BB: SLIAC: St Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

Started by Ralph Turner, February 11, 2006, 02:32:14 PM

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hopefan

#1291
In Today's TAMPA paper

Fleming to debut with family nearby

BY JOEY JOHNSTON

Times Correspondent

ST. PETERSBURG — When Rays left-hander Josh Fleming makes his major-league debut in today's series finale against the Blue Jays at Tropicana Field, he will be surrounded by family.

Sort of.

His parents, Mark and Lori, traveled from Columbia, Ill., to the Tampa Bay area on Saturday. His fiancee, Katie, is expected today after attending her sister's wedding.

But due to COVID-19 safety restrictions — no fans permitted — none of his family will be allowed into the Trop. Instead, they will watch at a restaurant, maybe back at the hotel. The game, on Fox Sports Sun, also will be shown nationally on TBS.

"It's unfortunate (that family can't watch live), but we're doing the right thing," manager Kevin Cash said. "We saw (pitcher) Ryan Thompson's dad fly across the country to sit at a bar and be 6 feet away from him when he might've seen him at the parking lot. I'm assuming Josh will be similar like that with his family.

"Hopefully they enjoy themselves, travel safe and he can put on a good performance. Certainly controlling his anxiety will be a factor. I think that's fair for anybody making a debut."

Fleming, who was working at the team's alternate training site in Port Charlotte, was named most valuable player last season at Double-A Montgomery (where he was 11-4, 3.31 ERA). Cash said the 24-year-old is described as a "superior competitor who does the little things right on the mound." He's also a popular teammate.

When minor-league coordinator Michael Johns announced the ascension, the room erupted with cheers and Fleming was mobbed.

"I was actually speechless," said Fleming, who will be the 11th different starting pitcher used by the Rays this season. "He (Johns) asked me to say something, but I couldn't talk. We have the best staff in the league. To be able to hop in and start with them is very, very cool to me.

"I really don't think it has hit me yet. Come first pitch, I'm going to be pretty amped up. But I'm not going to let my emotions get to me. I'm just going to go out there and throw."

Fleming, a fifth-round pick in 2017 out of NCAA Division III Webster University, is the first player from his St. Louis-based school to make the majors. Webster was his only offer out of high school. He was 150 pounds as a Webster freshman, but his devotion to weights and nutrition increased the weight to 190 that summer. Meanwhile, his velocity went from the mid-80s to low-90s to become a prospect.


ALSO


What's a Gorlock?

Fleming's college team is the Webster Gorlocks (taken from the campus cross streets of Gore and Lockwood). What's a Gorlock? According to the university, it's a mythical creature designed by students and staff through a school contest. It has "the paws of a speeding cheetah, the horns of a fierce buffalo and the face of a dependable Saint Bernard." It's meant to embody "the highest standards of speed, agility and stamina in an atmosphere of fairness and good conduct."

"I don't know where they came up with those three animals to make it, but it's a very unique name," Fleming said
The only thing not to be liked in Florida is no D3 hoops!!!

y_jack_lok

#1292
Since hopefan couldn't watch live (says he has the game on tape) I'll give a brief recap from following on the MLB Gameday app. Fleming went five innings, gave up four hits and two runs, struck out three. The TB Rays scored three runs in the bottom of the fifth and two in the seventh and held on for a 5-4 win, making Fleming the winning pitcher in his MLB debut.

The Tampa paper needs to learn how to spell Gorlok.

Tampa newspaper article on the game: https://www.tampabay.com/sports/rays/2020/08/23/josh-fleming-debuts-with-a-win-as-rays-beat-blue-jays-5-4/?outputType=amp&__twitter_impression=true

hopefan

A feel good article in Tampa paper the day after the big win for Webster's Josh Fleming:

No limits to sharing this dream

Josh Fleming's entourage did whatever it took to see his debut.

ST. PETERSBURG — You raise him. You teach, comfort, scold and encourage him.

You get him all the way from a small town in Missouri to the bright lights of major-league baseball in a nationally televised Sunday afternoon game. Then a pandemic leaves you locked outside the stadium gates on the day of your son's big-league debut.

