Round part of McCoy history
• The sports department recently received a typed letter from a gentleman from San Diego named Wendell Round, who shared that his brother Spencer (Spinny) Round passed away in July at the age of 91.
For those around these parts who remember McCoy Stadium before it became synonymous with minor-league baseball, Spencer’s story, as told by Wendell, figures to rekindle memories of a forgotten era.
According to Wendell Round, Spencer was on the mound at McCoy for many Pawtucket High School victories during the 1943 and 1944 seasons. The first baseball game ever played at the venerable Columbus Avenue ballpark occurred in April 1943 with “Spinny” toeing the rubber.
After graduating from high school in 1944, Spencer Round signed a contract with the St. Louis Cardinals. His pro baseball aspirations came to a grinding halt when he cut off the tip of his middle finger on his pitching hand in a dairy bottle accident.
Instead of reporting to spring training, Round embarked on a 22year Navy career.
A photo of the 1943 Pawtucket High squad was enclosed with the letter. The bat boy on that team was none other than Chet Nichols, who has a field named after him in Lincoln.
It would appear the Round brothers had the market cornered when it came to Pawtucket high school sports. Now 86, Wendell Round pitched and played left field for Pawtucket East (1949-50). He was All-Blackstone Valley left field in 1950. Older brother Merrill (now 94) was on the 1939-40 Pawtucket High swim teams.
Spencer did save his Pawtucket Times writeups but Wendell says all have been lost. Hopefully, “Spinny” is getting the paper delivered to heaven so he can see the latest blurb about him.
Thanks for sending this along, Wendell.
• North Smithfield native Makenzie Anderson has appeared in eight games (one start) as a freshman this fall on the women’s soccer team at Eastern Connecticut State University. A defender, Anderson is part of a Warriors squad that to date is 5-2 with all five wins via shutout.
• Another local product making an impact on the college soccer field as a freshman is Lincoln’s Camryn Thompson. She has now scored in four straight games and on the season has six goals and two assists for Stonehill College. Thompson earned Northeast-10 Rookie of the Week kudos back on Sept. 10.
• It was a bit chaotic inside Worcester City Hall after Monday’s news regarding the PawSox was etched in stone. People wanted to sip their Polar beverages and rejoice at the prospect of Triple-A ball officially entering the city’s fold in 2021. Amidst the celebration that centered around a Red Sox affiliate changing its address, it was nice to hear some folks wax nostalgic about the good old days.
“It’s a hard day. I came through the (Boston) system and had Ben Mondor as an owner when I played in Pawtucket. He was the greatest owner I ever played for. He treated everyone like they were his sons,” said Steve Lyons, former big leaguer and current NESN broadcaster/analyst. “That Pawtucket community supported us and it’s really bittersweet for them. Everyone is feeling victorious in Worcester, but I’ll always cherish my time in Pawtucket.”
For reference, Lyons played on Pawtucket’s 1984 Governors’ Cup winner and also appeared in games for the PawSox in 1992-93.
• Here’s another bit of “thanks for the memories” regarding departed PawSox manager Kevin Boles. This time, we turned to Rich Gedman, who spent the past four seasons as Pawtucket’s hitting coach under Boles.
“He was the guy who made it happen. Behind the scenes, he put out the fires and did everything to make the team run well. He always had the organization first in his mind,” said Gedman, speaking after catching a ceremonial first pitch from former Red Sox standout Pedro Martinez in Worcester on Monday. “All the accolades you can say about an individual … Bolesy was solid as a rock. He’s the type of guy you need in that type of setting. He got pulled and tugged in every direction but he always kept his wits about him.
“He had a great connection with the coaching staff and understood the players as far as what they were going through and what they needed to go through in order to get to the big leagues,” added Gedman, who’ll experience the coaching version of a September call-up this coming Monday when he joins the Red Sox at Fenway Park and remains with the club for the final week of the regular season.
“He’s going to be missed in the organization. It’s a shame, but sometimes things happen where you have to move on. Bolesy will land on his feet and he’ll do right by some club well. Someday we’ll be watching him on TV going, ‘Gosh, I always knew he was going to be a big-league manager.’”
• In the wake of the Josh Gordon he’s-here-but-I’m-not-ready-totalk-about-yet-him saga, you can’t help but wonder whether Bill Belichick upon leaving Gillette Stadium for the night thinks to himself the following, “Man, I really pulled the wool over the media’s eyes again. In general I don’t say anything of substance to them, but even when we announce we’ve traded for a player, I still play coy. On to Cincinnati.”
• Someone hand the town of North Smithfield a spatula to remove the egg off their faces after the Nike/Colin Kaepernick flap.
• Voted in last week’s R.I. primary. Have to be honest, the list of candidates to pick from reminded me of a PawSox lineup from the past few seasons – short on power options and long on those hovering around the Mendoza Line.