Redbirds, 901 FC riding waves of momentum
Baseball GM Unger is focused on the future
The television cameras buzzed around the impromptu assembly line formed by Mike Conley, Marc Gasol and Chandler Parsons Monday afternoon at the Mid-South Food Bank during the Memphis Grizzlies’ annual preseason volunteer event. Conley checked the expiration date on each donation, Parsons used a laminated chart to determine where each can should go and then tossed soup, creamed corn, green beans and condensed milk, sometimes two and three at a time, over to Gasol, who put them in the appropriate crate. It was teammate JaMychal Green who then carried those full crates across the warehouse to cardboard boxes that would eventually be delivered to the less fortunate in our area. He was, once again, doing the heavy lifting while others got more of the credit, a metaphor that, for better or worse, defines his NBA career. “I like to stay out the limelight. I’m not big on the attention,” Green explained a few minutes later. “I’m just built on always doing the dirty work. I like to just be to myself. It’s just how I am.” But who is this 28-yearold from Montgomery, Alabama? Who really knows the player who replaced Zach Randolph in the Grizzlies’ starting lineup two years ago, who enters this NBA season with a top-five draft pick at his position and free agency looming?
Craig Unger will always remember this September.
Most recently, the president and general manager of the Memphis Redbirds rode the organization’s unprecedented wave of success all the way to the Triple-A national championship. Two weeks prior, Unger watched as the fruits of his — and many others’ — labor came to fruition when one of Memphis’ newest professional sports teams, Memphis 901 FC, unveiled its name and logo. The same day, a sold-out crowd of almost 9,000 filled AutoZone Park for a friendly between the Colorado Rapids and Tulsa Roughnecks.
Unger, also the president of the 901 FC, admitted he took some time to revel in the triumphs.
“There’s still a buzz about (901 FC),” he said. “I think the game on (Sept. 1) was a great coming out party for us. And we’ve had a great time celebrating that as well as the magical year (the Redbirds had). But we’ve already turned our focus to 2019. You’ve got to turn the page quickly and sort of refocus.”
Among the most pressing matters facing the Redbirds this offseason is whether two-time Pacific Coast
League Manager of the Year Stubby Clapp will be back. The job he’s done the two years he’s been in Memphis has been noticed by many. According to a recent report from USA TODAY's Bob Nightengale, multiple MLB teams have “strong interest” in Clapp as a potential managerial candidate.
Unger said Clapp is technically under contract with the St. Louis Cardinals.
“If you look at what Stubby has done here, I think it has been eyeopening,” he said. “I think if you tell someone, ‘You’ll have 62 different players over the course of a year,’ the job he’s done keeping those guys pulling in the same direction is special.
“I hope he’s back with us, in all sincerity.”
At the same time, Unger and others are feverishly making headway on the soccer side of the coin. Memphis 901 FC, which will compete in the USL Championship — American professional soccer's second-highest league — opens training camp Feb. 1, with regularseason play beginning the weekend of March 9.
Andrew Bell, 901 FC's sporting director, said the team is currently fleshing out its preseason schedule.
“We’ll have a series of scrimmages before the season starts,” he said. “And I’d like to do one proper game here inside (AutoZone Park). Ideally, it would be against an MLS team that is also going through its preseason. I’ve had some preliminary discussions with some folks around MLS soccer. But, we’ll see. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.
“But, certainly, we’ll be playing a series of college teams and maybe a couple of other professional teams as we prepare.”
Memphis 901 FC, which will be coached by Tim Mulqueen, has begun building its roster. Teams can carry as many as 27 players, but Bell said Memphis will likely not hit that limit.
USL teams play a total of 34 regular-season matches a year, half of which are played at home.
“The league is in the process of putting together our schedule and there’s no timetable for the release of it,” Unger said. “Sometime later this year would be my guess on it, though. But a lot of the games will be on Saturday nights.”
Early returns seem to indicate Memphis soccer fans’ excitement for the game and 901 FC remains as strong as it was just more than a month ago when 8,957 watched the Rapids beat the Roughnecks 3-2.
“I can tell you, we’re ahead of where we thought we’d be (in terms of ticket sales),” Bell said. “I spoke to the USL front office (recently) and apparently we’re ahead of every other startup team, and there are several. My hope is every Saturday we play at AutoZone Park, we’ll be sold out.”