The Asheville Tourists

The Asheville Tourists are my favorite Minor League team and I will start this journey through the Sally League with them. They Play at McCormick Field, which many (myself included) believe is the oldest continual ballfield in America.

For Years McCormick field had no fence and balls hit into the woods that surround the outfield were considered in fair play. This was stopped when the league president discovered that an overzealous equipment manager was placing balls in strategic locations in the bush that only the Tourist players knew about. OK.. so the Tourists have taken extreme measures to win, what would you expect from a field where the first recorded home run was hit by that Bastard Ty Cobb?

But the Tourists have also taken their lumps over the years. In 1966, a young Nolan Ryan showed up and faced 27 batters and struck out 27 batters. Ryan finished the 1966 season in the SALLY League with 272 strike outs, which is still the SAL strike out record today.

The fastest game in the history of baseball was played between the Tourists and the Spartenburg Phillies late in the season of 1978. Both teams were in the basement and it was the last game of the year. It was a cold, damp, miserable night, so both managers instructed their team to swing at everything. The game lasted less then an hour!

In the early 1970's, the Tourists were associated with Baltimore. The field manager was Cal Ripken Sr., who at times would let his 2 sons Billy and Cal Jr. don a uniform and perform as bat boys. Cal Jr. played his first Little League game with a Highland Lakes Team in the Buncombe County Little League.

Perhaps the greatest player the Tourists ever produced was Willie Stargell, whose long bombs from the 1961 season are still talked about today by the old timers who still attend the Tourist games.

The Tourists are owned by Peter "Woody" Kerns, a Doctor from Texas. The present GM is a dear friend of mine, Ron McKee, who has the distinction of being the longest serving GM for any individual team in all of baseball.

I had the pleasure of working for the Tourists and Ron for 4 years, and Ron always looked the other way on some of the outrageous practical jokes that I pulled on everyone from the security team to players and umpires... even fans, because Ron liked me and knew that I loved the game.

Many times Ron himself was the target of my practical jokes but I soon learned that Ron had a way of turning jokes aimed at him back at me, so I left him alone once I realized this.

I remember one time when I had brought a copy of a Jimmy Buffet tape to McCormick field. It was on a church day promotion which Ron had organized to fill the field with members of the local churches. Well after the gates opened, some damn fool intern decided to play "lets get drunk and screw". The church goers didn't particularly like the intern's choice in music and complained to Ron, who then went to the press box and broke the CD and terrorized the intern as only McKee can.

When I discovered what had happened I took it upon myself to send a certified letter to Ron on the stationary of a local law firm. In the letter I stated that this firm represented the interests of Jimmy Buffet in North Carolina and demanded that Ron cease and desist from destroying the artistic expressions of their client or the firm would be forced to send over 3 drunken secretaries to screw Ron's brains out... I thought it was all pretty funny til I discovered that Ron had scribbled across the buttom of the note "please send pictures of the secretaries to be involved" and had faxed the letter to the firm. I spent the next 2 months scared to death that the firm would sue me for the use of their stationary and the whole time I walked around the field scared, Ron would just smile.

The 4 years that I worked for the Tourists were a great experience for me. I met alot of wonderful people and had a blast. (If the truth be known I would have paid Ron to let me work there, instead of the other way around).

The Tourists are one of the best organizations in all of pro ball. If you ever have a chance to visit McCormick field, do so... there is not a bad seat in the house.

And if you see Ron McKee, ask him if he remembers Edna Frump, the head of Housekeeping at the Biltmore Hotel in California. He will smile and tell you about this guy who worked for him once...