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MLB Announcer Shares Survival Story In Madison |
MADISON, SD –
It’s not every day a major league baseball announcer visits your school, but that’s exactly what happened in Madison Friday afternoon. Jerry Schemmel, the radio play-by-play voice of the Colorado Rockies, visited his alma mater. And his voice is serving more purposes than just calling the game. A 1978 Madison High School graduate Jerry Schemmel is well aware the job he currently has means more to kids than his actual name. “I know there are doors that I can get into that I wouldn’t otherwise because i’m the radio announcer for the Colorado Rockies,” Schemmel said. But Schemmel’s voice wouldn’t even be hitting the airwaves if it weren’t for a little bit of luck. On July 18, 1989, Schemmel was one of the survivors of the United Flight 232, a plane that crashed in Sioux City killing 112 people. “I think about that crash every day,” Schemmel said. “Some days, it’s fairly consuming still after 22 years. And some days, it’s just sort of a fleeting thought, but I still think about it all the time.” Schemmel landed upside down in his seat with dead bodies all around him. Yet, he was still able to muster the courage to save other lives. “Myself and a couple other guys, literally, like cattle, herded people to the back of the plane and some of them got out and some didn’t,” Schemmel said. Schemmel says one of the reasons he likes speaking to kids so much is because his job with the Rockies gives him a unique perspective. “What we need to do when we have that kind of opportunity and platform is take advantage of it,” Schemmel said. “If schools invite you to speak and they want to hear about the Rockies or the plane crash, go in there and share that message to kids.” Schemmel says the crash re-ordered his life’s priorities, providing a foundation for his renewed spirituality. And his faith allows him to use his voice both over the air and in lecture halls at the same time. “The reason I survived the crash, the reason I’m a broadcaster is not to have people tell me they heard me on the radio and pat me on the back and say ‘great job, I love your work,’” Schemmel said. “It’s not, ‘hey, you’re so good, what a great job you have.’ It’s to reach other people.” Schemmel says this is only the second time he’s spoken at his alma mater. Other than some lingering back soreness, he has no other permanent injuries from the crash. © 2011 KELOLAND TV. All Rights Reserved. What do you guys think about this. Posted in rockies-news | Comments Off
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MLB all-stars complete sweep of Taiwanese… |
Robinson Cano of the New York Yankees and Ty Wigginton of the Colorado Rockies each hit solo home runs Sunday to lead an MLB All-Star team to a 6-4 win over Taiwan and a sweep of their five-game series. Cano’s blast in the third inning and Wigginton’s in the seventh helped seal the game in the southern city of Kaohsiung and added to the MLB power display. During the series Michael Morse of the Washington Nationals hit two home runs and the Yankees’ Curtis Granderson added a grand slam. Local hero Chien-Ming Wang of the Nationals was the starting pitcher for Taiwan but left in the third after throwing 45 pitches. He gave up three runs on four hits. After the game Wang said he was delighted that the MLB players had a chance to visit his native Taiwan. “I’m really happy,” he said. “It’s a lot of fun.” Leave any suggestions in the comment box. Posted in rockies-news | Comments Off
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Angels Hire Scott Servais As Assistant GM |
Read More: Texas Rangers, Los Angeles Angels, Colorado Rockies The Los Angeles Angels on Friday hired Scott Servais as Assistant General Manager, Scouting and Player Development. Servais, who was the head of player development for the Texas Rangers for the last six years, signed a multi-year contract with the Angels, the club announced today. “Scott has a great presence and his impact will be felt immediately. He will create a positive, productive and successful environment within our player development program,” said new Angels GM Jerry Dipoto. “One simply needs to look at what Texas has accomplished during the last six years to understand the value Scott now brings to the Angels. Scott is really the gold standard by which to measure others in this game and he will help create a new dynamic as we move forward.” Servais, 44, was a major league catcher for 11 seasons, and was a teammate of Dipoto in with the Colorado Rockies in 2000. Servais was a scout with the Rockies in 2005 when Dipoto was the head of player personnel in Colorado. “We will hit the ground running in the scouting & player development program to ensure the success of the Angels now and for years to come. It will be our goal to always have a championship-caliber team for our fans,” Servais said on Friday. For more on the Angels, head to Halos Heaven. Gotta run!. Posted in rockies-news | Comments Off
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Troy Tulowitzki Wins Second Straight Gold Glove… |
Read More: Todd Helton (1B – COL), Troy Tulowitzki (SS – COL), Colorado Rockies As many expected, Colorado Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki won his second consecutive Gold Glove award on Tuesday, labeling him the best defender at his position this season. The awards, voted on by MLB managers, were announced Tuesday night by Rawlings. Tulowitzki, 27, is considered one of the game’s elite defensive shortstops, and he joins Larry Walker and Todd Helton as the only Rockies to win multiple Gold Gloves. This isn’t the shortstop’s only award to recognize his defensive prowess, either, as he recently was awarded the Fielding Bible award as the game’s best defensive shortstop by a series of experts led by John Dewan. The shortstop also gets a bit of a monetary bonus for his efforts, too, as his contract calls for a $25,000 bonus if he wins the award. It’s not much compared to his nine-figure contract, but I’m guessing that Tulowitzki doesn’t play defense like he does to pad his wallet. For more on the Rockies, check out Purple Row, SB Nation’s Colorado Rockies blog. If anybody needs tickets to games, remember to click the tickets link at the top. Posted in rockies-news | Comments Off
