Greatest 21 Days Baseball Profiles

Asked by The Los Angeles Times whether he believed race had played a role in his Dodger coaching career, AA hitting coach Von Joshua , who was black, said he believed it did. The question came only a few days after Dodger General Manager Al Campanis' infamous appearance on Nightline where the GM said he believed blacks "may not have some of the necessities" to be a manager. "You can see the writing on the wall," Joshua told The Times in a story that appeared three days after the Nightline broadcast. "I'm not stupid. I see myself getting caught up in the shuffle. I haven't heard one thing about moving up. Not one peep." Joshua had been an instructor with the Dodgers since 1984, having spent parts of six seasons in Los Angeles as a player. He was also the first full-time black minor league coach for the organization, The Times wrote . But he had never been asked to go to winter instructional ball. Joshua went on in 1988 to get that pr...

This is a little late, I know, but I've been keeping up with other things, so here goes. Last weekend, my wife and I had the greatest time in Cooperstown, there for the induction of The Hawk Andre Dawson into the Hall of Fame. I also picked up some cards, too, but more on those later. Since I'm about a week late, I'll try and spare most of the details. We had great seats, off to the right of the stage and in prime spot for the MLB Network cameras. I recorded the ceremony on the DVR and we actually got on TV a couple times. For those wondering, I was the guy with the Dawson jersey, the wife was the one next to the guy with the Dawson jersey. My wife got me the jersey a few years ago. But it was something I'd waited for since I was a kid. I was a huge Dawson fan growing up in Iowa. I even got to meet him in 1988, when I was 9. He was so great, he signed every one of the cards I brought, all nine of them. They're among the coolest things I have. Anyway, I always vowed ...

After more than two decades as a pitching coach in the majors and the minors, Claude Osteen mid-year 1999 became a pitching coach for a team he played the longest for, the Dodgers. And he wanted to come back for another . "The only control I have is the type of job I've done, and I think I've done a good job under the circumstances," Osteen told The Los Angeles Times that September. "It took a while to start to get [the pitchers] to believe in some things," Osteen added later . "But it hasn't been frustrating for me because, as a pitching coach, you're constantly presented with so many scenarios. You just have to always figure things out as best you can. Period." Osteen began his pitching career in 1976 at Reading, shortly after being cut by the White Sox. Osteen had just completed a playing career that included nine seasons with the Dodgers. He made it back to the majors in 1977, accepting the job as pitching coach of the ...

Speaking to The Los Angeles Times in 1988, Greg Booker found that year to be the worst. It was Booker's sixth straight season with time in the majors and he'd had mixed results. His play, though not always the best or most frequent , by itself was not enough to catch anyone's eye, or ire. No, that came from who he knew, or who he was married to. Booker's wife, someone he'd known since he was a child , was the daughter of none other than the his general manager and then manager, Jack McKeon . "They yell when I'm down in the bullpen, where it's real quiet and everybody can hear them," Booker told The Times . "People will actually stop watching the game just so they can mess with me." It was enough for the Padres to finally trade him away the next year . Booker's familial relationships aside, he went on to a major league career that totaled time in eight seasons. And Booker's career in baseball is one that has continued...

Called-up from AAA Omaha for the first time, Mark Huismann hopped in his parents' car, and, after stopping three times as the car overheated, Huismann finally made it to Kansas City in August 1983, just in time for that night's game, The Associated Press wrote . Huismann not only got in the game that night, according The AP account , he helped preserve an early Royals one-run lead. He also got the win. "I just said 'Welcome to the big leagues,'" Royals manager Dick Howser told reporters . "I was impressed with him. He has a good live arm. He went right after them and challenged them. I liked that. It's a nice way to break in." Huismann had been signed by the Royals three years earlier , as a free agent. He'd made AA in 1982 and made a brief stop at AAA Omaha in 1983 before being called up to Kansas City. Huismann got into 13 games for the Royals that year and 38 the next. He was credited with three saves for 1984, but had a 4.20 ER...

The Orioles bullpen needed some relief and Francisco de la Rosa was the called up to fill the gap, according to The Baltimore Sun . The move didn't go as intended for the Orioles, or de la Rosa. It got de la Rosa to the majors. But back problems would limit his appearances to two, what would turn out to be the the only two appearances of his major league career. De la Rosa began his career with the Blue Jays system, signed as a free agent out of his native Dominican Republic . He played part of one season for the Blue Jays' rookie league team, with a 5.52 ERA, and was released . It wasn't until late 1987 that de la Rosa caught on with the Orioles , playing 1988 at single-A Hagerstown. He returned to single-A Frederick in 1988, while posting a 2.38 ERA and getting promoted back to AA Hagerstown. In 18 appearances at AA, de la Rosa's ERA expanded to 4.55 . Among his problems was a three-run double given up in August against Albany. De la Rosa returned to Hager...

Rodney Lofton had speed. But he was reluctant to fully take advantage of it. That was essentially what the sentiment of his manager at AAA Rochester in 1992, according to The Baltimore Sun . Rochester manager Jerry Nerron wanted Lofton to bunt more. Lofton wasn't so sure, The Sun wrote . "If he gets on base," Narron told The Sun , "he'll play in the big leagues because of his ability to play defense and run the bases." Whether it was Lofton's reluctance to bunt, or some other reason, Lofton never made it to the big leagues . Lofton was playing in his fifth year of professional ball. He was drafted by the Orioles in the 13th round of the 1988 draft. Beginning at short-season Erie, Lofton went on to play at single-A Frederick in 1989, making the Carolina League All-Star team that year. Lofton made AA Hagerstown in 1990, getting his first taste of AAA Rochester that same year. Lofton was credited with stealing 27 bases that year. In May, The...

