Baseball in Fort Wayne

Archive for November, 2009

Join us Saturday morning at 9:20 for Talkin’ Sports, immediately following Fighting Irish Preview. This week I’ll be joined by guest co-host Blake Sebring of the News-Sentinel.

Blake and I will be talkin’ sports with Trine University head football coach Matt Land as he prepares his Thunder team for an NCAA Division III round 2 game Saturday against Wittenberg. We’ll be talking with former Fort Wayne resident and major league catcher Rob Bowen as he launches a new business venture. We’ll check in with Komets President Michael Franke for our weekly Komets update and Phil Houk, host of Fighting Irish preview will fill us in on the latest news in the world of Notre Dame football.

We’ll have scores and highlights from the Luers/Monrovia 2A High School football State Championship game at Lucas Oil Stadium as well as Komets and Mad Ants scores from Friday night.

We’ll be naming our Co- PSI/One Eleven Design Athletes of the Week in the 4th Quarter of the show.

Any athlete (youth, adult, high school, collegiate, neighbor) can be a PSI/One Eleven Design Athlete of the Week. Nominations for the PSI/One Eleven Design Athlete of the Week can be submitted to this e-mail address or: jim@wowo.com.

The Fort Wayne TinCaps have announced that a Christmas tree will take centerfield on the Parkview Field concourse during the holidays.

“The TinCaps are always looking for ways that Parkview Field can be more involved in the downtown community,” said TinCaps Vice President, Michael Limmer. “The long tradition of ‘Night of Lights’ and HolidayFest was something that we wanted to be a part of and being able to decorate a tree for the holidays was a perfect fit for the facility.”

On Wednesday night, November 25th – the same night that Santa’s sleigh, the wreath, the Wells Fargo display, and many other holiday-themed decorations are illuminated downtown, the join the decor. “We encourage people to swing by the ballpark that night,” said Limmer. “

Parkview Field will see extended hours  during the holidays on select nights.

“We wanted to give families the chance to come down to the ballpark and see the tree as it was intended at night,” said Limmer.

The ballpark will be open on Wednesday, November 25th until 8:30pm and then each Saturday until Christmas we will be open until 7:00pm. Each Saturday from 5:00pm until 7:00pm, there will be special holiday programming, music, and videoboard displays at the ballpark. Details of each Saturday event are still being finalized but they will be available on the TinCaps website the week proceeding the event.

According to Anthony Witrado of the Journal Sentinel, the Milwakee Brewers have claimed (hat tipe to MLBTradeRumors) former Fort Wayne Wizard, George Kottaras from the Boston Red Sox off release waivers. Brewers GM, Doug Melvin has indcated that the Kottaras claim was to add depth to the catching corps and give them more depth come spring.

Related BBIFW George Kottaras Posts:

• Kottaras Shooting for BoSox Spot
• With Varitek, Ross and Cash Out, is Kottaras In?
• George Kottaras’ MLB Debut
• Kottaras Added to Red Sox 40-Man Roster
• Wizards Where R They? – George Kottaras
• Half Way There: A Mid-Season Look at Estranged Friars

As Christmas approaches, I know you are thinking of what to get that hard-to-buy-for baseball fan or local history buff. Well, not only do I have a great suggestion, I have an amazing deal for you!

For a limited time, I am making a small supply of my book, Baseball in Fort Wayne, available for purchase for just $10.99 plus shipping (unless we arrange other methods). That’s not a classic Chad Gramling typ-o. Indeed, you can buy a signed copy for nearly half the cover price!

So what are you waiting for?

After playing more than a decade in Minor League Baseball without so much as a cup of coffee in the Majors, former Fort Wayne Wizard Todd Donovan, is calling an end to his baseball playing career. Donovan’s extra innings will now ba as a scout with the Arizona Diamondbacks.

In his scouting role, he’ll be monitoring the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, Toronto Blue Jays and Tampa Bay Rays on the major league level, and Pawtucket, Rochester, New Britain and New Hampshire as part of his minor league assignment.

Donovan played in more than 800 professional games, collecting 800+ hits and a whopping 346 stolen bases. In 2005, the aggressive and speedy Donovan swiped 62 bags while with the Jacksonville Suns of the (AA) Southern League.

The eighth round selection (number 292 overall) of the San Diego Padres in the 1999 Amateur Draft, Donavoan appeared in 53 games with Fort Wayne in 2000. He hit .284 with 58 hits, 12 doubles and runs batted in. He also walked 25 times in 204 at-bats and compiled a .370 on base percentage. He swiped 18 bases and was caught stealing 9 times.

Related Posts:

• Todd Donovan Signs with Blue Jays
• Former Wizards Likely to Debut in 2009 – Part III
• Fort Fragments (Wizards): Donovan, Hunter, Condrey, Pierzynski, Soria, Perez

Howie Schultz was one of the first national two sport athletes, one of the few individuals to have played enough in both basketball and baseball to earn pensions from both has passed away after a long cancer battle.

Schultz’s contract was purchased by the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1943, and became the Dodgers’ starting first baseman. He was a regular with them until the start of the 1947 season, when his contract was sold to the Philadelphia Phillies to make room for Jackie Robinson.

“His first year, Jackie played first base,” Schultz said in a 2004 interview with the Star Tribune. “I’m a footnote in history — the guy who was benched to allow baseball to be integrated.”

His baseball career, which lasted until 1948, also saw him spend time on the Cincinnati Reds roster. But his Fort Wayne connections are due to his second professional sports career in basketball. He played with the Anderson (Indiana) Packers of the National Basketball League from 1946 to 1949. When the NBL was absorbed by the National Basketball Association he became a member of the Fort Wayne Pistons.