Greatest 21 Days Baseball Profiles

Mike Capel 's day was quick in that June 1991 game. The result, though, was his first major league save . Capel, only up on this trip to the majors for a week, came on with two outs in the ninth inning, setting Kevin McReynolds down on strikes to end the game. "I just go in, try to be aggressive and see what happens," Capel told The Houston Chronicle . "This has been kind of a strange week. I've never been in this situation (saving games) up here before. I'm trying to adjust the best I can." Capel went on to save two more games for the Astros. The three big league saves ended up being his only ones in the majors. That year would also be his last of three seasons with time in the bigs. Capel's career began in 1983, taken by the Cubs in the 13th round of the draft, out of the University of Texas at Austin . The Cubs selected Capel after he went 12-1 for the Longhorns by late May. Capel played that first year between single-A Quad Cities a...

Steve McInerney in his Oswego High School office. On the shelf are photos from his days as a baseball trainer, and, more recently, as an athletic director. Part 1: Side of Caution | Part 2: Great Opportunities Anytime Steve McInerney went to a new stadium, he enjoyed walking out of the dugout and seeing he field. This time, though, in September 1991, the new field the baseball trainer was seeing was Tiger Stadium. "When I got to pull up to Tiger Stadium, it was really a great opportunity," McInerney recalled to The Greatest 21 Days recently. "I remember it vividly. Just a great experience going out on the grass, knowing the history of old Tiger Stadium." McInerney had been brought up with the September call ups, to experience the majors and work with the Tigers head trainers, including Russ Miller. He also got to work with the legendary Sparky Anderson. McInerney recalled Anderson meeting him at the door, Anderson joking he was glad to see McInerney, b...

The San Clemente All Stars didn't make the Little League Junior World Series in 2011, but their manager Dave Riddle told the team that there was nothing to be ashamed of, The San Clemente Times wrote . "I told them the one thing to take out of the game is that it just doesn’t come down to the score," Riddle told The Times after the August loss. "It comes down to all they did to get to this point -- all the days they skipped going to the beach, all the days of practice." Riddle managed that team of 13- and 14-year-olds , a team that included his son Dylan Riddle, having played himself, years earlier. Riddle played three seasons in the Orioles system, but was unable to make it out of high-A, his career ending two decades before his team of All Stars' season ended. Riddle's career began in 1989, taken by the Orioles in the 20th round of the draft, out of San Diego State University. Riddle graduated from San Diego State, having lette...

Steve McInerney in the Oswego (Ill.) High School gym. McInerney, a former minor league athletic trainer, is now the Oswego High athletic director. (G21D Photo) Part 1: Side of Caution | Part 2: Great Opportunities OSWEGO, IL - Sitting in the emergency room in Albany, NY, Julius McDougal scratched something out on a piece of paper. McDougal, the shortstop for the AA Glens Falls Tigers, had to write his message out because because he'd just gotten several teeth knocked out, taking a bad hop off his face, during a game against the Albany-Colonie Yankees. "As he's getting his jaw wired shut, he writes me a note," McInerney, the Glens Falls trainer that year in 1988, recalled recently. "'can I still play in the All-Star game? He was just a tough guy." McDougal go to go to the game, but he didn't get to play. McDougal's reaction to the injury was a common one for players faced with injury - they want to keep playing. It's the trainer...

Trevor Wilson thought he got a little too big for his britches, he admitted to The Houston Chronicle in June 1990. He'd resisted changes to his throwing motion, after control problems on the mound. But he finally relented. The result: A complete-game, one-hitter in his fourth big-league outing of the year. "I started realizing maybe I didn't know everything and that's when I started taking things in," Wilson told The Chronicle . "I let down my guard and realized these guys have been around a long time and they know a lot more than I do." Wilson was in his third season with time in the majors in 1990. He went on a career that saw time in eight . Wilson's career began in 1985, taken by the Giants in the eighth round of the draft, out of Oregon State University. He played that first year at short-season Everett, going 2-4 in 17 outings. Wilson made AA Shreveport in 1988, then AAA Phoenix that same year. Wilson also made major league San F...

The Yankees broke camp in April 1999 and there was Clay Bellinger , right there with them . The news from Yankees bench coach Don Zimmer and GM Brian Cashman that Bellinger would be going with the team to the Bronx, and not going back to the minors, left Bellinger hardly able to contain himself . "Awesome, just awesome," Bellinger told The New York Daily News early that April. "When Zim and (Cashman) told me I basically broke down. This was something I was hoping for for a long time." That long time for Bellinger was 10 years, all spent playing in the minor leagues. But the wait turned out to be worth it. Bellinger spent parts of four seasons in the majors. He also got to play in three postseasons, two World Series, experiencing a third. A native of Oneonta, NY, Bellinger's trek to the major leagues, and the World Series, began in 1989, taken by the Giants in the second round of the draft, out of Rollins College in Florida. He started that year a...

