...and wearing a Milwaukee Brewers uniform!
"Joe who??!!"
You know, Winkelsas. Broke in with the Braves in '99. Righty, pitcher, gives-up about a run an inning, but has struck-out 4 guys this year. Can't hit, but has never made an error!
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Winkelsas, played in the Northeast League, for a team called the Grays. I own a minority stake in 2 independent minor league teams: The New Haven County Cutters, and The Brockton Rox. Imagine my surprise to open the New York Times Sports page this morning and find a half page feature, page D2, on the Brockton Rox. We have a major leaguer. Not a Joe Winkelsas, no,no. Our major leaguer is Kelly Frank, Tampa Bay mascot, Raymond. Kelly was so good as our mascot, K.O., that she didn't escape the eye of the Bigs.
Reasons to be grateful: A few Summers ago, 2004, my son, then 8, practically lived in Brockton Mass. It was my first Summer as an owner.
He sat in the dugout, took BP with the team, which at the time had several former major leaguers of the lunch pail variety, and a few soon to be picked-up players. We followed our team that won the championship that year, of the Northeast League. The manager, Ed Nottle, frequently let my son drive the golf cart all over the place. Ed liked my kid. Zac hung-out in the clubhouse before and after games. Played catch with just about every-one. He made the stadium his home. Many nights I asked the announcer to call Zac back to his seats. It became funny. "Zac please get back to your seat!," the broadcaster would boom over the speakers. Before many games had passed, players began standing on the top step of the dugout, ignoring the game, and yelling for Zac. Sometimes, the players, if Zac was near the dugout, would swat him on the rear end. The crowd would laugh. Nestor Smith, CF, and Fontello Jones, RP, would sometimes catch him before I could. These men had children Zac's age. They'd scold him, in Spanish!
There's an owners box; we sell out almost every game, so my seat is in the box; but as an owner, even a little owner like me, your job is to "work the crowd". Shake hands, chit-chat, give practice balls and broken bats to the kids. That's what owners do. We say, "Thanks for coming."
Some of my partners are pretty famous. Bill Murray, Jimmy Fallon, Lorne Michaels. I've never met them.
I have a championship ring from that Summer of 2004. Players, Execs, and owners get them. The ring is from the last Summer before my first 2 surgeries. That Summer I had shagged flies with the team; I followed that team from it's first game to its final championship win in our "Series". I knew the players and manager pretty well. They were great to my kid.
I'll give my son that ring when he's old enough to not lose it. It's the last Summer he and I could play rough together. He didn't mind 6 hour car trips. It'll probably be the only Summer he ever spends more time on a professional baseball field, than in the stands. I gave that experience to my son; but more than that, he gave a greater one to me. Thanks Zac. www.brocktonrox.com www.cuttersbaseball.com
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