TERRE HAUTE —
Terre Haute’s only two big leaguers of the last 50 years — Tommy John and Brian Dorsett — will catch up with one another today.
Dorsett, manager of the Terre Haute Rex baseball team, was a fan of John’s growing up in North Terre Haute.
“I’m like telling people Tommy and I lived on the same street. I thought that was pretty cool. Since I was a kid, I always looked up to him,” Dorsett said.
John was a starting pitcher for 26 seasons in the major leagues, the fourth-longest career in the history of the game. Dorsett looks forward to seeing his friend today.
Terre Haute baseball fans may do the same today. John will visit the Terre Haute Children’s Museum at 3 p.m. prior to throwing out the first pitch at the Rex home game against DeKalb County at 7:05 at Bob Warn Field.
“He knows a lot about baseball. Has a great baseball mind,” Dorsett said.
Dorsett played parts of eight seasons in the major leagues after getting drafted by one of John’s six teams, the Oakland Athletics.
John is best known for his time with the New York Yankees. He made two of his four All-Star Game appearances with the Yankees, twice finishing in the top five in voting for the American League Cy Young Award.
Dorsett spent time as the Yankees’ backup catcher during John’s second stint with the team in 1989.
“I caught him a couple times in spring training,” Dorsett recalled. “I caught him for two different starts. He still had that sinker.”
Dorsett remembers one particular time John showed some gamesmanship.
“A guy had shown up one of the Yankee players after hitting a home run the year before. Tommy wanted to send him a message,” Dorsett said. “It was one of those times I had to chuckle.”
John won 288 career games, three times winning 20 or more.
“To be in the same clubhouse with him, that was a thrill,” Dorsett said.
• New shortstop — The Terre Haute Rex will add shortstop Stephen Bruno to the roster. Bruno was the starting shortstop for College World Series qualifier Virgnia at the beginning of the Cavaliers’ season but suffered a hamstring injury.
Dorsett said Bruno could see action as soon as next week. Dorsett is looking to boost the hitting production from the middle infielders.
Bruno hit .388 for Virginia as a freshman in 2010 with three home runs and 30 RBIs.
• Powerful youngsters — In 11-and-12-year-old Little League district tournament action this week, two Terre Haute North players combined to accomplish a rare feat.
Austin Turner and Ty Lautenschlager hit back-to-back home runs for the fourth consecutive day.
The fourth back-to-back homers came Friday in the continuation of Thursday’s game against Clinton.
The right-handed Turner is the son of Terre Haute North High School baseball coach Shawn Turner. The left-handed Lautenschlager plays pitcher, first base and catcher.
Congratulations to these young hitters with bright futures.
Follow Craig Pearson online at blogs.tribstar.com/craigpearson. E-mail to craig.pearson@tribstar.com or call (812) 231-4357.
Given to Fly
July 9, 2011
GIVEN TO FLY: Major leaguers John, Dorsett meet up at tonight’s game
- Given to Fly
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GIVEN TO FLY: ISU women have solid recruiting class
The caliber of athletes that the Indiana State women’s basketball coaching staff is bringing in is on an upswing.
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GIVEN TO FLY: Major leaguers John, Dorsett meet up at tonight’s game
Terre Haute’s only two big leaguers of the last 50 years — Tommy John and Brian Dorsett — will catch up with one another today.
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FOOT NOTES: Valley natives perform well on national stage
Several Wabash Valley natives continue to shine on the national track and field scene.
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'Til It's Over: Sycamores ‘in a good place,’ but searching for more in MVC
Can Teri Moren lift Indiana State, last year’s seventh-place team in the Missouri Valley Conference, to one of the league’s contenders in her first year on campus?
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'Til It's Over: Two sets of identical twins should keep North Central baseball a contender
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'Til It's Over: Jarvis, Anderson confident Olney, hard work leads to Division I dream
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'Til It's Over: Robinson 7-footer more focused in postseason; 6-foot Jones keeps producing
Robinson 7-footer Meyers Leonard is not going to be the No. 1 overall pick in the NBA some day, but his odds of reaching the league are pretty solid if his game continues to evolve as it has during high school.
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- 'Til It's Over: Magic’s still there for '79 Sycamores For the former Indiana State players who visited the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame in late November, the weekend was a chance to relive memories with teammates and see Larry Bird’s career with the Sycamores celebrated again.
- CRAIG PEARSON: North has strong history in cross country state finals Vigo County is home to just four IHSAA state championships in team sports. Most recently, Terre Haute South won girls titles in basketball (2002) and tennis (2001).
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- Given to Fly: Schilli’s Rodman-like performance aids ISU With Indiana State’s women’s basketball team ranking eighth in the Missouri Valley Conference in field-goal percentage (36.5), the Sycamores need as many shot attempts as possible to maintain their standing on top of the league.
- Given to Fly: A classic in every sense of the word What tournament director and co-founder Gary Fears had in mind when creating the tournament came to fruition Tuesday. Marshall, with an enrollment of 438 students, became the smallest school to win the Pizza Hut Wabash Valley Classic in the ninth season of the tourney.
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Given to Fly: ISU women should build confidence off strong outing
Indiana State did not pull off the monumental upset Saturday against No. 23 Kansas State, but the Wildcats are —aside from Connecticut in 2005 — the best team the Sycamores have played in the Jim Wiedie era.
- Given to Fly: ISU women's hoops team slides onto commercial radio Coach Jim Wiedie expects the Indiana State women’s basketball team to have a bit of a retro feel this season, meaning the Sycamores have the potential to get back to creating havoc with their full-court press.
- Given to Fly: ISU vets hope to prove pundits wrong Indiana State’s only two seniors were surprised to see they were picked ahead of just three Missouri Valley Conference women’s basketball teams Tuesday morning.
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Footnotes: In first marathon, former Sycamore comes out a winner
Indiana State graduate Dani Prince made her debut in the event with a victory in the Columbus Marathon on Sunday.
Prince’s goal was a time under 2 hours and 50 minutes, and she ran a 2:48.56. -
Given To Fly: ISU volleyball turning things around
It was an extremely busy weekend for Indiana State athletics this weekend.
- Footnotes: Here’s hoping perfect weather is still around for Nationals in November The weather made for a perfect fall afternoon Saturday at LaVern Gibson Championship Course. For what it’s worth, the Farmer’s Almanac calls for more sunny conditions from Nov. 20-24, with the NCAA Championships falling on the 24th this year.
- Terre Haute natives cherish memories of ‘House that Ruth Built’ Yankee Stadium was packed as usual on Easter Sunday in 1979. George Steinbrenner’s Yankees were one loss away from being swept by the Milwaukee Brewers to start the season. That was no way for the two-time defending World Series champions to perform, so the boss had a conversation with his new veteran left-handed starting pitcher prior to the game.
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Footnotes: Oregon men and women have strangehold on preseason NCAA cross countryrankings
The Oregon men and women were almost both unanimous picks as the No. 1 teams in the nation in the preseason cross country national rankings released recently.
- Given to Fly: Bronze medalist has strong ISU ties One of the remarkable American medalists of this 2008 Olympics thus far also provided one of the most sparkling stories in the brief history of the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course here in Terre Haute.
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