Posted in Baseball, Uncategorized

Bob Feller Museum faces financial hardship

Bob Feller posed for a photo with me at a sports card show at Roselle Catholic High School in 2007
Bob Feller posed for a photo with me at a sports card show at Roselle Catholic High School in 2007

The  Bob Feller Museum in Van Meter, Iowa plans to re-open this spring, but it might not be around for long. According to a Des Moines Register report, the museum has less than $10,000 in the bank and fewer than 100 members.

“Unless we have some donors and some people who really want to step up, it won’t survive the summer,” museum board President Brandon Sawalich told the paper.

According to the article, Bob Feller was a driving force behind the museum’s fundraising efforts while he was alive. Feller was able to bring in other Hall of Fame members for autograph signing events at a reduced fee by agreeing to appear at their events.  “With his passing, the business model is just not working,” museum board member Bob DiBiasio told the paper.

While officials are exploring options to keep the museum open, it sounds like anyone who wants to see it should make plans to go this spring.

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Posted in Uncategorized

American Association to play Can-Am League teams

While the Can-Am League hasn’t officially released its 2013 schedule, Ballpark Digest reports that its teams will play some games against American Association clubs again next year.

Right now we’ve seen a few schedules released by American Association teams, and while they include play against Can-Am League teams, they don’t specify what teams are scheduled.

What did you think about interleague play this season? I hoped that it would be fun – a chance to see new teams, players and coaches. In practice, those new teams were made up of anonymous players.

There were a few names on the coaching staffs that baseball fans might recognize, but former players like Frank White of the Kansas City T-Bones or Kerry Ligtenberg of the St. Paul Saints didn’t travel (or at least didn’t make the trip to Newark.)

To be fair, the Can-Am League rosters are also filled with anonymous players – but fans are given the chance to see them for more than one series and they become less anonymous as the season goes on.

With what is likely to be a five-team league again next year, with the Trois-Rivières Aigles replacing the Worcester Tornadoes, there really isn’t another practical choice. Interleague games are a necessity. But I’m not looking forward to them as much.

Freddy, thanks for the tip.