Twenty-two years ago today, my dear wife, Carrie, and I pushed our way through the turnstile at McCormick Field in Asheville, North Carolina to take in a game Class A Minor League Baseball game between the Asheville Tourists and the Cape Fear Crocs hailing from downstate Fayetteville.
I have long been a fan of minor league baseball. The fans. The stadiums. The cheaper concessions. The goofy and enjoyable promotional gigs in between innings, be it racing a mascot or making a participant dizzy by making them bend forward and hold their forehead to the end of a bat handle and go around in circles and then try to run to a target and invariably one of them stumbles and falls and it is all good fun. Myron Noodleman may have played your stadium. I saw his act at many a minor league park.
June 26, 2000 was different. The game lasted all of 1 hour and 49 minutes. Yes, this was a nine inning game. Julio de Paula was pitching for the Tourists and Cristobal Rodriquez was tossing for the Crocs. Rodriquez threw a complete game giving up one run on only five hits. de Paula did better. Coming into the evening with a 2-7 record that could get you a visit to see the manager for the “toughest thing a manager has to do,” Julio de Paula threw a no-hitter. He gave up one walk. The Tourists won the game and dePaula was carried off the field. It was a thrill to behold and that evening has not been lost on me twenty-two years later.
Carrie and I have made more visits to McCormick Field over the years. This one is still the gem on that diamond for us. The headline in the Asheville Citizen -Times sports page the next day was A McCormick Gem. That it was. That it was. Thank you to Tyler Norris-Goode for a great write-up of the game and to photographer Steve Dixon for capturing a photo that gives a great account of the moment we so enjoyed that evening.
If you can make it to Asheville for a game, McCormick Stadium is a sight to behold. Up the hill off the main road, when you walk out and see that tree-lined outfield, you know you are somewhere special. You don’t have to decide in the sixth inning.
Today the Ole Miss Rebels bring a 1-0 series advantage in the best 2 out of three College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska. I have some kin there watching.
Go Rebs Go!
A few days ago, as I was walking on the North Harrison campus, I took a stroll inside the fence of the baseball park. There is plenty of room to walk! The centerfield wall is 380 feet out there.
For a few seasons this was my vantage point as I was the DJ and the Public Address Announcer.
Well, the Rebs play in a few hours. Hope they can pull it off in two. Hotty Toddy to you!
Speaking the Rights.
Danny Johnson