I have been an Associate Scout for the Atlanta Braves for the past 3 years and I wanted to meet Bobby Cox. When I found out that 2010 was going to be his last year of coaching I was just hoping I could meet him and also share in that experience with my son who is the kid on the mound of the book. He is now 25 years old and I thought it would be cool to have my son meet Coach Cox.

The Lord works in mysterious but wonderful ways. Being able to throw out the first pitch at a Frisco Rough Riders baseball game was made possible by an interview I had done with USA radio and the voice you hear is the person who interviewed me 3 months before this game. I was at a book signing event in St. Louis, Missouri when the interview took place. He asked if I would be willing to throw out the first pitch later on in the baseball season. He worked for USA radio in the Dallas area and was also the public address announcer for the Roughriders. I said yes and you now see the result. Frisco is the AA Affiliate of the Texas Rangers. My wife and I and the Center For Negro League Research Director, Dr. Layton Revel,  and his wife were all guest of the team that night.

I have been to Negro League Reunions here in Texas and one in Biloxi, Mississippi as a past player in those leagues. We were recognized at the national level for our participation in the Negro Bush Leagues that continued on from the 60s into the 80s. But when I received a call from Dr. Layton Revel, Director for the Center of Negro League Research inviting me and my other white pitching partner for the Biloxi Dodgers, Larry “Smitty” Smith, to attend a Negro League reunion in Birmingham, Alabama from 1-5 June of 2010 I was both excited, but also not sure since Smitty and I would be the only white ballplayers there. It never bothered me before but I didn’t play against any of these players.  (The reunion was for past Negro League players who played in the Southern League and others like us who played on the Gulf Coast. It was all part of the 100 year anniversary of Rickwood Field, the oldest ball diamond in America.)

After praying about it both Smitty and I agreed to go and boy are we glad we did. We got to meet 50 other men who loved the game as much as we did and once there we were all family.

I released the book, Dreaming of the Majors-Living in the Bush on 28 January and sent a copy to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY to see if they were interested in accepting it to place into the Hall of Fame Library.