Pete Walker was happy that the Boston Red Sox named Bobby Valentine their new manager earlier this week.
It wasn’t only because Valentine is the former manager of Walker, the Toronto Blue Jays bullpen coach who hails from the area and helps organize the World Baseball Coaches Convention. Valentine, a Stamford native, has been a mainstay of the convention and is expected to be on hand again this year.
The event will return to the Mohegan Sun Convention Center from Jan. 19-21. It will feature Valentine’s expected visit and a number of other national, regional and local coaches, players and specialists who will give advice about the game.
Walker organizes the event along with his brother, Andy, Roger LaFrancois, Rick Orluk and Paul Sturges. Pete Walker, a former major league pitcher and graduate of UConn and East Lyme High, recently took his position with the Blue Jays, but despite his new responsibilities, will be on hand for the convention.
“This is something we’ve grown together and it has become one of the premier coaches conventions in the country, and I look forward to doing this for years to come,” Pete Walker said.
Pete Walker hopes the same can be said for Valentine, who has been at six of the conventions over the years.
“It depends on his spring training schedule, but I’m fairly confident he will be there on Friday (Jan. 19),” Pete Walker said.
Pete Walker played under Valentine when he was with the New York Mets and before that in Triple-A ball.
“He’s the epitome of a player’s manager,” Pete Walker said, contradicting some other opinions that have been voiced in the media, “He held players accountable, but I enjoyed playing for him. He expects everybody to do what they have to do for the organization to experience success.”
Walker said Valentine congratulated him by email when the Blue Jays named Walker their bullpen coach, and Walker did the same when the Red Sox announced that Valentine would be their manager.
“I look forward to seeing him during the season,” Pete Walker said.
That will happen 18 times in 2012.
Other scheduled presenters include Kevin Long (New York Yankees hitting coach), Derek Johnson (Vanderbilt University associate head coach and pitching coach), Ralph Treuel (Red Sox minor league pitching coordinator), Sal Fasano (manager of the New Hampshire Fisher Cats of the Eastern League), Dana Cavalea (Yankees strength and conditioning director), Jim Penders (UConn head coach), Don Slaught (16-year major league veteran), Steve Trimper (University of Maine head coach), Buddy Biancalana (former major league player and coach), Roger Bidwell (UConn-Avery Point head coach), Craig Breslow (Oakland A’s relief pitcher), Mike Gambino (Boston College head coach), Gary LaRocque (St. Louis Cardinals special assistant to the general manager), Mark DeJohn (Cardinals field coordinator).
There will be some additional local presenters, including former Plainfield High baseball coach and Chatham A’s manager John Schiffner; Arizona Diamondbacks scout Todd Donovan, and current major leaguers John McDonald (Arizona) and Rajai Davis (Toronto).
“Johnny (McDonald) loves to present, loves giving back and is always well-received, and Rajai’s been there for the last three or four years and offers to help out at the drop of a hat,” Pete Walker said.
In all, about 1,000 coaches at all levels are expected to attend as well as numerous players and fans. About 80 exhibitors of baseball-related goods and services will also be on hand.
To register for the convention, visit baseballcoachesclinic.com
New inductee
Former Plainfield High standout and Moosup American Legion baseball coach Bill Carpenter received some welcome news just before Thanksgiving.
Carpenter was informed that he will be inducted into the Brandeis University Hall of Fame on March 31 at the Gosman Sports and Convocation Center in Waltham, Mass.
The 1981 graduate of the Waltham, Mass., school will be joined by four other former Brandeis athletes in this year’s class: Harold Warren Zinn (Class of 1961), Robert Nayer (1970), Geoff Getz (1999) and Maya Marx (2004). Also inducted in the contributor category will be Ruth Porter Bernstein (1957).
