From the Archives: Touring the Bases with…Jim Bouton

“You see, you spend a good piece of your life gripping a baseball and in the end it turns out that it was the other way around all the time.” Former major league pitcher Jim Bouton ended his controversial book Ball Four with those lines in 1969 and the nation has been in his grip […]

Touring The Bases With…Mark Armour and Dan Levitt

Mark L. Armour is the author of Joe Cronin: A Life in Baseball, the editor of The Great Eight: The 1975 Cincinnati Reds, and a coeditor of Pitching, Defense, and Three-Run Homers: The 1970 Baltimore Orioles, all available from the University of Nebraska Press. Winner of the 2015 Bob Davids Award from the Society of […]

An Interview With 1960s Yankees Minor Leaguer Ike Futch

Ike Futch, who played second base, mostly, for a variety of Yankee minor league teams from 1959 through 1964, recently wrote this about Mickey Mantle and Yogi Berra in a comment responding to a post I’d written about the two Yankee greats: “I had the privilege to be on the same field with this fine […]

Touring The Bases With…Barry Lyons

A Mississippi native who starred at Delta State University, Barry Lyons was drafted by the Detroit Tigers in the 25th round of the 1981 amateur draft, then by the New York Mets in the 15th round of the 1982 amateur draft.  He signed with the Mets and began his professional career in Single A where […]

Touring The Bases With…Mike Hedlund

A native of Dallas, Texas, pitcher Mike “Red” Hedlund was signed as an amateur free agent right out of Arlington High School by the Cleveland Indians in 1964.  After only 25 minor league innings, the righthander made his major league debut on May 8, 1965 at the tender age of 18 and retired future Hall […]

Touring the Bases With…Gates Brown

This was originally posted almost four years ago and is being re-posted in honor of Gates Brown, who died yesterday at the age of 74. My good friend Bob Lazzari, award-winning sports writer with the Connecticut Valley Times and NY Sports Day, has offered us fantastic material featured at his web sites, Bob Lazzari On […]

Touring The Bases With…Greg Pryor

A two-time All-American at Florida Southern College from 1969-70, Greg Pryor became the first FSC Moccasin to make it to the major leagues when he debuted for the Texas Rangers on June 4, 1976.  Pryor was a sixth round draft pick of the Washington Senators in 1971 and spent parts of six seasons in the […]

Touring The Bases With…Gabe Kapler

Gabe Kapler was a 57th round draft pick by the Detroit Tigers in the 1995 amateur draft, then began a very successful minor league career that resulted in a late-season call-up in September 1998.  The righthanded slugger dominated the low minors at the ages of 20 and 21, hitting .300 with 45 doubles, 26 homers, […]

Touring The Bases With…Jerry Reuss

Jerry Reuss, a 6’5″ southpaw, was drafted by his hometown St. Louis Cardinals right out of high school in the second round of the 1967 amateur draft.   After spending two years in the minors, the then 20-year-old made his major league debut on September 27, 1969 and tossed seven brilliant innings against the Montreal […]

Touring The Bases With…Billy Sample

The first major leaguer to come from James Madison University in Virginia, Billy Sample was drafted by the Texas Rangers in the 10th round of the 1976 amateur draft.  The second baseman started his professional career with the Rookie League Rangers of the Gulf Coast League and batted .382 with an outstanding .505 on-base percentage […]

Kid Blogger’s Interview with Mets GM Sandy Alderson LIVE!!!!!

