Obscure sports trivia

I’m going way off by guessing Rod Kanehl.

Here’s why: I played youth league baseball with Rod’s son in 1972 in the San Fernando Valley. Casey lived in Glendale at the time so I’m banking on proximity if that’s where Casey’s service was held.

And I reread the question and see I’m wrong but I’ll share the story anyway because it’s obscure sports trivia from my playing days.

 

Yes, it was Rod Kanehl. He was a former Yankee farmhand under Casey.

 

I don't remember meeting Rod but I recall his son, Tommy, had to miss one of our games because they were going to New York for Mets Oldtimers Game.

Also had a chance to meet Casey when he was the special guest at the Northridge Little League opening day ceremony in 1972 or '73.

 

I love these random "brushes with fame" when they apply to an MLB player.

I did not play with any growing up, but the 6-year-old kid who occupied Micro Jr.'s bedroom immediately before we bought the house from his family and moved in became a 12-year major leaguer.

 

I'll throw in a couple more. I went to kindergarten with Ron Fairly's son, junior high with Ron Perranoski's sons and Nolan Ryan's niece (who was a knockout BTW), high school with Ron Brand's son and became friends with Barry Latman's son while in college.
Latman was the first former MLB player I ever met. He ran a Hallmark store in our neighborhood when I was a kid.

 

I remember him, he was an Indian about the time I became an Indians fan growing up (1961 or so) because my uncle lived in Cleveland and we'd go see a series every summer. I think he pitched for the White Sox too.

The guys who played in my era didn't earn generation wealth and have a hugely different post-retirement life than players from today. Don't think Mike Trout will need to run a 7-11 when he hangs them up.

 

Depends on how long they played and whether or not they got that second big contract. Several of the guys we've had from here who made it to the majors played two or three years before they crapped out. I don't think they're destitute or anything, but they're still working real jobs or running a business.
Like Pete Incaviglia infamously said during the 1994 strike, "A lot of people think we make millions of dollars. They don't realize most of us only make about $500,000."

 

Fifty years ago today, the NHL held its expansion draft for the Washington Capitals and Kansas City Scouts.
Who was the first player selected?

 

I'm probably way off, but this has Wilf Paiement written all over it.

 

Damn good guess, MTM.
Paiement was the second pick of the amateur draft after Washington took Regina defenseman Greg Joly.

 

I did some Googling after my guess and found this. Love it.

Taro Tsujimoto is a fictitious Japanese ice hockey player who was selected in the 1974 National Hockey League Amateur Draft as the 183rd overall pick by the Buffalo Sabres. The decision to draft a non-existent player was made by Sabres general manager Punch Imlach, who was frustrated by the absurd length of the draft, and in the late rounds decided to have fun and draft someone unusual. Together with Sabres director of communications Paul Wieland, they created Taro Tsujimoto, a twenty-year-old Japanese forward who played for the fictional Tokyo Katanas of the Japan Ice Hockey League. The name was inspired by Japanese American Joshua Tsujimoto, who owned a grocery store Wieland would regularly drive by. Taro Tsujimoto quickly became an inside joke for Sabres fans, and is a beloved figure in team history.

 

Also saw that the expansion draft was pure trash. No wonder those teams we so bad.