For Josh Fleming's parents, this was not going to be a barrier, just a small impediment.

They flew in from St. Louis on Satur day, sat thems elves with friends across the street from Tropicana Field at Ferg's Sports Bar & Grill on Sunday afternoon, and watched Josh pitch five strong innings in a 5-4 Rays victory.

Turns out, you don't have to be in the same building to share a dream.

"Even if we can't get close to him after the game, we just want to be able to look into his eyes and see him smile," his father, Mark, said shortly before the start of the game. "We may have to put his mom in a garbage bag so she can hug him, but we'll figure it out."

So how about it, Josh? Will you force Mom to follow social-distancing protocols? "I don't know," Josh said, chuckling, after his outing. "That's going to be a very, very tough thing to do, I'm sure."

If it wasn't exactly the way they once envisioned, it was memorable nonetheless: a private room provided by bar owner Mark Ferguson with seven TVs, three college friends, two parents, an agent and a fiancee.

There were no ushers, foul balls or scoreboard theatrics, but there was plenty of passion to go around. Friends from back home in Missouri called the bar and had a bucket of beer sent in. Ferg's customers stuck their heads in the room and offered congratulations.

It all began Friday morning, when three of Josh's teammates and friends from Webster University got a text message from him saying he was being promoted. Within hours they had a road trip planned. Zach Bishop went from Columbia, Mo., to St. Louis to pick up Kevin Spisak, and they drove from 7 p.m. until 10:45 a.m. Saturday, when they reached Tampa Bay along with friend Brett Jungles, who was coming from Jacksonville Beach.

"Since the day (Josh) got drafted, we had a pact. No matter what city he was in, no matter where we were, we were going to be there the day he finally made it," Bishop said. "The idea was we would fly in and buy tickets to the game, but obviously with (COVID-19), all of that has changed. But we figured we might as well still honor that pact and go watch the game outside of the stadium if we had to."

Last to arrive was Josh's fiancee, Katie O'Toole, who made it about 10 minutes before the first pitch. No excuse was needed. When she got the call from Josh on Friday afternoon, she was a little busy herself. Her sister's wedding was in less than 24 hours and she was helping with last-minute arrangements after a venue cancellation.

O'Toole left the reception Saturday night, got up early Sunday to catch a flight and was hugging Josh's mom, Lori, at Ferg's just as the pregame show was ending on Fox Sports Sun.

"I wish we could be there and see the real thing, but this is okay, too," O'Toole said. "I'm just glad his parents and friends and I were all able to share this together and support him even if it was from afar."

The viewing party itself was an odd mix of rapid-fire emotions, from anticipation to joy to tension and finally relief. There were shouts of encouragement with each pitch, and they hit a crescendo when Josh got out of the first inning three up and three down.

"It's okay," his father said, "we can breathe now."

The second time through the order had some rougher patches, but Josh, 24, left the bases loaded in the fourth and walked off the mound in the fifth while trailing only 2-0. When the Rays put together a three-run rally in the bottom of the inning, Josh went from a potential loss to a potential victory if the bullpen could hold on.

Even that produced some unscripted drama. Josh worked out in the offseason with Rays reliever Pete Fairbanks, a former University of Missouri pitcher, and has been bunking at Fairbanks' place in St. Petersburg since being called up Friday.

"This could be awkward," said agent Aaron Elking, who represents Josh and Fairbanks.

Fairbanks gave up a pair of walks in the sixth but got out of the inning with the lead intact, and the rest of the bullpen held on to close out the victory for Josh.

So what runs through a father's mind while watching in a bar as his son makes his bigleague debut across the street, a few hundred yards away?

"When he made the call to tell us on Friday, that's when I thought about all those times when he was a little boy and we would play catch," Mark said. "Today it was more about this moment and the memory and trying not to be so nervous. We're going to have to learn how to relax so we can enjoy watching him because today it was hard to even breathe."

Contact John Romano at jromano@tampabay.com. Follow @Romano_TBTimes.