Hey baseball fans!  I have another interview for you. It is with Mets General Manager Sandy Alderson. I actually got to interview him live at his office in Citi Field and the video of the interview is on YouTube. So, please click here to see me interview Sandy. I’m not sure that you all know about Sandy’s […]

Touring The Bases With…Sergio Romo

As some of you may know, I’ve had the opportunity over the last few months to contribute to “49ers Insider,” a digital magazine from the San Francisco Chronicle. Between this gig and my day job, it’s limited my time and energy to write for Baseball: Past and Present, though it’s given me something cool to […]

Touring The Bases With…Denny McLain

From 1968 to 1969, few hurlers could keep up with Denny McLain, the Detroit Tigers ace and workhorse.  McLain went 55-15 in those two seasons and became the last man to win 30 games when he went 31-6 in 1968 and led the Tigers to an American League pennant and World Series title.  McLain easily […]

Touring The Bases With…Jim Rooker

Southpaw pitcher Jim Rooker made his major league debut on June 30, 1968 with the eventual world champion Detroit Tigers and spent 13 years in the bigs with the Tigers, Kansas City Royals and Pittsburgh Pirate before making his final appearance on May 2, 1980.   A year earlier, Rooker was a member of the […]

Touring the Bases With Bob Wolff

Bob Wolff is one of the most famous television and radio announcers of the second half of the Twentieth Century. He has been inducted to both the Baseball Hall of Fame at Cooperstown and the Basketball Hall of Fame as well. His call of Don Larsen’s World Series Perfect Game in 1956 for Mutual Radio […]

Touring the Bases With Hall of Famer, Monte Irvin

Monte Irvin has had an extraordinary life and I had the privilege to talk to him about his long career in the game recently. He is 92—he will turn 93 on February 25th—and can look back over a remarkable period in our history, as he recalled,  ”It was a time when baseball was really king.” […]

Touring The Bases With…Durham Bulls GM Mike Birling

Mike Birling is the General Manager for the Durham Bulls located in Durham, North Carolina, in the International League. They have been an Affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays since 1998. Their Stadium is Durham Bulls Athletic Park. (a) International League Champions 2002 – 2003 – 2009 Seamheads.Com: What was your first job working in […]

Touring The Bases With…Norm Coleman

Norm Coleman is an actor, sports writer, inspirational speaker, humorist and photographer. He lives in Half Moon Bay, California. Jack Perconte:  When did your love of baseball begin? Norm Coleman: It began when I was ten years old living in Brooklyn. The year was 1946. My sister Louise, seven years older then me took me […]

Touring The Bases With…Bob Lazzari

Bob Lazzari and I have become friends over the internet and he is one of those guys that you just immediately know that you would like. He is very thorough and interesting with his reporting and is a great writer. Bob has a way of writing that touches you and makes you reflect on your […]

Touring The Bases With…Lexington Legends GM Andy Shea

Andy Shea is the General Manager for the Lexington Legends located in Lexington, Kentucky. They are in the South Atlantic League and have been an Affiliate of the Houston Astros since 2001. Their stadium is Whitaker Bank Park. (a) www.lexingtonlegends.com Seamheads.Com: What was your first job working in baseball? How did you obtain that job? […]

Touring the Bases with…Garrett Totty

Garrett Totty is the Head Batboy for the Texas League Tulsa Drillers.   Garrett also plays catcher on his high school baseball team at Morris (Oklahoma) High School, where this past season he was teammates with Yankee’s 18th round draft choice Hayden Sharp. Seamheads:    Being a batboy on a professional team is probably something that many young […]

Two and Half Hours with Chip Caray

I recently had the pleasure of sitting down with Atlanta Braves play-by-play announcer Chip Caray to talk about his career, his life experiences and how he goes about making the excitement of Atlanta Braves baseball come alive for millions of fans across the country.  Over a 7 day period I had the privilege of interviewing […]

Touring The Bases With…Fort Wayne TinCaps President and GM Mike Nutter

Mike Nutter is the President and General Manager of the Fort Wayne TinCaps located in Fort Wayne, Indiana. They have been an Affiliate of the San Diego Padres since 1999 and are in the Midwest League. They play at Parkview Field. (a) www.tincaps.com. Seamheads.Com: What are your responsibilities for the TinCaps? Mike Nutter: Lots of […]

Touring The Bases With…John D’Acquisto

Former big league right-hander John D’Acquisto was the 17th pick of the 1970 amateur draft, going to the San Francisco Giants in a draft that also featured Mike Ivie, Darrell Porter and “Disco Dan” Ford.  D’Acquisto got his feet wet in the Pioneer (rookie) League before the 19-year-old blossomed in Single-A in 1971, posting a […]

