Spring Training With The Minnesota Twins

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

My original plan for the weekend of March 13-16th was to attend the 12 Hours of Sebring, as I always like to cover endurance races.

But my instincts took over and said, you’ve been there and have done that. Once again, my instincts were right.

Instead, it was time to get back in baseball mode. 

I’ve always wanted to attend a Spring Training Game at Hammond Stadium in Fort Myers, FL, the home of the Minnesota Twins. I’ve already been to Fenway South which is six miles away. 

When you talk about great people to work with, Nina Zimmerman and Dustin Moorse are as good as it gets. Nina told me she was pleased to accommodate the South Florida Tribune to expand their presence in our market.

Meanwhile, Dustin was awesome as he granted me clubhouse access and whatever else I needed. 

I’m looking forward to working with both of these individuals both in Fort Myers and in Minneapolis in the future.

My original target was former Miami Marlins pitcher Pablo Lopez, but he was pitching and would only be available in the clubhouse after his outing. As a result, I would ask some questions which occurred around the seventh inning. You’ll see the conversation in the video in the story. 

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to stay afterwards to talk to Manager Rocco Baldelli as I had to return home. Hopefully, that opportunity will come at a later date.

I asked Moorse if he could find me a catcher. I told him that I played the position in Little League and have interviewed a lot of them through the years covering baseball. 

Dustin delivered and I interviewed Ryan Jeffers outside of the clubhouse because when I explained to Moorse getting the interview on You Tube would be problematic, due to copyright issues; he totally understood and it worked out well.

He told Jeffers that I wanted to talk to him about catching and that I would keep the interview short and it was a blast with the 6-4, native of Raleigh, NC. Jeffers has been with the Twins since 2020. He was the Twins second round pick, 59th overall in 2018.

We talked about so many different aspects of catching as you’re going to watch. Jeffers didn’t play in the Twins 6-5 loss to the Boston Red Sox. 

But you can rest assured that I’ll be watching him throughout the season and hope he has tremendous success. I always root for people that make my job easier and more pleasant. In addition to the video, we also took a photo together. 

Before I interviewed Jeffers, Moorse came to me in the clubhouse and told me the Twins athletic trainer was having a media availability. Since I was new, it was nice of him to go out of his way to invite me to it and the one thing that gets my energy level higher is when someone talks about my “Motor City Mad Mouth Hat.” I got in my few questions and learned a lot.

Finally, I approached Twins reporter Audra Martin and asked her if she has some time to talk to me. She covers the Twins and the Minnesota Wild. She was extremely cooperative and sweet. We had a blast. One question that I decided to not ask due to time limitations about what female broadcasters she idolized growing up. Perhaps, down the road, it will come up.

Instead, I talked to her about the Twins, working in the Minnesota market and kept the conversation about her goals. Audra came across to me as an individual that’s extremely happy working in a small market and being appreciated in the Twin Cities. In this interview, we both had a lot of fun doing it.

The one story that I told Moorse and Zimmerman was back in 1987 when the Minnesota Twins played the Detroit Tigers during the American League Championship Series. 

I attended game five and attempted to buy a ticket but was ripped off initially. However, fate would work out for me and I saw my uncle Gene Ryeson and he gave me some money when I told him what happened. I mentioned this in my book, “Lessons From The Microphone” and I bought another ticket.

This time, I turned a negative into a positive and I sat next to former Minnesota Twins Owner Calvin Griffith. 

We talked baseball the entire game and I remembered everything he said then proceeded to write a story. My editor George Eichorn sent the story to Griffith and the Twins and he responded back to us and if I ever made it to the area, I would be invited to attend a game and we could talk more. If there was ever a time that I wish I had a camera phone, this was it.

The Twins would defeat the Tigers in this game and went on to win the World Series. As much as I would have liked to have seen Detroit win, I became an admirer of the Minnesota Twins ever since.

What happened this past weekend with what I accomplished only added to the respect that I have for this classy organization beginning with Moorse and Zimmerman. 

If you ever have a chance to see Hammond Stadium, this facility holds 9,300 and the complex is just unbelievable. The state of the art venue also is the home of the Twins Florida State League team.

I’ve always felt great that when I get a lot of cooperation, this is when I’m at my best. 

