Local historian Lou Hunsinger, Jr. has a resume that spans from sports to local history.  Co-author of probably seven books and a correspondent for the Webb Weekly, Lou has so much knowledge and insite into sports.  We talked to him today about the 2007 Little League World Series and the Williamsport Crosscutters.

DISCUSSION WITH SPORTS ANNOUNCER HAROLD REYNOLDS
Podcast Date: August 24, 2005

Williamsport - Harold Reynolds (ESPN's Sports Analyst) was the guest on Williamsport OnLine's podcast show Wednesday, August 24, 2005.  We were very fortunate to catch him between meetings and scheduled broadcasts. 

Harold Reynolds comes with some impressive credentials in his 12 years of Major League baseball experience.  He played 10 years with the Seattle Mariners winning three golden glove awards, playing in the 87&88 All Star Game and had a career .341 slugging percentage.

In 1991 Harold was presented with the Roberto Clemente Award (Commissioners Award) given each year by Major League Baseball.  It recognizes a player who best exemplifies the game of baseball, sportsmanship, community involvement and the individual's contribution to his team.  And what company he is with:

Willie Mays
Willie Stargell
Lou Brock
Phil Niekro
Barry Maddox
Cal Ripken Jr.
Dave Winfield
Tony Gwynn
to name a few. 

On this podcast we talked about getting into baseball, playing other sports, being on the road, some awards and some things Harold feels blessed with.  Enjoy this podcast from Williamsport OnLine. 

Harold also talks about his baseball video "Harold Reynolds Presents Baseball" which can be found at his website http://haroldreynolds.com .  The video concentrates on the basics of the game of baseball with the best players in each of the skill areas.

Harold is also member of the Garth Brooks Foundation "Teammates 4 Kids" ( http://teammates4kids.com ) which exists to develop and implement innovative concepts that generate funds for the benefit of children's charities.

Finally, our thanks to Harold for spending time with us!

Please let us know what you think of our show whether good or bad. We want to make this podcast even better. If you have an event or subject you want us to discuss on our podcast, please send us your event at williamsport@gmail.com

Thanks for visiting us and please pass the word to everyone you know about this weekly podcast show.

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Time: 40:21
Every year, Division III football starts fall practices in preparation for that opening game.  Lycoming College Football held media day on August 13, 2007 and we had a chance to talk to Ryan Yaple - SR Defensive End from Stillwater, PA, Sean Hanna - SR Quarterback from Lock Haven, PA, Colen Dwyer - SO Quarterback from Dalton, PA, Dustin Heintzelman - SR Linebacker from Herndon, PA and head football coach Frank Girardi. 

This will be the 36th time Frank has been through this routine and if you think it is old hat, well, think again.  He is as fresh and as full of energy as we have ever seen him.  This year is will take a couple of weeks for Frank to settle in on his starting Quarterback.  In seasons past, the starting quarterback would be chosen a lot sooner.  The reasons are known, but this year there are more quarterbacks in the picture since Glenn Smith graduated last year.  Frank talks about his QB's and other topics in pre-seasion practice.

LITTLE LEAGUE BASEBALL AND SOFTBALL PRESS CONFERENCE WITH DAVE WINFIELD
Podcast Date: May 27, 2005

David Mark Winfield (born October 3, 1951, in St. Paul, Minnesota) is a former Major League Baseball player. He played for 22 seasons and is a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame and the College Baseball Hall of Fame. He played for the San Diego Padres, the New York Yankees, the California Angels, the Toronto Blue Jays, the Minnesota Twins, and the Cleveland Indians.

Youth and collegiate career:
Winfield grew up in St. Paul, Minnesota, earning a full scholarship to the University of Minnesota, where he starred in basketball and baseball for the Golden Gophers. His college basketball coach was a young Bill Musselman, who went on to serve as a head coach in the American Basketball Association and National Basketball Association and would later refer to Winfield as the best rebounder he ever had. Winfield's 1972 Minnesota team won a Big 10 basketball championship, the school's first in 53 years. During the 1972 season, he also was involved in a brawl when Minnesota played Ohio State. [1]

After hitting and pitching the Gophers to the College World Series in 1973, where he was named MVP, he was drafted by the San Diego Padres, the Minnesota Vikings as a tight end despite not playing college football, the Atlanta Hawks of the NBA, and the Utah Stars of the ABA. He is one of only two men ever drafted in three different pro sports (the other being Dave Logan) and the only man to be drafted by four leagues. In 1974, as a publicity stunt, the World Hockey Association assigned Winfield's rights to the Minnesota Fighting Saints, based out of St. Paul.

