Obrey Brown – Page 7

April 8, 2023March 17, 2023

PART 1: “WILLIE … ALMOST MICKEY … AND THE DUKE”

Redlands Connection is a concoction of sports memories emanating from a city that once numbered less than 20,000 people. From the Super Bowl to the World Series, from the World Cup to golf’s U.S. Open and the Olympics, plus NCAA Final Four connections, NASCAR, the Kentucky Derby and Indianapolis 500, Tour de France cycling, major tennis, NBA and a little NHL, aquatics and quite a bit more, the sparkling little city that sits around halfway between Los Angeles and Palm Springs on Interstate 10 has its share of sports connections. – Obrey Brown

Talkin’ baseball. Terry Cashman. His song, released in 1981, seemed to summarize a special part of baseball. A musical contribution to baseball history. It surrounded the great center fielders in three New York boroughs – the Bronx, Brooklyn and Manhattan.

Cashman wrote about … “Willlieeeeee … Mickey … and The Duke.”

Duke Snider came to Redlands.

Mickey Mantle came to … well, as far as anyone knows, he didn’t come to Redlands. But his longtime friend, Billy Martin, showed up here at least once.

Then there was Willie Mays. I can’t honestly say that the “Say Hey Kid” ever set foot on Redlands soil. But me, the sports editor from Redlands, took part in a rare discussion that probably never came up in baseball circles.

It would’ve made a nice little change in Cashman’s song, “Willie … Almost Mickey … and the Duke …”

Say, hey!

Willie_Mays_cropped — Willie Mays talked about a “trade” that could’ve happened regarding a Dodger pitcher named Koufax? (Wikipedia Commons photo)

It was in the early 1980s. Bob Hope Desert Classic. Deep in the heart of Coachella Valley. Willie Mays, a golf lover, was playing in the celebrity Pro-Am, along with plenty of others from music, film and sports.

There we were in the VIP tent. Food was being served. It was the middle of the day. Willie had played his round. I was talking a break. Other than the serving staff, no one else seemed to be around.

Sitting at a table near him, I could just feel the opportunity. I grew up in the Bay Area watching this guy play in the twilight of his career in the late 1960s.

What should I ask him? Finally, I came up with something out of sheer desperation.

“Willie,” I said, “tell me something about your career that didn’t get much attention.”

He responded crudely, which shouldn’t have come as a complete shock. In sports, you often run into replies like that. In the clubhouse. In a locker room. On a field or court. Willie had probably been approached by thousands of media guys looking for something – stories, opinions, recollections, you name it.

He wouldn’t be talking – at least to me. It’s okay. I tried. No big deal.

Suddenly, out of the blue, he blurted, “We almost got Koufax.”

Huh? What? Say that again!

Yeah, he said. A year, or two, before Dodger southpaw Sandy Koufax really hit his Hall of Fame stride, the fireballing southpaw was stewing about how the Dodgers were using him.

Translation: Or not using him.

Apparently in Willie’s presence in San Francisco – likely at Seals Stadium – Koufax approached team general manager Buzzie Bavasi to request a trade.

Said Willie: “He told Bavasi, ‘you’re not using me. Why even keep me? It’s better to let me go. Trade me somewhere so I can pitch.’ ”

Willie said he jumped right into the discussion. “Trade him to the Giants,” he remembers telling Bavasi. “Trade him to us.”

There was some discussion. Wow! The Giants’ star player was discussing a trade with the GM of their chief rival, the Dodgers.

Willie was told by Bavasi to tell Horace Stoneham, the Giants’ owner who made all deals for the San Francisco-based team.

“Did you do it?” I asked him.

He nodded. “I talked to Mr. Stoneham. Didn’t hear much about it for awhile.”

Willie was chewing his food. Some guys were entering the VIP tent. Hoping that it wasn’t people looking for Willie – which would interrupt our chat – I prodded him a little.

“Any discussions take place about Koufax going to the Giants?”

Willie Mays nodded again. He was chewing. Swallowing. Didn’t seem to be in much of a hurry to answer.

“They wanted Cepeda.”

Orlando Cepeda, one of baseball’s younger star sluggers, was a San Francisco favorite. He was an established star.

Koufax had yet to reach that portion of his career that would get everyone’s attention. At that time, Cepeda-for- Koufax might not have seemed logical for San Francisco.

(Funny thing, though, was in 1966, the Giants sent Cepeda to St. Louis for southpaw Ray Sadecki – not quite the same caliber of pitcher that Koufax had been. At least Sadecki had won 20 games a couple years earlier.)

Koufax had a little success in his early years, but had yet to really hit his consistently Hall of Fame stride. In his mind, apparently, the Dodgers weren’t treating him respectfully.

Between 1961 and his final season, 1966, Koufax was unhittable, unforgettable and, evidently, untradeable.

I summarized this for Willie Mays.

“Are you telling me that you guys almost had Sandy Koufax, Juan Marichal and Gaylord Perry on the same pitching staff?” It would have been a couple of years before Perry joined the Giants’ staff.

Wow!

Willie didn’t answer. Just kept chewing. I wasn’t all that much of an interest to him. At the moment, though, I was the only one sitting near him to chat about this remarkable trade possibility.

“How close do you think this came to happening?”

I should mention this: During this entire chat, Willie Mays never looked at me. Not once. Didn’t have to, though. This was more than I’d bargained for. I don’t even know if he had even heard that last question.

At that point, more people started entering the tent. Food was being served. Willie Mays acknowledged some of the people he’d played golf with that day. My time with him was apparently over.

It was exciting, to say the least. I was practically finished with my sandwich and potato salad. I was nursing my drink when Willie Mays got up to leave. My heart kind of sank. I’d have really liked to get more conversation with him.

I watched him shake hands with a few guys.

“Nice to see you again, Willie.”

“Thanks, Willie.”

“Let’s get together soon, Willie.”

You know, typical sendoff lines.

Willie Mays was leaving. He’d walk right behind where I was sitting. When he walked past me, he said into my good ear (I only hear out of one ear), “Stoneham would’ve never traded Cepeda.”

One-third of the Cashman song – done.

Part 2 of Willie … Almost Mickey … and The Duke next week.

April 1, 2023March 17, 2023

DEE FONDY: REMEMBERED BY BUD SELIG AND WILLIE MAYS

Redlands Connection is a concoction of sports memories emanating from a city that once numbered less than 20,000 people. From the Super Bowl to the World Series, from the World Cup to golf’s U.S. Open and the Olympics, plus NCAA Final Four connections, NASCAR, the Kentucky Derby and Indianapolis 500, Tour de France cycling, major tennis, NBA and a little NHL, aquatics and more, the sparkling San Bernardino County city that sits around halfway between Los Angeles and Palm Springs on Interstate 10 has its share of sports connections. – Obrey Brown

In memory of the 1973 World Series:

Dee Fondy, an ex-major league baseball player who lived in Redlands for years, never seemed to show up in the spotlight. He was completely without fanfare. For an ex-big league ballplayer with some real time in the spotlight, Fondy preferred to keep his collar up and the brim of his hat down.

