while Kalas was found passed out in the broadcast booth before the Philadelphia Phillies game against the Nationals in Washington. He died hours later in a Washington area hospital.

My dad, who grew up in Detroit, sent me this email the other day with some of his thoughts on Fidrych -

"One of my favorite things to remember about the Tigers when I was growing up was 1976 & 'The Bird' pitching. He sold out stadiums all over the country when he pitched. He was on the late shows, he was on magazine covers, on T-Shirts. There was an article in the Detroit Free Press or Detroit News every day about him, whether he was pitching or not.

I remember my dad telling me and my brother that the Tigers were gonna bring up this rookie. The boys were pretty bad at the time, but Trammell and Whitaker, Jack Morris and Lance Parrish were all just about ready to come up. Some of the '68 Tigers who won the World Series were still hanging on to the end of their careers back then. It was probably April & pop said that there was this kid down in Toledo playing for the Mud Hens that talks to the baseball and manicures the dirt on the mound with his hands before each inning. He said he heard the kid was pretty good, but super fun to watch & that if he came up, we would go get tickets to watch him pitch just for the fun of it.

That never happened, because all the tickets sold out after his first start. He had a no hitter going into the 8th, I think. I'm pretty sure it was on National TV - Saturday Game of the Week - this was back before ESPN or Cable or Satellite. Man, EVERYBODY watched the Game of the Week.

Might have been the only game you got to watch on TV. Fidrych won 19 games that year - I think Vida Blue from Oakland won the Cy Young with 20 and the whole country thought 'The Bird' got robbed. He won 19 games on a team that lost 90 games, while Blue won 20 for a doggone division winner. Anyway, he started the All-Star Game and won Rookie of the Year, too.

Wish you could have watched that guy pitch. He was like a little kid in a candy store when he played. When a guy would make a really good play to end an inning, he would run out to him and slap him on the butt and jump up and down like a little leager. Like he just loved being there. Never one like him before, never one like him after."

Fidrych fizzled out after a few years, the victim of arm trouble in a time before today's medicine. He finished his short career appearing in 58 games, pitching 412 innings, a 3.10 ERA, and 170 strike outs.

As ESPN's Tim Kurkjian stated, Fidrych will always be "the most remembered pitcher with a 29-19 career record."

(phillyblog.com)

-Harry Kalas

1926-2009, 73 years old

(Detroit Free Press)

Mark 'The Bird' Fidrych

1954-2009, 54 years old

Gryphon Wrestlers land on Telegram team

The "Gryphon Six" landed first team honors on the Rocky Mount Evening Telegram All-Area Team, while another two were named to the Honorable Mention list. (No second or third team was named.)

Well, that is if you consider Senior Francisco Alfaro's mysterious omission as a typo-error. I have e-mailed sports editor Ben Jones asking how in the world they could leave one of the most decorated wrestlers in Rocky Mount history off of the list. i have still not recieved a response, but this had to be a mistake.

As of now, I'll give them the benefit of the doubt.

The remaining five State Qualifiers for the Gryphons who made the Team:

Ahmir Scott

Chandler Phillips

JK Williamson

Dedrick Silver

Guy Williamson

Johnny Stewart and Darryl Cross (who both fell just one win shy of going to states) both garnered Telegram All-Area Honorable Mention.

For guiding the team to it's second consecutive Regular Season Championship and the qualification for the Team State Tournament that goes along with them, boasting 4 Conference Individual Champions along with 4 runners-up, qualifying eight team members for the State Individual Regional, and getting six of those to qualify for Individual State Tournament, Coach Jermaine Jones was named Coach of the Year by the Telegram.

Congratulations to all. And a fond farewell to Seniors Francisco, Dedrick, Guy and Darryl.

Rocky Mount's eight Telegram All-Area team members (plus Alfaro) after NEW 6 Conference Tournament. All nine placed in their weight classes.

(photo - N. Phillips)

Nick Adenhart (1986-2009)

Nick Adenhart
(photo - LA Angels)

There are times when we believe that people are taken off this Earth too soon. No more evident was this thought than the death of Anahiem Angels pitcher Nick Adenhart. Adenhart was one of the passangers in a car that was hit in an intersection by a suspected drunk driver who ran a red-light.

Adenhart died at the hospital, while two others also died, and a fourth person is in critical condition.

What makes this situation more tragic is that the 22-year old Adenhart had just made his fourth major league start, pitching six scoreless innings, athough the Angels eventually lost the game.

His final Major League stats - 4 starts, 1-0 record, 18.0 innings pitched, 6.00 ERA.

Adenhart's death is one that makes everyone think.we never know who might be coming through that intersection while we are going through. One of the simplest things, driving, with the constant threat that none of us think about.

Nick Adenhart was someone who overcame Tommy-John surgery when he was 18, and the Angels decided to take a chance on him anyway. The Maryland native passed up a scholarship offer to the University of North Carolina to realize his dream.

He was regarded as the best pitching prospect in the Angels system by Baseball America. He seemed posed to be at the top of a big league rotation for years to come.

Adenhart's father was in the stands to see his son pitch wednesday night, and also to find out the news. His father spoke to the Angels on Thursday afternoon, as the team postponed its game on Thursday night. The team plans a tribute before Friday's game and will wear a patch on their uniforms for the rest of the season.

A memorial had started outside Angels Stadium Thursday afternoon, with flowers, signs, ballons, and jerseys. One sign read "You now pitch for a different team of Angels."

Another example of someone taken too soon, Nick Adenhart was 22. And he makes us all think about the simple things in life.

Here is one of ESPN's articles - http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/story?columnist=crasnick_jerry&id=4057084. Other ESPN articles can be found on the right side of that page.

Nick Adenhart delevers a pitch during Thursday night's game. Hours later, he was gone from this Earth.

(photo - AP, Mark Terrill)

National Champions

Wow, it's been a while again since my last post.

North Carolina has capped off the NCAA men's basketball season as National Champions. A team that many wanted to give the championship to at the beginning of the year, those same people jumped off the bandwagon after the Tar Heels 0-2 start in ACC play. Even after Carolina came roaring back for an ACC regular season title, the debate began again as the Heels lost in the ACC tournament without Ty Lawson.

Lawson's toe was the object of much discussion over the last few weeks. He was held out of the Heels games in the ACC tourny, and the NCAA 1st round game against Radford. Carolina had no problems with the #16 seed, and Lawson returned for the 2nd round game against LSU. Arguably the Heels hardest game of the tournament, skeptics still questioned how Ty's toe would hold up. Lawson's toe held up fine, as Carolina pushed past Oklahoma and Blake Griffin, and then the Final Four.

I was lucky enough to see the new National Champions in person three times this season. First, the Heels opened the year against UNC-Pembroke, and then I fashed forward to the NCAA first and second round in Greensboro. Three games from the National Champs.

As a side note, through my position as assistant sports editor for UNC-P's campus newspaper, The Pine Needle, I have talked to Pembroke men's basketball coach Ben Miller several times. Talks are still in session to hopefully start off the season again next year in Chapel Hill against the defending champions.

I'm holding keen interest in this situation, as this year's editor who covered the game was on the floor near the basket, feet from Tyler Hansbourgh and the Carolina bench, only seperated by the tunnel.

The game would be considered an exhabition game, so doubtful would be complete with the National Championship celebration, but still. Wouldn't you want to go?

(photo - Nick Phillips)

North Carolina will be adding another banner to the rafters soon.