Former Michigan quarterback Rich Leach, on hand for the Alumni flag football game (or as Leach calls it, the Old Farts game) Saturday, called in to WTKA to remember his former teammate, Mark ‘The Bird’ Fidrych who died yesterday. [display_podcast] It’s vintage Leach. First, he talks about his relationship and experiences with Fidrych, including the struggles down in the minors. Don’t miss the story about the trip to Columbus where the opposing pitcher put Leach in the dirt, a little message to old #7. He finishes up with a few thoughts on the Spring game, including what having the players back meant to Rich Rodriguez.
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Have a Highball with Bennie Oosterbaan
This edition of eBay Watch again features glassware, this time two cocktail glasses that appear to be a gift (probably from a football Bust or alumni event) from former Michigan player and coach, Bennie Oosterbaan
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Michigan Baseball team Visits Japan (1932)
A unique, well-traveled piece of Michigan athletics memorabilia showed up on eBay this week. It’s described to be a ticket stub from a game between Michigan baseball and a university team from Tokyo, played in Japan in 1932. At first glance, I laughed thinking there was no way a college team traveled to Japan during the throes of the Great Depression to play baseball. And the auction description didn’t help sell it for me: 1932 Michigan University vs Meiji University tour ticket stub from game 1 played at Jingu Stadium in Tokyo. From an excellent summary published in Michigan Today in 1998, it all started with Japan teams doing a college tour in the US years earlier, with many of the stops in Ann Arbor from 1911 to 1925. Then in 1929, Michigan coach Ray Fisher got an invite from the Meiji University inviting the maize and blue to visit Japan as “ambassadors of goodwill”. Fielding Yost and the board of athletics approved the trip and so they headed west, then more west, until they reach the Far East in 1929: After playing several games on the West Coast and one in Hawaii, the Wolverines arrived in Japan for a 30-day visit. Lodged at the Imperial Hotel, the 14 team members and Coach Fisher and his family were received lavishly…
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Michigan Bunt Almost Yields Beaning
Hilarious stuff is coming through on the Wolverine exhibition game with the New York Mets. You may know that the teams tied 4-4 after a late Mets rally. What you may not have seen is that someone forgot to tell our boys in Blue that this wasn’t a real game. Apparently my main man Kevin Cislo tried to lay down a bunt to advance a runner in the 4th, and I guess that violates one of the countless unwritten rules of etiquette in baseball. Here’s the description from Newsday: Forget the Phillies. Billy Wagner nearly started a beanball war with the University of Michigan after one overzealous Wolverine tried to bunt on him in the fourth inning. With a runner on second and one out, centerfielder Kevin Cislo pushed his bunt foul. Wagner, clearly annoyed, shook his head a number of times, and Cislo wisely swung away, grounding out. Wagner said he couldn’t believe that Cislo, a junior, bunted. “If he got that bunt down, I would have drilled the next guy,” Wagner said. “Play to win against Villanova.” Asked about Wagner’s reaction, manager Willie Randolph laughed. “He couldn’t bring himself to drill the kid,” Randolph said. ” Nolan Ryan might have. Nolan or Roger [Clemens] may have done it, kid or not.” While the Mets viewed the game as…