JOHN ROMANO
The only thing not to be liked in Florida is no D3 hoops!!!

hopefan

Josh Fleming does Webster, the SLIAC, and D3 proud with his 2nd outstanding performance with the Tampa Bay Rays!!

STRANGELY UNRECOGNIZED BY D3Baseball (unless I missed it)
The only thing not to be liked in Florida is no D3 hoops!!!

Jim Dixon

Quote from: hopefan on August 30, 2020, 11:01:41 AM
Josh Fleming does Webster, the SLIAC, and D3 proud with his 2nd outstanding performance with the Tampa Bay Rays!!

STRANGELY UNRECOGNIZED BY D3Baseball (unless I missed it)

Must have missed it.

hopefan

Quote from: Jim Dixon on August 31, 2020, 12:39:30 PM
Quote from: hopefan on August 30, 2020, 11:01:41 AM
Josh Fleming does Webster, the SLIAC, and D3 proud with his 2nd outstanding performance with the Tampa Bay Rays!!

STRANGELY UNRECOGNIZED BY D3Baseball (unless I missed it)

Must have missed it.

You are right and I apologize... I didn't study the pictures like I should have.... I know I'm prone to error, That's why I put that caveat, "unless...." out there.... Fleming now 2-0 in 2 starts, 1.74 ERA, 9 SO, 2 BB, 7 hits in 10+ innings...  so cool coming from a D3 outlier like the SLIAC....
The only thing not to be liked in Florida is no D3 hoops!!!

Jim Dixon

Quote from: hopefan on August 31, 2020, 03:39:29 PM
Quote from: Jim Dixon on August 31, 2020, 12:39:30 PM
Quote from: hopefan on August 30, 2020, 11:01:41 AM
Josh Fleming does Webster, the SLIAC, and D3 proud with his 2nd outstanding performance with the Tampa Bay Rays!!

STRANGELY UNRECOGNIZED BY D3Baseball (unless I missed it)

Must have missed it.

You are right and I apologize... I didn't study the pictures like I should have.... I know I'm prone to error, That's why I put that caveat, "unless...." out there.... Fleming now 2-0 in 2 starts, 1.74 ERA, 9 SO, 2 BB, 7 hits in 10+ innings...  so cool coming from a D3 outlier like the SLIAC....



Well I added the note in our rotating features after I read your post.  I had been lost in All-Decade stuff but you are right that the exposure was a bit lighter than I would have liked.  Thanks for the push to finish.

hopefan

Lest we overlook.... Tampa Bay Rays' Josh Fleming now 4-0 in 6 starts (actually 4 starts and two games where an "opener" was used), 3.33 ERA... He has retained his starter status in a 5 man rotation where the other 4 starters are experienced successful major leaguers.... only tough spot seems to be the home run ball, given up 5 in 26 innings....
The only thing not to be liked in Florida is no D3 hoops!!!

y_jack_lok

^^^ I checked those stats a couple of days ago. Looking good so far. While not SLIAC related, an interesting side note: One of the "openers" was Pete Fairbanks who went to Webster Groves HS and Mizzou and is just a couple of years older than Fleming. The WGHS baseball field is literally across the street from Webster U.



hopefan

In today's paper down here in sunny St Pete:

"Left hander Josh Fleming (10-3) has the most wins in team history through 16 career appearances."

Fleming is a Webster grad and pitches for the Tampa Bay Rays...went 5-0 last year in September, and 5-3 so far this year... seems incredibly poised... still, just as I posted last year, his only real problem seems to be giving up the long ball... I'd love to meet him or his family some day and talk about his times at Webster....
The only thing not to be liked in Florida is no D3 hoops!!!

y_jack_lok

^^^ Been wondering how he's been doing. Thanks for the update.

In playoff news, Wash U won its regional. After sailing through undefeated to get to the first championship game they lost to Denison 14-10, then came back to win 2-0. Webster went 2-2 -- beat Transylvania 4-0, lost to Denison 8-1, beat Transylvania 4-3, lost to Denison 8-2.