Danny Lewis got chance in 17 seasons: Baseball Profiles

Shreveport Captain Danny Lewis noted to The Shreveport Times in July 1991 there was good and bad about making an all-star game. 

The Texas League all-star could get a few days off by not making it. But it wasn't about that, he told The Times.

"By playing in an all-star game, you're getting the opportunity to show a lot of people that you're a good ballplayer," Lewis told The Times. 

Lewis made that AA all-star game in his sixth season as a pro. He went on to play a total of 17 pro campaigns, eight in independent ball. He topped out at AAA.

Lewis' career began in 1986, taken by the Astros in the third round of the January draft out of El Camino College in California.

Lewis started in the rookie Gulf Coast League. He made short-season Auburn in 1987, then single-A Asheville for 1988. He hit .239 in 107 games there.

He played 1989 at single-A Osceola, then moved to the Giants system and high-A San Jose for 1990. He made the all-star game there and hit .292 in 116 games.

Lewis saw AA Shreveport for 1991, then spent part of the offseason playing winter ball in Venezuela, The Associated Press wrote. 

"Latin players have a knack for doing things in a different way," Lewis told The AP of his experience. "You can pick up a lot of tricks from these guys."

Lewis returned for 1992 to Shreveport. He also saw 70 games at AAA Phoenix. He moved to the Cubs and AAA Iowa for 43 games in 1993, then 24 games with the Mariners at AA Jacksonville in 1994 to round out his affiliated time.

He then moved to independent ball at Sonoma County for 1995. He saw Sioux Falls, Thunder Bay and Madison for 1999. He had a key extra-inning hit for Madison in an August 1999 game. "It's starting to come together and happening," Lewis told The Wisconsin State Journal after that game.  

Lewis then played 2000 between Tri-City and Feather River, 2001 at Chico and 2002 at Yuba-Sutter to end his career.

• Shreveport Times, July 22, 1991: All-Star game another opportunity for Lewis
• Arizona Daily Star, Jan. 16, 1992: Curtis gets lesson in life and baseball
• Wisconsin State Journal, July 12, 1999: Copeland delivers win for surging Black Wolf

More: The 1990 San Jose Giants

1990 Minor League Tally 

Players/Coaches Featured:4,361
Made the Majors:1,403-32.2%
Never Made Majors:2,958-67.8%-X

5+ Seasons in the Majors:571
10+ Seasons in the Minors:353-X

Steven Zinn served as Spirit bat boy: Baseball Profiles

The San Bernardino Spirit recorded three bat boys in 1990, each of the three appearing on San Bernardino cards.

Bob Harvey, Jr., appeared on his own, while the other two appeared together on their card identified as only bat boys.

A team photo in The San Bernardino Sun, however, appears to identify both: Dustin Avila and Steven Zinn, Avila top, right, Zinn bottom, left. And the bat boys in the photo appear consistent with those on the card.

But, while both Avila and Harvey are referenced elsewhere, in a Sun article from two years prior, that team photo appears to be Zinn's only mention in The Sun connected to the team.

Is there anything else that can be learned of Zinn in the archives? Maybe.

Bat boy Harvey turned out to be the son of the team's radio announcer. Are there any other Zinns referenced in Sun stories connected to the team? Kind of, yes. Is it significant to bat boy Zinn's story? Unclear.

The San Bernardino Spirit's general manager at the start of the 1990 season was Bill Shanahan. The Sun featured Shanahan and his contributions to San Bernardino baseball in an article that December. 

Among those quoted in the story was a Rob Zinn, pastor of the church Shanahan attended, Immanuel Baptist Church in the San Bernardino area.

"I think the Spirit changed the city," Zinn told The Sun in the Shanahan article. "Let's put it this way. I believe Bill Shanahan is personally responsible for telling the world who San Bernardino is."

• San Bernardino County Sun, Dec. 30, 1990: Ex-baseball official brings Spirit

More: 1990 San Bernardino Spirit

1990 Minor League Tally 

Players/Coaches Featured:4,360
Made the Majors:1,403-32.2%
Never Made Majors:2,957-67.8%-X

5+ Seasons in the Majors:571
10+ Seasons in the Minors:352

Dustin Avila had fun as SB bat boy: Baseball Profiles

Dustin Avila loved being a San Bernardino bat boy, his grandfather told The San Bernardino County Sun in June 1988.

Avila simply called it fun, The Sun wrote.

"You get to know a lot of the guys, a lot of famous people," Avila, then 11, told The Sun. They treat me like one of the guys."

Avila then was in his second season as bat boy for the single-A Spirit. He went on to see at least two more - and get on a baseball card.

Avila's baseball card came two seasons later, in the San Bernardino Best set with fellow bat boy Steven Zinn. 

Neither Avila, nor Zinn are actually identified on the card, only as batboys. However, an April 1990 team photo in The Sun appears to include both. 

