Flemingo Baseball Club Homepage

1995 Flemingo Roster

Flemingo Front Office

The Head Flemingo is Owner and Managing General Partner Jack Fleming. The "Managing General Partner" portion of the title is to give the illusion of a conglomerate - in fact Fleming runs the entire show himself. Fleming has diverse sporting interest and also owns the Bill's Off Broadway Football League Lemmings. Fleming has guided the Flemingos to the heights of SLUBA through some astute player drafts, clever trades, and a large portion of luck and then back to the depths with the same skills...

As a hobby he works in the business office of Swedish Medical Center in Seattle, "To help hone the fine business skills necessary to bring the Flemingos home in first place and in the black."

Some of Fleming's greatest achievements include purchasing Don Mattingly before the 1984 season (back when he was a nobody) for a mere $2 and drafting Vince Coleman during the 1984 SLUBA Minor League Draft (he was a minor league nobody then). On the minus side must be including the drafting of Brad "The Forever Prospect" Komminsk in the first round of the 1984 minor league draft, the signing of Wes Gardner of the Boston Red Sox to a contract in 1986 (he pitched a total of 1 inning all season) and the signing of Rob Nelson in 1987 ("Cuz he's going to play everyday - this McGwire kid will be lucky to see 200 at bats...").

Fleming was an original SLUBA Boss and named Second Commissioner For Life during the middle of the first SLUBA season. Accusations of conflict of interest in holding both a team ownership and the Commissioner's gavel do not phase Mr. Fleming in the least.

Assisting Fleming in the front office is Cal Callison, Director of Crowd Amusements. Cal has designed, organized and generally pulled off a variety of special nights. Opening Day with the traditional Pink Floyd rendition of the National Anthem, Pink Yard Flamingo Night, and Flamingo Baseball (when local Chamber of Commerce officials ride flamingos while playing the national pastime - later changed to pink colored Ostriches at the insistence of the ASPCA) are just a few of Cal's creations. Last year fans were entertained with Pink Beer Night (pink lemonade for the kids), Miami Vice Night (all Floridians bringing home shop tools admitted free), and Fright Night in the almost deserted Flemingo Condos in right field. Watch for Zoo Doo night when 5 pound bags of Zoo Doo Fertilizer will be given to each and every fan (this special recipe Zoo Doo has a high concentration of flamingo guano).

The Scouting and Player Development work for the team is handled ably by Walt "The Wizzer" Wizkey. Walt had a staff of one part- time scout working for him, Larry "No Relation To Jack" Fleming (East Coast Scout - based in Chattanooga) but Larry disappeared during a scouting trip to an un-named Southern League town in 1987.

Flemingo Coaching Staff

The Flemingos have been led on the field by two time SLUBA Manager of the year Zeeb Fink. Zeeb has worked his way up through the system after his baseball career was tragically ended after only three seasons with the Vinton, Iowa American Legion team. A crippling acne condition put an end to the dreams of this young warrior after he had amassed a 1-3 record with a sizzling 7.84 ERA in 8 starts. One can only wonder how far a great baseball mind like his would have gone had his career been a full one. Rumors were recently (again) flying around the league that Zeeb was on his way out as the Flemingos again did not win a championship. "No truth to those rumors whatsoever," commented owner Jack Fleming, "We think Zeeb is just the sort of manager we need. He has the experience, he can work with kids, and during the off-season he showed he really wants to be back by taking a Red Cross First Aid course to help handle our injured players."

When asked whether there was any truth to the rumor that Zeeb's salary had been slashed by as much as 50% after the repeated poor finishes by the club Fleming said, "We feel that salary negotiations are strictly between Zeeb and the Flemingos. you won't get numbers from me, but we do think a manager should be accountable for the results on the field."

Zeeb was located cleaning hubcaps at a popular Ballard Car Wash and during a break offered, "Yeah, I took a part-time job. The salary cut was a bit of a blow, but Betty and I are getting along. Betty has found some new recipes for Ramen noodles and Kraft macaroni and cheese. It isn't that bad, and after the season starts I'll get meal money on the road. I think we'll get by..."

Zeeb runs a tight ship with the Flemingos. Regulations include a dress code (distinctive Nehru jackets for coaches on all travel days), a total prohibition of wildly colored hair and "Punk Cuts", and a sanction against drinking anything but mixed drinks after games. Zeeb and his delightful wife Betty are popular with the players and often have the team over to their house for a barbecue and homemade ice cream. Betty was instrumental in the design of the first Flemingo uniforms. Unfortunately the team unanimously rejected the avant-garde design of pink pantaloons with white blouses. Betty was heartbroken, but like the trooper she is rebounded to become like a mother to many of the younger players.

Fink's batting instructor is Brian Giglio (a .237 hitter in two full seasons at Waterloo). He believes in an "If it ain't broke don't fix it" philosophy. With the Flemingos winning the Broken Bat Award (signifying the weakest hitting team in SLUBA) for the past two seasons, he may be due for a philosophy change. His main claim to fame was advising Orlando "Mr. Flemingo" Mercado that the best thing he could do for the Flemingos was to say as far from the plate as possible (so as not to damage the team's batting average...).

Cy "The Slingshot" Slaton (no previous baseball experience) is the pitching coach and has had a rather tempestuous career. During their first few seasons on the Flemingos were at the bottom of almost all the pitching stats.

Highlights of past seasons

Dwight Gooden cost the Flemingos the Playoff Yoo Hoo in 1991(?) when he pitched a relatively meaningless game on the last day of the season. Dwight gave up 7 runs in 4 innings and the Flemingos finished second. Had he NOT pitched at all - the statistics showed that the Flemingos would have won the playoffs...

Best and worst trades

Favorite players past and present

Historical anecdotes

Nickname

Big Pink Machine