Column--6/11/13 (Joe Brown)

Joe Brown has been coaching baseball for more than 20 years.  This year, Coach Brown is taking on a new challenge here in central Vermont.

            After two seasons with the Sanford Mainers, Brown has found himself back in the New England Collegiate Baseball League managing the Mountaineers.

            “I’m exited to have him aboard,” said lefty pitcher Nick Naradowy.  “He brings a very positives attitude to the team.”

            Aside from coaching in the NECBL, Brown is the head coach at SUNY Cortland.  Brown has led Cortland to a combined 479-131-3 with 13 NCAA Div. III tournament appearances.  In 20012 Brown had lots of success leading the Red Dragons to a 41-9-1 record with a SUNYAC title.

            Brown has been successful in the NECBL as well.  He won a championship in Sanford.  Sanford actually lost to Vermont in the semi-finals as well when Brown was coaching there.

            Perhaps the most impressive fact about Brown, however, is that his .781 winning percentage (prior to the 2012 season) was the best of any active coach nationally (NCAA Div. I, II or III) with at least 10 years experience, and the third-best all-time among all Div. III coaches with 10 years as a head coach.

            Brown has been successful in the NECBL as well.  He won a championship in Sanford.  Sanford actually lost to Vermont in the semi-finals as well when Brown was coaching there.

“That tells you that I have been in the same place for a long time,” said Brown. “Coaches get way to much credit and way to much criticism in all sports.”

Brown comes off as one of the most humble managers that I have ever met.  He doesn’t credit his incredible winning percentage to himself, but GM Brian Gallagher says that his high winning percentage is because of the work that Brown puts in on a day-to-day basis. 

            After Brown finished his two years in Sanford, he wasn’t sure that he wanted to come back to the NECBL once he received the call from Gallagher.  But once Brown had time to make up his mind he decided to come to Vermont for the 2013 season.  “It’s a unique opportunity,” said Brown, who was afraid that the new job might take away from his recruiting and other jobs at Cortland. “Being a head coach, I didn’t know if I could or should take the job,” said Brown.

But the decision for The Mountaineers to bring in brown wasn’t so hard.  “He’s a really high caliber coach,” said Gallagher. “He was really the guy we wanted.”  And according to Gallagher, Brown has come through so far just fine.  He told me that “(Brown) has been a great coach so far.”

            Brown’s love for the game of baseball began long before his coaching days.  He grew up in Maine and then graduated from Ithaca College in New York.  He played baseball there.  “I wasn’t the best player on my team by any stretch of the imagination, which meant that I had to work hard.” Said Brown.  Working hard is exactly what he did and after graduation from Ithaca with a degree in Science and Physical Education, Brown’s playing days were over but he moved right on to coaching.

            A few years went by and Brown had made his mark in college baseball.  He then, in 2006, was inducted into the Canandaigua Academy Athletic Hall of Fame.  After that, Brown stayed in the game as a coach and had moved up to become a head coach.  Currently, Brown has finished his 16^th year as a coach in college baseball.

            Another interesting thing about Brown is that he always brings in former players of his as his assistant coaches. “They are guys that know me. They know what I expect of them,” Brown told me after I asked him about the decision to bring back his former players as coaches.  This time Brown brought in Justin Fredenburg Travis Ratliff.

            As for his coaching personality, just as LHP Naradowy put it,  He is very positive.  That style works well for GM Brian Gallagher.  “(Joe’s positive attitude is) big. Every team go team goes through losing steaks but it’s the one’s who have trust in eachother who get through those streaks.”

            Joe Brown and the Mountaineers picked up their first win on Sunday over the Saratoga Brigade.  They are back in action today trying to get their revenge from the North Adams Steeplecats who blew them out on opening day 8-0 in five innings.

Follow Jasper Goodman on twitter:  @Jasper_Goodman

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Column--6/9/13 (Lake Monsters)

         

When I walked into Centennial Field, home of the Vermont Lake Monsters for the first time in several years, I could not believe the amount of work that has gone into the park over the past couple of years.

            My hat is off to Ray Pecor and the entire Lake Monsters organization.  Pecor has invested about $2 million into the field over the past couple of years and is a big reason why the Lake Monsters have been in Burlington for 20 years, and why they are looking forward to 20 more.

Over the past few years they have put in a new fence, re-surfaced some parts of the field, put in new dugouts, new locker rooms and coaches rooms (home and away), a new bullpens, a new pavilion, a 27-foot by 16-foot video board in left field, new seats on top of new concrete bleachers, a newly paved entrance to Centennial Field, more luxury seats behind home plate, and brand new light towers.

Ray Pecor has really done a great job, along with Kyle (Bostwick), in bringing this all together,” said Keith Leippman, director of player development for the Oakland Athletics.  “It’s a beautiful place, and we’re thrilled that we can put our players here.”

            Everyone in the Lake Monsters organization is incredibly happy with all of the work that has gone into the field.  “A lot of the renovations started because we were in a spot where we were a little bit deficient with Minor League Baseball, said Lake Monsters Vice President, Kyle Bostwick.  “We’ve brought everything up to where it needs to be and if you haven’t been to Centennial Field in a couple years, I think that you’ll certainly be surprised.”

            But aside from the renovations to the park, the 20^th year for the Lake Monsters brings some new and exiting players as well.

            The offence has certainly showed up for Vermont so far, as they’ve proved that they can play long ball.  Chad Pinder hit his first pro homer on the home opener on Thursday, and Jaycob Brugman jacked a grand slam the very next day.