San Diego Padres:
Winfield chose baseball, and gained another distinction when the Padres promoted him directly to the majors. This is a rare move in modern baseball, making him one of a select few players since the origins of the amateur draft in 1965 to make the leap straight to Major League Baseball without playing in the minor leagues first. [2] He proved up to the task, batting .277 in 56 games.

For the next several years, he was an All-Star player in San Diego, gradually increasing his power and hits totals. He burst into stardom in 1979, when he batted .308 with 34 home runs and 118 RBI, then played one more season with the Padres before becoming a free agent.

New York Yankees:
In 1981, New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner made headlines by signing Winfield to a 10-year, $23 million contract, making him the game's highest-paid player. Winfield was one of the best players in the game throughout the life of the contract, but soon had a falling out with Steinbrenner.

He helped the Yankees to the 1981 American League pennant, but then had a poor World Series, and the Yankees lost in six games to the Los Angeles Dodgers. A bitter Steinbrenner derided Winfield in 1985 by saying "I got rid of Mr. October (Reggie Jackson) and got Mr. May." The Mr. May sobriquet lived with him until the 1992 World Series.

He went on to hit 37 home runs in a spectacular 1982 season and in 1984, he batted .340, second in the league to teammate Don Mattingly. He drove in 744 runs between 1982 and 1988, won five Gold Glove Awards for his stellar outfield play and was named to the All-Star Game every season.

On August 4, 1983, Winfield, while warming up before the 5th inning of a game at Toronto's Exhibition Stadium, accidentally killed a seagull with a thrown ball. He doffed his cap in mock sorrow. Fans responded by hurling obscenties and improvised missiles. After the game, he was brought to the Ontario Provincial Police station on charges of cruelty to animals and was forced to post a $500 bond before being released. Quipped Yankees manager Billy Martin, "It's the first time he's hit the cutoff man." The charges were dropped the following day.[1] For years afterward Winfield's appearances in Toronto were greeted with loud choruses of boos, but he later became a fan favorite. (A similar accident involving a bird happened to Randy Johnson during spring training in March 2001.)

In 1990, Steinbrenner was suspended from running the Yankees for two years because of his connections to Howie Spira, a known gambler with mafia connections [3], whom he'd paid $40,000 for embarrassing information. The year was no better than the year before for Winfield, who had sat out 1989 with a back injury. The next year, he was traded mid-season to the California Angels.

Later career and retirement

Toronto Blue Jays:
Winfield was still a productive hitter after his 40th birthday. On December 19, 1991, he signed with the Toronto Blue Jays as their designated hitter, and batted .290 with 26 homers and 108 RBI, during the 1992 season.

Winfield proved to be a lightning rod for the Blue Jays, providing leadership and experience as well as his potent bat. Winfield was a fan favourite, but also demanded fan participation. In August 1992 he made an impassioned plea to the fans during an interview for more crowd noise. The phrase "Winfield Wants Noise" became a popular slogan for the rest of the season, appearing on t-shirts, dolls, and signs.

The Blue Jays won the pennant, giving Winfield a shot at redemption for his previous late-season and post-season futility. In Game 6 of the World Series, he became "Mr. Jay" as he delivered the game-winning two-run double in the 11th inning off Atlanta's Charlie Leibrandt to win the World Championship for Toronto.

1993-95: Winfield for Dinner?
After the 1992 season, Winfield was granted free agency and signed with his hometown Minnesota Twins, where he continued to perform at a high level of play despite advancing age. At age 41, he amassed his 3,000th career hit while batting .271 with 21 home runs, appearing in 143 games for the 1993 Twins, mostly as their designated hitter.

During the 1994 baseball strike, which began on August 12, Winfield was traded to the Cleveland Indians at the trade deadline on August 31 for a "player to be named later." The 1994 season was cancelled two weeks later, so Winfield did not play for the Indians that year and no player was ever named in exchange. To settle the trade, Cleveland and Minnesota executives went to dinner, with the Indians picking up the tab. This makes Winfield the only player in major league history to be traded for a dinner.[2]

Winfield was again granted free agency in October but re-signed with the Indians as spring training began in April 1995. As MLB's oldest player in 1995, Winfield played in 46 games and hit .191 for Cleveland's first pennant winner in 41 years, but did not participate in the Indians' postseason.

