Back Spin

It was January 1973 and I found myself sitting on the bench with the Hamburg Bullets in some ancient, ill-lit gym for a weekend Eastern Basketball League game. That's all I remember about the occasion. I was there as the team's…

(This story was first publish in August, shortly after Pete Carril's death.) By Tony Zonca -- MikeDragoSports.com senior contributor When it was announced Monday that the legendary Pete Carril had died at age 92, we lost more…

By Tony Zonca -- MikeDragoSports.com senior contributor Reading High basketball legend Lonnie Walker likely felt he was making an upgrade when he signed last offseason with the Los Angeles Lakers. After all, the Lakers are one…

By Tony Zonca -- MikeDragoSports.com senior contributor To the rest of Major League Baseball in 1964, Chico Ruiz was an obscure outfielder with the Cincinnati Reds. To the Philadelphia Phillies he became a harbinger of doom. …

By Tony Zonca -- MikeDragoSports.com senior contributor In 1968 a movie carrying the title "The Night of the Living Dead" became an instant classic among the horror genre. The film, a zombie apocalypse, was shot outside Pittsburgh…

By Tony Zonca -- MikeDragoSports.com senior contributor It was March 1995 and the Phillies were winding down spring training at their Clearwater, Fla., site. Everybody was itching to head north. Rookie reliever Ricky…

How certain was the Phillies organization prior to the 1985 season that swift rookie outfielder Jeff Stone was destined to be the next best thing? So certain that the PR department dubbed the season The Stone Age. This after he…

By Tony Zonca -- MikeDragoSports.com senior contributor The Philadelphia Phillies hold the distinction of being the team with the most losses in Major League Baseball history. All you have to do is look up their list of…

By Tony Zonca -- MikeDragoSports.com senior contributor Pat Tulley began organized sports as a 7-year-old when he strapped on a football helmet for the Rising Sun A.A. Mites. Fifty years later he remains involved with fun and…

By Tony Zonca -- MikeDragoSports.com senior contributor In the classic feel-good movie "Field of Dreams," Iowa farmer Ray Kinsella, played by Kevin Costner, has an epiphany.  He is distracted by a voice in his head that repeats:…