Oakland's Geronimo Berroa went down in early August and Jim Bowie got his chance, this would be his major league debut. Called up by the Athletics, Bowie stayed up for the rest of the season. Unfortunately for Bowie, the rest of the season meant appearances in six games , including the season finale, Aug. 11. The 1994 strike came, ending the season for Bowie and the rest of the major league players. Those six games - he got to swing the bat in five of them - would be the extent of Bowie's major league career . Bowie made the majors in his ninth season of professional ball . He began, taken in the 12th round out of Louisiana State by the Mariners in the 1986 draft. He began at short-season Bellingham, where he hit .277 with five home runs. A reporter for the Eugene Register-Guard played on Bowie's name while reporting on one July game. Bowie, the reporter wrote, "provided the most unkind cuts of all - three hits, two RBI and two runs scored." The Reg...

Nelson Rood wasn't a player to concern himself with whether he'd make the major leagues, according to The Lakeland Ledger . "I'm not worried. You've got to relax to play this game," Rood, then playing at single-A Daytona Beach told The Ledger in July 1984 . Aiming to impress, makes a player press, he added. "I'm a Christian, it ties strongly with my game," he told the paper . "My definition of success is not necessarily defeating my opponent. It transcends that." Rood successfully played in eight professional seasons, six of those at the AAA level . But he wouldn't succeed at making the majors. Rood was selected by the Astros in the 13th round of the 1983 draft, taken out of Florida Southern. In college, Rood had some speed. He had 37 stolen bases by late April his final season. His 38th came on a daring steal of home, according to the St. Petersburg Evening Independent . Sent later that year to short-season Auburn, Rood ...

Going into spring training 1989, Edwin Marquez was coming off a year where been described as a top Angels catching prospect , but one where he'd only played 13 games. So, when players returned to camp that year, but Marquez couldn't. That couldn't have been of much help to the backstop. It was Visa problems for the Venezuelan native that stalled his return, according to the Los Angeles Times. His arrival was stalled the year before , as well. He finally arrived in 1989 a month late, according to The Daily News of Los Angeles . Unfortunately for Marquez, he would only have to worry about visa problems for another year. His last year in professional baseball would come in 1990, his career ending short of the majors . Marquez' career began in 1983, signed as a free agent by the Angels out of Venezuela. Sent to short-season Salem, Marquez did poorly. For the Salem Angels of the Northwest League that year, Marquez got just 33 at-bats , hitting .091. He returned ...

Working as an instructor for young Red Sox in spring 1985, Carl Yastrzemski had some high praise to hand out . "I'll tell you there's one kid here who really looks good to me," Yastrzemski told UPI in March . "There he is now over there now, getting ready to hit. His name is John Marzano and he was catcher on our Olympic team. Watch him hit. He's got a quick bat and a nice short stride." Yastrzemski's praise aside, Marzano went on to a career that included playing time in 10 seasons . His career would continue after his playing days as a broadcaster, doing that up until is death in 2008 from a fall. He was taken by the Red Sox in the first round of the 1984 draft, a year after the Olympics. And he made a quick ascent up the Red Sox ladder. He made AA New Britain in 1985 and Pawtucket and then the majors in 1987. That year, he got into 52 games for the Red Sox , the most appearances he would have in a single season. He made his first appear...

Talking to a columnist in 2009, Terrel Hansen 's assessment of his career was succinct . "I was always in the wrong place at the wrong time or behind somebody," Hansen told The Kitsap Sun of Bremerton, Wa. . "But when you are a $100,000 guy and there are $6 million guys ahead of you, those guys have to play. That is just a part of the game." Hansen was speaking of a professional playing career that spanned 13 minor league seasons and two major league days. That's two major league days . Hansen's career began with the Expos, taken in the 14th round of the 1987 draft out of the University of Washington. He started at short-season Jamestown, then made West Palm Beach in 1988 and Rockford in 1989. It was AA Jacksonville in 1990. Hansen never hit better than .269 in those four seasons. But he did become a home run hitter. He hit 16 for Rockford and 24 for Jacksonville. It was enough for the Expos to ship him to the Mets in a four-player deal...

The Principal Family Fun Fest at Bruno Stadium in Troy, NY This is the Principal Family Fun Fest, on its visit to the Tri-City ValleyCats Saturday night. The event is a mass of games and activities, mostly geared toward kids. But the cool thing is it has this traveling minor league baseball museum trailer. That's basically what it is, a trailer. You enter at one end and exit the other. Museum pieces, like bats, gloves, baseball cards are all on display. My wife and I had seen the fun fest before, four years ago before a game in Syracuse. I remember it because we saw it the day I proposed. No, I didn't propose at the game. That all happened earlier in the day, on a boat. (There are multiple exits at a game, few on a boat) And we've been happily married for three years now. So, newly engaged, we went to see the Syracuse Chiefs, and wandered into the Fun Fest and Museum Trailer. Signed Field of Dreams movie script Inside the trailer is a bunch of minor league and baseball...