View From Lodi CA: Big Time Baseball Returns To Lodi
After a twenty-four year absence, big time
baseball returns to Lodi.
Next Friday night June 6th at
Tony Zupo Field, the
Lodi GrapeSox will take on the
Clovis Outlaws in the Sierra Baseball League`s 2008
inaugural game.
With a
roster made up of some of the nation`s leading NCAA
players, the GrapeSox will bring Lodi`s baseball
tradition back home.
For Lodi`s many baseball fans and historians, the
GrapeSox-Outlaws match up is a much-anticipated event.
And Zupo Field, with its Fenway Park
similarities is the perfect setting.
Since 1984, when the
Los Angeles Dodgers relocated its Lodi minor league
franchise, fans have had to travel to the Bay Area—or at
least to Stockton—too see high quality
baseball.
But now, many Lodians may be able to walk or bike to
Zupo Field to root on the new local stars. Imagine—no
gas required!
Lodi`s baseball history is rich with former Major League
greats. Some of them are forever a part of the sport`s
lore.
Fire balling left-hander
Vida Blue, for example, led both the
Oakland A`s and the
San Francisco Giants during his prime 1970s years.
Blue is one of the few pitchers to win both the
Most Valuable Player and Cy Young Awards in the same
season.
Other standouts that passed through Lodi on their way to
the big leagues include three Los Angeles Dodgers:
Fernando Valenzuela,
Dusty Baker and
Bill Buckner—the goat of the 1986 World Series who
as a
Boston Red Sox allowed a routine ground ball to
elude him thereby keeping the
New York Mets alive and costing the Red Sox the
series.
Valenzuela currently does color commentary for the
Dodgers`
Spanish language radio stations while Baker manages
the Cincinnati Reds after similar stints with the Giants
and Chicago Cubs.
And
Buckner, a Vallejo native, received a hero`s welcome
in April when he returned to Fenway Park during an “all
is forgiven” ceremony. (Watch it
here on You Tube).
Leon Lee, one of the greatest homerun hitters in the
history of the
Japanese League and long time manager in the Mets`
system, will direct the GrapeSox on the field.
One of the players under
Lee`s guidance is third baseman Tanner Moore, a
sophomore from the University of Tennessee.
When I spoke to Moore, he was getting ready for his trip
to Lodi and full of enthusiasm for the GrapeSox and the
season ahead.
Moore said that the GrapeSox
roster is full of talented college players that he`s
looking forward to playing with.
Included among them are catcher Andrew Susac and
infielder Danny Hayes from the 2006 and 2007 NCAA
national champion Oregon State University.
The University of the Pacific will be represented by
outfielder Matt Fulson as well pitchers Larry Holsher
and Mark Mc Cain.
Bruce Galluadet, general manager, foresees a great
summer ahead for the GrapeSox and Lodi.
Galluadet told me that: “Baseball is good for
everybody. It is a great family outing. It teaches life
lessons. Baseball is exciting and playing this summer at
Tony Zupo Field allows folks to see great players,
heading up the right way—through college with a passion
for the game."
An added bonus for fans is that Lodi will host the
Sierra Baseball League
All-Star Classic on July 12th. ESPN and
Comcast Sports Network will provide regional radio and
television coverage.
For ticket sales and other information, call
209-339-4028.
Joe Guzzardi [email
him], an instructor in English
at the Lodi Adult School, has been writing a weekly
column since 1988. It currently appears in the
Lodi News-Sentinel.
