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My user ID is JWC which are my initials for John Cummings. I am the moderator of this forum. Feel free to discuss anything you want that relates to sports.
I am a sports fanatic. Baseball is my number one sport followed by Hockey, Football, Basketball, golf, and tennis.
I have always tended to support teams based on individual players rather than team loyalty. When I was a kid, I was a Yankees fan because of Joe DiMaggio and later Mickey Mantle. I have a good friend that has been a super scout with the Major League Scouting Bureau for many years. He played back in Mantle's era. I asked him who was the greatest player he has ever seen and without hesitating he said Mickey Mantle. Mickey could do it all. It is just too bad that he ruined his career and himself though his destructive lifestyle. Of course being a Yankee fan then, I also was a great fan of Yogi Berra and Phil Rissuto but the Mick was my boyhood hero.
We were pretty intimately associated with baseball through the 80's and 90's. We had several of the players from the Yankee organization live with us when we lived in the Ft. Lauderdale Fl. area from 1977 to 1985. Jose Rijo ( World Series MVP ) was our most famous player. Jose lived with us when he played for the minor league Ft. Lauderdale Yankees and then during spring training when he was with the NY Yankees. During spring training, Jose refused to stay with the team at the hotel because we were his family and he wanted to stay with us. There was a league rule that prohibited players with less than 3 years MLB experience from living away from the team hotel. We went through Yogi Berra ( Yankees Manager ) all the way up to George Steinbrenner. They all agreed with Jose that it was best to live with us but rules were rules. Ultimately Yogi said "what he doesn't know won't hurt him" so go ahead and live with the Cummings.
We were on the front page of the Sporting News first baseball edition the year after Jose Rijo won the World Series MVP. They interviewed us and did an article on Jose and how he considered us to be his family.
Jose invited us to stay with the Oakland Athletics when they were playing against the Angels. We stayed in the hotel with the team. Rafael Santana and Alfredo Griffin became good friends of ours. We also know Rex Hudler very well. Rex is a former MLB player and is now a commentator for the Angels. We got to know Rex when he played for the Ft. Lauderdale Yankees back when Rijo was there. We used to have parties at our house for the team.
Through this experience I got to know Yogi Berra and Phil Rizzuto and even George Steinbrenner. We also got to know many of the other players on other teams as such as Dale Murphy ( a great guy ), Bob Horner, etc. Our son took infield practice and batted in the cages with the Yankees. Later our son went on to his own baseball career and was All American, played on the Mexican National All Star team in the International Olympic Tournaments and then was drafted by the SD Padres. However his career was cut short by a very severe ankle injury.
We also met George Brett of the KC Royals during spring training. George became my next favorite player so of course I was a KC Royals fan for many years. We have been to many games at Royals Stadium in Kansas City.
We no longer have the close association with the game but I still love it. I have been an Atlanta Braves fan since 1980 when we got to know many of the players. The Braves organization is the best in baseball. I am also an Angels fan. However my real love is the game itself. Unfortunately many people forget that it is just a game.
We go to many games of the Lake Elsinore Storm ( SD Padres affiliate ) of the Class A California State league. Fernando Valenzuela Jr. is playing for the Storm this year. The Lake Elsinore Stadium has been voted as one of the best minor league parks in the country.
To round it out, I am a Lakers fan since the days of Jerry West, and a Raiders fan. I used to be a hockey fanatic and I payed the game for 25 years but got turned off by it as the game changed. I was a rabid Montreal Canadiens fan back in the 50's and 60's. I still follow it but not with the same fervor as before.
Boy, this turned out to be a lot longer than I planned on but I can't stop when it comes to baseball.
In any event start posting and have fun.
I am a sports fanatic. Baseball is my number one sport followed by Hockey, Football, Basketball, golf, and tennis.
I have always tended to support teams based on individual players rather than team loyalty. When I was a kid, I was a Yankees fan because of Joe DiMaggio and later Mickey Mantle. I have a good friend that has been a super scout with the Major League Scouting Bureau for many years. He played back in Mantle's era. I asked him who was the greatest player he has ever seen and without hesitating he said Mickey Mantle. Mickey could do it all. It is just too bad that he ruined his career and himself though his destructive lifestyle. Of course being a Yankee fan then, I also was a great fan of Yogi Berra and Phil Rissuto but the Mick was my boyhood hero.
We were pretty intimately associated with baseball through the 80's and 90's. We had several of the players from the Yankee organization live with us when we lived in the Ft. Lauderdale Fl. area from 1977 to 1985. Jose Rijo ( World Series MVP ) was our most famous player. Jose lived with us when he played for the minor league Ft. Lauderdale Yankees and then during spring training when he was with the NY Yankees. During spring training, Jose refused to stay with the team at the hotel because we were his family and he wanted to stay with us. There was a league rule that prohibited players with less than 3 years MLB experience from living away from the team hotel. We went through Yogi Berra ( Yankees Manager ) all the way up to George Steinbrenner. They all agreed with Jose that it was best to live with us but rules were rules. Ultimately Yogi said "what he doesn't know won't hurt him" so go ahead and live with the Cummings.
We were on the front page of the Sporting News first baseball edition the year after Jose Rijo won the World Series MVP. They interviewed us and did an article on Jose and how he considered us to be his family.
Jose invited us to stay with the Oakland Athletics when they were playing against the Angels. We stayed in the hotel with the team. Rafael Santana and Alfredo Griffin became good friends of ours. We also know Rex Hudler very well. Rex is a former MLB player and is now a commentator for the Angels. We got to know Rex when he played for the Ft. Lauderdale Yankees back when Rijo was there. We used to have parties at our house for the team.
Through this experience I got to know Yogi Berra and Phil Rizzuto and even George Steinbrenner. We also got to know many of the other players on other teams as such as Dale Murphy ( a great guy ), Bob Horner, etc. Our son took infield practice and batted in the cages with the Yankees. Later our son went on to his own baseball career and was All American, played on the Mexican National All Star team in the International Olympic Tournaments and then was drafted by the SD Padres. However his career was cut short by a very severe ankle injury.
We also met George Brett of the KC Royals during spring training. George became my next favorite player so of course I was a KC Royals fan for many years. We have been to many games at Royals Stadium in Kansas City.
We no longer have the close association with the game but I still love it. I have been an Atlanta Braves fan since 1980 when we got to know many of the players. The Braves organization is the best in baseball. I am also an Angels fan. However my real love is the game itself. Unfortunately many people forget that it is just a game.
We go to many games of the Lake Elsinore Storm ( SD Padres affiliate ) of the Class A California State league. Fernando Valenzuela Jr. is playing for the Storm this year. The Lake Elsinore Stadium has been voted as one of the best minor league parks in the country.
To round it out, I am a Lakers fan since the days of Jerry West, and a Raiders fan. I used to be a hockey fanatic and I payed the game for 25 years but got turned off by it as the game changed. I was a rabid Montreal Canadiens fan back in the 50's and 60's. I still follow it but not with the same fervor as before.
Boy, this turned out to be a lot longer than I planned on but I can't stop when it comes to baseball.
In any event start posting and have fun.
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