Touring the Bases With…D. Bruce Brown

D. Bruce Brown is the chairman of the Bob Davids Chapter of the Society of American Baseball Research (SABR). The chapter serves the Mid-Atlantic region of the country and is the oldest SABR chapter–named for the founder of SABR, Washington, DC resident, Bob Davids. D. Bruce Brown has attended the last ten SABR national conventions […]

Touring The Bases With…Lehigh Valley IronPigs GM Kurt Landes

Kurt Landes is the General Manager for the Lehigh Valley IronPigs located in Allentown, PA. They have been a AAA Affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies since 2008 and are in the International League. They play at Coca-Cola Park. (a) www.ironpigsbaseball.com Seamheads.Com: What was your first job in baseball? Kurt Landes: My first job in baseball […]

Touring The Bases With…Princeton Rays GM Jim Holland

Jim Holland is the General Manager for the Princeton Rays located in Princeton, West Virginia. They have been an Affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays since 1997 and are in the Appalachian League.  They play at Hunnicutt Field.  (a)  www.princetonrays.net Seamheads.Com: What is your history with the Princeton Rays? Jim Holland: This will be my […]

Touring The Bases With…Norfolk Tides GM Dave Rosenfield

Dave Rosenfield is the General Manager for the Norfolk Tides located in Norfolk, Virginia. They have been an Affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles since 2007 and are in the International League. They play at Harbor Park. (a) www.norfolktides.com Seamheads.com: This year marks your fifty-sixth consecutive year you have been associated with a professional club. Is […]

Touring The Bases With…Lansing Lugnuts GM Pat Day

Pat Day is the General Manager for the Lansing Lugnuts located in Lansing, Michigan in the Midwest League. They have been an Affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays since 2005. They play in Jackson Field at Thomas M. Cooley Law School Stadium. (a) www.lansinglugnuts.com. Seamheads.com: Your team has an unusual name. How did the name […]

Touring The Bases With…Terry Tata

Umpire Terry Tata officiated in the National League from 1973-1999, and umpired in four World Series, seven National League Championship Series, three All-Star games and five no-hitters, for two of which he was behind the plate.  During his major league career, he umpired in 3,743 regular season games. Click here to see a video of […]

Touring the Bases With…Jim Northrup (May He Rest in Peace)

In 1968, Jim Northrup hit two grand slams in one game and became the first person in history to hit three grand slams in a week (and only the second to hit three in a month). He hit four grand slams that season, plus one more in the World Series. In Game 7 of the […]

Touring The Bases With…Rico Petrocelli

Rico Petrocelli was signed as an amateur free agent by the Boston Red Sox in 1961 and went on to have a productive 13-year big league career, all with Boston.  After a cup of coffee with the Sox in 1963, Petrocelli arrived in the big leagues to stay in 1965, and by 1969 was one […]

Touring The Bases With…Harrisburg GM Randy Whitaker

Randy Whitaker is the General Manager for the Harrisburg Senators located in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania in the Eastern League. They have been an Affiliate of the Washington Nationals since 2005.  Their Stadium is Metro Bank Park. (1)  www.senatorsbaseball.com SEAMHEADS.COM: What was your first job working in baseball? How did you obtain that position? How did that […]

Touring The Bases With…Lindsey Knupp

Lindsey Knupp is the Promotions and Entertainment Director for the Lehigh Valley IronPigs located in Allentown, PA. They have been an Affiliate of the 2009 National League Champions Philadelphia Phillies since 2008, the year they were World Champions! SEAMHEADS: What was your first job working in baseball? How did you obtain the position? How did […]

Touring the Bases With Barbara Gregorich

Barbara Gregorich is one of the best authorities on women in baseball and her book Women at Play is testament to that knowledge.  Barbara has recently published a portion of her original research notes for Women at Play. This interview talks about her books and her experiences in baseball.  The full, in-depth interview will appear […]

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