Life in the minors isn't as idyllic as BULL DURHAM would have you believe. Recently, the Lake County Fielders, from the North American Baseball League, experienced a mutiny. On July 9, Lake County manager Tim Johnson resigned before a game and eleven of his players refused to play in protest. Apparently they were not getting paid. (No, Frank McCourt had nothing to do with this. Actually, a part owner of the Fielders is Kevin Costner.)
Things got wackier. A few nights later, Jose Canseco player/manager of an opposing team pitched against the Fielders. The following day, Lake County traded nine players and released fourteen others.
And then their play-by-play announcer, Qumar Zaman, quit on the air. Here's his final sign-off and it's a doozy.
The indie leagues are always goofy. The Schaumburg, IL team (not far from Lake County) fell apart because they weren't paying rent. Teams affiliated with MLB teams don't have these problems.
ReplyDeleteTim Johnson was the guy who managed the Blue Jays until someone discovered he'd lied about serving in Vietnam, right?
Wow, who does 6-week road trips, besides the US Armed Forces? After hearing Qumar talk about 6 weeks on the road, I had to look. He must've been exaggerating! But no, they played their first 32 games on the damn road! Costner, pay the players!
ReplyDeleteWow! That's how you do it. Where is Costner in all of this?
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure if he was serious or not, but he swiped the speech from CM Punk on a recent episode of WWE Monday Night Raw. He even referenced the WWE's pay-per-view program, which took place yesterday. Watch this:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OS9wZGb_3g
And this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-u4VZHYcQc
@Joe S: A lot of CM Punk and a heaping cup full of Olbermann. Hey, everyone wishes they could do this at least once in their careers. I hope he's young enough to have a future and that he can find his own voice. He has the showmanship, that's for sure. Channeled properly, he can turn that into something decent.
ReplyDeleteCostner is only affiliated with the Fielders for name recognition. He has zero operational control and he's not managing partner or majority investor. The guy who was managing partner of the Schaumburg Flyers is the managing partner of the Lake County Fielders.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, this is the same Tim Johnson.
It's nice that he's leaving with his head held high and I hope he finds a new position with another minor league or even a major league team that doesn't have any of these problems. I hear there may be an opening at the Dodgers.
ReplyDeleteRay
Aaron mentioned the link between the now-defunct Schaumburg Flyers and the new Fielders.
ReplyDeleteFrom the July 11 Chicago Sun-Times: "The Fielders’ president is Rich Ehrenreich, the original owner of the Schaumburg Flyers. The Flyers were slated to be in the NABL before they folded in March. The Village of Schaumburg sued the team for more than $900,000 in overdue rent and other payments." I'd heard from other sources that the Flyers' management had stiffed everyone with whom they'd come in contact.
Who hires that guy? Frank McCourt might be an upgrade.
If Costner has no operational control, he might do well to either acquire some -- and clean house -- or get his name disassociated from this train-wreck-in-progress.
Usually one full inning will suffice for a resume tape.
ReplyDeleteIt's nice that he's leaving with his head held high and I hope he finds a new position with another minor league or even a major league team that doesn't have any of these problems.
ReplyDeleteI haven't heard him, but I figure he has to be an improvement over John Sterling, whose image can be found in any dictionary next to the word "hack."