Back in 2015, Lawrence Nesselrodt went into the Davis and Elkins Hall of Fame and it brought back a great line from comedian George Lopez.
” Oprah Winfrey made $180 Million last year ( back then)”, Lopez said with his famous rolling of his eyes 👀. ” Oprah, take a knee Sister, you are just running up the score.”
I made the drive over that Saturday evening and was thinking the same thing in regards to Ness and his one for the thumb, enough already. Just kidding though, as I could not be happier that the School he graduated from back in 1983 was finally able to salute his career in Baseball.
https://goldenbearathletics.com/staff-directory/lawrence-nesselrodt/23
You can check out the link above to see the complete list of Hall of Fames, plus his Bio shows his accomplishments that took place during his stay in the Valley Baseball League.
Laurel Fork’s Rick Nester snuck through the process and managed to trim the deficit to 5-1 by getting yours truly inducted to the Carroll County High School Hall of Fame last year.
I hear that Rick Nester still has people that won’t speak to him because of his nomination and he was banned from attending the ceremony that night on The Hill. It was okay that Rick wasn’t in the building but sadly it kept his Bride away too.
The Valley Baseball League is where we first met and we were both involved in some pretty serious runs 🏃♂️. Ness inside the chalk, mine in the promotional area.
When the late Bruce Alger was still with us, the two of us would hang around Rebel Park before and after games and discuss our plans for running the league as President and Vice President.
The Ultimate Tip of the Cap to New Market’s Mr. Bruce Alger.
The link above is something I wrote about Bruce Alger, the morning he passed away.
The beautiful thing about the life of Bruce Alger is that he made it to the Top of the Mountain ⛰ and served as the Man in charge of the VBL.
For the twelve years that I was part of the VBL, I didn’t hide from the fact that I was qualified to run the league. This came from taking the time to experience EVERY aspect of the league.
● Four years of working alongside Alger in New Market, including the Webcasts.
● Minority owner of the Luray Wranglers during their dominant run in 2008.
● Creating the Around the Valley Blog for the sole purpose of getting the league 24/7 positive coverage.
● Creating the Awesome Loop called Around the Valley in 60 Days. Pretty proud of that one
● One year of coverage from the position of Sports Editor for a weekly Newspaper 📰 inside the only County where three teams reside ( Shenandoah County)
● Six years of nightly coverage as a writer for the Northern Virginia Daily
● 2009 season in Waynesboro, were I acted as a filler until we could get new members of the Community to own the team and I believe that 16 years later it still exists.
● Host Family 👪 a number of years, for the Luray Wranglers. To not do that part, would prevent you from understanding how vital it is.
● Meal Provider on multiple occasions, once again, a huge part of the process.
● Getting Chris and Crystal Graham involved with the league. This relationship lasted a long time and at one point, they were behind three teams Websites.
● Brokering the deal when the owner of the Fauquier Gators passed away suddenly and the team needed a new home. Getting my Hero and Friend, Jay Neal into the VBL and being the person responsible for putting the team in Strasburg makes me smile. Everytime they Win the Championship, the smile gets brighter.
Getting to exchange messages and stories with Ness for the past 20 years has been a Blessing. We both love 💘 the game, just from different angles.
Ness is the one that empathizes, Leave It Better Than You Found It. We both accomplished that with regards to the VBL.
A.S.P.N on The Hill 