Since Covid 19, getting total cooperation has been a challenge throughout the sports world. 

But with the Minnesota Twins, it felt like old times and made the task so much more pleasant! I can’t thank them enough and am looking forward to promoting them in the future.

They indicated they wanted exposure in our market and I will do everything in my power to give them that and much more!

It’s safe to say that the detour I took shifting from Sebring to Fort Myers turned out to be a no brainer. The trip from Deerfield Beach, Florida to Fort Myers is slightly under two hours away off of I-75. 

My instincts were right again as you can tell in this story and the videos inside. 

A topic on the 108 Stitches, Baseball Talk Podcast on Monday which you can find on the South Florida Tribune You Tube Channel was on the trip to Fort Myers. This show featured Pablo Lopez, who is happy that he has a new home in the Twin Cities.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at southfloridatribune@gmail.com. You can find him on Twitter/X @TribuneSouth. To see his broadcasts, they can be found of The South Florida Tribune You Tube Channel and there is no cost to subscribe.

Also, he wrote a book, “Lessons From The Microphone” which is available on Amazon/Kindle and Barnes and Noble. 

Life After Football, Former Washington Redskin, Antomio Wise

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to attend press conferences and record interviews, then write basic stories.

Once upon a time, a mentor of mine named Andy Liscano, who was a television reporter in Miami back in the early 1980’s always taught me that the key to being a real journalist is by being different. I mentioned him in My book “Lessons From The Microphone.”

I’ve received a lot of great advice in my 45 + years in Sports Media and have used a lot of it. It’s always great to learn from other colleagues in the industry.

When you go to a big event, it’s like Halloween.

How much candy can you get to fill-up your bag?

The best part about this candy is you don’t have to have your parents go over it to see if there are unexpected and unwanted surprises in it.

There is nothing like a big event because that feeling that you’re a kid out of a candy store is running through your mind. I thrive on these events because I view it as advanced networking.

In a day where the smart phone has replaced the tape recorder and you can get videos, it makes content hunting even more fun. The smart phone comes in handy to do interviews and in some cases, I use it for just photos.

My niece Brook once taught me a lesson about Facebook. She told me that she only uses it to post phots. Great stuff, Brook because not only do I use Facebook to post them, but these photos also land on Instagram. When I thought of the California Wildfires, I definitely appreciated what Brooke had to say.

To tell you that Super 59 in New Orleans was a smashing success, would be mildly understating the obvious. I’m looking forward to covering the NCAA Women’s Final Four in Tampa, just weeks away.

My wife/photographer Candy was a recording machine. 

Where there was an interview, Candy was there to take care of it. 

At a family meal, My nephew Branden once said to me that “Uncle Scott, how did you find a woman that likes what you do? I said, I don’t know, but I’m glad that I did.” I used his question at our wedding on January 1, 2017.

I’ve been to five Super Bowls and they’ve all been very enriching. I’ve made a lot of contacts, taken some photos and more importantly accumulated a lot of memories. 

As long as my health allows, I’ll go to more of them and eliminate national media awards banquets events that only last a few days and are too costly for that short period of time.

As I was talking to Roy Kessel of the Sports Philanthropy Network, who is a great friend of mine, I stumbled across this opportunity. 

I met former Washington Redskins player Antomio Wise and we started talking. The thing that impressed me about Wise was that when his football career is over, he found a career outside of the gridiron in the financial industry. 

At that point, my content hunting instincts went to work and since we’re both authors, we made a book exchange.

Every social media has its purpose. I look for guests that are successful after their athletic careers are completed. As I was looking at Wise, the one person who came to mind is former MLB catcher and a great friend of mine, Barry Foote.

Interviewing Wise turned out to be a “Wise” move because many athletes go broke after their athletic careers are completed. Wise gives good advice to non athletes and I hope you enjoy the interview. If you learn something off of it, then I did my job and followed the advice of Andy Liscano.

I really enjoy writing stories about the subjects that I interview because it provides a great overview of them and the message that we’re both looking to share.

I look forward to the next event and will produce another story like this one.

It’s one thing to produce content that working behind the computer at your home and office is productive. But there is no better place to be than in the field than hunting for it.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at southfloridatribune@gmail.com and you can find him on Twitter/X @TribuneSouth. You can connect with him on LinkedIn and to see his broadcasts, there is no cost to subscribe to the South Florida Tribune You Tube Channel.

