Ft. Wayne, Here I Come

Well, before I leave Dayton I had the chance to speak with South Bend pitcher Ryan Doherty. For those of you who don't know Doherty, he's hard to miss. At 7-foot-1, he's believed to be the biggest pitcher ever to take the mound but you know how those "biggest, smallest, angriest" whatever monikers work. It's a great deal of supposition and never much fact to substantiate the claim.

 

In any event, as I shook his hand [which was the size of both my hands put together] I was reminded of a day earlier in my career when I worked for The Reporter Dispatch, which is what the Gannett newspaper based in White Plains, NY used to be called. It seems like a lifetime ago but back then I covered some NBA and had the chance to interview Manute Bol. And as big Doherty is, he's go nuthin' on old Manute, whose leg was bigger than my entire body.

 

Until something changes, my plan is to write about Doherty for our Faces on the Field section which will run every Tuesday, beginning next week. Check it out if you get the chance.

 

I leave for Fort Wayne in the morning and I can't help but think of one of my favorite television characters every time Fort Wayne is mentioned. I am a child of the Seventies and watched M*A*S*H religiously on network television and still do in reruns. So, it's no wonder that I know Frank Burns is from Fort Wayne, Indiana, a fact which has been making my smile for the last several days.

 

Am I a geek? Sure. But when I got off the plane in Toledo on Wednesday I half expected to see a statue of Corporal Klinger or at least drive down Jamie Farr Memorial Highway somewhere. I actually got to meet Larry Linville, who played Burns, before he succumbed to cancer a few years back. My wife, Wendy, was his agent and we got to see him perform a few times in local theater productions.

 

So here's to you ferret face. Fort Wayne here I come.

See you over the weekend.