Vecchio's 6 things about the Things

Though it didn't make the story in Thursday's edition of the Observer-Reporter about Ross Vecchio, pictured, resigning as general manager of the Wild Things, I asked Vecchio to give me five things he will remember most about his days with Washington and the Frontier League. He gave me six:

Opening night in 2002 – "Just getting there was a major undertaking. Then, after a few weeks, it was automatic that the ballpark was going to be packed every night. The community had embraced this team, which made all the hard work worthwhile."

The 2005 All-Star Game – "Those two nights – the skills competition and the game – stand as one of the best all-star games in Frontier League history. We sold out both nights, the skills competition and the game, which was unheard of for the league."

The players – "We had more than 30 players move on to affiliated ball, from Ben Ally, who was the first, to Tom Cochran and Patrick Stanley, both of whom made it to Triple-A last summer."

The 2007 season – "We had our backs against the wall just to make the playoffs that year and nobody really gave us a shot to win. But we win two games we weren't expected to at Gateway, then get to the finals. It was disappointing that we didn't win the championship. I remember sitting in the stands at Windy City late during Game 5 and thinking how much a championship would have meant to our fans. I know it meant a lot to Windy City, but I think it would have meant more to this community, our fans, our staff and to to this organization.

"In 2002, when we made it to the finals, I don't think we realized the magnitude of what we had accomplished and how difficult it would be to get back to the finals. We were caught up in the moment."

Community reaction to the team – "One of the most amazing things I've seen is going to Pirates games or even Steelers games and seeing people wearing Wild Things shirts or hats. I was at a Steelers game once and had a guy walk up to me and say 'That was a great trade you made for ...' That's something you don't expect to happen at a a Steelers game."

The Barry Bonds contract offer – "That, of course, was a publicity stunt in the middle of winter, but we didn't expect it to take off like it did. ... For the 48 hours after we issued the press release, the phones here and my phone were ringing off the hook. People were asking me to appear on radio talk shows all over the country, especially in San Francisco. Even Jim Rome was talking about it on his shows.

"The most amazing thing about that was, some people in the Frontier League didn't like it. Several teams called (FL commissioner) Bill Lee and complained that Bonds doesn't meet the league's age limit. They complained so much that Bill had to take the press release down off the league's Web site. Barry Bonds wasn't going to sign with us, but Bill still had to explain some things to the teams that were complaining. We opened that year at Chillicothe, and Bill said that if Washington rolled into Chillicothe with Barry Bonds on the team, 'Do you think I'm going to tell (then-Paints owner) Chris Hanners and the thousands who would show up at the ballpark that Barry Bonds can't play? No.'"