His book “Lessons From The Microphone” can be purchased on Amazon/Kindle along with Barnes & Noble.

FAU Had Their Wheaties And Crushed ECU 81-53

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

I’ll never forget that when the FAU Owls named John Jakus as their new Men’s Basketball Coach on March 27, 2024 to replace Dusty May, who went to the Michigan Wolverines, that there was quite a turnout at his opening day press conference.

He was cheered mightily by the fans. Jakus only had about seven minutes to talk to the media and a reporter from a West Palm Beach TV Station asked the majority of the questions while others couldn’t get a word in. I was one of those.

But on Sunday, I finally had a chance to get to a Men’s Basketball Game which turned out to be Senior Day. The team honored KyKy Tandy, Ken Evans Jr. and Jack Johnson for their contributions to the program.

FAU went into the contest leading the all-time history 4-2. East Carolina entered the game with and 18-12 mark and 10-7 in the AAC. Meanwhile, FAU entered the contest with a 16-14, 9-8 mark in this key conference showdown.

As I looked at the press notes before and throughout the game, Jakus was mentored by two of the nations best head coaches in Scott Drew (Baylor) and Mark Few (Gonzaga) and is no stranger to working with mid major programs.

Jakus will be on a future edition of the Motor City Mad Mouth Show after the season.

The Owls responded with a performance that showed they’re on a mission to get to the post-season.

The game started off slow and at one point the game was tied 9-9.

But with 9:33 left in the first half, FAU led 18-11 going into a timeout.

By the 4:53 Mark in the half, FAU led 33-14 and at halftime the score was 41-23.

Why did a game that appeared to be a close matchup get out of hand so quickly?

FAU out rebounded ECU 25-14 and outscored the Pirates 7-0 on second chance points. The Owls held the lead for 13:50-2:06. 

Even Florida Panthers Captain Aleksander Barkov, who was wearing his FAU t-shirt was impressed sitting in his court side seats and was signing autographs. 

There was no let-up in the second half for FAU as the Owls out scored ECU 40-30. The time with the lead jumped to 33:50. ECU only led 2:06 the entire game.

FAU out rebounded ECU 47-33 their second chance points raised to 20-7. FAU outscored ECU 32-26 in the paint and led in bench scoring 30-8.

Baba Miller had 18 points, five assists and 12 rebounds, Maya’s Vokietaitis had 10 points, Tandy led all scorers with 19 points, while Tre Carroll had 17 points and 11 rebounds.

When the game was over, Jakus was really delighted with the way the team played all-season. I finally had a chance to ask the first year coach several questions as you’re going to see in the videos included in the story.

After the press conference, we finally had our formal introduction and took photos. When I was leaving the building, we took another photo and talked. I told him something he already knew, have a good conference tournament and the post-season awaits you. He appreciated this comments and we took another photo on the court.

I told him that he’s the fourth FAU Coach I’ve worked with. The others were Rex Walters, Mike Jarvis and May. He told me, “I hope that I’m the last.”

I hope so because Jakus can now settle into his surroundings and continue to build the program the way he wants to. For a guy that has worked at mid-major programs, there is no question that Athletic Director Brian White got this hire right.

I’ll be interested to see what goes on from here and you can be rest assured that it won’t take me until the last game of the season to see John Jakus and his Owls going forward. I was amazed by the energy at “The Burrow” on Sunday and it was a pretty decent crowd. 

Now, the Owls begin AAC Tournament play on Thursday so we’ll see what’s in store with the squad in the next few days.

Meanwhile, he knows that our conversation is far from over as we mentioned him coming on the Motor City Mad Mouth Show so we’ll be able to promote the FAU Program nationally. He said he was looking forward to coming on.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at southfloridatribune@gmail.com and you can find him on Twitter/X @TribuneSouth.

To see all of his shows, you can subscribe to the South Florida Tribune You Tube Channel.

Finally, he wrote a book, “ Lessons From The Microphone,” which can be purchased on Amazon/Kindle and Barnes & Noble.

Motor City Mad Mouth Insights: Iconic Performers

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

In my lifetime, I’ve been fortunate enough to meet many iconic performers and witnessed many others.

