Changes are happening in east Tennessee

News came down about a month ago that Ryne Sandberg has moved on to greener pastures. He's moving up to the Cub's AAA team, the Iowa Cubs.

According to the Knoxville News Sentinel, Bill Dancy has been selected to replace him. Dancy was the Phillies' third-base coach and has been managing minor league teams for a few seasons.

Dennis Lewallyn, former Dodger, Ranger and Indian, will return as the pitching coach for the Smokies.

In another sport, it was announced today that Blount County (that is the county next to mine) will be getting a team for the National Pro Fastpitch League (women's softball). One of the pitchers for the team? Cat Osterman. They will play a three month schedule starting in May.

So, what does this mean, card-wise? Well, as far as I can tell, Bill Dancy never had any US made professional cards issued. A few Venezuelan sticker cards and a handful of minor league cards. Dennis Lewallyn only had one card issued by Topps. He is wearing an Indians' uniform. And it seems that everyone knows about the 2009 Allen & Ginter Cat Osterman, mainly because it was so difficult for them to obtain her autograph.


What? You'd rather see a picture of a 58 year old manager that has won 1,518 games? Okay. Here's two.

Happier now? I'm not. It was also announced today that the University of Tennessee's Tyler Smith (basketball) has been dismissed from the team. It seems that he and three other teammates were arrested on firearm and drug related charges.

Towards the end of August last year, I met Tyler Smith at a charity event. He seemed like a very nice guy. I'm sure that he is and I hope that he can learn from his current situation and move on with his life.