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General Discussion => Talk Zone => Topic started by: Kent's Moustache on July 22, 2007, 11:42:06 pm
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Many of you (especially those in Austin and Round Rock) are probably familiar with Mike Coolbaugh, the former Express and Zephyrs 3B who also saw big league time with the Brewers and Cardinals. More recently, Mike assumed the position of hitting coach with the Rockies' AA affiliate in Tulsa just a few weeks ago.
I've just received the horrific news that Mike was apparently struck in the head by a foul ball while coaching 1st Base for Tulsa tonight in a game in Little Rock. He reportedly never regained consciousness and passed away shortly thereafter.
Mike was 35-years-old. He is survived by a wife and two small sons, who reside in his hometown of San Antonio. Mike was a great ballplayer and a great guy.
I anticipate that the Ryan-Sanders group will do something to honor Mike's memory, and I understand that some of Mike's former teammates currently with the Express and the Hooks will be doing the same.
Our prayers go out for his family in this time of tragedy.
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this is awful awful news. i'm speechless. i can only imagine what his family might be going through now.
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How horrific. Thoughts and prayers to his family, what a tragedy.
It has hit the wire now.
http://www.todaysthv.com/sports/story.aspx?storyid=49379
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Tragic news. I enjoyed watching Mike play. My family and I will be at the Express game tomorrow night and will be sure to report what they do.
I hope that maybe base coaches will now choose to wear helmets as a result of this tragedy. We'll be praying for his family.
Rest in peace
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Chron:
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4989665.html
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I hear that on the radio this morning. This is awful; my prayers for his family.
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Please also remember to keep the kid who hit the ball in your thoughts in prayers.
This was the second incident of a Tulsa player or coach being hit in the head this season. They had a pitcher get hit in the head earlier this year. It fractured his skull and ruptured his eardrum. He spent a week in the hospital and is now back with the team.
http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070722&content_id=278523&vkey=news_milb&fext=.jsp
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heard it on the radio this morning. unbelieveable and so tragic.
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What a bummer.
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truly sad, bizzare, and makes you think about how fragile life it. condolances to his family and friends
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Please also remember to keep the kid who hit the ball in your thoughts in prayers.
I'm not sure I would know how to live with that.
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I heard the news this morning. I was shocked when they said "Mike Coolbaugh". When he was with the Zephyrs/Express AAA club, he was very fun to watch hit a baseball. He had a nice compact swing. Lightning quick. I never understood why he wasn't a major leaguer playing a reserve role for someone. He looked like a man who could help a club with his bat.
The news is so sad, especially because of his wife and two young boys. I hope they grow up to understand that their dad died doing something he loved. RIP Mike.
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Very tragic indeed. Good player and personallity, a lose to the game, the players on his team and his family. Please keep in Tino Sanches in your thoughts as well, I can't even fathom how this would affect him.
Yet another reminder to those foolish idiots in the stands that take their life and those of thier kids in their own hands as they sit there chatting away with no regard to what is going on in the field.
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I heard the news this morning. I was shocked when they said "Mike Coolbaugh". When he was with the Zephyrs/Express AAA club, he was very fun to watch hit a baseball. He had a nice compact swing. Lightning quick. I never understood why he wasn't a major leaguer playing a reserve role for someone. He looked like a man who could help a club with his bat.
You and me both... Mike had outstanding pop throughout his career and also played a solid 3B. I always thought that he could serve some big club well in the role of a RH Mike Lamb-type player.
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You and me both... Mike had outstanding pop throughout his career and also played a solid 3B. I always thought that he could serve some big club well in the role of a RH Mike Lamb-type player.
Eggszactly! I loved to watch him take his hacks. He had a swing very similar to Bob Horner and again, why he wasn't a major league hitter off the bench for someone baffled me.
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The news is so sad, especially because of his wife and two young boys. I hope they grow up to understand that their dad died doing something he loved. RIP Mike.
His wife is also due to give birth in October. So sad.
