FROM KEITH GROLLER
We continue with the Groller's Corner review of the top events/stories/happenings of 2011.
On Friday we gave the first four on our list.
No. 11 -- Freedom grad Johnny Lahutsky being honored by the New York Yankees during "Hope Week"
No. 10 -- Allen boys basketball team sings Happy Birthday after winning District 11 4A title.
No. 9 -- Was "treated" to four laps by Clint Bowyer at Pocono Raceway and then raced to Philly to see Brian Schneider welcome Carpenter Cup champs to Citizens Bank Park.
No. 8 -- Basketball great Bill Walton delivers memorable speech at Thanksgiving eve event in Fogelsville.
Today, we give you four more of the most memorable things that happened on Groller's Corner in 2011 -- going from No.7 to No. 4, and we'll wrap it up with three more -- the top three -- on Sunday.
No. 7 --- Catty's Anthony Recker arrives in the big leagues at Yankee Stadium on same day as earthquake shook East Coast.
It's always exciting when a local product makes it to the pros whether it's an Andre Reed or Nate Hobgood-Chittick making it to the NFL, Aaron Gray making it to the NBA or Brian Schneider making it to the big leagues. So, it was exciting when Catasauqua High grad Anthony Recker got called up by the Oakland A's on Aug. 23 and was set to join the club at Yankee Stadium -- the closest AL venue to Catty and the same place where Catty's previous big leaguer, Pat Kelly, called home for several seasons.
Recker will likely always remember his first day and first week in the big leagues. That's because on the day he reported to New York, we had that brief earthquake that shook up everybody from Virginia to Maine.
Then two days later, Recker made his MLB debut in a historic game. He was the catcher for all nine, long innings when the Yankees hit a record three grand slams in a 22-9 victory after Oakland led 7-1 after three innings.
And then a couple of days after that in Boston, Recker collected his first big-league hit against the Red Sox as Hurricane Irene pounded the entire East Coast and was just arriving in Massachusetts in the form of rain when Recker got his first hit off Erik Bedard.
No. 6 -- Andre Reed attracts all kinds of former NFL stars to the Lehigh Valley.
For the second straight year, former Dieruff, Kutztown and Bills star Andre Reed brought all kinds of sports celebrities to the Lehigh Valley to play in his charity golf tournament in July. And this year there was a definite Bills flavor with Thurman Thomas, Bruce Smith and Cornelius Bennett among the players on hand. I talked to most of them and Greg Lloyd and Terrell Davis, too, and all had great things to say about Andre. So did Eagles great Mike Quick. I had a sit down interview with Quick, talking about his Eagles broadcast career, which was a lot of fun. Just listening him to re-live "Miracle at the Meadowlands, Part II" made the interview memorable for me.
Reed (seen above with his sister Teshia) is planning even bigger and better things for 2012, but one thing will likely change. The 2010 and 2011 golf tourneys were to benefit The Second Mile and I imagine -- for obvious reasons -- a different charity will be the beneficiary this summer.
No. 5 -- Having Tommy John on the "Calling All Sports" radio show.
About a week after the Reed event, there was another celebrity golf tournament in the Valley. This one was to benefit the BEST College Scholarship fund and the pre-tournament party was held at the Sands Casino and Resort in Bethlehem. Billy Staples is the man who made it happen and he brought in dozens of celebs, mostly former pro athletes, to benefit BEST. I tried my best to promote the event and as part of that PR push Staples arranged to have Tommy John guest -- by phone -- on The Morning Call "Calling All Sports" radio show. It was supposed to be a brief 15-minute interview, but it turned into close to an hour because John kept telling one great story after another.
When the event arrived, I met some of the former big league players at the Sands and did a story on Jack Fisher and Tracy Stallard, the pitchers who gave up home runs No. 60 and No. 61 respectively to Roger Maris. Both are great friends and Stallard really made an impression on me as being a real good guy.
I never did get to see John, but his appearance on my radio show ranks as my favorite radio moment of the year and several e-mailers told me how much they enjoyed listening to him.
No. 4 -- Lehigh football playoff run takes me to Fargo.
Thanks to having the Lehigh football beat, I have gotten to see a good portion of this country, especially the East Coast. I've been to places from Virginia to New Hampshire for regular season games and to Greenville, S.C., Cedar Falls, Iowa and Fargo, North Dakota for playoff games. In my Morning Call career, I've taken just seven flights in 30 years and four were to Lehigh games.
Fargo was the destination this year after Lehigh repeated as Patriot League champs and then beat Towson 40-38 in their first playoff game. It was a quick 38-hour trip to Fargo and back for me.
Lehigh was shut down by North Dakota State, 24-0, but the atmosphere inside the Fargo Dome was something I will never forget. It was the best atmosphere for a game at this level. North Dakota State is Fargo'spro team and they are deeply passionate about their Bison.
I thought this was a cool place and the people of Fargo, at least the few I met at the hotel, mall and dome, were special people.
But this Lehigh football team was special, too, setting a variety of offensive records in an 11-2 campaign. Quarterback Chris Lum and wide receiver Ryan Spadola may go down as the most prolific passing combo in school history. We'll never know if the game at North Dakota State might have gone differently had not Spadola been suspended for re-tweeting an ill-advised comment that included a variation of the "N" word.
As for Fargo, I hardly got to know you. But from what I've seen you're a very nice place and one day I'd like to return and spend a little more time.
I will never forget the pregame show or the meat loaf served to the press corps. The whole feel was big-time.
Can Lehigh three-peat and maybe get yours truly another trip to a faraway destination in 2012? We'll find out in the fall.
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On this page I will have all information on sports events from Nazareth High School and all other sports events in the country. I will also have news about myself and other people.
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