Waiting for baseball? Read the 2020 Rochester Red Wings Digital Yearbook “sneak peek” including Talker’s “Hat Gate”

1975 Official International League Program Rochester Red Wings. May 16th 1975; Rochester Red Wings 3 – Charleston Charlies 1 [David Kramer’s collection, previously owned by June Richmond see When the P.A. announcer told us Nixon had resigned. On the passing of Anna Silver and a most memorable Silver Stadium game]

Recently, Itching for baseball and the 12th inning home that Carlton Fisk hit and I missed lamented the absence of major and minor league baseball in which our baseball appetites are barely satiated by early morning ESPN broadcasts of the Korean Baseball League played in empty stadiums.

Locally, while the Red Wings await a start date for the 2020 season, Nick Sciarratta, Director of Corporate Development, alerted me that a digital “sneak peek” of the 2020 Yearbook is now available to provide fans with reading material and information on possible members of the ballclub.

The 2020 Rochester Red Wings Digital Yearbook will be posted  in three parts — with three different covers —  over the next few weeks. Nick kindly includes a version of our October 23rd, 2019 The “Hat Gate” game is reason enough to root for the Nationals.

Nick offered more on the upcoming season and the history of the Red Wing Yearbook:

What is the plan to start the International League season? What safety practices will be used?

All of our scheduled home games through May 10 have been postponed. Once Major League Baseball has announced a start date and schedule, we expect to know more about the status of our season schedule. We have discussed as a staff the types of safety practices that would be both mandated, and common sense for fan comfort and confidence – like cashless transactions, restrooms, and seating limitations. We play in a Monroe County-owned facility, so local and state policy on public places will factor into everything that we do.

How has the Red Wings’ scorecard/program/yearbook evolved since its inception in 1929?

Our book has evolved from a scorecard in the late 20s to a program, to a program with a separate scorecard, to the modern yearbook version which has a scorecard in the middle of the book.

Since taking over the yearbook in 2003, I’ve tried to include features that reflect our rich history, some modern content, and background on the many talented players the Minnesota Twins have provided us with during our affiliation with them. I keep an ongoing content idea list handy at my desk all year, so when an idea occurs I can log it for the next season’s book.  In-season ideas have helped me come up with some recent stories, like “behind the scenes” features on Rosco The Clown and our talented team photographers Bare Antolos and Joe Territo. And we’re fortunate to have some of the best area writers as frequent contributors, along with staff members like Gary Larder and David Welker who each have regular features in the book. Legendary stadium organist and raconteur Fred Costello has his own page with one of his famous and funny baseball lists.

The earliest yearbook we have in our files is from 1929. In January of 2019 I did an extensive scanning/archiving project of all the printed pieces we had in our collection – scorecards, yearbooks, team pictures.  A talented Keuka College intern named Danielle Bosch was an invaluable assistant on the project. So we now have a database which shows year, number of physical pieces, location of hi res scan of cover, etc. The project ended up being part of the cover story of last year’s book.

How many fans actually fill out the score book section in old fashioned pen and pencil as Mrs. Richmond and I did 45 years ago at the Charlies game and 10 years ago at the Chiefs game?  

I’ve always been interested in doing an entry poll of fans to ask that same question, or doing a visual “count” during a game. I’m not sure if I can estimate a percentage, but I will say a decent number of longtime fans bring their own scorebooks each game. Some use pencil; the more confident use pen. I’m a blue pen guy when I keep score in the press box or at a road game.

I’m also a bag of peanuts while keeping score guy when enjoying a road game, and I do in fact put the trifecta of ketchup, mustard, and relish on my hot dog. Strangely enough, I never had a Zweigle’s white hot until I was in my mid-20s, and now it’s one of my fave things to eat at a game – and just one of the many things I have in common with The Voice of the Wings Josh Whetzel. I will often have my assistant Dante bring Josh and me Zweigle’s white hots to the press box before a game; I should note that Josh is a mustard-only white hot eater. (I realize some people believe mustard to be the only condiment that should be on a hot dog; thank goodness Nick Tahou didn’t feel same way or we might not have the Rochester hot sauce delight we still enjoy today) Maybe one of us should do a story on baseball people and their hot dog condiment preferences!

Only a remnant of its cover intact, I (back to the narrator) still have a 1975 program.

As seen in When the P.A. announcer told us Nixon had resigned. On the passing of Anna Silver and a most memorable Silver Stadium game, the program celebrated the Wings’ International League championship the previous season.

I was not the original owner of the program. In neat cursive handwriting, on the evening of Monday May 16th, 1975, June Richmond carefully recorded every play of the Rochester Red Wings 3 – 1 win over the Charleston Charlies.

After the game, I noticed Mrs. Richmond’s program left on the concrete steps near where she was likely sitting. We had loitered in the stands after the game. By the time I found the program, Silver Stadium was quickly emptying. I looked around, but saw no one looking for the program. Knowing it would end up in the trash, I saved Mrs. Richmond’s program for posterity. Most likely, June (Angliss) Richmond died in Waterville, NY in 2011.

From the game, I most remember the Charlies’ second baseman Willie Randolph who went two-for-three with a base on balls.

Later that season, Randolph was recalled by the Pittsburgh Pirates. As seen in Itching for baseball and the 12th inning home that Carlton Fisk hit and I missed, Reds pitcher Pedro Borbon induced Randolph to ground to second baseman Joe Morgan for the final out of the National League Championship Series. Cincinnati defeated the Boston Red Sox in the World Series. During that offseason, Randolph was traded to the New York Yankees where he starred for the Yankees, winners of four AL pennants and two WS’s from 1976 – 1981.

In the 1970s, program customarily included “Good Luck” wishes from local sports teams, such as the hockey Rochester Americans and the soccer Rochester Lancers.  Seen below to the right, the Lancers no longer exist. As seen in Non Violent Hooligans outside Stout, on August 21st, 1977, after the Lancers beat the Cosmos, I got Pele’s autograph. Unconscionably, the signature appears lost.

Mrs. Richmond’s program had added value. Programs include two score boxes in case of a double header. At some point, I used the second score box to record a dice Strat-o-Matic game between the 1975 Texas Rangers and New York Yankees. The Rangers’ Gaylord Perry beat the Yankees’ Catfish Hunter 1 – 0. (see Opening Day, 1971, at Boldo’s Armory)

OTHER RED WING STORIES

1914

The six games Babe Ruth played in Rochester

1946 

70 years ago today when Jackie Robinson broke the color line at Red Wings Stadium

1969 

48 years ago when Rochester saw its first “Designated Pinch Hitter”

1974

When the P.A. announcer told us Nixon had resigned. On the passing of Anna Silver and a most memorable Silver Stadium game

1988 

Frank Robinson (1935 – 2019) and a glove signed at the 1988 Orioles-Red Wings exhibition game

The night in 1988 when a Hall of Fame flame thrower threw 151 pitches in the Triple-A-Classic at Silver Stadium

1999

Dustin Pedroia, a 1999 lawn chair and a 2005 birthday gift from Naomi and Anna Silver

2010

The Hat Gate game is reason enough to root for the Nationals

2018

Very first pitch on Opening Day. And Knot Holes

2021

A day at the ballpark with the Red Wings On Field Host and Sports Entertainer