Hurricane makes it to The Show and brings home a special guest

UMSportsHall of Fame:

Warren Bogle was one of Coach Ron Fraser's most durable and consistent pitchers in the early years of the Miami Baseball Program. Back before Hurricane Baseball was THE place to be in South Florida, he helped lay the groundwork for the building of Mark Light Stadium and the glory years to come. The Lyndhurst, New Jersey native set standards for future players to reach, and was described by Coach Fraser as one of the most selfless and competitive team players of all time for UM Baseball.

In his two seasons at Miami, "Bog", as he was known to his teammates, would lead the team in victories and innings pitched each year. His 9 complete games in 1966 was a then-school record. His earned run average that year was 2.52. His 15 career complete games still ranks 6th on the list. He struck out 242 opponents in 191 career innings for an average of 11.4 strikeouts per nine innings...a record that stands today. Bogle struck out a then-school record 128 batters in 1966, back when UM played fewer than 40 games. He recorded 17 strikeouts against Rollins College on May 6, 1966. Ever the tough competitor, and back before designated hitters, Bogle hit for himself and had a career .329 average and .523 slugging percentage. In 1967, he led the team, slugging .620.

Drafted in the fourth round (73rd overall) of the 1967 Major League Baseball Secondary draft by the then Kansas City (now Oakland) Athletics, Bogle made his major league debut in Yankee Stadium on July 31, 1968, becoming the FIRST Miami Hurricane baseball player to do so. He lasted 4 2/3 innings, striking out seven and allowing a single to outfielder Mickey Mantle. "At least, I kept him in the ballpark," said Bogle.

The 21 year old youngster appeared in 16 major league games. He fanned 26 batters in 23 innings, walked eight, allowed 11 earned runs, 4.30 era, one balk, and no decisions. Bogle batted five times, striking out against tough lefthanders(Steve Barber, Dave McNally, Mike Cuellar, Tommy John and Sam McDowell). He gave up the first major league home run to outfielder Merv Rettenmund of the Baltimore Orioles in an extra innings loss. Rettenmund sent the Orioles' ball boy to the Athletics locker room to have the ball signed by Bogle. After telling the kid to get lost, A's catcher Jim Pagliaroni told Warren that "this ain't high school. Sign the damn ball."

The 1968 Athletics featured four future hall of famers: Reggie Jackson, Rollie Fingers, Catfish Hunter and Tony La Russa. The team also included young stars, Bert Campaneris, Joe Rudi, Sal Bando, Rick Monday and Blue Moon Odom. The hitting instructor was former New York Yankees centerfielder, Joe DiMaggio.

Warren had only one brief conversation with Joe DiMaggio. After informing the former Yankee legend that his mother was Italian, they made plans for a postgame meal in Lyndhurst. Sal Bando, Joe Rudi and Tony La Russa tagged along.

There was never any mention of hitting streaks, Marilyn Monroe or who's the greatest outfielder. The topic was Italian Food Forever – Those who eat well, eat Italian. Mrs. Bogle won MVP.

A torn tendon in the pitching arm ended the brief career of lefthander, Warren Bogle. Following a stint in the minors in Iowa City in 1969, Oakland A's pitching coach Sherm Lollar told Bogle "that he should return to the University of Miami and finish his degree."

The best day was pitching in Yankee Stadium in front of two busloads of folks from Lyndhurst. The best night was when the Yankee Clipper came for dinner.


Paul Murphy

Follow me on Twitter at @_prmurphy

Trot Nixon used all 24 hours on 9/11

Trot Nixon, then an outfielder with the Boston Red Sox, was in Florida where the team was to play the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. But Nixon had made the team aware that he might at a moment's notice to attend the birth of his child. He received the call he was waiting for from his wife in Boston at 6 a.m. on Sept. 11. He got on a 7:05 a.m. flight to Boston. But he wasn't going to get back to Boston by air on this day.

The flight was forced to land in Norfolk, Va. He called his wife, Kathryn, to tell her that he would not be able to be on hand for the birth of their child, but be with her in labor. He did not think he could be completely specific about the tragedy that had disrupted travel.

The airline pilot came on the intercom and said we are going to have ground our flight in Norfolk, Virginia. There has been an unfortunate tragedy in New York. And he said the terrorist attacked. He didn't relinquish that it was two airplanes crashing into the towers.

"So the plane did a U-turn -- you know a quick turn -- and started heading back. Meanwhile, as I read stories this past year, a lot of the flight attendant and airline pilots were kind of not so much scared, but didn't know what to expect, didn't know if there was someone on our flight or not. None of the passengers paid any attention to it.

"Then Kathryn called me. I remember it was 1:32 p.m. and she told me we had a little baby boy, Chase," Nixon said. "I started crying. I am not afraid to cry. She put him up to the phone. He was screaming and yelling. It was awesome. Just to hear him was a relief. To know that Kathryn was fine and everything went well during the delivery, and the baby was healthy. He's got 10 fingers, 10 toes -- everything that you sit there and pray day in and day out that you have a healthy baby."

The one fortunate part of the story was that Nixon had family in the area. He recruited his mother, father and sister to drive with him to Boston. There were highway closings and related complications along the way, and Nixon had only two hours of sleep the previous night after traveling to Tampa. But Nixon got to Boston about 3 a.m. the next day, and he got to hold his newborn son. In the midst of a day of death and devastation, his family had been given the gift of life.

"We will not forget what happened that day," said Trot Nixon. "We will not forget the people -- the men and women who sacrificed their lives to save others, who where there working 24 hours a day, seven days a week since it happened. We will honor those people. But we are also going to treat it as a celebration of Chase's birthday."

Chase Nixon is now 15 years old. Let's hope he has the same fine career as his father, and famous relative, James "Catfish" Hunter. Catfish had a Hall of Fame career as a pitcher for the Oakland Athletics and New York Yankees. He died at 53 of ALS(Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis), known as Lou Gehrig's disease.

Paul Murphy

Follow me on Twitter at @_prmurphy