Carpenter excelled at Brandeis, breaking two records and tying another in his senior year. Carpenter batted .462 with 49 hits, which was then a program record. He also set a program record for RBIs with 38, and tied the record for most doubles in a season with 11. In his junior season, the shortstop set a program record with 100 assists.
In an article in the Boston Globe on May 20, 1981, then Brandeis coach Tommy O’Connell is quoted as saying that Carpenter was “one of the top four or five players to play for me” in the 10 years he had coached the Judges at the time. O’Connell added, “I went to see Carpenter play at Plainfield High a couple of times. He was good, but not great. But what I liked most about him was his determination and desire. He played to win every second.”
Carpenter finished his senior year at Plainfield batting .452 with 38 hits, four doubles, two triples and two homers with 29 RBIs. In the field, Carpenter made three errors with 47 assists. It was enough to get a look from O’Connell, who heard about Carpenter through the late George Dropo, Carpenter’s former roommate at UConn and a Plainfield assistant principal at the time.
Carpenter chose Brandeis over UConn and Eastern Connecticut State University. He hit .300 as a freshman for the Judges, .330 as a sophomore and .341 as a junior before batting .462 his senior year. Carpenter was a three-time Greater Boston League All-Star and was named Most Valuable Player in the league in 1981.
Danielson facelift
Trucks and bulldozers arrived on the Ellis Tech campus about a month ago, and the refurbishment of the Danielson school is underway.
Principal Brian Mignault said “they’re moving some dirt around” and “starting on a few parts of the building.”
One of the first projects is a new gymnasium. On wet winter and spring days, it is not uncommon to see teachers, custodians and administrators moving buckets around the gym floor to catch leaks from the roof. The current gym is in the center of the building, but it will be replaced by a new gym at the rear of the building near the tennis courts.
“The gym will be started shortly and should be ready by next year, that’s what we’ve been told but we all know how construction goes,” Mignault said.
Mignault said the plan is to not interrupt any of the school’s athletic offerings. Any work that has to be done near the baseball or softball fields or track will be completed prior to the spring. The school will use the old gym until the new gym is operational.
Outside, there are plans for bleachers to be added around the current football/soccer field, new fencing, lighting and a press box. Mignault expects the renovations to increase the school’s enrollment and with it the number of athletes.
“We’re adding a new shop, culinary arts, and we’re expanding our architectural technology, so just with that, we will be expanding our student enrollment,” Mignault said.
More athletes means Ellis Tech, which is part of the Quinebaug Valley football cooperative with Putnam and Tourtellotte, eventually might have to go it alone.
“There’s a two-year commitment to the co-op, then a two-year phase out, so automatically it’s a four-year process, but we have no plans at this point (to do that),” Mignault said. “We’re very happy with the co-op and with Putnam and Tourtellotte, so we hope to keep that relationship going as long as we can. If the numbers get too high, then we’ll have to look at (phasing out).”
Mignault said even if the cooperative remains, the new lights on the field will be used for night soccer games, and there’s nothing saying that the cooperative couldn’t split fields between Danielson and Putnam.
New point system
NASCAR’s regional touring series will be following the same point system the national series used this past season.
NASCAR made the announcement earlier this week and it will affect the Whelen Modified Tour, which makes stops at Stafford and Thompson Speedways on a regular basis. It will also visit the Waterford Speedbowl next year.
Race winners will be awarded 43 points, plus a three-point bonus for the win. Second place is now worth 42 points with the rest of the places separated by one-point increments. Drivers can also earn one point for leading a lap and another point for leading the most laps in a race, bringing the maximum number of possible points to 48.
“Implementing the simplified points system at the regional touring level will make the points structure consistent with the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, NASCAR Nationwide Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series,” NASCAR’s vice president for regional and touring series, George Silberman, said in a press release. “The change at the national level was welcomed in the industry this year and has provided a points system that is much easier for everyone to understand.”
Marc Allard is sports editor of The Bulletin. Contact him at (860) 425-4212 or mallard@norwichbulletin.com