On last night’s edition of the Sports Exchange with Myself, JB Ellis, Pensman Sports, Candy Ebling and George Eichorn, the opportunity to do a show with a pair in the headline was too good to pass up.

I titled the Show “Paying Tribute to Gene Hackman and Al Trautwig” and I told my co-hosts this would be a loaded episode. I knew Ellis was leaving for Japan on Sunday to watch MLB in Tokyo so it was necessary to have him on this episode.

We talked about Bill Laimbeer believing LeBron James could play in the 1980’s, the most points by a Canadian player is 55 by Jamal Murray of the Denver Nuggets against the Portland Trail Blazers, Vlad Goldin of Michigan proposing to his girlfriend at Crisler Center in Ann Arbor after a loss to Michigan State, in addition to discussing Matthew Stafford staying with the LA Rams. 

I also interviewed current and soon to be former Philadelphia Eagle Darius Slay Jr. about returning to the Detroit Lions. We also had our parting shots. 

The chat room was active as each individual talked about the movies that Hackman participated in and many remembered Trautwig’s accomplishments. As usual, Ebling did her research about both individuals and that continued the momentum in the chatroom along with the dialogue with the crew.

This is a must watch video that we’re inserting in this story. 

I’ll say this, Hackman will always be remembered in my eyes for his role in the movie “Hoosiers” because  the two quotes that stand out include: “When it comes to this basketball team what I say is the law, absolutely and without discussion.” I use that line a lot in my dealings with people. Another quote, “Let’s see what hand I’ve been dealt.” How many of us can relate to that? All I know is that I’ve watched Hoosiers a lot, too many times to count and it never gets old! 

If you’re a student of life, then watch the movie! 

Hackman died at the age of 95 and while his passing is still under investigation in Santa Fe, NM, his memory is engrossed into my head. 

Rest in peace, Gene, you’re never going to be forgotten.

As for Trautwig, he won numerous awards in New York, worked for MSG for 30 years, covered the New York Yankees, Knicks and the Rangers. 

I remember him early in his career when he was working with the Dan Kelly Sr and Gary Green on the USA Network covering NHL Hockey. 

He covered Tennis, the Olympics and every sport imaginable. Candy Ebling did an outstanding job going over his background. 

His impact in New York Media can be spoken in the same sentence as Kenny and Marv Albert, Sam Rosen, Walt Frazier and he’s worked with the legendary Jim McKay. Trautwig also covered the Indianapolis 500. Unfortunately, he passed away at age 68 due to Cancer.

When you’re in the entertainment business, your voice and performances live on. There was way no way that I could do a show without including both of those individuals.

Earlier this year, I had the opportunity to do an interview with Kenny Albert. 

We’ve been friends for years dating back to meeting at the NHL All-Star Game in Tampa and reconnected at the NSMA Awards Convention last summer in Greensboro, FL. 

We’re both authors and when I approached him about coming on the Motor City Mad Mouth, he quickly accepted and after a couple of months texting, we got it done in January. 

As I battle Alzheimer’s Disease and realize that now I’m confronted with an illness that’s fatal, I’m embracing every opportunity that comes my way and taking full of each situation to the max. My You Tube Channel is something I take full pride in so my family and friends will always appreciate my memory, especially my wife Candy.

We had an incredible run at Super Bowl 59 in New Orleans amassing over 30 videos.

To add last night’s Sports Exchange and talk about Hackman, Trautwig and even mention Kenny Albert, is another thing that I’m fortunate to have the opportunity to do. 

I couldn’t have had a better crew to enjoy the 1:10:13 to acknowledge these people along with the topics that were addressed.

RIP Gene Hackman and Al Trautwig and thanks to your legacies we all had the opportunity to celebrate you on March 5, 2025 on the Sports Exchange.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at southfloridatribune@gmail.com and he can be reached on Twitter/X @TribuneSouth.

To see his broadcasts, there is no cost to subscribe to the South Florida Tribune Channel on You Tube.

Lastly, he wrote a book, “Lessons From The Microphone” Tuning into the Enduring Wisdom of Visionary Leaders and you can purchase on Amazon or Barnes in Noble. The link is also available on The South Florida Tribune Website.