Off the Beaten Basepaths #9: The College World Series

With Talent and Motivation, Kevin Hooper ‘Without Concern’ As Wichita Powerhouse Readies for Playoffs

“To be honest, there is no concern.” How often does a manager talk in such confident terms?   Never might be too soon, right? Yet, that was exactly what Wichita (KS) Wingnuts Manager Kevin Hooper said this week when I asked him what his biggest concern was heading into next week’s American Association playoffs. Let me […]

From Kings Park to Omaha

Hello! My name is Bobby Haney and I am a professional baseball player in the San Francisco Giants organization. A couple years ago after my team and I won the college World Series I was so pumped up and motivated that I decided to write my own book. My book is mainly about my career […]

A Composite Portrait of Barry Bonds Before He Reached the Majors

These items are pulled together from various articles in newspapers from 1974 to early 1986. They’re presented here to shed some light on Bonds’ early personality and the talent and power he displayed before reaching the majors, many years before the steroids talk began. In 1974, Barry Bonds’ father, Bobby, left the Giants for the […]

Helping World Series Phenom Buster Posey

    Ken Joyce was talking mile a minute.  He had input for any of my questions, many times offering more than I knew to ask.  How he got started in baseball, his time in the Florida Marlins and Toronto Blue Jays organizations, the big names he has worked with, his years managing and coaching in  […]

Is There Really Gator Baseball?

Coming out of Nationals Park several weeks ago I spied someone decked out in University of Florida garb and I quickly offered up the “Gator Nation” salute–an obscene affair–then jumped up and asked whether he knew how our Gators were doing in the SEC championship game against South Carolina.  After a quick browse through the […]

Brownsten Setting His Sights

Memorial Day will find Cory Brownsten waiting on the NCAA. After finishing the season 38-18, Brownsten and his University of Pittsburgh Panther teammates fell short of earning an automatic berth to the Regionals of College World Series. The Panthers will have to wait and see if their resume is enough to earn an at-large bid […]

Muoio In Familiar Territory

Steve Muoio may be over 900 miles from home, but the Webster resident finds himself in familiar territory. His Georgia College and State University Bobcats claimed first place and the number one seed in the upcoming Peach-Belt Conference tournament.  Success on the baseball diamond is something the Webster-Thomas graduate has known for much of his […]

Remembering Gene Conley

Yes, the current NBA campaign continues to progress while baseball players now filter into spring training; this overlapping of seasons reminds us of a unique, special individual who once graced both the hardcourt AND the diamond professionally: Donald Eugene Conley. Gene Conley loved sports as a kid–partaking in every athletic event one could imagine while […]