Showing they belong
Taking Names and Keeping Score Charlie Anderson
When the players selected for the annual North - South All Star game were announced recently two players from this area were named to the South squad. Roya Campbell from Thomasville High School was named as an outside linebacker on the team and Nakia Dennis from Sweet Water High School was chosen as an offensive lineman.

For both young men it is an honor to be selected to participate in the game which recognizes some of the elite senior players across the state each year. For Dennis who signed a scholarship in the spring to continue his education and play football for the University of West Alabama it will serve as a platform where he can further demonstrate why the coaches at the Division II University located in Livingston, Alabama were so interested in his being a part of their program. For Campbell who has been included on a short list of players invited by the UAB coaching staff to walk on as the Blazers begin practice in the fall but who otherwise has basically been overlooked by recruiters, it is one more opportunity to sell himself as a football player who can be an asset to a program at the collegiate level.

Knowing the two young men as I do, I am certain both of them will be doing everything within their power to put their best foot forward in the game and represent themselves, their families, their schools and their communities in a way that would be pleasing to everyone. Although their circumstances may be a little different as far as their immediate future in football at the college level is concerned, playing in the allstar game with and against some of the best players across the state is a chance for both of them to prove they belong at the next level.

For all of us in this area who have enjoyed watching them play over the past three or four years it is one more opportunity to see them play and revel in their success. The All Star game is scheduled for Monday, July 18 on the campus of Alabama A & M University in Huntsville and will be a part of All - Star week. I am sure it would mean a lot to both of them to have as many people from this area attend the game as possible and I would encourage anyone who can work it into their busy summer schedule to do so.

Nicknames revealed

Now, as promised last week, here are the correct pairings of nicknames and the complete names of Major League Pitchers who were best known by them. Although I had several people, who in conversations over the weekend, indicated they could identify several of the pitchers by their nickname, I don't recall anyone taking credit for knowing all of them. If you did know them all, let me congratulate you on being one of the most knowledgeable authorities on baseball trivia around. However if you were like the rest of us let me just say I hope you enjoyed trying to match them as much as I did.

"Lefty" - Stephen Norman Carlton - Philadelphia Phillies

"Dizzy" - Jay Hanna Dean - St. Louis Cardinals

"Big Train" - Walter Perry Johnson - Washington Senators

"Hoot" - Robert "Bob" Gibson - St. Louis Cardinals

"Goose" - Richard Michael Gossage - New York Yankees

"Louisiana Lightning" - Ronald Ames Guidrey - New York Yankees

"The Meal Ticket" - Carl Owen Hubbell - New York Giants

"Schoolboy" - Waite Charles Hoyt - New York Giants

"Catfish" - James Augustus Hunter - Oakland Athletics - New York Yankees

"Big Six" - Christopher "Christy" Mathewson - New York Giants

"Iron Man" - Joseph Jerome McGinnity - New York Giants

"Knuksie" - Philip Henry Niekro - Atlanta Braves

"Little Potato" - Camilo Alberto Pascual - Minnesota Twins

"The Arkansas Hummingbird" - Lonnie Warneke - Chicago Cubs

"Superchief" - Allie Pierce Reynolds - New York Yankees

Until next time………….be safe!

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