BY SCOTT MORGANROTH
The best part about covering baseball on all levels, especially the Minor Leagues, are the relationships that you build throughout the years.
I’ve been very fortunate to work with the New York Yankees, Cincinnati Reds and Texas Rangers Minor league clubs in Fort Lauderdale, FL, Tampa, FL, and Gastonia, NC. I covered the Yankees for the Hallandale Digest, Reds for the Tampa Tribune and worked as an administrator for the Rangers.
I have interviewed a lot of players and many of them reached the major leagues. Some of the ones that standout include Brian Butterfield, Rex Hudler, Joe Oliver, Dean Palmer, Sammy Sosa, Jose Rijo and many others. When they made it to the major leagues, our paths would cross during Spring Training as well as during the regular season.
Other names worth mentioning are Kevin Rand, Lenny Harris and Barry Foote.
When I was working for the Tampa Tribune, my editors wanted me to write a story on local product second baseman Jody Reed. At the time, he was drafted by the Boston Red Sox and was playing for the Class A, Florida State League’s Winter Haven, FL.
I did exactly that and caught up with him at Al Lopez Field, the home of the Tarpons. Reed was a hot prospect. He would make his MLB Debut on August 22, 1997 and would play in the majors for 10 seasons.
His stops were with the Red Sox (1987-1992), Los Angeles Dodgers (1993), Milwaukee Brewers (1994) San Diego Padres (1995-1996), and the Detroit Tigers (1997).
During his career, Reed hit .270, with 27 homers, and 392 RBI.
When the Marlins decided to make a managerial change replacing Don Mattingly with Skip Schumaker, there was an addition to the new coaching staff that stood out.
That was Jody Reed.
During this enclosed video, I had the opportunity to reminisce with Reed during the summer. This was a classic trip down memory lane.
As I mentioned early in this story, when you have great relationships in baseball, they last forever, these individuals don’t forget about you and as a result, wind up as interviews, photos, etc…
What makes baseball even better than many of the other sports is you can run across these people on all levels, especially the minor leagues.
One of my plans for 2024 is I’m hoping to write a book on the Greatest American Pastime. So stay tuned.
In the current book that I’m on the verge of completing, “Lessons From The Microphone” Tuning Into The Enduring Wisdom Of Visionary Leaders, there are a lot of baseball mentions, including Jody Reed.
Scott Morganroth can be reached at southfloridatribune@gmail.com and on Twitter/X @TribuneSouth.
Also, you can find his broadcasts on the South Florida Tribune You Tube Channel. There is no cost to subscribe to the channel.
