New Hitting Coach

With Jason Wuerfel on his way to manage in the Prospect League Gregg Langbehn was in need of a new hitting coach and continued to build his staff by adding John Tamargo, Jr.

Also a former member of the Houston Astros organization, Tamargo, Jr. has spent the past four seasons in the Astros system most recently working for the Corpus Christi Hooks the Astros Double-A affiliate of the Texas League as hitting coach...

He spent eight seasons in the minor leagues including seven with the Mets and reached Triple-A on three seperate occasions...

Tamargo, Jr. joins Roger Mason as coaches for the 2009 Beach Bums...

More Info

2009 Frontier League All-Star Game

The 2009 Frontier League All-Star Game will again be a two-day event...The Rockford RiverHawks will serve as the host at Road Ranger Stadium in Loves Park, Illinois...The RiverHawks today announced their plans for the two-day event...

July 14 will feature the Homerun Derby at 8:30pm CST and will also have a Legends game between legends of the Cubs and White Sox scheduled for a 6pm start...Already signed up to captain the team of legends from my favorite squad is Bob Dernier while Steve Trout, who also played for the Cubs, will captain that bunch from the South Side...The rest of the Legends roster will be announced in the months leading up to the classic...

Wayne Messmer, the public address announcer for the Cubs, will sing the national anthem before the All-Star Game...He is amazing!

Among the usual bells and whistles was the announcement that the game will again be broadcast on television...Comcast Sportsnet in Chicago will provide live coverage of the event...

Rockford is only about a five-hour drive from Traverse City so make your summer vacation plans now to be part of the fun...I know its written down on my calendar and I am looking forward to taking part in the fun...

And as Rob Bennett conveniently pointed out on my facebook page...only 129 days until the 2009 home opener!!!

Above photo is of Frontier League Commisioner Bill Lee addressing the Rockford media...

2009 All-Star Schedule Release

Back on Television

Legends Game Info

More Shameless Plugging...

Don't think I have mentioned this but I am the play-by-play man for Elmhurst College men's basketball...Elmhurst is a nationally ranked Division III program...Below is the full schedule remaining that you can hear yours truly broadcasting basketball...You can listen in by visiting wrse.com...

All Times are Central...
Jan. 14 - 7:30pm
Jan. 21 - 7:30pm
Jan. 24 - 7:30pm
Jan. 28 - 7:30pm
Jan. 31 - 7:30pm
Feb. 4 - 7:30pm
Feb. 7 - 7:30pm
Feb. 11 - 7:30pm
Feb. 18 - 7:30pm
Feb. 21 - 7:30pm
Feb. 27 - TBA
Feb. 28 - TBA

Don't worry...Spring is on the way...

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Lone East Division Unanimous All-Star Back in Blue

David Nathanson, the lone unanimous choice to the Frontier League's East Division All-Star team, will be back with the Beach Bums this spring after re-signing today...

Nathanson finished 12-3 with league-leading 2.23 ERA last season with the Beach Bums...His 12 wins were second in the league and just one off of the Beach Bums single season record set by Tony Casoli in 2006...Nathanson missed time late in the season on injured reserve...He walked just 20 hitters in 114.1 innings of work and has walked just 31 in his two seasons with the Beach Bums after posting a 5-2 record with a 2.95 ERA in 2007...

Nathanson made 15 starts last season and lasted at least seven innings in 12 of those...The only thing missing from his resume was a complete game although he did throw nine innings in an 11-inning win over the Midwest Sliders on July 28...Nathanson struck out a career high seven batters in a win at Rockford on June 3...He won his first four starts of the season and also won his last two decisions, throwing 6.1 innings out of the bullpen in a 7-6 win over Kalamazoo on September 2...

Nathanson, a native of Maitland, Florida - where it is certainly warmer than the midwest currently (He already rubbed into me that as we were getting snow he was playing golf...), will be an LS-1 in 2009 and is one of four returning starting pitchers...

Full Release

Bid on Me!!!

Call this some shameless self promotion...The Beach Bums have unveiled online auctions that give you, the fan, the opportunity to bid on several once in a lifetime opportunities...Among those are take batting practice with the team, be a coach for a game, shag balls during batting practice, private lessons with Roger Mason and Gregg Langbehn, and several other totaling 12 in all...

My favorite, and the one I expect you to bid like crazy on, is the opportunity to spend a night with me in the broadcast booth and serve as my color commentator for a night

Bid on Me!!!!

Bidding goes through March 15 so you have plenty of time to drive up my price!! Proceeds from the Beach Bums Online Auctions will go into the Beach Bums Donation Fund which benefits Traverse Bay area elementary, middle and high school athletic programs.

Full List of Auction Items

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Head Coach Wuerfel

Congratulations to Beach Bums Director of Baseball Operations Jason Wuerfel who has been selected to lead a team in the newly formed Prospect League that will include several former Frontier League cities...Wuerfel, who also served as hitting coach last season, will skipper the Butler BlueSox...He will continue to serve in his role with the Beach Bums...

Butler will play at Pullman Park, situated just north of Pittsburgh in Butler, Pennsylvania...The Prospect League is a summer college league with players from college playing with wooden bats...In addition to the former Frontier League cities, the Central Illinois Collegiate League merged to create a 11-team league...The league will field a 54-game schedule in their inaugural 2009 season...Leo Trich, who worked part-time with the Frontier League as the Director of Development will serve as the GM for the BlueSox...

Prospect League
West Division
Huntingburg, Ind. - Former home of the Dubois County Dragons
Danville, Ill.
Springfield, Ill.
Quincy, Ill.
Lisle, Ill.
Hannibal, Mo.

East Division
Butler, Pa.
Chillicothe, Ohio - The Paints
Richmond, Ind. - Richmond Roosters
Slippery Rock, Pa. - Slippery Rock Sliders
Lorrain, Ohio

Full Details on Coach Wuerfel