Hall of Fame:
Winfield retired in 1995 and was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2001, in his first year of eligibility. He chose to become the first player to choose to go into Cooperstown as a Padre -- a move that reportedly irked Yankees' owner George Steinbrenner. Nonetheless, when he was inducted Winfield sounded a conciliatory note toward Steinbrenner:

“He’s said he regrets a lot of things that happened. We’re fine now. Things have changed.�

In 1999, Winfield ranked number 94 on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players, and was a nominee for the Major League Baseball All-Century Team.

On July 4, 2006, Winfield was inducted into the College Baseball Hall of Fame in its inaugural class.

He currently serves as a vice president of the Padres.

Quotes:

1. Now it's on to May, and you know about me and May. —after setting an American League record for RBI in April, 1988.
2. I am truly sorry that a fowl of Canada is no longer with us. —to the press after being released following the 1983 bird-killing incident.

Ref: Wikipedia

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Frank Sheptock begins his 12th year as head coach Wilkes Colonels after being named the seventh head coach in Wilkes football history in January of 1996. Sheptock has led the Colonels to an overall record of 74 wins and 43 losses, including seven post-season playoff berths. In 2006 Sheptock was named the MAC and AFCA Region 2 Coach of the Year after leading Wilkes to an 11-1 record, a conference title, and a berth in the NCAA Division III Championship.  The 2005 season saw Sheptock guide the squad to an overall record of 8-3 and a berth in the NCAA Division III playoffs.  For his efforts he was named the Middle Atlantic Conference's Coach of the Year.

Coach Sheptock, a graduate of Bloomsburg University with a degree in Business Administration/Accounting, Sheptock played linebacker under DeMelfi while a member of the Huskies football team. A four-time PSAC first team selection, Sheptock was also a three-time All-American and All-East honoree. He was inducted into the Bloomsburg Sports Hall of Fame in October of 1997 and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2007. 

Frank, his wife, Lisa, and daughters, Nicole and Kelly, reside in Berwick. 

Anna Coakely from Perth, Western Australia, has been in Williamsport for about three months and has a connection to the Williamsport Crosscutters.  Her boyfriend, Tim Kennelly (from Australia) is a utility player for the Cutters.  When Tim is on the road for away games, she has befriended Sylvia Miller, who takes her from place to place.  Anna talks about what it is like following a professional baseball player around in Single A baseball

Air Time: 14:59
Frank Girardi starts his 36th season as head coach for the Lycoming Warriors football team.  With a winning percentage over .700, Coach Girardi is looking to turn around a season that was just average.  During the Annual MAC Football luncheon at Kings College in Wilkes Barre, Coach Girardi talks about the current recruiting class and camp preparation for the first game scheduled for September 1 (Labor Day Weekend) against powerhouse Ithica.  The MAC has eight teams this year and every team will start out with non comference games and then all teams will start the MAC season on the same Saturday in September.  It should prove to make for an exciting season in MAC football.

DAVID JAMES FROM LITTLE LEAGUE TALKS ABOUT THE "URBAN INITIATIVE."
Podcast Date: May 13, 2005

David James from Little League Baseball and Softball is the point man for the "Urban Initiative."  In it's 5th year in 2005, the initiative has over 100 teams involved.  David talks about how the program is going, how it is funded, it's connection with Major League Baseball and what to expect in the future.  The program can impact our urban athletes and that is a major focus for the Urban Initiative.

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BONNIE DODGE RUNS BOSTON MARATHON
Podcast Date: May 5, 2005

Our guest is Bonnie Dodge who ran in the 2005 Boston Marathon.  She works at Divine Providence Hospital.  She is one of 18 people in this area who qualified to run in the marathon.  Bonnie had to qualify in 3 hours and 45 minutes, so she made that goal and was eligible for the annual run.

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It is the second year in a row for the West End Babe Ruth All-Star Team to head to the Babe Ruth World Series.  Ten of this years players were on last years team that lost in the final World Series game to California.  They have one goal this year.  It is to win it all.  You have to set your standards high to achieve high standards according to David Cipriani, who coaches the team with Dennis Stopper.  Dennis is the pitching coach.  We had a chance to talk to them about the team and the trip to Arkansas.  That's 30 wishes them well.

You can send comments to thats30 @ gmail.com.

BILL AND JOHN FROM THE BUNKER
Podcast Date: April 15, 2005

It was April 2005 when Bill Byham was introduced to podcasting.  He did not know what it was but was interested.  So we started our first show in the Bunker of his home.  We hope you enjoy the classic podcasts from the past.

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