A Grip on Sports: One story can trigger another, even though the second is kind of embarrassing and from long ago

A GRIP ON SPORTS • The Ides of June hold something the more famous ones of March do not. If you answered a worse publicist, there would be no argument here. But our point is simpler. Today holds a deadline that happens four times a year, though only self-employed or retired folks – hey, it’s weird but I can check off both of those boxes – know what it is.

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• Yep, it’s Tax Day. Time to send a check to D.C. – North Carolina, actually – to help fund another MMA extravaganza. Or something. Always willing to do my part to keep the government running at its peak efficiency. Or something.

Hey, the check is in the mail. Or soon will be.

What does that have to do with sports, as the name of this column demands? Return on investment comes to mind. A small-business owner. Nepotism. A misunderstanding. Baseball. And a story from my past. All of that. More even.

A story on The Athletic website this morning – it covers the long history of MLB clubs drafting friends and family members in late rounds – triggered a memory from more than 50 years ago. An embarrassing memory, as are many of those that stick around that long.

Embarrassing for me, certainly. And for my dad, though he never knew. Thank goodness.

As longtime readers might recall, in the 1970s, my dad worked in the then-powerful newspaper industry. For the then-powerful Los Angeles Times. Sort of. He was what the Times’ folks called a “dealer,” a franchise-like person who was responsible for ensuring the 500-page Sunday paper (and every other day as well) arrived in the customers’ driveways. It was a complicated deal invented early in the 20th Century that (like college sports these days) finally ran afoul of anti-trust violations and (unlike college sports) disappeared. But (like college sports) it was in full bloom in the ’70s.

My dad’s coverage area? My hometown of Sierra Madre and parts of Pasadena, Arcadia and Monrovia. Places that held a few of the somewhat rich and somewhat famous. Included in that area lived one Ben Wade, then director of Dodger scouting, a longtime acquaintance of my dad’s.

He had three sons. At some point, as the family story goes, Wade asked my dad if he could supply them work. My dad said yes. With the typical Sicilian caveat of a quid pro quo down the line. As my dad saw it, a verbal agreement was struck.

In 1974 Vince Grippi graduated high school. The quo part came due. My dad wanted the Dodgers to draft his son in a late round – think Mike Piazza without any of the ability – though with the understanding no contract would be offered. Dad said he was told it would happen. Told it did happen. And he shared the good news with his son.

Remember, there was no interweb or tweets or cell towers in those days. No transparency from baseball either. The draft was held in June and the names were not released for months. Most picks and signings were shared in a time-honored tradition. Word of mouth.

Which is what I did, telling folks I was drafted in one of the last rounds. Though I must admit I wasn’t 100% sure it really happened.

It didn’t.

I didn’t confirm my suspicions until I was working in the newspaper business myself in the early 1980s. As a sports writer. And came upon a publication on an Orange County Register bookshelf that contained all the names of all the players drafted in 1974 – something anyone can access these days with a click or two. Anyhow, back then I flipped through the pages and realized my name wasn’t among the 687 listed.

There were Southern California high school guys I played against or were well aware of, such as Garry Templeton, Lance Parrish, Ron Roenicke and Michael Brown. And guys I would come to know (and catch) later, including Gary Wheelock and Bill Caudill. And players you might know, among them Marv Chamberlain, Lenn Sakata, Bump Wills, Dave Whiteaker and Rick Sweet.

Vince Grippi? Nope. No matter what my dad thought. And probably told folks.

Did I share the truth with him? Why? Even when Ben Wade died in 2002 and dad’s first mention of the news over the phone included his memory of the arrangement, I let it slide. It was important to him. Which made it important to me.

Did he go to his grave believing it? I don’t know. By then, it would not have been hard for anyone to call him on it. And correct him. Not sure anyone did. He didn’t mention it to me. That would have meant someone of his generation, a generation whose word was always a bond, had not followed through. 

And that would have been tough to admit. Tougher even than paying his taxes. Which he did four times a year.

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WSU: Back to modern day. Jon Wilner has a column on the S-R site today outlining the big events happening in college sports this week. There are a few. … Elsewhere in the (current, old and future) Pac-12 and the nation, one of the issues Wilner points out is the Texas Tech situation. Even Deion Sanders has weighed in about it. … Speaking of Colorado, the Buffs, Utah, Arizona State and Colorado State show today that football recruiting never stops. Even if it slows a bit. … The Sun Devils found out their best baseball player will return next season. 

Gonzaga: The Zag men seemed to be a bit bereft in one spot on next season’s roster. The guard position. More precisely, someone to serve as point guard Mario Saint-Supery’s backup. That gap seems to have been filled with the news Juwan Ekanga-Ehawa, a 6-foot-6 combo guard from France, will join this fall. Theo Lawson has all the details in this story.

Mariners: More injuries? Yep. The snakebit M’s were bit again Sunday, and not just by the host Nationals in a 10-1 decision. Josh Naylor and Andrés Muñoz left early due to a bruised leg and a sore back, respectively. Not good. … J.P. Crawford (and Cal Raleigh) should be back Tuesday when the M’s welcome the Orioles for a rematch of their recent series. Will Crawford be playing third base or shortstop?

Indians: The Northwest League’s first-half standings have been dominated by the Eugene Emeralds, who clinched the title a while ago. But the last few days, the Indians have slapped them around a bit, including a 4-2 victory Sunday that gave Spokane a 4-2 series win. Dave Nichols has more in this story.

NHL: The Hurricanes last won the Stanley Cup 20 years ago. OK, it is less than half the Knicks’ drought but in the hockey hotbed of North Carolina, it probably felt decades and decades longer. Just kidding. All droughts feel long, right Seahawk fans? Carolina dominated Las Vegas 3-0 on Sunday night and finished up a dominating 16-3 run through this year’s playoffs.

Seahawks: Nick Emmanwori may just be the NFL’s most versatile player.

World Cup: Seattle hosts its first match today. The nation using Gonzaga University as its base – Egypt – will try to earn its first-ever Cup win against the nation using the Sounders’ headquarters as theirs – Belgium. The Lumen Field match begins at noon on Fox. … It’s a homecoming of sorts for one of Belgium’s players. … How each nation picked its headquarters is an interesting story.

NBA: John Canzano posits in his latest column the addition of Worldwide Wes – William Wesley – to the Knicks’ front office might have been the franchise’s most-important move in winning a title.   

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• Ever have a meticulously crafted list of chores that just have to be finished on a certain day? And the list is tossed away because it came in conflict with another list held by someone else in the house? Me neither. Sunday wasn’t like that at all. Though the list we shared yesterday of chores that needed doing quite possibly could be pasted here again this morning. Oh well, at least I was able to nap. Until later …