Why does everything with the Press have to be negative. My family tells me I'm always overall optimistic about everything. I just can't believe the Reds press group can't see all the great things that have happened around here the last 3 years but want to continue to write about whats happened since 1999. Boys thats the past. Today is today I'm glad to be alive. Happy to look out my room window at the Sun and know we still are going to win the National League Central-why because we have the Best Manager Dusty Baker, We have the best pitching staff once David Homer Bailey is ready to be brought to the Major Leagues and we have a lineup full of All-Stars and a Farm system to match.
I hate negative, I always surround myself with happy positive people because we only live once. Who wants to be around prunes. Let me name them all again so you can smile-Harang,Cueto,Volquez,Votto,Bailey, Thompson,Affeldt,Cordeiro, Burton, Bray,PHILLIPS,KEPPINGER,ENCARNCION,Griffey, Dunn,Hairston,BRUCE,Roenicke,Lutz, Vailiaka, Stubbs, Mesouraca, FRAZIER, WARING, J Smith, T Wood,Watson, Ravin, Griffin, Bolivar,Viola, Tatum, Avery, LeCure, C Fisher, Turner, Dorn, Lotzkar, Soto, FRANCISCO, Phipps- Thats 43 Names that make me smile- Thats now , Thats our future lets look at them not back in 1999-2003 those were lonely dark years that all organizations go thru-but you wish you didn't have too.
I started this blog because I love Journalism, I worked for the Petaluma Argus Courier when I was in High school for the now Famous writer Casey Tefertiller. I love to watch and write about people. Doing my job working at games, I take notes on every player I see. I write down notes on the pitchers I see-arm action, delivery, arm slot the freedom of the shoulder/could he be a future arm injury waiting to happen. I watch the hitters hit-I look at the position they put there hands in before releasing the bat, I look at there strength, there bat speed and I listen for sound.
There are many things that go on during a game that must be documented. Just like keeping organized, I want to write about 2 people in our great organization today and thats Wilma Mann who is the Free-Agent scouting secretary and Keith Chapman one of my best friends in this world who has worked as a part time scout by title but a full time worker.
Mann is the mother of our Trainer Mark Mann. Wilma as she is affectionately known bye is the spoon that keeps the soup stirred. She keeps a pulse of everything going on with all the free-agent scouts all over the country as well as our World scouts, Wilma is a tell it like it is person-a very loving, sweet person, but when you need a swift kick in the butt she could also be the kicker.
She protects all of us as hers, a great story about Wilma. years ago I went out to an establishment in Cincinnati to relax and have some fun. I was meeting Rob Bell downtown for a beer after a game and it just happened to be when I was in there preparing for the draft. I had known Rob as a player for the Atlanta Braves when we were both there he as a player and myself as a scout.I'm down there and I meet some people with Rob and they want tickets, well its a couple of girls. I go in the office the next day and ask Wilma for the tickets and she tells me I'm gonna call your wife- I'm not giving those floozies any tickets. You had to love Wilma. This is my way of telling her I miss her and I miss her teasing-daily.
One last thing about Wilma- she and her husband Millard are both great people. Legendary Red scout Larry Barton came down with Cancer years ago. He lives in So Cal but could have his surgeries back in Cincinnati. Well guess who would be there letting him live in there house, at the hospital taking care of him and treating him as family- Wilma and Millard. I know Larry appreciated everything they did for him, because I heard him talk about it many times. Your lucky in your life when you get to meet people like this.
Chappy one of our Nor Cal /Northwest scouts has been with me since I was a HS coach at Casa Grande HS in Petaluma. We have a dear relationship. I trust him as much as any person in the World- he is a friend. Chappy loves baseball-he would drive 500 miles a day to see a game-he's crazy. He came to work with me when i started with the Braves in 1990. I moved up to the Northwest to be the Northwest area scout and he lived in Petaluma, so he became a bird dog for now Chicago White Sox Asst GM David Wilder.
Chappy's first profession was as a California Highway Patrolmen, I can remember meeting chappy for breakfast at 3am at some greasy spoon in Petaluma to talk about baseball usually once a week. When i got the job with the Braves he was one of the first people we hired. He is very loyal, loved baseball and loved to scout ballplayers and was very eager to learn. His wife Deb was all for him getting to do this too-that really helps when you have wife's like we have-supportive.
Well Chappy has been a scout for now some 17 years. He signed Chris Dickerson, Jacob Long, Curtis Partch- I'm really proud of him- believe me he and I have had some doozy arguments about players-me telling him he was crazy- him telling me to wash the pancakes off my glasses that guy can't play. He has now joined forces with another friend of ours Dick Adams. Its unbelievable the energy level these two have- and believe me when I tell you they are representing the Cincinnati Reds in a positive way. Chappy is first class guy and I'm glad he is a Cincinnati Red.
Every Sunday I will write something about our scouts, next week I'm going to write about Mike Keenan the scout that discovered Travis Wood and one of the Reds National Cross-checkers the hardest working man in Baseball My friend Mark Snipp.
Just for my blogger friends, it is great speaking with you- I love the interaction and the energy. Again I will never do anything to cost the Cincinnati Reds a player or the whereabouts of myself if I thought it would hurt a deal. I'm strictly doing it for fun and if the Reds ask me to stop I WILL.
It's a big day for my daughter Lauren and my wife. Lauren today begins her journey to start college next year At Azusa Pacific University with an orientation and class signup down in Sacramento. I know there excited because my wife told me not to call last night because they were going to bed. There both night Owls-so I know this is a big deal and important for both of them. Love you guys.
I'm not sure if the e-mailer was being serious but he approached me about doing a story for Sports Illustrated on our Blog. That would be amazing, but I did do this for something other than baseball and for the hope thru my love of the game that my family would forgive me for the time I'm gone from home. I don't care what anyone says-we love our families so much it hurts- but as I always say to you--
THERE IS NO CRYING IN BASEBALL
KEEP IT REAL
Butch Baccala
ML Scout
Cincinnati Reds
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