His son, Jon Fondy, said his late father never sought the publicity of local newspapers, preferring a low-key existence. A war hero and a local product (though he was born in Texas) from San Bernardino, Fondy was a golf-playing member at Redlands Country Club during his retirement years.

It wasn’t all that well-known, however, that Fondy was a premiere advance scout for the New York Mets — a spot that is most likely among baseball’s under-appreciated roles. A year after producing a scouting report that nearly helped the Mets win the 1973 World Series, Fondy landed a spot with the Milwaukee Brewers.

It was Fondy who scouted the defending champion Oakland A’s for the Mets in its 1973 showdown against a Hall of Fame-led team, namely Reggie Jackson, Rollie Fingers, “Catfish” Hunter, not to mention a well-traveled manager Dick Williams.

The Mets, injured and suffering throughout the season, managed to package an 83-79 season together. It was good enough to win the National League Eastern Division.

In the National League playoffs, New York outlasted a 99-win Reds’ teams loaded with Hall of Famers — Joe Morgan, Johnny Bench, manager Sparky Anderson, Tony Perez, plus Cooperstown’s overlooked non-inductee Pete Rose — in five games.

The A’s were baseball’s defending champions, having beaten the Reds in the 1972 World Series. This time, it was Oakland taking on the Mets, whose Hall of Fame talent included future Hall of Famers Tom Seaver, Yogi Berra and Willie Mays, who was playing his final season.

The Mets had a 3-2 lead in the Series, based off 10-7, 6-1 and 2-0 wins over the A’s in Games 2, 4 and 5. Hunter outdueled Seaver in Game 6, 3-1, before Kenny Holtzman beat Jon Matlack in Game 7, 5-2, for Oakland’s second straight World Series title.

Fingers, the loser in Game 3, saved three of those A’s wins. It took Oakland’s best efforts.

“Dad’s scouting report was in Yogi Berra’s back pocket,” said Jon Fondy, Dee’s son, who had produced the report. “They almost pulled it off and beat the A’s.”

Berra, a Hall of Famer, was New York’s manager. Part of Fondy’s scouting report had to be data that led to Mets’ pitchers holding A’s hitters to a .212 Series average with just two home runs.

The comparative rosters of both teams should have left Oakland in position to sweep the Mets, or at least take them in five games. Fondy’s notes on the A’s, however, gave New York’s pitchers a strong advantage.

One season later, Fondy was off to Milwaukee to join the Brewers.

Dee_Fondy_1953 — Virgil Dee Fondy spent four decades in major league baseball, notably as a first baseman over eight seasons, later as an advance scout (photo by Wikipedia Commons).

Fondy, a lefty during his playing days, wound up with the young, expansionist Brewers – eventually heading a scouting department that signed Robin Yount and Paul Molitor. In the Brewers’ only World Series appearance, 1982, those future Hall of Famers were paramount in the teams’ success.

CONSTRUCTING AN OBITUARY

Upon Fondy’s death – Commissioner Bud Selig responded to a call from a local newspaper – to laud the career and life of the onetime Pirate, Cub and Red first baseman. Fondy had once been traded with Chuck Connors, who went on to fame as television’s “The Rifleman,” a CBS production.

Selig, of course, knew Fondy from his days as Brewers’ owner. Fondy worked for Selig.

In August 1999, Dee Fondy died at a retirement home in Redlands.

In his obituary, I wrote: “He played for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Chicago Cubs and Cincinnati Reds and was the last player to bat in Ebbets Field in Brooklyn. Died of cancer. He was 74.

In the obit: “Fondy, who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer a year earlier, died at Plymouth Village.”

His death reverberated through baseball. He was well known.

While working on Fondy’s obituary, I placed a call to the MLB offices in New York City, seeking comment — a standard procedure. Baseball usually responded quickly. In this case, it was the commissioner, Bud Selig, who placed the return call.

Bud_Selig_on_October_31,_2010 — Alan “Bud” Selig, a Hall of Famer as onetime Commissioner of Baseball, weighed in personally on Dee Fondy’s 1999 death (photo by Wikipedia Commons).

I was out of the office when Selig returned the call. Mike Brown, the news editor (no relation), took the call, jotted down Selig’s comments, and forwarded them to me. I must’ve missed the commissioner’s call by just minutes on that August day.

“Dee Fondy was one of my favorite people,” Selig told Mike Brown. “He had a great sense of humor. He and I used to kid each other a lot.”

FONDY’S MAJOR LEAGUE CAREER 1951-58

Fondy hit .286 with exactly 1,000 hits (69 HRs) over eight seasons in the majors, having batted .300 in four of those seasons. His debut, in April 1951, came just a month before Willie Mays’ legendary MLB entry.

Signed originally by the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1946, Fondy came to spring training in 1949 and competed with Gil Hodges and Connors for the starting job at first base. Dodger lore shows, of course, that Hodges prevailed to win that notable spot.

A side note, of course, is that Hodges was the managerial architect of that 1973 Mets’ team. Hodges died just before the 1972 and was replaced by Berra.

Fondy played in the Dodgers’ farm system until being traded, along with Connors, to the Cubs for outfielder Hank Edwards. It was a golden era of Dodger baseball that included Hall of Famers Jackie Robinson, Duke Snider, Roy Campanella, plus Hodges, Pee Wee Reese and a host of other highly popular Dodger players.

Fondy won a spot on the Cubs. His first major-league hit was a bases-loaded triple off St. Louis pitcher Ken Raffsenberger on opening day, April 17, 1951, at Wrigley Field.

Eventually, Chicago traded Fondy to Pittsburgh in 1957. In that deal, the Cubs sent Gene Baker and Fondy for the Pirates’ Dale Long and Lee Walls. Midway through that ’57 season, Fondy was leading the National League with a .365 average, eventually finishing at .313.

Traded to Cincinnati for slugger Ted Kluszewski, a transaction mentioned by Tom Cruise’s character in the 1988 movie “Rainman,” Fondy’s career concluded in that 1958 season.

In a remarkable twist of baseball trivia, it was Fondy who grounded out for the last out at Ebbets Field in Pittsburgh’s 2-0 loss to the Dodgers on Sept. 24, 1957. That grounder went to Don Zimmer, whose throw to first baseman Jim Gentile ended an era.

The Dodgers moved to Los Angeles the following year.

Jon Fondy had some fun memories.

“I ran into Willie Mays once and he said, ‘I’ve still got the bruises from the tags your dad used to give me. He was a hard-nosed player,’ ” said Jon, a freelance cameraman who has covered major league games.

It was off to work, eventually, as a scout for the Mets and in Milwaukee, where he signed Molitor, who went on to a Hall of Fame career. Upon Fondy’s arrival, the Brewers took off to becoming a top-flight American League team that reached the World Series in 1982.

