280 Living
March 2014March | Volume2014 7 | Issue 7 • A1
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Dahl In David Dahl’s rocky start in the minor leagues has helped him to refocus on what really matters
In Orem, Utah, it’s Giveaway Day at Brent Brown Ballpark. There is a lone heckler in the outfield who’s been giving him fits across nine innings. He’s 1 for 3 with a pair of strikeouts and a sac fly. It’s 9:37 p.m. and the stadium lights are blurred through his sweat-stung eyes. After a 3-2 win, he jogs in to the damp infield grass and shakes hands with the full roster of the Orem Owlz, an L.A. Angels affiliate. He retires into the bowels of the stadium, showers, eats a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and packs his stuff. The coaches assemble for a meeting, and everyone loads the bus. It is 12:19 a.m. when the bus coughs out of the parking lot. His sleep is fitful through the dark night of eastern Utah. He arrives in Grand Junction, Colo. at 4:04 a.m. He groggily tosses his equipment into his unadorned locker, drives to his host family’s house and crawls in bed. He wakes at 3 p.m. He has a home game tonight against the Idaho Falls Chukars, and tonight is not the time to have another two-strikeout night.
Not only is Shamfest returning in 2014, the new owners of The Red Shamrock Pub expect it to be a bigger event than last year. Find out what’s new — and who’s playing — at the Mt Laurel St. Patrick’s Day celebration on page B9.
Staying humble
After signing with the Colorado Rockies Major League Baseball Organization, Oak Mountain’s David Dahl batted .379 in the Rockies’ Pioneer League affiliate at Grand Junction, Colo. Photo courtesy of the Grand Junction Rockies.
By AL BLANTON Spain Park’s Austin Wiley is only a freshman, but he’s getting serious attention from college recruiters. Thankfully, he has parents with experience navigating those waters. For more, see page B1.
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Such is the life of Oak Mountain’s David Dahl. He’s like many other hopefuls scattered throughout America, lacing up his cleats in small stadiums that have a penchant for
crushing dreams. Dahl’s life has led him to this bittersweet abyss — the world of the minor leagues — where paltry salaries, overlong bus rides and ballpark franks are the orders of the day. Dahl played high school ball at Oak Mountain High School and
was drafted in the first round of the 2012 MLB draft by the Colorado Rockies. The Rockies’ newest centerfield prospect was shipped to Grand Junction, Colo. in June of that year to the Pioneer League, an eight-team “Rookie League” in the sprawling, high-aired Northwest.
“Playing in Grand Junction was great,” Dahl said. “The state of Colorado is awesome, and Grand Junction was an amazing city.” In front of 12,000 fans and a mascot named Corky Coyote, Dahl was
See DAHL | page A23
Worth the drive Heardmont Meals on Wheels seeks to expand daily deliveries
Pre-Sort Standard U.S. Postage PAID Birmingham, AL Permit #656
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By JEFF THOMPSON Before Monty Simmons could knock, Richard Barth opened the door to reveal his quiet apartment. Barth’s wife, Norma, sat motionless in the chair behind him, facing away as he reached for his lunch, two vacuum-sealed plastic trays and two plastic bags of bread and milk. At more than 90 years old,
Barth’s thick glasses sank on his nose and his stature matched his voice, short and thin but crisp all the while. Barth was a U.S. Army man. In World War II he was a member of the LCM unit, a land-based operation that spent more time in the water than some members of the U.S. Navy, he said.
See MEALS | page A22
Meals on Wheels volunteer driver Monty Simmons, right, brings Peggy Shoemaker a meal. Shoemaker can no longer drive, and she said the $2 meal from the program is often the only thing she eats in a day. Photo by Jeff Thompson.