Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Cubs standout centerfielder Bob Dernier, now associate head coach and director of baseball operations for the Will County CrackerJacks, will be in Shorewood.
Former Cub centerfielder Bob Dernier coached first base for the North Siders two years ago. This year he will help run things for the Will County CrackerJacks as the squad's associate head coach and director of baseball operations. And on Thursday Dernier will be at Conrad's Harley-Davidson in Shorewood, where he will meet with Chamber of Commerce members from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. The CrackerJacks are entering their second season as the local entry in a collegiate wooden bat league set to open its season Friday. Last season, the CrackerJacks won the Midwest Collegiate League Championship, and are of course looking to repeat the feat in 2012. The organization is keeping tradition alive following their championship inaugural season. They kicked …
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Shorewood's own Mark Carlson was featured today on Deadspin.
Major League Umpire, Most Interesting Man in Troy Township (2011) and erstwhile Shorewood Patch blogger Mark Carlson was spotlighted in Deadspin's ongoing feature Better Know an Umpire. The piece profiles Carlson's professional work, listing the leagues he umped in before making the bigs, his height and weight, uniform number, and this "claim to fame:" "Causing Cubs pitcher Carlos Zambrano to completely lose his mind in May 2009. Video showed Carlson's call was correct, and Zambrano was suspended for six games." While Carlson called Shorewood home while he was blogging for Shorewood Patch, we recently heard he and his family moved to Florida. We just gave him a call on his cell to ask but haven't heard back yet. Interestingly, the Deadspin…
Sunday, April 8, 2012
It's a new baseball season and a fresh chance for civility, mutual respect and … oh, never mind.
Thursday, April 5, 2012
It looks like it's going to be a long summer.
When they've been after you for the millions you allegedly got your hands on through your connections with a Ponzi schemer, you're probably going to have a tough time scraping together enough cash to pay for the upper echelon of baseball talent. The same goes if recent "spending sprees have ravaged the front office's financial flexibility" or if you're just cursed for eternity. But as bad as things look, anything's possible. At least until the losses start piling up. It's a glass-half-full way of seeing things, for as long as the glass has anything in it. But not everybody's walking on the sunny side of the street. Like, for example, Chicago Magazine, via Deadspin: "Chicago Magazine makes the case that, new managers Dale Sveum and Robin …
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
If you've got wit, add your punchline to Patch's weekly comic and win a personalized print.
Are you blessed with insight and good humor? Or just bored today? Share your wit with your southwest suburban neighbors by entering Patch's comic caption challenge. Just add your dialogue for today's comic in the comment section of this post. Our only requirement is that you keep it clean! At week's end, we'll pick the winning punchline based on how many of us here at Patch giggle and smile at your contribution. The user who produces the winning punchline will get a personalized proof of the comic, with the winning words and a credit line, from cartoonist Chuck Ingwersen and Patch. Congratulations to Cheryl Hansen, who provided the winning punchline to last week's dogs and squirrel comic: Remember when we had a pair like that?
Friday, January 27, 2012
Will County entry in a collegiate baseball league is bypassing Shorewood this winter for it's offseason luncheon.
So long, Shorewood. It was nice knowing you. The Will County CrackerJacks, a team in a collegiate summer baseball league, won't be holding its winter fan luncheon in town this year. That honor goes to Plainfield, which will host the Feb. 16 Hot Stove Luncheon at village hall. Last winter, prior to the CrackerJacks' inaugural season, the team held its "Leadoff Luncheon" at Shorewood's own Conrad's Harley Davidson. Cub legend Keith Moreland was the keynote speaker at the event. This time, Cubs broadcaster Pat Hughes will preside over the festivities. “We could not be more excited to have Pat Hughes at our hot stove luncheon,” Mike Garabedian, the CrackerJacks' director of broadcasting and media relations, said in a statement released by the …
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
The Will County CrackerJacks showed off their manager and players — with the help of Cub great Keith Moreland — three days before they open their season.
Cub legend Keith Moreland stopped by Shorewood Tuesday afternoon to help get the word out about the local entry in a new collegiate wooden bat league set to open its season Friday. Moreland, who spent six of his dozen years in the big leagues with the Cubs, touched on his own college baseball career when he starred for the University of Texas in Austin. Moreland, who also aspired to play in the NFL, recalled how there were no elite wooden bat leagues when he played college ball, because everybody played with a wooden bat. That's not the case anymore, as college players use aluminum bats during the scholastic season. But come summer time, the better players get to show their stuff with the kind of bats the pros swing when they take the …
Friday, May 20, 2011
Closest professional basball team to Shorewood enjoys winning opening night.
There were fireworks, magic tricks, Maury Wills, Dixieland jazz, Jim Cornelison, an eating contest and eight shutout innings from a former major leaguer looking to pitch his way back to the big leagues. The first Joliet Slammers home opener could not have gone any better for the home team, as former Cub — and Morris High School product — Billy Petrick shut down the visiting Washington Wild Things and got more than enough offensive support for the win. Another local player, Ryan Quigley of Joliet Catholic, finished off the Wild Things with a scoreless ninth as the Slammers triumphed 7-0. But for as superbly as the Slammers performed on the field, their fine effort may actually have been outdone by all the fun being had in the stands. (Check…
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Let's spin it back and relive the wonder of the past week.
Once again, it was an amazing week in Shorewood. There was so much going on that it's hard to fathom how we survived the excitement. It's almost like a nonstop thrill ride in the village that never sleeps. But hey, that's Shorewood. If you can make it there you'll make it anywhere. Let's look once more at the fabulous things that went down last week as we roll it back, just like we do every Sunday, with the SHOREWOOD REWIND: Christopher Vaughn, the Oswego man charged with murdering his wife and three children while they sat in the family's sport utility vehicle near Shorewood, had a court date. A half dozen relatives of his slain wife, Kimberly Vaughn, came up from the St. Louis area for the hearing, which was scheduled to determine …
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Shorewood resident and Will County native Mark Carlson shares what it is like to work in the bigs, only behind the plate.
It's the all American dream. Little boys toss the ball around the yard with their buddies. They hope that someday they make it to the big leagues. Shorewood resident Mark Carlson had that same dream. He played baseball at Joliet West and at Parkland College. Now, he has made it to the top. He's worked in Major League Baseball for over 12 years. But he doesn't hit or catch or bunt. Sure, he steps onto the field like all the other players. But his job is behind the plate. Mark Carlson is the umpire. Growing up, baseball wasn't his only sport, though. The all-around athlete learned how to profit from what he loved. "I used to officiate football, baseball and basketball as ways to make money," Carlson said. Not long after, Carlson joined the …
Aaron
10:08 am on Monday, June 18, 2012
Does Bobby D. live out this way near Plainfield? more ›