Fondy retired from baseball in 1995 after serving as a special assistant to the Milwaukee general manager.

“He was as good a judge of talent as I’ve ever known,” Selig told Mike Brown. “He played a great role in the development of the Brewers. I had as much faith in his baseball knowledge as anyone I know.’”

FONDY’S FUNERAL: ONE FINAL HURRAH

It was at Fondy’s funeral that several ex-players – Ray Boone and onetime Oakland A’s third baseman Sal Bando included – had shown up to pay final respects. Another funeral-goer was a man named Fred Long. For years, Long coached local baseball, eventually rising to becoming a major league baseball scout.

Fondy’s influence had been felt in Long’s scouting life.

Long, who was nearing 80 at the time of Fondy’s funeral, had plenty of stories to share, sporting a World Series ring — Florida Marlins, 1997.

Fondy, said Long, was one of the best guys he’d ever known. “And the guy knew baseball, too. You should’ve heard him.”

His minor league career included stops at Santa Barbara (California League), Fort Worth (Texas League) and Mobile (Southern League), each a Brooklyn Dodger farm club.

Before his climb into the major leagues, Fondy racked up 863 minor league hits, whacking out 130 doubles and 52 triples.

His career as a minor leaguer, major leaguer, scout and scouting director covered 1946 through 1995.

Isn’t it interesting that Fondy worked as a scout for the same Mets’ organization in which Hodges — who edged him for Brooklyn’s first base job — was the manager?

Born on Halloween in 1924, Dee Virgil Fondy’s death took place on Aug. 19, 1999 in Redlands. Fondy, a native of Slaton, Texas, served in the Army during World War II and was part of the forces that landed on Utah Beach in Normandy in 1944, three months after D-Day. He received the Purple Heart.

Fondy had also been survived by twins, Jon Fondy and Jan Cornell of Las Vegas. His wife, Jacquelyn, had died a year earlier. Fondy’s funeral was in nearby San Bernardino, almost directly next door to Perris Hill Park’s Fiscalini Field.

Growing up in San Bernardino, Fiscalini Park was where Fondy played plenty of baseball.

March 22, 2023March 17, 2023

BRIAN SABEAN: IN REDLANDS TO WATCH HIS SON PLAY FOOTBALL

This is part of a series of mini-Redlands Connections. This is Part 3 of the series, Quick Visits. Magic Johnson and John Wooden showed up at the University of Redlands as part of a Convocation Series. Future NFL Hall of Famer Tom Flores, baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Ferguson Jenkins, former NBA player John Block, legendary high school coach Willie West showed up. There are others. Cazzie Russell, for instance, came to Redlands with an NCAA Division III basketball team from Savannah, Ga. Russell, out of Michigan, was the NBA’s overall No. 1 draft pick by the New York Knicks in 1966.

Today’s feature: San Francisco Giants’ General Manager Brian Sabean.

No interviews with this guy. I had a job to do and Brian Sabean was being a Dad.

It was my habit to cover University of Redlands football games from the visitors’ grandstand.

NCAA rules prevented me from being on the sidelines in between the 30-yard-lines. It’s OK. I understand. That’s reserved for players, coaches and referees. But I needed better vision.

In the school’s well-constructed press box, there was too much unprofessional behavior, cheering and one-sided decorum (footnote: Maybe that’s all changed in later years), rooting for favorable Bulldog plays, snarling at officiating calls — you get the picture.

You might not think it gets in the way, but it’s a distraction in covering highly-competitive games.

It chased me to the visiting side’s grandstand.

On a sparkling, cold Saturday night, Redlands was playing Occidental College, from Eagle Rock near Pasadena, in 2008.

Game about to start. Both teams ready. Appearing out of the stairwell was a familiar face. As a lifetime San Francisco Giants’ fan, I couldn’t believe who I’d spotted. What in the world was Brian Sabean doing at Redlands? This was football, not baseball.

Brian Sabean, a longtime executive with the San Francisco Giants who helped construct four World Series teams and three champions, was spotted at a University of Redlands football one night while watching his son play for visiting Occidental College (photo by San Francisco Giants).

Quickly, I scanned Oxy’s roster.

Sean Sabean, a six-foot, 210-pound freshman linebacker from San Mateo Serra High School, was on the Tigers’ roster. It was Brian’s son.

What a great Dad, I thought. Redlands? This was an out-of-the-way location, for sure.

I had a list of questions formulating for Sabean — if only I could get to him. I was covering a game. On deadline. He wasn’t working.

The San Francisco Giants had just parted ways with Barry Bonds. Years of getting close, including a 7-game World Series loss to the Angels in 2002, had frustrated Giants’ fans everywhere.

Sabean, who had brought in Bruce Bochy as their manager, had started rebuilding the Giants with draft picks like Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain and Madison Bumgarner. Buster Posey and Brandon Crawford would soon come onto the scene.

The questions, among others:

Barry Bonds.
Performance enhancing drugs.
Scouting, drafting ball players.
Any trades he might be working on.
Free agents.

Sabean was constructing a team that would win three World Series championships in the coming years.

At Redlands, 2008. I watched him disappear into Occidental’s bleacher crowd, then returned my gaze to the field. The Tigers and Bulldogs were ready to pounce on one another.

March 20, 2023March 17, 2023

RUMBLINGS CIRCULATED ABOUT JACOB NOTTINGHAM’S CALL-UP TO BREWERS

Rumblings on onetime Redlands High catcher Jacob Nottingham began on a Sunday night. Milwaukee Brewers’ catcher Manny Pina was headed for the 10-day disabled list, among a flurry of other moves.

Those rumblings were Redlands’ baseball observers — parents, coaches, former players, ex-teammates, observers from all corners of the city, you name it — that included social media attention.

On July 8, Nottingham was recalled to the Milwaukee Brewers. He was expected to share catching duties with Erik Kratz over the next week.

Nottingham may be the Brewers_ catcher of the future (Sean Flynn, Houston Chronicle). — Redlands’ Jacob Nottingham returned to the major leagues, called by the Milwaukee Brewers on July 8. He started one day later, getting a double and single for his first two MLB hits.

Sure enough, Nottingham was placed in the lineup — batting eighth, in fact — in Milwaukee’s game at Miami. He would be facing Marlins’ pitcher Jose Urena while catching Brewers’ pitcher Chase Anderson.

Nottingham, a catcher who spent a few days with the Brewers earlier in the season over a similar situation, had been recalled again. He was hitting .303 with 10 HRs at Class AAA Colorado Springs.

He’s the Brewers’ No. 25 prospect, according the MLB Pipeline.

This could be no ordinary Redlands Connection. It’s just the latest.

Nottingham singled off Urena, who fed him an 89-mph off-speed pitch, hitting it to left field off the end of the bat. Next time up, against Javy Guerra, Nottingham drilled a double to left field.

In the end, Miami beat the Brewers, 4-3.