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Modesto Nuts’ winningest manager set to join… |
In 2011, Jerry Weinstein became the winningest manager in the history of Modesto minor league baseball. When the 2012 season opens in April, the Modesto Nuts manager will be the person with the most wins and championships in the history of the entire California League. Lenn Sakata, 57, will bring his 569 career Cal League wins and three league titles to the home dugout at John Thurman Field next spring as Weinstein, 68, moves on to become the catching coach with the parent Colorado Rockies. Sakata was not available for comment, but Weinstein had nothing but praise for his successor. “Modesto’s going to see an aggressive, pitch-by-pitch, serious baseball guy,” Weinstein said. “Lenn’s a very intelligent baseball guy who can coach every facet of the game, and based on his track record in the California League you’re getting a championship manager. “He’s a real detail guy and a real stickler for the little things, and he sees it all. On top of that he’s a real consistent person no great ups or downs and that will be a real plus for the Rockies and for Modesto.” Colorado also announced on Friday that the rest of the Nuts’ field staff will remain intact for 2012. Darryl Scott will returning as pitching coach, Kevin Riggs is back as hitting coach and Chris Dovey remains athletic trainer. Sakata, a native of Hawaii, was primarily a second baseman during his 11-year major league playing career (1977-87) with Milwaukee, Baltimore, Oakland and the New York Yankees, and moved immediately into the minor leagues as a manager at the end of his playing days. His first managerial stop was Southern Oregon Oakland’s short-season team in 1988, and Sakata began the 1989 season in the Modesto dugout, only to be relieved of his managerial duties after 60 games. Sakata didn’t manage again until 1999 with the San Jose Giants, then went to Bakersfield (also a San Francisco affiliate at the time) in 2000, back to San Jose in 2001, to Triple-A Fresno in 2002, then back with San Jose from 2004-07. Sakata’s first game as Modesto’s skipper will be April 5, when the Nuts open the season at home against Sakata’s former team, the San Jose Giants. His last seven California League teams all had winning records and all reached the playoffs, with Sakata guiding San Jose to league titles in 2001, 2005 and 2007. He left the Giants’ organization following the 2007 season to join the Chiba Lotte Marines of Japan’s Pacific League as a farm team manager, then came back to American baseball in 2011 in the Colorado organization as hitting coach in Low-A Asheville. Weinstein leaves Modesto with 368 wins and is the only manager in league history to post winning records and reach the playoffs in five consecutive years with the same team. He also leaves with a lot of great memories from his time on the Nuts’ bench. “I will miss Modesto and it’s for more reasons than just the baseball,” Weinstein said. “It’s the fans and all the people. It was an easy environment for me to work in because of the great with support. “That starts with Colorado’s player development people and the scouting, but certainly the front office staff in Modesto made the job enjoyable and easy. And I have to say that the people the fans in Modesto are the greatest. My wife and I really enjoyed living in Modesto for these five months every year.” Weinstein’s new job will reunite him with many of the players he managed in Modesto. His primary job will be to work with the Rockies’ catchers on a daily basis, but once the game starts he will leave the field and watch the game from the stands or from a box in a quality control role. “It’s not a dugout job, which is all right by me,” Weinstein said. “There are a lot of things that are involved with the job. I guess it took me 68 years to get to the big leagues.” Bee staff writer Brian VanderBeek can be reached at bvanderbeek@modbee.com or (209) 578-2300. Follow him at twitter.com/modestobeek. That’s all the news for today. Posted in rockies-news | Comments Off
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Colorado Rockies’ Drew Pomeranz Arrested |
Colorado Rockies pitcher Drew Pomeranz was arrested by Oxford, Miss., police on Friday morning, reports the Oxford Eagle. He was taken in for disturbing the peace. The arrest came at 2:25 a.m. ET and he was released on bond several hours later. No other details have emerged. The Rockies are expected to release a statement on Friday, according to Troy Renck. Pomeranz was acquired by the Rockies as part of the Ubaldo Jimenez trade in July. He was the key component of the game and could not officially join the Rockies until Aug. 15, one year after he officially signed his first contract. Pomeranz threw several perfect innings of minor league ball for the Rockies and had an appendectomy before he was brought up to the major league club. He went 2-1 with a 5.40 ERA in four starts. He is expected to compete for a spot in the 2012 rotation. Pomeranz went to college at Ole Miss in Oxford. For more on the Rockies, visit Purple Row. That’s all for today guys, i’ll be back to blog you tomorrow. Posted in rockies-news | Comments Off
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