            Though it’s far to early to tell, Boog Powell stands out to me as one who’s name you might be hearing as a top prospect in a few years.  Past Lake Monsters who are now making noise in the majors include Orlando Cabrera and Jason Bay.

            Though it’s been 20 years in the making for the Lake Monsters, and we’ve seen many players roll through Burlington, Vermont, some things do not change around that ballpark.  For example, the front office staff has hardly seen any change over 20 years.  Vice President Kyle Bostwick has been there for all 20 along with owner Ray Pecor, and Media Relations Director Paul Stanfield.  Up in the press box, it’s been pretty much the same faces since day one.  Stu Blanton has been operating the scoreboard for 19 years alongside Bruce Bosley who is the official scorer, and longtime Vermont radio personality Rich Haskell, who has been announcing batters over the public address for all 20 years of the Lake Monsters existence.  Also back behind the mic this year for the Lake Monsters is long-time Vermont broadcasting legend, George Commo.  The ten time Vermont sportscaster of the year broadcasted the Lake Monsters for their first 11 seasons and is now back for more.

            The home of the Vermont Lake Monsters for all of their 20 years has been Centennial Field.  Centennial Field opened in 1922 and has since been host to the University of Vermont’s men’s baseball team until UVM dropped their baseball program in 2010.

            With all of the renovations that have gone into the field, I wonder if it is even a remote possibility to bring back baseball to UVM.  They said that they were dropping their program to budget men’s and women’s lacrosse but the last time that their men’s lacrosse team had a winning season was seven years ago so we’ll just have to see whether what Pecor done to the field effects their decision at all.

            Though I’ve only been alive for 13 of the Lake Monsters 20 seasons, it has certainly been a great 20 seasons, and I look forward to 20 more.

Follow Jasper Goodman on twitter:  @Jasper_Goodman

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Column--5/26/13 (Doyle)

Many know him as Senator.  A few as professor.  William T. Doyle has many titles.  But one of them could be Vermont’s biggest baseball fan.

            You might recognize Sen Doyle’s name for being Johnson State College’s most senior faculty, or maybe for being Vermont’s longest serving state senator.  You also can’t attend a chicken pie supper in Washington County without seeing Sen. Doyle’s face.  But another place where you can always count on seeing Sen. Doyle is in the front row at Recreation Field sitting just a few seats to his left of home plate at almost every Vermont Mountaineers home game.

Sen. Doyle has been a member of the board of the Vermont Mountaineers since the beginning in 2003.  But Doyle’s baseball interests started long before the Mountaineers.

            “I grew up in a baseball family,” Doyle told me.  His brother once started an essay by saying, “I love baseball and I love seeing it played.”  Though the little town on the Jersey Shore was too small for a school, Doyle found himself playing outfield and batting fourth for the Lawrenceville School.  It was a long time ago, but Doyle can still share his fond memories of playing that team.  He can recall the exciting memory of meeting 10-time all star and Dodger captain Pee Wee Reese and eight-time all star Gil Hodges after one of his games.  “I had never met a major leaguer in my life,” said Doyle. “For him to say that we had a pretty good team made us all Dodger fans for life.”

            “I still remember all of the players that I played with,” Doyle says.  But perhaps the person who he got along with best was his coach. “I had great respect and admiration for our coach.  Many times I’d sit with him [on the bus rides].”

            After his time at the Lawrenceville School, Doyle went on to Princeton University where he got his Bachelor’s degree and played JV baseball.  “Most of the career took place before Princeton.  Lawrenceville School was the highlight.  I played JV at Princeton, which just isn’t the same as being on varsity.”  Doyle went on to get his Master’s and Ph.D from Columbia University.

            But after his college career ended, Doyle didn’t give up baseball.  He came here to Vermont and was elected into the state senate for the first time in 1968.  He was then an active member of the community, taking part in local softball leagues, in which he got the opportunity for the first time to play on historic Recreation Field, coaching Little League and Babe Ruth baseball, and even becoming Central Vermont’s doubles champion alongside his partner in the early 70s.

            Playing all of these sports helped Doyle do even more than just stay in shape. “I think it’s a great advantage for people running for office to play sports,” said Doyle.  “I didn’t play in the Montpelier league for political reasons but its certainly good for name recognition.”

            For many, at the end of their playing time they give up on sports.  But giving up doesn’t seem to be in Sen. Doyle’s vocabulary.  Doyle turned his attention to the Mountaineers just before their first season in 2003.  He stayed involved by becoming a member of the original board of the Mountaineers.  “All the major cities in our nation want a baseball team.  For a relatively small group of people to put it together I think is rather amazing.  Lots of credit goes to Brian [Gallagher] and many others.  I can say personally that it’s probably the best thing that ever happened to Central Vermont.”

            “Bill has featured us on his TV program many times.  He also donated money out of his own pocket to buy the team the bats that they wanted for that year.”  Said Mountaineers GM Brian Gallagher who Doyle says “is the cattle of the organization.”

            In his time with the Mountaineers, Doyle became close to seven time all star and hall of famer Robin Roberts.  “He was a story teller.” Said Doyle.  “I remember one night at the [Capitol] Plaza he talked for half and hour then he took questions.  He was a total winner. Most people don’t realize how articulate he is.  I’ve interviewed him on public TV and written columns about him.”  Doyle has also given Roberts the behind the scenes tour of the state house taking him into the governors office and letting him bang the gavel on the senate floor.

            To this day, Doyle continues to be a member of the Mountaineer board, and will air his 1,000^th TV show on public access TV this year.  “I am definitely looking forward to another great season with the Mountaineers.” Said Doyle.  Much like his brother, Sen. Doyle told me that he “loves baseball and loves seeing it played.”

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