Both are identified as bat boys and their photos appear to match the card, Avila bottom, left, Zinn top, right. (A third bat boy, Bob Harvey Jr., who also got a card is not pictured or referenced.)

Avila appears to have gone on to play some baseball himself, at least on the high school level. A Dustin Avila is listed as going 2 for 3, with a run scored and an RBI in an April 1993 game for San Bernardino's Aquinas High School.

A LinkedIn profile that actually references work as a Spirit bat boy indicates Avila has gone on to stay in the spirit business, as a sales rep for a wine and spirit company. 

In the listing for his work as a bat boy, Avila references the famous people, at least one in particular. 

"I was a bat boy during the inaugural season of the San Bernardino Spirit Baseball Club and continued there through the 1990 season," the listing reads. "I was able to interact with several Major League Baseball players and one Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr. (1988 season)."

• San Bernardino County Sun, June 18, 1988: Spirit's bat boy is always on the run

More: 1990 San Bernardino Spirit

1990 Minor League Tally 

Players/Coaches Featured:4,359
Made the Majors:1,403-32.2%
Never Made Majors:2,956-67.8%

5+ Seasons in the Majors:571
10+ Seasons in the Minors:352

Bob Harvey Jr. served as Spirit bat boy: Baseball Profiles

The San Bernardino-area's KCKC broadcast the opening game of the San Bernardino Spirit 1987 season and it went so well they inked a deal to do more, veteran local announcer Bob Harvey told The San Bernardino County Sun.

They then moved to broadcast each Saturday night game through the rest of the season.

"We're very excited, and we like the association with the Spirit," Harvey told The Sun.

The Spirit not only got a radio station and a well-known local announcer out of the deal, they also got a bat boy, Harvey's son, Bob Harvey Jr.

The younger Harvey appears to have served as a bat boy for the Spirit for at least three seasons, 1988 to 1990, all while his father served as Spirit announcer.

Harvey Jr. is referenced in the role in a June 1988 Sun feature on fellow bat boy Dustin Avila. The feature identified Harvey Jr. as the son of the Spirit radio announcer.

Then, in 1990, Harvey got his own card in the Cal League set. 

It was unclear exactly how long the younger Harvey served as bat boy for the team, the elder Harvey's time as announcer appears to have ended in 1991 as the team appeared to flirt with leaving the city for Rancho Cucamonga, according to The Sun.

"I'm not a guy who's going to change my allegiance," Harvey, who also served as the KCKC programming director, told The Sun in December 1991. "It's betrayal and they're a lame-duck team. I don't want to be a part of that."

The elder Harvey appears to have had at least some connection to the San Bernardino team after that - the team did stay in San Bernardino through 2002.

But the younger Harvey may also have followed the father into radio, though it was unclear if the age math added up. In a February 1996 article about a radio station changing to formats to classic country, The Sun quoted a program director named Bob Harvey Jr.

"You can say we're trying to copycat the old KCKC format," Harvey Jr. told The Sun. "We're trying to fill a void on the air (created) when they changed (to talk radio)."

• San Bernardino County Sun, May 6, 1987: Spirit to be on KCKC on Saturdays
• San Bernardino County Sun, June 18, 1988: Spirit's bat boy is always on the run
• San Bernardino County Sun, Dec. 6, 1991: KCKC is back in football business after 2-year layoff
• San Bernardino County Sun, Feb. 2, 1996: Classic country comeback

More: 1990 San Bernardino Spirit

1990 Minor League Tally 

Players/Coaches Featured:4,359
Made the Majors:1,403-32.2%
Never Made Majors:2,956-67.8%-X

5+ Seasons in the Majors:571
10+ Seasons in the Minors:352

Lance Bland worked with players, horses: Baseball Profiles

San Bernardino Spirit trainer Lance Bland didn't think the team's catcher should play this night, due to an sprain from the previous game, but manager Keith Bodie thought he could find a spot for him, The San Bernardino County Sun wrote.

That spot led to an 11th-inning game-winning single, The Sun wrote.

"He was feeling better before the game," Bodie told The Sun of the catcher. "I talked to Lance before the game and said he would pinch hit for us but not catch."

Bland made his assessment in his first season as a pro trainer. It also turned out to be his only season. He instead appears to have gone on to a career working with horses, as a farrier.

Bland joined San Bernardino out of Southwest Texas State University, where he'd just graduated with a degree in sports medicine.

With the Spirit that April, Bland assessed another player who heard a pop, diagnosing a "giant muscle spasm, The Sun wrote. That July, he responded to the catcher again, who came up limping. The catcher ultimately went to the hospital for examination.

Bland had been set to return to San Bernardino for 1991, but he decided shortly before the season began not to return, The Sun wrote.

By 1999, Bland appears to have been back in Texas, working with horses, as a farrier, according to his LinkedIn profile. His profile notes his graduation from Southwest Texas State in 1988 with a degree in athletic training. 