Milwaukee, which held a two-game lead over 2016 World Series champion Chicago in a rough-and-tumble National League Central Division race, could be the surprise force in 2018.

Nottingham, along with a bevy of other Milwaukee youths, might be a vital cog in the expected summer duel with the Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals.

Nottingham-to-the-big-leagues is big news.

Redlands has produced previous major leaguers, including undrafted second baseman Julio Cruz (Mariners, White Sox, Dodgers), Seattle’s 1980 13^th round pick southpaw pitcher Ed Vande Berg (Mariners, Dodgers, Indians and Rangers), plus Angels-Blue Jays catcher Dan Whitmer (a 1978 Angels’ draft pick), who worked as Detroit’s bullpen coach when the Tigers won the 1984 World Series.

When the Houston Astros drafted Nottingham at No. 167 overall in the sixth round in 2013, it didn’t take long for Nottingham to sign on June 14.

After a couple seasons in the Astros’ chain, Houston needed pitching at the major league level. On July 23, 2015, they traded Nottingham to the Oakland A’s in exchange for southpaw pitcher Scott Kazmir, who was 108-96 with a 4.00 ERA over a dozen MLB seasons.

Traded for by A’s legendary Billy Beane, who authored Money Ball in the early 2000s, Nottingham would eventually be on the move again.

Beane’s transaction activity surrounding the Redlands prospect. Between 2015 and 2016, Nottingham was shipped to the Milwaukee Brewers.

Brewers’ General Manager David Stearns dealt outfielder Khris Davis (166 home runs, .248 average over 5 MLB seasons) to Oakland. Davis, who would go on to smoke over 40 home runs in the next two seasons for the A’s, has 21 bombs so far this season.

That’s how highly Milwaukee must’ve viewed Nottingham’s potential.

On Nov. 20, 2017 Nottingham’s minor league contract was purchased. The Brewers placed him on the 40-man roster, the ultimate payoff for any off-season transaction.

Nottingham was one of five catchers – by far, the youngest on Milwaukee’s roster.

Over a five-year span with a handful of teams ranging from Rookie Ball to Low Class A to High Class A to Class AA, Nottingham had blasted 43 home runs and hit .238 (.325 OBP) in 424 professional games.

Upon his call-up to the Brewers in April, Nottingham received the full treatment. His father, Greg, was spotted being interviewed on the Brewers’ TV network.

Brewers’ history is traced back to the 1969 season when the American League expanded to two teams, the Seattle Pilots and Kansas City Royals. When the Pilots’ support floundered prior to the 1970 season, they were sold to a group in Milwaukee, which included eventual baseball commissioner Bud Selig.

When baseball needed to even up its 30-team alignment in 1998 — there were, at one point, 16 N.L. teams and 14 A.L. teams — the Brewers were shifted to the National League to evenly align the leagues.

Other than a playoff season in 2008 (wild card) and 2011 (N.L. Central Division title), the Brewers’ post-season appearances have been limited. The Brewers, then in the American League, lost the 1982 World Series to the St. Louis Cardinals.

As for Nottingham, he had one final swing in the Brewers’ loss in Miami. That he struck out against Marlins’ closer Kyle Barraclough is only part of the story.

Against Barraclough’s 95-mph fastballs, Nottingham unloaded back-to-back swings that were hard-core, all-out powerful, home run-conscious hacks that would’ve tied the score if only he’d connected.

Only a true Big Leaguer takes those kinds of cuts.

Nottingham’s call-up, most likely attracting attention from all corners of his hometown, got the rumblings rolling.

Next stop is an N.L. Central Division showdown between the second place Cubs and first place Brewers. That showdown would have true Redlands Connections if Tyler Chatwood, a Redlands East Valley prospect, were pitching for Chicago with Nottingham catching for the Brewers.

March 8, 2023March 17, 2023

UMPIRE JOHN MCSHERRY PART OF NOON ROTARY RIB-TICKLING VISIT

This is part of a series of mini-Redlands Connections. This is Part 3 of the series, Quick Visits. Magic Johnson and John Wooden showed up at the University of Redlands as part of a Convocation Series. Hall of Fame pitcher Ferguson Jenkins, former NBA player John Block, legendary high school coach Willie West showed up. Bowling legend Earl Anthony. There are others. Cazzie Russell, for instance, came to Redlands with an NCAA Division III basketball team from Savannah, Ga. Russell, out of Michigan, was the NBA’s overall No. 1 draft pick by the New York Knicks in 1966.

Today’s feature: Former major league umpire John McSherry.

So who was the toughest character to take on a major league umpire?

Redlands Rotary took their opportunity to bring in a guest speaker so far off the radar in early 1981. How about National League umpire John McSherry.

It was McSherry who gave a rib-tickling address to a packed house of Noon Rotarians, jammed into a downtown location not far from City Hall. At the moment, McSherry was working in nearby San Bernardino, training young umpires during the off-season at Little League Western Regional headquarters.

The Bronx, N.Y. native, who began his pro umpiring career in the Carolina League in 1967, told the locals, “Redlands is not to be confused with New York.”

McSherry_inset — National League umpire John McSherry was a featured guest speaking at Redlands Noon Rotary on one memorable weekday afternoon (photo by Wikipedia).

He started umpiring sandlot games there, games sometimes starting at 8:30 a.m.

“The first thing we had to do was go out to center field and wake up the drunks who’d been sleeping there all night.

“They didn’t want to be moved, so they just sort of wandered into the stands and watched the games. During the games, they used to bet their nickels and dimes on whether or not the kids would get a hit.

“If we called a kid out, some of them would lose their money. They wanted to win so they could get an early start on the evening’s festivities.

“And if you did call them out,” he said, “often they would throw the empties.”

He cracked about getting a police escort away from the sandlot field, he said, “and the two teams were on our side.”

It was life as an umpire, he told me, “I figured pro ball wasn’t any tougher than sandlot.”

Upon his visit to Redlands, Cardinals’ pitching great Bob Gibson had just been elected to the Hall of Fame.

“Gibson was excellent,” said McSherry. “The thing that made him so great was how he just moved the game along.

“He just said, ‘gimme the ball, let’s go.’ That guy just had a positive attitude and played to win. He’s definitely a Hall of Famer.”

One of his personal favorites was Gil Hodges, a Dodger legend who led the Miracle Mets of 1969 to the World Series.

“You know how people get built up sometimes as being an all-around super guy? And then you meet them and none of it’s true.

“Well, Gil Hodges was not like that. He didn’t disappoint me. He was just a super man in everything.”

Major league umpires, at that moment, numbered only 50 to 60. It was tough to move into the major league level.

Toughest part of umpiring, he said, “was the travel. But I like the flying, all the moving around from city to city.”

Umpires like McSherry expect the question, though. Which managers were toughest on the umps. He’s heard the question often.

“Tommy Lasorda.

“(Leo) Durocher.”