Generic (Birds on the Bat poster) gives his first hand account here:
http://birdsonthebat.org/showthread.php?t=46267
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This is such sad news. We used to go see Coolbaugh play on our weekend jaunts to Round Rock, and he was my 9-year-old's favorite player while he was with the team. My son initially took this one pretty hard, but he consoled himself by thinking that Coolbaugh died on the field doing something he loved.
My heart goes out to his family, his team, and the poor kid who hit the ball. I can't imagine how he must feel.
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A nice feature today on Hagerstown NBC25 news, he played for the Suns back in 93. Article also from the Suns newsletter and probably on their site as well.
Wanted to qoute info from Tulsa's website:
"the Drillers and Spirit Bank have set up a memorial fund to benefit the Coolbaugh family. Checks can be made payable to the Mike Coolbaugh Memorial Fund and sent to:
Mike Coolbaugh Memorial Fund
c/o Spirit Bank
1800 S. Baltimore Ave.
Tulsa, OK 74119
Donations can also be made in person at any Tulsa area Spirit Bank location. "
Did not see the address for that above, but it may have been in the links.
His wife is also due to give birth in October. So sad.
Generic (Birds on the Bat poster) gives his first hand account here:
http://birdsonthebat.org/showthread.php?t=46267
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Checks can be made payable to the Mike Coolbaugh Memorial Fund and sent to:
Mike Coolbaugh Memorial Fund
c/o Spirit Bank
1800 S. Baltimore Ave.
Tulsa, OK 74119
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I have a question, if someone were to jump in front of your vehicle and you kill them with your car its unintentional manslaughter....so in this case wouldnt it be just that for the guy who fouled the ball off? what kind of legal ramifications are on the way for him?
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I have a question, if someone were to jump in front of your vehicle and you kill them with your car its unintentional manslaughter....so in this case wouldnt it be just that for the guy who fouled the ball off? what kind of legal ramifications are on the way for him?
Yeah, that's it...arrest and prosecute the poor kid who hit the ball. That'll teach him.
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I have a question, if someone were to jump in front of your vehicle and you kill them with your car its unintentional manslaughter....so in this case wouldnt it be just that for the guy who fouled the ball off? what kind of legal ramifications are on the way for him?
none.
remember, there are no stupid questions, just stupid people that ask questions.
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I have a question, if someone were to jump in front of your vehicle and you kill them with your car its unintentional manslaughter....so in this case wouldnt it be just that for the guy who fouled the ball off? what kind of legal ramifications are on the way for him?
I'd say you must be fucking kidding, but since this isn't something to kid about, I don't what the fuck you're doing.
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"A collection will be taken up for the Coolbaugh family at the homeplate and right field gate entrances of The Dell Diamond prior to Monday night’s game between Round Rock and Oklahoma."
http://www.rrexpress.com/default.asp?PageId=84&ArticleId=1359
With tonight's game cancelled (http://www.rrexpress.com/default.asp?PageId=84&ArticleId=1361), I assume Tuesday night will have the collections for him.
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I have a question, if someone were to jump in front of your vehicle and you kill them with your car its unintentional manslaughter....so in this case wouldnt it be just that for the guy who fouled the ball off? what kind of legal ramifications are on the way for him?
Aside from being wholly insensitive and inappropriate, this is an egregious misstatement of the law.
It pains me to think that I draw people like you on my jury panels.
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Aside from being wholly insensitive and inappropriate, this is an egregious misstatement of the law.
It pains me to think that I draw people like you on my jury panels.
Yeah ... I read the original post and had to shut down the laptop immediately. Where's spack when we really need him?
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I have a question, if someone were to jump in front of your vehicle and you kill them with your car its unintentional manslaughter....so in this case wouldnt it be just that for the guy who fouled the ball off? what kind of legal ramifications are on the way for him?
"Unintentional," definitely. "Manslaughter," well, I don't know what planet you're on, but that was certainly insensitive to ask. Our society may be growing ever more litigious, but no district attorney with any sense would ever consider investigating and prosecuting the batter in this case, nor would he get a jury panel that would consider convicting said batter (which is part of the reason why the DA would never consider taking this case to grand jury if it happened in Texas).
