Taylor helps son, Fike at the same time

Rick Taylor could do about anything he wanted this summer.

Take a family vacation, hopscotch across the country with his good buddy, ESPN baseball analyst Rick Sutcliffe, or sit back and enjoy the good life on the waters of Lakewood.

Instead, he chose to start the first Junior American Legion team in the area. Taylor, whose oldest son Ross was a poster boy for all the good things about American Legion Baseball while he played for Blue Springs Post 499/Fike, knew his younger son Logan (everyone calls him Mowgs) was looking for a summer league team.

“Mowgs knew how much Ross loved playing Legion ball and he wanted to do the same thing,” Taylor said, “but he’s too young.”

So Taylor talked to some of the area baseball men he admired, like Blue Springs Rod’s Sports Athletics coach Jack Gillis and Blue Springs Post 499/Fike manager Jim Moran, and they told him the area needed a Junior Legion team for the age 15-16 players.

“I heard there was an Eastern Jackson County/Sonic Drive-In Baseball League – and anything Sonic is involved in, you know it’s going to be top-rate and first class,” Taylor said. “Bill Wrisinger was involved, and that was all I needed to hear.”

The Blue Springs Post 499/Fike Junior Legion team was formed, Taylor signed on as coach and Mowgs is one of his top players.

“It all came together real easy,” Taylor said. “We’re a feeder program for Jim Moran’s Fike team, and I think some of the other Legion coaches are talking about getting something similar going.

“I’m coaching with a great guy named Steve Workman, and we’re having a blast. The kids are getting to play against great competition and no one’s going broke doing it.”

When Mowgs’ summer league team broke up after last season, Taylor and his youngest son wondered what might happen.

“We just put it in the Lord’s hands, and this happened,” Taylor said, beaming from ear to ear. “We were 3-1 in our first tournament and I’m hearing a lot of good things about the kids and the competition they’re playing.

“We play out at Hidden Valley Park and Crysler Stadium. Can it get any better than that?”

n After Blue Springs High School graduate Bubby Williams signed a pro contract with the Houston Astros, who selected the junior college All-American catcher in the 11th round of the Major League Baseball Amateur Draft Wednesday, he and his family and Astros scout Jim Stevenson celebrated at Tim’s Pizza.

“I only wish every kid could experience what Bubby experienced after he signed,” said Tim Pace, Tim’s owner. “I remember when he used to come in here after Blue Springs baseball games, and he was always one of my favorite kids.

“To see him and his family after he signed just made me smile. I’d had a long, rotten day and they made it a day I’ll never forget. What an honor to have them come here to celebrate.”

n Bubby’s mother, Toni, and father, David, needed some help on draft day. They had no idea what type of money their son should expect from the Astros and it was easy to see that they were stressing out.

I left a message for Rick Sutcliffe, who was doing the Yankees-Red Sox game at Fenway Park for ESPN, and asked if he could help out the Williams family.

I wasn’t even sure if he got the message, but Rick Taylor assured me Sutcliffe would get the message and that he would do his best to give the family some guidelines.

“We got a call from a Mr. Axelrod,” Toni Williams said. “And he was so helpful, just a wonderful man.”

She was referring to super agent Barry Axelrod, who’s the agent for Sutcliffe, future Hall of  Famers and former Houston Astros sluggers Craig Biggio and Jeff Bagwell, television star Mark Harmon and Olympic skater Michelle Kwan.

“Barry told me he had a nice talk with the Williamses and that they were a great family,” Sutcliffe told me in a rushed call from the airport. “You know, the Astros equipment guy has been there forever, and he used to be the Dodgers equipment guy when I was a rookie with the Dodgers.

“We’re going to make sure Bubby is taken care of at spring training.”

Sutcliffe didn’t have to go out of his way to help a family he didn’t even know, but that’s the reason the guy is so great. I can’t think of many guys who would call their agent, ask him to call a scared kid who is about to sign the biggest deal of his life, and walk him and his family through the process.