“I’m glad I wasn’t in the American League. I felt bad for anyone that called Earl Weaver’s games.”

And, he said, “thank goodness Billy Martin wasn’t in the National League, either.”

Truth is, there was the World Series and the All-Star game. McSherry crossed paths with both managers in those classics.

There were no further explanations.

“I’ve got a job to do,” he said, “and so do they.”

March 1, 2023March 17, 2023

REDLANDS CATCHER PLAYED ROLE IN MONEY BALL

Redlands Connection is a concoction of sports memories emanating from a city that once numbered less than 20,000 people. From the Super Bowl to the World Series, from the World Cup to golf’s U.S. Open, plus NCAA Final Four connections, Tour de France cycling, major tennis, NBA and a little NHL, aquatics and quite a bit more, the sparkling little city that sits around halfway between Los Angeles and Palm Springs on Interstate 10 has its share of sports connections. – Obrey Brown

Jacob Nottingham, a four-year Varsity catcher/designated hitter, might’ve been in the rarest of positions for a Redlands High School athlete in 2013. The 6-foot-3, 200-pounder had apparent legitimate scholarship offers to play football at Arizona or Oklahoma.

What an opportunity!

Ranked No. 2 in Redlands’ citywide football – trailing that of highly successful city rival Redlands East Valley, especially considering that donning a Sooners’ uniform might’ve been a bright light up against the Wildcats’ football supremacy over Nottingham’s Terriers.

REV had sent guys to football juggernauts like UCLA, Oregon, Utah and Washington, at least among the major universities. It might seem like Oklahoma football would’ve trumped all of that.

Sooner football lore stands firmly ahead of the Bruins, Ducks, Utes and Huskies.

Nottingham, though, who played on a couple of the same Terrier baseball teams as my son, Chet, also loved catching. Batting. Ninety feet instead of 100 yards. Every day instead of once a week. He chose to chase the pro diamond dream over the college gridiron.

Redlands has produced other major leaguers.

Included on that list is undrafted second baseman Julio Cruz (Mariners, White Sox, Dodgers), plus Seattle’s 1980 13^th round pick southpaw pitcher Ed Vande Berg (Mariners, Dodgers, Indians and Rangers), not to mention Angels/Blue Jays catcher Dan Whitmer (a 1978 Angels’ draft pick), who worked Detroit’s bullpen when the Tigers won the 1984 World Series.

Who knows? If Nottingham had chosen football, he’d have likely been college teammates at some point with future Heisman Trophy winner Baker Mayfield.

But when the Houston Astros drafted him 167^th overall in the sixth round in 2013, it didn’t take long for Nottingham to sign on June 14.

Even as a minor leaguer, Nottingham turned some heads. He was front and center in a couple of Money Ball transactions.

Money Ball definition: One of baseball’s newest and most notorious activities away from the diamond. It’s the art of dangling a major league product to a pennant-chasing franchise, but for the right cache of minor league prospects.

Nottingham was, apparently, just such a prospect.

NOTTINGHAM NETS KAZMIR FOR ASTROS

After a couple seasons in the Astros’ chain, Houston needed pitching at the major league level. They were in a heated pennant race. So they traded Nottingham to the Oakland A’s in exchange for southpaw pitcher Scott Kazmir, who was 108-96 with a 4.00 ERA over a dozen MLB seasons.

Scott Kazmir, a veteran southpaw with a dozen years in major league baseball, landed at another team in a Money Ball exchange for Redlands product Jacob Nottingham (Photo byline unknown).

That July 23, 2015 move came when Houston’s Class A Lancaster team was hosting the Stockton Ports, the California League Class A affiliate of the A.s

All Nottingham had to do was switch locker rooms at the JetHawks’ stadium in Lancaster, Calif. Instead of heading to his Lancaster digs, he took the Stockton bus.

Traded for by A’s legendary Billy Beane, who authored Money Ball in the early 2000s, Nottingham was in a new stratosphere.

Billy_Beane_-_General_Manager_Oakland_As_(5964095428) — Billy Beane, the legendary “Money Ball” general manager of the Oakland A’s, was responsible for both trading for and trading away Redlands catcher Jacob Nottingham in notable deals. Photo by Oakland A’s

That wasn’t the end of his Beane’s transaction activity surrounding the Redlands prospect, either. Perhaps regarded as a future Oakland payoff at the MLB level, forget it. During the off-season between 2015 and 2016, Nottingham was shipped to the Milwaukee Brewers.

NOTTINGHAM NETS DAVIS FOR A’S

In return from the Brewers, Oakland received outfielder Khris Davis (145 home runs, .248 average over 5 MLB seasons), who would go on to smoke over 40 home runs in the next two seasons for the A’s.

Oakland Athletics — Oakland’s Khris_Davis, who has struck over 80 home runs in two seasons for Oakland, came to the A’s from Milwaukee by way of a trade … for Redlands’ Jacob Nottingham. Photo by Keith Allison

That Nottingham could fetch such nice prizes seems amazing.

Money Ball was certainly hot & heavy surrounding the Redlands prospect.

On Nov. 20, Nottingham kept smoking it to the top. The Brewers purchased his minor league contract, thus placing him on the 40-man roster – the ultimate for any prospect. He was one of five catchers – by far, the youngest on Milwaukee’s roster.

Think about this: Nottingham was a 2015 Quad Cities River Bandits (Midwest League) teammate of Alex Bregman, who played a part in the 2017 Houston Astros’ World Series championship.

Another Quad Cities teammate, Derek Fisher, slugged five HRs for the 2017 Astros.

Pitchers Joe Musgrove (7-8, 4.77 ERA), Frances Martes (5-2, 5.80), David Paulino (2-0, 6.52) and Raymin Guduan (0-0, 7.56) also logged MLB time with the series champs … off that River Bandits’ squad.

Another hurler, Daniel Mengden was one of those shipped to Oakland from Houston in the July 2015 Nottingham-Kazmir deal. Mengden finished 2017 with the A’s – 3-2, 3.17 ERA – while looking squarely into Oakland’s 2018 future as a starting pitcher.

By the time Houston had slipped past the Dodgers in the World Series, Nottingham was on a Brewers’ team looking to climb into contention. Heading into spring training, he was on the Brewers’ 40-man roster, claiming the organization’s 17th best prospect.

Beane. Kazmir. Davis. Mengden. Money Ball. Nottingham. A formal Redlands Connection.

December 7, 2022January 5, 2023

THERE WERE PLENTY OF REASONS WHY BOB GAILLARD DIDN’T WANT TO TALK

This was part of a series of mini-Redlands Connections. Quick Visits. Magic Johnson and John Wooden showed up at the University of Redlands as part of a Convocation Series. There was a piece on Tom Flores, an NFL Hall of Famer a few decades down the road. Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Ferguson Jenkins, former NBA player John Block, legendary high school coach Willie West all showed up. There are others. Cazzie Russell, for instance, came to Redlands with an NCAA Division III basketball team from Savannah, Ga. Russell, out of Michigan, was the NBA’s overall No. 1 draft pick by the New York Knicks in 1966. That guy lived through a remarkable career.

