An Evening of Honor, Celebration and Charity
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WINTER 2016/2017 AN EVENING OF HONOR, CELEBRATION AND CHARITY A PUBLICATION OF THE MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL PLAYERS ALUMNI ASSOCIATION BASEBALL ALUMNI NEWS www.baseballalumni.com E-mail: [email protected] Telephone: 1-800-336-5272 TABLE OF CONTENTS Looking for a tax free deduction? The MLBPAA is designated as a 501(c)(3) non- profit organization. Under the IRS code, your D.C. CLINIC .................................................................................... 3 contributions, other than dues, are fully tax deductible. Contributions can be made in the WHERE ARE THEY NOW, GENE LOCKLEAR ..............................4-5 form of cash, securities, or real estate. LFY DINNER WRAP UP ...............................................................6-7 Check with your accountant or tax advisor regarding which is best for you. All checks should be made payable to the MLBPAA and sent to: 1631 Mesa Avenue, Suite D Colorado Springs, CO 80906. MLBPAA Board of Directors Jim Hannan – Chairman Fred Valentine – Vice Chairman Sandy Alderson, John Doherty, Denny Doyle, Brian Fisher, Joseph Garagiola, Jr., Doug Glanville, Jim “Mudcat” Grant, Rich Hand, Mike Myers, Steve Rogers, Jim Sadowski, Jose Valdivielso MLBPAA Officers President Brooks Robinson Vice Presidents Bob Boone, George Brett, Carl Erskine, Al Kaline, Rusty Staub, Robin Yount, DONATE NOW Fred Valentine – Secretary/Treasurer www.baseballalumni.mlbpaa.com/Donate Brian Fisher – Assistant Secretary David Mindell – General Counsel Sam Moore – Legal Counsel Emeritus We are raising the bar in 2017 to expand our FREE international youth MLAM Board of Directors baseball clinic series! Your donation will help us reach our goals! Jim Poole - Chairman Jerry Moses - Chairman Emeritus In 2016, our Legends for Youth Clinic Series reached more than 15,000 children in cities Bill Bray, Orestes Destrade, John Doherty, across the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Germany and Evan Kaplan, Al Leiter, Brian McRae, Ethan Italy. In 2017, we are planning to add even more clinics! While our clinics are free for the Orlinsky, Andy Parton, kids, they aren’t free for us. Brooks Robinson, Ed Weber Your donation will help us to put children around the world in front of their big league MLAM Officers heroes! We greatly appreciate your support as we work to expand our Legends for Youth Tom Seaver – President Clinic Series in 2017. Fergie Jenkins – Vice President Dave Winfield – Vice President David Mindell – Secretary/Treasurer, General Counsel MLAS Board of Directors Craig Skok – Chairman Steve Rogers – Secretary/Treasurer Chris Archer, Nelson Cruz, Dexter Fowler, LaTroy Hawkins, Jerry Kindall, Jason Phillips, Mike Sweeney 2 WINTER 2016/2017 FORMER MLB STARS TEACH FUNDAMENTALS AND LOVE OF GAME AT NORTHEAST CLINIC By Ben Standig / Special to MLB.com matter of getting the message out to the in Northern Virginia, and the other community, getting some more local MLB alumni frequently attend clinics WASHINGTON, D.C. — Kids don’t advocates involved. ... It can definitely be throughout the greater metro area. know what they don’t know. In the a model for the program.” The Nationals Academy hosts events context of baseball, former Major League Hannan played for the Washington throughout the year. standout Al Bumbry views his mission as Senators from 1962-70 before splitting “Working with the kids is nothing new. helping to fill in the gaps. his final season between Detroit and Being at a facility like this, oh my god, we The 1973 American League Rookie of the Milwaukee in ‘71. would love to have something like this. Year was among the former Major League “I played in this town for nine years, and For a youth facility, this is one of the best Baseball players serving as instructors at then they didn’t have a team for 30 years,” I’ve seen,” he said. the Washington Nationals Youth Baseball said the former pitcher, who remained in When the kids were with Bumbry, a Academy in the Southeast section of the area after his playing career. “To see former Baltimore Orioles centerfielder, Washington, D.C. on Saturday, October this facility built by [Nationals ownership] the focus was on catching fly balls. 8. More than 75 kids worked on different and Major League Baseball is great Known for his speed and defensive aspects of the game. because it’s sorely needed.” prowess during his 14-year playing career, Ken Dixon, Stephen Lombardozzi, Brian As Hannan sees it, that need extends the 69-year-old was both feisty and Bass, Jim Hannan and Rick Krivda were beyond the field. playful when explaining glove placement among the other former players helping and the art of running toward a hit ball to “The main thing we have is a life session the next generation of ball players. to teach fundamentals and love for the at one of our stations where we tell them DONATE NOW game at the spacious and impressive to respect authority, go to school, be good “It’s fun because I will ask them, ‘How facility that opened its doors in 2014. kids, stay away from drugs, be occupied many of you don’t know how to catch “Field of Dreams said, ‘If you build it, with good things. That’s the primary a ball?’ Nobody raises their hand,” said they will come,’ said Dixon with a nod mission,” Hannan said. “The other part of Bumbry, a member of Baltimore’s 1983 toward the iconic baseball movie and it is have fun and play ball. ... You’re also World Series champions. “Then I toss a part of the facility’s mission of growing developing the fans, too.” ball, and 90 percent of them miss it. So the game in the inner city. “So it’s just a I know there is a need for what I give Dixon, who runs a baseball youth group them, and I enjoy doing that.” Former Kansas City Royals pitcher Brian Bass, a former pitcher for the Baltimore Former pitcher Jerry Cram, who is currently Daryl Smith. Orioles, Minnesota Twins and Pittsburgh Pirates. the pitching coach for the San Francisco Giants Class A affiliate. A PUBLICATION OF THE MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL PLAYERS ALUMNI ASSOCIATION 3 BASEBALLGENE ALUMNILOCKLEAR (1973-1977)NEWS WHERE ARE THEY NOW? FROM DIRT TO CANVAS patterns used in his painting style, expressing some aspect of his life. By Max Carter, MLBPAA Intern path towards a commercial art degree and With commissioned paintings for For five seasons in the 1970’s, Gene in turn, a highly successful painting career. clients such as The White House, Locklear was a consistent offensive “I’ve been painting since I was about The Pentagon, Tiger Woods and outfielder, collecting 163 hits in 595 seven years old. I started with the little three NFL Super Bowls, Locklear’s at-bats for a career average of .274. A full- cartoons in the comic books, and then paintings have become highly popular, blooded member of the Lumbee Indian one day they sent a representative to my selling for as much as $30,000. Nation in North Carolina, Locklear is house when I was a freshman in high Although Locklear does have many one of just a handful of Native Americans school,” Locklear said. “So they signed high-profile clients, the pressure to play Major League Baseball, and was me up for a commercial art course never gets to him. According to him, the first member of his tribe to play that I took by mail, and I took that for the process of creating a painting is professional sports. Locklear played in three years, so that when I finished high the MLB from 1973 to 1977, spending school I had a commercial art degree.” time with the Cincinnati Reds, San Diego Although he had received his Padres and New York Yankees. After commercial art degree, Locklear spending a year playing for the Nippon- continued to build his skill set in Ham Fighters of the Pacific League of painting following his retirement from Nippon Professional Baseball in 1978, baseball in 1978. Locklear decided to hang up the cleats and begin his career as a painter. Nearly “After I got out of baseball, I went and 40 years later, that seems to have been a spent a year studying art with an illustrator fantastic decision. out in New York,” Locklear said. Locklear began painting at a young That valuable experience helped age, discovering his passion for creating to springboard Locklear into his and exploring his imagination through painting career, giving him the tools art. By the time he got to high school, and knowledge to become a highly he had developed strong skills in successful painter. painting and was visited by an art school Locklear’s art tends to tell a story representative. Locklear then began his through the unique colors and Credit: www.genelocklear.com 4 BASEBALL ALUMNI NEWS much different than the process of in analyzing the success of a painter’s painting to the next – it all depends on performing on the baseball diamond. career. However, according to Locklear, how I feel,” Locklear said. “I like to try “Those two pressures are completely what is important to remember is that and create from within and move onto different. If somebody has most people tend to get into painting something new all the time.” commissioned me, they know exactly because they love doing it. While In addition to his career as a painter, what they are going to get. They Locklear has been fortunate enough Locklear also finds time to give back should know everything about what to transcend that obstacle and make to the Lumbee Indian Nation and to I am like as a painter,” Locklear said. a living from painting, he has never the game of baseball. Locklear has been “They should know exactly what they lost sight of what is important to a celebrity instructor at several of the are going to get, so if I am negatively him.