On the Dallas-based RBRiding page, Bland is listed in 2024 among their support crew.

"Lance is our farrier extraordinaire," the page reads. "Thanks to his help our horses have stayed sound and are able to perform at the highest levels."

• San Bernardino County Sun, May 3, 1990: Spirit knocks off Reno on Pirkl;s single in 11th
• RBRiding.com: Support Crew

More: 1990 San Bernardino Spirit

1990 Minor League Tally 

Players/Coaches Featured:4,358
Made the Majors:1,403-32.2%
Never Made Majors:2,955-67.8%-X

5+ Seasons in the Majors:571
10+ Seasons in the Minors:352

Rich Morales played, coached, scouted: Baseball Profiles

Rich Morales played two seasons, then found himself at Pocatello, Idaho, in 1991, as manager of the co-op rookie Pocatello Pioneers. 

At age 26, his hometown Pacifica Tribune wrote.

"I wasn't expecting this," the former player told The Tribune that August. "I thought I'd be playing this year. But after I got released by the Mariner organization, I figured this was a good way to stay in the game."

Morales then stayed in the game for a long career, as a manager and coach in the minors and in college, then as a scout. 

Morales' brief playing career began in 1989, signed by the Mariners as an undrafted free agent out of the University of San Francisco.

Morales' father,  Rich Morales, Sr., also played pro, making the majors over eight seasons and later coaching and managing in the minors.

Morales Jr., started with the Mariners at single-A San Bernardino. He saw 42 games and hit .327. He returned to San Bernardino to start 1990. 

In one July 1990 game, the catcher Morales spoke to The San Bernardino County Sun after an extra inning win where his pitchers got into and out of trouble.

"That's what baseball is all about," Morales told The Sun.

Morales then got two games at AAA Calgary. He saw 36 total games on the year and hit .232 to end his brief playing career.

Morales then turned coach and manager. He coached at rookie Ogdan, then at Western Michigan University and at short-season Vermont with the Expos in 1998.

He then became a scout. In 2018, he earned the Jim Russo Scout of the Year award with the Orioles.

• San Bernardino County Sun, July 8, 1990: Spirit down Riverside in 10 innings, 6-5
• Pacifica Tribune, Aug. 7, 1991: Morales is youngest manager in pro baseball

More: 1990 San Bernardino Spirit

1990 Minor League Tally 

Players/Coaches Featured:4,357
Made the Majors:1,403-32.2%
Never Made Majors:2,954-67.8%-X

5+ Seasons in the Majors:571
10+ Seasons in the Minors:352

Nick Felix credited coach, made pros: Baseball Profiles

Pitcher Nick Felix improved at Mesa Community College and he credited his coach Roger Schmuck with getting him to do so, The Arizona Republic wrote in April 1987.

"I was pretty lazy," Felix admitted to The Republic then. "He really kicked me in the butt. He really put me in my place and made me work hard."

Felix eventually worked hard enough to move to a larger school, Texas A&M, and to turn pro. He ultimately saw six seasons. He topped out at AA.

Felix' career began in 1988, taken by the Mariners in the 12th round of the draft out of Texas A&M.

Felix started with the Mariners between short-season Bellingham and single-A San Bernardino. He went 4-1 between them, with a 1.18 ERA in 31 relief appearances.

He moved to single-A Wausau for most of 1989. He went 4-5 there, with a 5.35 ERA in 38 outings, six starts.

Felix played all of 1990 at San Bernardino, then moved to the Rangers system for 1991. He saw 29 games that year at high-A Port Charlotte and 11 games at AA Tulsa.

He moved to the Padres system mid-year in 1992, after being released by the Rangers. He played at high-A High Desert. 

"I've talked to coaches, and they said just because one organization doesn't want me, doesn't mean another one doesn't," Felix told The San Bernardino County Sun after signing with the Padres that June.

He picked up a win in relief in an August game, one of two-straight games where he got the win, The Victorville Daily Press wrote.

"I just wanted to hold them right where they were and keep it close," Felix told The Daily Press. "The way we are swinging the bats, I knew we would score some runs.

Felix moved to AA Wichita for 1993. He saw 27 relief appearances there before playing 15 more with the Brewers at AA El Paso. He saw 42 relief outings overall, with a 4.32 ERA to end his career.

• Arizona Republic, April 22, 1987: 'Like two different people'
• San Bernardino County Sun, June 27, 1992: Felix returns to old Spirit haunts
• Victorville Daily Press, Aug. 23, 1992: Mavericks

More: 1990 San Bernardino Spirit

1990 Minor League Tally 

Players/Coaches Featured:4,356
Made the Majors:1,403-32.2%
Never Made Majors:2,953-67.8%-X

5+ Seasons in the Majors:571
10+ Seasons in the Minors:352