Today’s feature: Former Univ. San Francisco basketball coach Bob Gaillard.

I guess I could understand a few reasons why visiting Lewis & Clark (Ore.) College basketball coach Bob Gaillard wasn’t in all that much of a mood to chat.

He had a basketball team to coach at the University of Redlands’ Lee Fulmer Memorial Tournament.

For openers, it had been so long since he’d coached at the University of San Francisco.

There wasn’t much he could add to a sad, dramatic and unfavorable tale about a scandal that was so richly embarrassing. At times like those, you hate being a media member. You have to ask, though.

Forty-five minutes before tip-off at Currier Gymnasium, I’d slid in beside him on the Pioneers’ bench. His players were warming up. Can’t remember if L&C was playing Redlands, or not, in the eight-team tournament that night.

Gaillard was in the midst of a 22-year coaching career at the Portland campus.

Lewis & Clark College basketball coach Bob Gaillard brought his team to win the Lee Fulmer Memorial Classic on three different occasions. The onetime Univ. San Francisco coach lived through turbulent times before landing in Portland (photo by Lewis & Clark College).

USF? Maybe there was something the media missed. New developments? A different side we hadn’t thought about?

“Was there any of that?” I asked.

“Look,” he said, shaking his head slowly, “I really don’t want to re-hash something like that. There’s nothing new. It happened so far back.”

What my readers might’ve wanted to know was about his USF background. There were people in Redlands that attended USF. He tried to be kind and patient. He was in the midst of a career that left him with 530 coaching triumphs.

Gaillard was at USF from 1968 through 1977, starting about a decade after Bill Russell had left the Dons.

By 1976, he was the Dons’ head coach, a team that included NBA-bound players like Bill Cartwright, Winford Boynes and James Hardy. The Dons were 29-2 that season.

That team, eventually placed on probation, was cited by NCAA officials for academic fraud that included players getting special academic treatment, among other infractions.

Gaillard, the 1977 AP Coach of the Year, was fired.

No way he wanted to re-live those moments.

In the middle of his refusal, I kept thinking, “I really can’t blame you, coach.”

It was a lousy atmosphere in which to try and rekindle all that negative hype — the media coverage, NCAA sanctions, the outlaw nature of the players, everything. In Redlands, a place where academics are highly lauded. Same with, apparently, Lewis & Clark.

It’s quite possible Gaillard had nothing to do with any of those scandals. What a story it might make for that tiny Redlands readership. Like I said, there were a few local residents that had USF connections. By the way, they never let me forget that, either, especially the ones who were on campus during the Russell years.

He’d brought his team from Oregon, flown into Los Angeles, caught a couple vans out to Redlands for this tournament. It was 1992, some 15 years after the fact.

“I’d really rather talk about this team,” he said.

Those were good years for the Pioneers, in fact, who were headed for a string of winning seasons. L&C dusted off its NAIA roots for the NCAA a few years after his pre-season trips to Redlands.

Back to USF 1977. Wasn’t it curious that Gaillard’s Dons carried a 29-1 record into the 32-team NCAA Tournament? Their first-round opponent was none other than Nevada-Las Vegas, coached by Jerry Tarkanian.

Tarkanian also had Redlands connections. It was right around that time, 1977, that Tark himself had started getting negative NCAA attention. A USF-UNLV duel might’ve been the talk of the NCAA offices.

Maybe that’s another reason Gaillard didn’t want to talk.

Tark’s Runnin’ Rebels ran the Dons out of the area that night, 121-95. In fact, USF had been 29-0 heading into their final regular season game against Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish lost to the Dons by 11 in that year’s opening round.

(Remember, the NCAA Tournament was just 32 teams in those days.)

One season later, 1978, which was Gaillard’s finale at USF, the Dons finished their season 23-6 (Gaillard’s record, 165-61, over eight seasons, winning five West Coast Conference championships; reaching the Elite Eight in 1973 and the Sweet 16 in 1978).

He was out of coaching for 11 seasons, even working an advertising gig for the San Francisco Giants for a time; taking over the Pioneers in 1989.

As for Lewis & Clark at the 1992 Fulmer Tournament? The Pioneers not only won it, but they came back the following season and repeated as champions.

December 4, 2022December 6, 2022

IT WAS A PRE-OLYMPIC SHOWDOWN IN REDLANDS

REDLANDS — It was a race worth waiting for, but only few people really knew about it. That race took place after a lengthy schedule of track & field events. Of all places to launch an Olympic showdown. Check that: A pre-Olympic showdown.

Innocent Egbunike, at far right, races to the finish against gold medal-winning Alonzo Babers at the 1984 Los Angles Olympic Games. Babers won the 400-meter in a race against Egbunike. The two raced against each other over a year earlier in Redlands, California.

It took place in the spring of 1983 at the University of Redlands, its annual T&F invitational attracting a number of small college squads, though a couple of interesting programs showed up.

Azusa Pacific, coached by legendary Terry Franson, would win that year’s NAIA team championship in June, was on site. So was the U.S. Air Force Academy.

The meet, which featured men’s and women’s events – jumping, all throws, pole vault, every conceivable distance race, sprints, plus relays – took over eight hours to complete.

By the time both finishing relays took place, the hour was close to 9 p.m.

There they were, Azusa Pacific University squaring against the U.S. Air Force Academy team in a 4 x 400 men’s finale.

It would be memorable, especially since 1980 Nigerian Olympian Innocent Egbunike would be racing the anchor lap for APU. His opponent for that lap was senior Alonzo Babers, already a lieutenant in the USAF. Babers still holds his school’s indoor 400 (46.86) record from 1982.

Throw this in: In that 1983 season, Babers ran 45.36, still the school’s outdoor mark. He took fourth (45.51) at the NCAA Division I finals later that June.

Against much easier competition at the NAIA finals, Egbunike sprinted to national championship wins in the 100 (10.34), 200 (20.94) and anchored the winning 4 x 400 relay – John Shalongo, Doug Laisel and Ted Campbell, plus the Nigerian, in 3:09.77.

***

At the Redlands Invite, Egbunike’s Azusa Pacific teammate Mike Barnett, a future Olympian, ripped off a winning 275-foot javelin mark – still the Ted Runner Stadium record – on that day. Oregon State’s Mark Fricker, from nearby Hemet, posted a still-existing 5,000 record of 14:09.30 on that 1983 date.

USAF’s Bret Hyde, a winner at Redlands, still holds his school’s mark over 3,000 meter steeplechase (8:31.87). Hyde, incidentally, also placed at the 1984 L.A. Games.

For good measure, APU sent discus and hammer competitor Christian Okoye, the future NFL “Nigerian Nightmare” with Kansas City. In this same stadium, Okoye would terrorize the University of Redlands’ football team.