Tony Ariola on the mound for the AA Huntsville Stars in 1989. Part 1: Overcame Barriers | Part 2: Other Ways There was the view. There was the wild life. And there was the confidence boosting. Attending and playing for Northwestern University, Tony Ariola also took advantage of summer leagues, first in Cape Cod, then in Alaska. His Alaska experience was marked by ballparks with views of mountains and glaciers, 11 p.m. start times without lights and, in one game, a caribou delay, as the creatures traversed the park's outfield. But for Ariola, a not-so-intimidating pitcher of 5 feet, 10 inches tall, the time in the Alaska Baseball League, and the Cape Cod League before that, served to reinforce the idea that he could make it as a pitcher. "The summer opportunity gave me a chance to see if I really had what it took to be successful at a high level," Ariola recalled to The Greatest 21 Days recently. "Each game kind of built confidence." He ...

Asked at a February 1988 press conference who he thought should start at third base for the Dodgers, Pedro Guerrero had a ready response, The Los Angeles Times reported . "(Minor leaguer) Domingo Michel ," Guerrero told reporters , "because he's my cousin." Michel, who is also referred to as Guerrero's half-brother, though, never got to play third base for the Dodgers or anyone else in the majors . Michel played eight seasons in affiliated ball , getting as high as AAA, but never making the majors. Michel's career began in 1984, signed by the Dodgers as an undrafted free agent out of his native Dominican Republic. The Dodgers signed for $3,500, an amount Guerrero told The Times in 1985 that he believed should have been more. Michel played that first year in the rookie Gulf Coast League, hitting .261. He split time in 1985 between the Gulf Coast League and the Appalachian League, hitting .344 in 50 games between them. Michel moved to singl...

Luis Lopez looked to be the Padres starting second baseman in 1995, but a torn ligament and Tommy John surgery ended that talk, The New York Times wrote . By 1998, Lopez was still playing, but it wasn't starting. Lopez was coming off the bench for the Mets, a role he told The Times he had accepted. "My approach right now," Lopez told The Times in April 1998, "is to come to the ball park and go about my work. If I'm playing, I go out and do my 100 percent. If I'm not, I've got to be ready whenever they need me." Lopez went on that year to get into a total of 117 games , the most he would see in a season in his 11-season major league career. Lopez' professional career began back in 1987, signed by the Padres as an amateur free agent out of his native Puerto Rico. He played his first year, 1988, at short-season Spokane, hitting .304 . He made AA Wichita in 1991 and AAA Las Vegas in 1992. He made major league San Diego in 1993. Lope...

Tom Lampkin was fine with spending most of the 1992 season at AAA Las Vegas. He'd rather play there, than sit on the bench in the majors, he told The Los Angeles Times . Just so long as the stay in AAA wasn't permanant . "I'm happy with the way it all ended up," Lampkin told The Times after being recalled in September. "I love to play, I love to play every day, and I know it was something I wouldn't be able to do if I was up here. "Ultimately," Lampkin added to The Times , "I'd love to play every day in the big leagues." Ultimately, Lampkin did. The next year, he got into 73 games. In 1997, he got into 108. By the time his career was over following the 2002 campaign, Lampkin saw time in a total of 13 big league seasons . Lampkin's career began in 1986, taken by the Indians in the 11th round , out of the University of Portland. He played that first year at short-season Batavia, then 1987 at single-A Waterloo. In 1...

Competitive youth baseball has grown tremendously in recent years, Tim Dulin told The Memphis News in 2011, so much so that it's gotten a bit crazy. "You have to travel to play good competition. (College) coaches are able to identify (talented) players at an early age because of the good competition," Dulin explained to The News . "A lot of money is spent on these kids, and the economic impact is no doubt huge." Dulin would be in a position to know, running his own baseball academy , Dulins Baseball, in the Memphis area since 1994, claiming 22 All-Americans and 75 professionals in that time, The News wrote . Dulin started the academy in his hometown shortly after his own playing career ended, a career that lasted seven seasons, but never got to the majors. Dulin's playing career began in 1985, taken by the Orioles in the fifth round of the draft, out of the University of Memphis. At Memphis, Dulin was a two-time All-American himself , holding...