John Cangelosi is going to be inducted into the Appleton Baseball Hall of Fame.
An on-field ceremony is scheduled for 6:45 p.m., followed by a Midwest League game between the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers and the expansion Great Lakes Loons at 7:05 p.m.
Cangelosi played for the Midwest League champion Appleton Foxes in 1983, leading the team in hits, runs scored and stolen bases. His 87 steals remains an Appleton baseball record.
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Cangelosi also earned a World Series ring in 1997 as a member of the Florida Marlins.
Congratulations John!
I have actually seen a game at the Fox Cities Stadium and you're going to have to bear with my story since I'm the curator of FishStripes and can get away with this. Or the other option is to quit reading this post right now.
I was staying in Oshkosh, Wisconsin and drove to up to Green Bay to watch the Packers in spring training, or whatever football fans call it. Along the way I passed through the town of Appleton and after checking USA Today Baseball Weekly, back when it was called such, the publication mentioned that there would be a A-ball game in the town later that night. After spending, oh, thirty minutes in Green Bay, I really don't care about pro football, back to Appleton I went.
It was an old stadium with a family section that said: "No Drinking, No Swearing, No Smoking and No Spitting". I quickly concluded that wasn't the section for me. So I purchased a seat across the diamond from it.
Miss Appleton was present at the game complete with sash and tiara. A beautiful girl, who was signing autographs and posing for pictures. Naturally, I had my picture taken with the young beauty queen. Yes, I'm pathetic in that way. Miss Appleton was there to sing the National Anthem and after hearing her in full voice, I quickly came to the conclusion that singing couldn't have been her talent in the competition.
The crowd was late in arriving, but they did fill the stands, However, they all showed up wearing parkas and carrying blankets. I thought this was curious as I sat there in my shorts and t-shirt, and then the sun went down. By the third inning I was freezing to death, so I headed to concession stand and bought a "Property of the Appleton Foxes" sweatshirt, for about $80. Yeah, they saw me coming. To this day, it hangs proudly in my closet.
I guess the moral of the story is that if you plan on going to see John Cangelosi inducted into the Appleton Baseball Hall of Fame. You might want to consider taking some warm clothes with you. Or if you don't, take some cash cause the sweatshirts ain't cheap.