If someone were to jump on an internet message board, ask a ridiculous question at a horribly indelicate time, and get virtually tarred and feathered by the brass at said message board, it's 'intentional banishment based on asshatlike activities.'
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I have a question, if someone were to jump in front of your vehicle and you kill them with your car its unintentional manslaughter....so in this case wouldnt it be just that for the guy who fouled the ball off? what kind of legal ramifications are on the way for him?
Edited to delete: thought it better to not post.
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I have a question, if someone were to jump in front of your vehicle and you kill them with your car its unintentional manslaughter....so in this case wouldnt it be just that for the guy who fouled the ball off? what kind of legal ramifications are on the way for him?
Jesus, that's stupid. What about the pitcher, or the catcher that called the pitch, or the manufacturer of the ball, the poor lighting?!?!?!? There is no relation between your scenario and the postulation beyond the obvious lack of substance with the genesis of. Your foundation lacks the stability it needs to be considered sound and integral.
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To try to get this thread back on track, Mike Coolbaugh's life touched many people throughout baseball. Check out the Minor League News update today (http://www.orangewhoopass.com/forums/index.php?topic=103146.0) where I have linked to 4 different articles where people talk about the impact he had on them.
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Read the article about it on Yahoo last night: http://tinyurl.com/2ss5yq . Very nice article, and some people had some wonderful things to say about him, but it just makes my stomach hurt to read that he was going to be done with baseball, but his sons wanted to see him on the field again.
(edited to provide shorter URL)
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I have a question, if someone were to jump in front of your vehicle and you kill them with your car its unintentional manslaughter....so in this case wouldnt it be just that for the guy who fouled the ball off? what kind of legal ramifications are on the way for him?
you are a fucking idiot. i cannot imagine a more stupid post, and i cannot fathom what would motivate someone to post this.
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KTRH aired some comments from Clemens after his game last night regarding this tragedy. Apparantly he knew Mike and his brother from when the brother played at UT. Anyway, he just asked folks to keep the Coolbaugh family in their thoughts and prayers, and it was quite nice . . . for Clemens, anyway.
By the way, whoever posted the "unintentional manslaughter" thing is a remarkable jackass.
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article in today's paper: hit him under left ear, ruptured an artery, died of blood loss to the brain, nothing medical personnel or EMS could have done to save him after the moment of impact
lends lots of support to the "when its your time" philosophy.
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article in today's paper: hit him under left ear, ruptured an artery, died of blood loss to the brain, nothing medical personnel or EMS could have done to save him after the moment of impact
lends lots of support to the "when its your time" philosophy.
Or to the random shit just happens all the time philosophy.
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Rockies first base coach Hill elects to wear helmet (http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2948098)
"So, Hill's wearing a helmet, something New York Yankees manager Joe Torre said every base coach in baseball should be doing now."
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Rockies first base coach Hill elects to wear helmet (http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2948098)
Fuck...Grimmace just got that damn thing stuck on his head before he retired. He has it repainted every time he gets fired.
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That article mentions fan safety as being another concern. I was at a Class A Greensboro Grasshoppers game a couple weeks back and saw something I hadn't seen before. They have a 2-3 foot high vertical net on top of the dugouts to protect the fans from laser line drives hit there. Pretty good idea.
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none.
remember, there are no stupid questions, just stupid people that ask questions.
Wrong. This proves that both occur, and usually simultaneously.
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Rockies first base coach Hill elects to wear helmet (http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2948098)
"So, Hill's wearing a helmet, something New York Yankees manager Joe Torre said every base coach in baseball should be doing now."
Absolutely! Once every 140 years or so is an unacceptable risk!
Pansies.
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Absolutely! Once every 140 years or so is an unacceptable risk!
Pansies.
Only one batter has been killed with a ptiched ball in 140 years - why force hitters to wear helmets?
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Only one batter has been killed with a ptiched ball in 140 years - why force hitters to wear helmets?
I wouldn't force them. And if I recall, the incident you refer to had nothing to do with MLB's decision to enforce batting helmets anyway.
If I were a hitter, though, and the choice were left to me, I would choose to wear one. It really is not the same kind of situation.