There was even a Redlander on the USAF women’s squad, NCAA Division II All-American Laureli Mazik, who won that day and stands on the school’s indoor mile (4:53.9) all-time list at No. 9. She’s No. 16 outdoors (4:32.09).

All of which is a reminder how relevant the Redlands Invitational seemed at the time.

***

By race time, hardly anyone remained inside Ted Runner Stadium’s grandstand. It was late, after 9 p.m. Interest had long since waned when most events were finalized. Most participating teams departed for their Southern California campuses.

A few teams remained, including Azusa Pacific and Air Force.

When the batons were exchanged for that memorable anchor 4 x 400 lap, Egbunike and Babers were in full stride. That duo raced side by side for their entire 400-meter run. At the midway mark, Egbunike and Babers were seen bumping in their one-on-one duel.

The APU sprinter edged the USAF officer, though both runners had plenty of season left – Egbunike in the lower level NAIA ranks while Babers had top NCAA runners like Bert Cameron and Antonio McKay to square off against later that season.

It was that very season that Babers ran the third leg with Ted Holloway and Todd Scott with Rick Goddard anchoring, setting the school record (3:10.11) – currently the school’s eighth best.

Babers? The dude still holds the school mark over 500-meters, a discontinued event in which he posted a 1:01.7.

All of which was just preparation for the 1984 Los Angeles Games. He’d come across Egbunike again.

At Redlands, the Nigerian Olympian, escorted to the final handoff by Shalongo, Laisel and Campbell, got his triumph over Babers that night. The real race was over a year away.

***

In fact, there were two events in L.A.

At the L.A. Coliseum, both wound up in the open 400-meter finals. There was plenty of buildup, much of the spotlight falling on Antonio McKay, that year’s NCAA champion. Babers prevailed over McKay. Egbunike finished last in the seven-man finale.

As for the 4 x 400 relay, Babers needed McKay’s help. The two were mixed in with a lineup that included Ray Armstead and Sunder Nix. The USA won the gold ahead of Great Britain (silver) and Nigeria’s bronze medal finish behind Egbunike and his three running mates, Rotimi Peters, Moses Ugbusien and Sunday Uti.

Unlike that Redlands finale, it was Egbunike against McKay in the final lap. Babers had taken a 7-meter lead after his portion of the relay, handing off to McKay.

Beyond the bronze medal, Nigeria got another consolation – the African continent record.

***

While training for and competing in the 1984 Olympics, Babers held the rank of lieutenant. Just one month after his double-gold performance in Los Angeles, Babers reported to flight training school and began his career as a pilot. His athletic career was over. He was an active duty officer in the United States Air Force from 1983 to 1991, continuing to serve as a member of the Air Force Reserves. As of 2019, he was a 777 pilot for United Airlines.

Egbunike? He’s currently the track coach at Pasadena City College – a campus just a few miles from those Azusa Pacific digs. As head coach of the 2008 Nigerian Olympic team (coaching also in 1996 and 2000), Egbunike appeared in the winner’s circle again, having coached gold medalist Angelo Taylor.

These two world-class speedsters brought an Olympic showcase to Redlands in March 1983.

November 20, 2022April 7, 2022

DE ROO’S FRONT ROW VIEW OF DISASTROUS MIRACULOUS HORROR

Redlands Connection is a concoction of sports memories emanating from a city that once numbered less than 20,000 people. From the Super Bowl to the World Series, from the World Cup to golf’s U.S. Open and the Olympics, plus NCAA Final Four connections, NASCAR, the Kentucky Derby and Indianapolis 500, Tour de France cycling, major tennis, NBA and a little NHL, aquatics and quite a bit more, the sparkling San Bernardino County city that sits somewhere halfway between Los Angeles and Palm Springs on Interstate 10 has its impressive share of sports connections. – Obrey Brown

They still call it the Miracle at the Meadowlands. It was a late fumble. A recovery. A last-ditch touchdown. New York’s football Giants were about to beat bitter NFC East rival Philadelphia.

Redlands’ Brian De Roo, serving in his rookie season as a wide receiver for the Giants, had a front row seat for the “miracle.” It’s an infamous and often replayed conclusion to an NFC Eastern Division game between the Giants and the visiting Philadelphia Eagles.

On November 19, 1978, Giants’ QB Joe Pisarcik mishandled a snap in the waning seconds of a game seemingly won by New York.

Onetime All-Pro fullback Larry Csonka, a future NFL Hall of Famer, couldn’t quite get to Pisarcik’s handoff.

Fumble!

Eagles’ defensive back Herman Edwards recovered. Not only did Edwards recover the loose ball, but he returned the loose ball 26 yards for a touchdown. Philadelphia pulled off an unexpected 19-17 victory. It should’ve been a 17-12 Giants’ triumph.

De Roo, who had been drafted by the Giants in the fifth round of the 1978 NFL draft out of the University of Redlands earlier that spring, had been placed on injured reserve during his rookie season.

“I was standing on the sidelines for that play,” said De Roo, “ducking and dodging pieces of headsets that were splintering from being smashed on the ground by various assistant coaches.”

That was the reaction to one of pro football’s biggest late-game blow-ups. Pisarcik, who is probably more known for that play than any other during his career, had been taken by the Giants from the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League.

Edwards, who would eventually become a head coach at both the pro and collegiate level, changed the Eagles’ fate. It turned out to be a huge boost to an eventual Super Bowl berth two years later. Philly, who went into the game at 6-5, used that win over the Giants to reach that season’s NFL playoffs.

Herm Edwards (Photo by Wikipedia Commons) — Herm Edwards may have singlehandedly lifted the Philadelphia Eagles into a new era with his fumble return at the Miracle of the Meadowlands (Photo by Wikipedia Commons).

“Helmets were also rebounding off the turf,” said De Roo. “John Mendenhall’s (a Giants’ assistant) headset went the highest!”

It was a simple play. Pisarcik was expected to take one more snap. Kneel with the football. Running out the clock. Preserving a 17-12 Giants’ upset. Instead, he botched the handoff to Csonka, who wasn’t expecting the ball.

The Giants-Eagles rivalry dates back to 1933.

As for the Giants in 1978, it was another step in the team’s growing era of mediocrity – 6-10, fifth place in the NFC East that season.

The Eagles, meanwhile, finished 9-7 and reached the playoffs as a wild-card. They lost to Dallas in the playoffs.

Giants’ head coach John McVay, who eventually moved on to an executive position with the Bill Walsh-coached San Francisco 49ers, lost his job in New York.

De Roo, meanwhile, was traded to the Baltimore Colts after the season.

Brian DeRoo (Photo by Canadian Football League) — Redlands Connection Brian De Roo had a view of the disastrous Miracle at the Meadowlands. He was a New York Giants’ rookie in 1978. (Photo courtesy of the Canadian Football League).

“I always wanted to thank John,” said De Roo, “for allowing me to go on the road trips with the team. In those days, most of the guys on IR just stayed home during road trips. I always wanted to find John and thank him for that.”

