Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, April 19, 1991 TAG: 9104190305
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV12 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: Ray Cox
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
So are we going to have to wipe our feet carefully before we enter the hallowed and nationally famous grounds of Pulaski's Calfee Park?
I dunno, but I always thought of it as a quaint although somewhat down-in-the-tooth-after-all-these-years ball yard.
But now, it appears that Calfee is taking on some sort of national icon status. Or something like that.
In case you don't subscribe to the big-time glossy national publications, Calfee has been featured twice within the past month.
National Geographic had it mentioned a couple of times in an article about baseball in the April issue. You always knew that National Geographic liked to visit exotic and out-of-the-way places, and Calfee certainly qualifies.
The other national exposure came in the pages of Sports Illustrated's baseball edition, which was out last week with ancient fireballer Nolan Ryan on the cover.
An elegant photo, taken looking through some lady's clothesline across the street, caught Calfee in early evening, probably just as the game was about to get under way.
Certainly, it makes me yearn for the Appalachian League season to start and Pulaski again to become the Land of the Free and Home of the Braves.
But this new publicity also raises a question. Now that the nation has obviously gone batty over minor league ball, does this mean that the franchise has just taken an exponential leap in value?
After all, Kelvin Bowles bought the Salem Buccaneers for a reported $180,000 in 1986. Now, the team is estimated to be worth between $1.5 million and $2 million.
\ Calfee is known to be a happy spot, but it wasn't so much so for Pulaski County High pitcher Richard Myers recently.
Myers went 9 2/3 innings, giving up a scant two hits, but the Cougars could not snap a 1-1 tie with Franklin County despite several fine opportunities.
At length, the game was lost 3-1 when back-to-back errors - the first, a throwing gaffe by Myers - opened the door to a two-run Eagles' 10th. . . . Christiansburg coach Kirk Litton says his pitching has taken an unexpected turn for the better recently. Sophomore right-hander Charlie Shrader was brought up from the junior varsity recently and handed the ball for his first varsity start. The numbers: Five hits, four strikeouts, no walks, and no runs in 4 1/3 innings. Another starter, senior Willie Sabo, had a 10-strikeout two-hitter against Lord Botetourt. . . . Christiansburg catcher Toby Akers and outfielder Scott Lucas were a combined 16-for-29 (.551) in the Blue Demons' first five games. . . . Consider the possibilities for Shawsville pitching had Corey Epperly stayed around and not transferred to Salem after his sophomore season. The Shawnees already have the best 1-2 pitching punch in the Mountain Empire District in Scott Phillips and Danny Lovern. Epperly recently improved to 4-0 for the Spartans after a 10-strikeout, three-hit shutout of Blacksburg.
\ Allen Wiley, the tough and highly successful retired coach at schools that included Pulaski County and Blacksburg, was back in the news recently. Here's a couple of more stories about him that you may not have heard:
Not too long ago, Wiley was approached by one of his former players about coming out of retirement to coach another high school team. Intrigued, Wiley asked how long he would have the players to work with.
"What you mean?" he was asked. "You know what the rules are."
"I didn't ask you that," Wiley said. "I want to know how long I can have them for?"
"How long do you need them?"
"I'll give them August off."
That was the end of that comeback.
One more story: Wiley's granddaughter, a ninth-grader, is planning on going out for the team at Pulaski County next year. Her father went to the coach and asked him to give her some workouts on his private court. Fine, he said.
Then the newspaper story, which detailed some of Wiley's demanding practice methods, came out. Her reaction to a potential session with her grandfather was predictable.
Said she: "No way."
by CNB