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"Unintentional," definitely. "Manslaughter," well, I don't know what planet you're on, but that was certainly insensitive to ask. Our society may be growing ever more litigious, but no district attorney with any sense would ever consider investigating and prosecuting the batter in this case, nor would he get a jury panel that would consider convicting said batter (which is part of the reason why the DA would never consider taking this case to grand jury if it happened in Texas).
If someone were to jump on an internet message board, ask a ridiculous question at a horribly indelicate time, and get virtually tarred and feathered by the brass at said message board, it's 'intentional banishment based on asshatlike activities.'
I think it would be a snap to argue that Coolbaugh knew there was an inherent danger in stepping on the field.
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I think it would be a snap to argue that Coolbaugh knew there was an inherent danger in stepping on the field.
That's not even the issue. Crazy accidents happen. It's nobody's fault.
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Playing amateur ball one season, I had the most frightening experience I ever had on the field in my life. I was playing third base for a local MSBL team. The other team was younger, faster, better than our team. We looked like guys running in quicksand compared to these guys. And they had one guy who was huge and hit the ball really hard. Our pitcher tried everything to get this guy out, but he just plain hit the ball no matter what and every time he hit it hard. And with an aluminum bat.
The third time this guy was up, men were on second and first and nobody was out. I could see in my pitcher's face that he just didn't care any more and wasn't going to try too hard to fool this guy. So he laid a big fat meatball pitch right down the middle of the plate. I was playing in a little at double play depth. The guy absolutely crushed the pitch. That is when my life was very much in danger.
He hit a screamer that was about face level high to me coming right at my head. I had about 1 second to digest it all and figure out I'm a dead man. I instinctively tried to put my glove hand up near my face to try to deflect the ball away from my noggin. At the last minute, the ball took a nasty right turn away from my face and tailed downward. The guy hit it so hard it was literally spinning like a gyro and the break for me was it took that right hand turn as it neared me. As my glove hand was rising up to protect my face, the ball met my glove about chest high. My arm was still not anywhere near my face, I had only managed to get the glove up to where my shoulder was on the way up about chest level. The screamer hit my glove solid and it stuck in my hand. Here is the thing, I never closed the glove around the ball... IOW, I didn't catch it, the ball caught me. It literally stuck in my glove palm area. It didn't drop out, just stuck there as if my hand was made of mud.
Jack Held, our shortstop came over and couldn't believe what he just saw. He looked at me and he knew I was in terror because I did nothing on that play but be a spectator. It was sort of like an out of body experience. He took the ball gently out of my glove that was still wide open and not closed around the ball. He then took the glove off my hand and miraculously I had no broken bones that I knew of and only a slight bruise in lower half of the palm area.
That ball was going to kill me had it not turned at the last minute. The fact that we recorded an out on the play was moot, everyone knew that this was far beyond that. The umpired called time out and came to talk to me for a while to see if I was okay to keep playing. I told him, honestly, I didn't know. I was getting a little scared and needed to just try to shake it off somehow. I managed to play several more innings and then I sat for the rest of the game. The guy who hit the ball actually took himself out of the game and sat too, right after the play I made. He knew he hit too well for the league that it was only a matter of time before his aluminum aided screamers were going to take someone out.
This day, it was almost me.
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A similar thing happened to a UT third baseman (in the CWS, I think) a few years ago. He was in shallow for a bunt, but the batter swung away and crushed a liner right at him, and I thought I was watching the death of a player. Instead, he somehow caught the ball. But it was s-c-a-r-y. (I can't remember who the player was, but he was very good defensive 3B, and I think his last name started with "M".)
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A similar thing happened to a UT third baseman (in the CWS, I think) a few years ago. He was in shallow for a bunt, but the batter swung away and crushed a liner right at him, and I thought I was watching the death of a player. Instead, he somehow caught the ball. But it was s-c-a-r-y. (I can't remember who the player was, but he was very good defensive 3B, and I think his last name started with "M".)
Maroul, probably.
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That's not even the issue. Crazy accidents happen. It's nobody's fault.