FOOTNOTE: De Roo’s spot in the NFL, meanwhile, has earned him a place in the NAIA Hall of Fame — both for his play on the football field but also for his track & field achievements which included winning the NAIA decathlon championship. During his University of Redlands days, De Roo was part of a Bulldogs’ athletic program that was part of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), which was a direct opponent of the more well-known NCAA.

On Jan. 9, 2022, De Roo will be inducted into the NAIA Hall of Fame in San Antonio, Texas. He was nominated for the honor by none other than recently-retired Bulldog coach Mike Maynard, who had nothing to do with Redlands or the NAIA during De Roo’s collegiate career.

“He nominated me,” said De Roo, who caught 156 passes during his Bulldog days.

De Roo remains the lone Bulldog ever to be drafted by an NFL team. Note that he’s not the only Bulldog player to play in the NFL — there have been others — but he’s the only draftee.

May 5, 2022April 7, 2022

NO DERBY INQUIRY IN 1997 … VICTORY WENT TO SILVER CHARM OVER CAPTAIN BODGIT

Redlands Connection is a concoction of sports memories emanating from a city that once numbered less than 20,000 people. From the Super Bowl to the World Series, from the World Cup to golf’s U.S. Open, plus NCAA Final Four connections, Tour de France cycling, major tennis, NBA and a little NHL, aquatics and quite a bit more, the sparkling San Bernardino County city that sits around halfway between Los Angeles and Palm Springs on Interstate 10 has its share of sports connections. – Obrey Brown

“And here comes the Captain!”

Captain Bodgit was on the move. It was the 123^rd running of the Kentucky Derby. Fabled Churchill Downs was the site. Some 141,000 patrons had assembled, presumably with bets on the outcome. The May 3, 1997 NBC telecast was live throughout the world.

This year’s Derby will be tomorrow, May 6.

Redlands horseman William Buster, who dabbled in horse racing, wasn’t unlike every other race track participant in 1997. A Kentucky Derby triumph was always in the back of his mind, much in the manner that an actor dreams of Academy Award glory, or a scientist dreams of a Nobel Prize.

Captain Bodgit belonged to Buster – well, partially.

Such a prospect of winning the Derby for the highly profitable area contractor seemed improbable. Not only does it take dedication – translation, big bucks plus incredible connections – to pull it off, but it takes the kind of racing luck to get that kind of thoroughbred ready for the first Saturday in May.

By no means does Buster take a bow for his place in the sport. His interest derived from his father, a far more invested horseman.

He’ll use a variety of phrases – “lucky … fortunate … it’s a crapshoot … you lose more than you win” – to describe his own place in racing.

As for Buster, he wound up as part of the Team Valor International syndicate, owning one of 32 shares in a pair of Kentucky Derby horses. The first of those was Captain Bodgit, a 1994 foal that was offered around to various horsemen like Buster.

Barry Irwin, a renowned horse investor who brought people together for the purpose of winning the big one, had offered a piece to Buster. He took it. Maybe, it was five percent.

Captain Bodgit, under jockey Alex Solis, finished second to Silver Charm. The Captain might’ve won. He’d won the Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park. Two weeks before the Kentucky Derby, he scored another win at the prestigious Wood Memorial at Aqueduct (N.Y.).

This was a true blue blood thoroughbred. He’d won five straight at tracks like Pimlico (Md.) and Delaware Park, Gulfstream Park (Fla.) and Aqueduct. By the time Captain Bodgit showed up at Churchill Downs, he’d won 7-of-10 with a trio of third place runs.

He went to post as the 3-to-1 Derby favorite. Captain Bodgit drifted up from far back of the field. Freestone was the early leader. Silver Charm, second choice at 5-to-2, was always near the front of the pack. The Captain, though, had entered the stretch with a full head of steam.

When NBC race-caller Dave Johnson saw The Captain coming with a flash, he fired up a worldwide television audience.

His signature phrase … “and down the stretch they come” had been preceded just moments earlier with this phrase, “and here comes The Captain.”

It seemed like Captain Bodgit had enough firepower to overcome Silver Charm.

Sitting dead in The Captain’s tracks was Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert’s colt, who would not be denied. Silver Charm won by a head.

Or did he?

That famous Churchill Downs home stretch, which had seen plenty of neck-and-neck Derby duels – Affirmed over Alydar in 1978, Swaps over Nashua in 1955, the 1989 classic win by Sunday Silence who nosed out Easy Goer – came down to another thrilling conclusion.

Silver Charm, with Hall of Fame jockey Gary Stevens in the saddle, was seen drifting to the right. No question that it seemed to slow up The Captain’s hard-charging, stretch-running stride to the finish of that grueling 1 ¼-miles.

There should’ve been an inquiry.

Captain Bodgit had 32 owners in its Team Valor syndicate. Watching the race. It was the 18^th straight year the favorite had lost the Derby. The question had to be asked: Was The Captain’s pathway to the finish compromised when Silver Charm drifted?

A side view revealed a questionable outcome. A head-on view, however, revealed no contact.

“An inquiry,” said Buster, who had lost his wife, Benita Marie, remarried and moved to neighboring Yucaipa-based Oak Glen, “cost him the Derby. (Captain Bodgit) was going by (Silver Charm) when that thing happened.”

There was, in fact, no inquiry. Solis did not file an inquiry claim. Stevens said he didn’t feel contact. In reality, The Captain might’ve been drifting in more than Silver Charm was drifting out.

Buster questioned the outcome. From his vantage point, he saw contact between Silver Charm and his colt. Derby history has only recorded one “foul,” which occurred in 1984, but didn’t alter the outcome of the winner’s horse.

Derby history wouldn’t be set in 1997.

In the Preakness two weeks later, Captain Bodgit ran third – trailing Free House (third in the Derby) and the eventual winner, Silver Charm – two heads separated the trio at the Preakness finish at Pimlico.

The Captain, with earnings just over $1 million, never raced again after losing the Preakness.

Silver Charm, for his part, was left with the difficult 1 ½-mile Belmont Stakes to win the Triple Crown. Maybe it was that open-ended question mark at the Derby, that karma, that kept Silver Charm from beating lightly regarded Touch Gold in the third leg.

For Buster, however, he had one Derby hope remaining in 2000.

The Deputy, an Irish foal, went to post as the favorite, having won the Hill Rise Handicap, Santa Anita Derby, running second in the San Felipe – all at Santa Anita. At Churchill Downs on Derby Day, though, The Deputy failed to fire, finishing 14^th.

A few years later, Buster seemed much calmer about both outcomes.

“It’s just another horse race,” he said of the Derby. “It has a lot more publicity, a lot more tradition. But it is just a horse race. You go through the same anxieties with any horse race.

“I’ve been through it now twice; the mystique is not as great.”

Said Buster: “At least I can say, ‘been there, done that.’ ”