THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, April 30, 1995 TAG: 9504300171
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C10 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TOM ROBINSON, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 86 lines
Six miles away, Trey McCoy heard the blast. Asleep with his wife Tracy at 9 a.m., McCoy awoke and peeked out one of his apartment's windows, expecting to see dark clouds and rain.
``I thought it was thunder,'' said McCoy, a former First Colonial High School star in Virginia Beach who, until last week, was a Triple-A player for the Oklahoma City 89ers. ``But it was clear as a bell outside. I didn't think anything more about it.''
McCoy didn't turn on his TV that morning, and he didn't hear about the devastating explosion at Oklahoma City's federal building until that afternoon. Obviously, the game was canceled that night as the nation focused on Oklahoma City's horror.
The request for the public to stay away from downtown was repeated across the airwaves, so McCoy sat home as dazed and hurt and helpless as anybody else.
``I've got a 3 1/2-year-old son (Tyler), and anytime something about those children came on it just ate me up,'' McCoy said.
``We've been here three years, we've grown to like this area. People here are real friendly, real nice. I stayed out here most of last winter and sold cars and got to know people.''
McCoy knew no one in the building or near it when it exploded. However, on a plane last week, McCoy said he sat next to a woman whose best friend's friend was the mother of a child killed by the bomb - the child who was carried out, bloodied, by a fireman in that gut-wrenching photograph that everybody saw.
Why McCoy was on that airplane in the first place is part of the story of one of the strangest weeks in his eight-year career.
Last Sunday, he was either traded or released by the Texas Rangers, Oklahoma City's parent club, and sent to the Nashville Sounds, the Chicago White Sox Triple-A affiliate. McCoy was told he was traded, but Nashville general manager Larry Schmittou said he thought McCoy had been released.
Either way, McCoy, a power-hitting first baseman, was a Sound, for one day. Monday, he flew to Nashville, then Omaha, Neb., on Tuesday with the team to start a road trip. But before he could even put on Nashville uniform, the White Sox released him.
Wednesday, he was back on a plane to Oklahoma City, jobless.
Maybe it had to do with McCoy's refusal to be a replacement player for the Rangers, or maybe it was residue from McCoy's problems a few years ago with the Rangers, when he was suspended and then asked for his release, only to re-sign later. Unconfirmed word out of Chicago is that the White Sox' minor league people liked McCoy but the major league brass killed the deal.
It is all speculation, even to McCoy.
``I really don't know what's going on with this whole thing,'' McCoy said. ``The manager, Rick Renick, told me he was embarrassed, that he didn't know what was going on. It had to be a move from up top, because the player development guy (Steve Noworyta), told my agent he wanted me.''
Neither Noworyta or Renick could be reached for comment.
McCoy, 28, was hitting .310 with no home runs and four RBIs with the 89ers. He was coming off a .306 season in Oklahoma City with 15 home runs, 67 RBIs and a team-high 29 doubles. The irony is that Nashville needs punch. The Sounds had lost 11 games in a row before Friday, with a streak of 26 scoreless innings.
``I knew the White Sox had interest in me when I was a free agent over the winter,'' McCoy said. ``When Renick called me into his hotel room, I thought it was to tell me how I fit into the team, where I was going to hit. What he told me was they were sending some pitchers down and they had to make room. He said he was trying to explain it as best he could without really knowing what's going on.''
Schmittou said McCoy ``showed up here and traveled with the team, then (Chicago) called and told us to remove him from the roster. We're like everybody else - we got 17 new guys since last week. I'm sure there is a story behind this somewhere, but I'm not privvy to it. It's just an unusual year.''
McCoy said he will continue to look for a baseball job, but that retirement ``does cross your mind in situations like this. I've had a lot of things happen to me in the game, and there comes a point where, I'm still young and talented, there's something else for me to do.
``But I'll try to play a while longer and see if I can get picked up again. I know I can still play the game, I'll tell you that.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Trey McCoy was a Triple-A player for the Oklahoma City 89ers at the
time. He no longer is in baseball.
by CNB