I've been a baseball fan
since
June 24, 1967, when my family took me to my first Chicago
Cubs' game at Wrigley Field. Today I enjoy listening to Cubs'
broadcasts on KXIC-Iowa
City or WGN-Chicago--Pat Hughes and Keith Moreland are fun to
hear even when things aren't going well--and
attending
Veterans Memorial Stadium to watch the Cedar
Rapids
Kernels of the Midwest League.
The Kernels are the Class A
affiliate of the Minnesota Twins, and I hope will be--however
briefly--the home of megaprospect Byron Buxton in 2013. In the last 20
years with the Los Angeles Angels, we've seen early versions of such
stars as Bobby Jenks, John Lackey, Mike Napoli, and Mike Trout, as
well as current Angels Mark Trumbo and
Howie Kendrick. Morgan Hawk broadcasts
every game, home and
away,
on KMRY-Cedar Rapids; broadcasts also available at www.kernels.com.
The 2013 Cubs represent year II
of the Theo Epstein era. The management team has a long development
plan ahead of
them. I'd love for the Cubs to have a
good run like the Braves of the 90s or the Cardinals of the last
decade. In the meantime, it's been fun to watch the development of
young stars like Darwin Barney, Starlin Castro, Anthony Rizzo and Jeff
Samardzija.
The Iowa
Cubs play down the road at Sec Taylor Stadium in Des Moines. They
play in the American North Division of the Pacific Coast League, though
you
can't quite see the ocean from the stadium.
My 2012 all-star
votes:
National League
POS
American
League
Carlos Ruiz, Philadelphia
C
A.J. Pierzynski, Chicago
Joey Votto, Cincin
1B
Prince Fielder, Detroit (2nd yr)
Jose Altuve, Houston
2B
Jason Kipnis, Cleveland
Starlin Castro, Chicago
SS
Elvis Andrus, Texas
David Freese, St. Louis
3B
Miguel Cabrera, Detroit
Carlos Beltran, St. Louis
OF
Jose Bautista, Toronto (2nd yr)
Carlos Gonzalez, Colorado
OF
Josh Hamilton, Texas
Giancarlo Stanton, Miami
OF
Adam Jones, Baltimore
Other baseball sites:
Last update 1/28/13