Perzactly! And the last thing we need is a bunch of safety regulation nonsense in an effort to prevent anything.
Make that the next-to-last thing we need ... just ahead of idiot lawsuits or criminal charges.
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Maroul, probably.
Yes, that was him!
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I think it would be a snap to argue that Coolbaugh knew there was an inherent danger in stepping on the field.
assumed risk/consent
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"It hit him in the back of the left side of his neck, kind of right below the ear," Pulaski County coroner Mark Malcolm said.
If memory serves, doesn't that sound really similar to where Wagner got hit in '98. Scary.
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"It hit him in the back of the left side of his neck, kind of right below the ear," Pulaski County coroner Mark Malcolm said.
If memory serves, doesn't that sound really similar to where Wagner got hit in '98. Scary.
Yep, and in an area not necessarily protected by a helmet.
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Another tragic story:
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/07/25/softball.death.ap/index.html
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"Honoring Mike Coolbaugh
ROUND ROCK – What has for years been a tradition in minor league baseball will now become a tribute to baseball veteran Mike Coolbaugh for the remainder of the 2007 Round Rock Express season.
When Round Rock returns home on Aug. 1, the team will begin a stretch of 20 home games in 34 days. Every time an Express player hits a home run, the traditional helmet will be passed around The Dell Diamond seating bowl. Only now, all of the money placed into the helmet will be donated to the Mike Coolbaugh Memorial Fund.
Coolbaugh, who spent three of his 16 professional playing years with the Houston Astros’ organization and was named the organization’s Triple-A Most Valuable Player while with Round Rock in 2005, was killed Sunday when a line drive foul ball struck him as he coached first base for the Double-A Texas League Tulsa Drillers. The 35-year-old San Antonio resident left behind two sons, Joseph, 5, and Jacob, 3, and his wife, Amanda, who is expecting their third child in October.
Round Rock – which will also wear a patch for the remainder of the season featuring Coolbaugh’s initials and his Express uniform number, 32 – will honor Coolbaugh throughout the team’s game against Colorado Springs on Friday, Aug. 3 at The Dell Diamond. A moment of silence and a memorial pitch will begin the game, the homerun helmet will be passed for donations in the seventh inning and a special tribute video will follow.
Fans wishing to obtain more information, or to drop off donations prior to Friday’s game, may visit the customer service booth located behind home plate at The Dell Diamond. Placards honoring Coolbaugh will also be available at customer service.
“Mike Coolbaugh wasn’t just a dedicated baseball player, he was someone who genuinely cared about everyone around him,” said Express veteran Travis Driskill, who also has two young sons. “It’s hard to imagine a loss of that magnitude. We can all grieve, but we can all also help his family.”
The passing of the helmet has long been a staple of the minor leagues. After a home-team player hits a homerun, his helmet is passed around the crowd and stuffed with dollar bills. Round Rock has hit 42 home runs at The Dell Diamond this season.
In addition, donations for the Mike Coolbaugh Memorial Fund can be dropped off weekdays between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. at The Dell Diamond, located at 3400 E. Palm Valley.
All donations collected will go directly to a fund set up for the family at Spirit Bank in Tulsa, Okla. Checks can be made payable to the Mike Coolbaugh Memorial Fund and may be sent to the Mike Coolbaugh Memorial Fund, c/o Spirit Bank, 1800 S. Baltimore Ave., Tulsa, OK 74119. In addition, all fine money from the Texas League, plus an additional $1,000 for each of the league’s eight teams, will go towards the fund. The Nolan Ryan Foundation and Spirit Bank have each donated $5,000 to the fund."
--From the Express email
Good to see.
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http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2954069&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab1pos1
I haven't seen this one article about Coolbaugh posted.
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http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2954069&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab1pos1
I haven't seen this one article about Coolbaugh posted.
It was in the Minor League News & Notes (http://www.orangewhoopass.com/forums/index.php?topic=103257.0) yesterday.
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It was in the Minor League News & Notes (http://www.orangewhoopass.com/forums/index.php?topic=103257.0) yesterday.
Whoops, my bad. Read more, post less.. I need to follow my own advice.