Not an alumni, but close....

Maybe?

The Prodigal Beat Writer catches up with the Menasha Hinskies. Eric is in his third consecutive World Series. Ryan is part of a Wisconsin High School Football powerhouse.

A text message greeted Ryan Hinske as he rolled out of the sack early Monday morning.

It was from his younger brother, Eric, and the six-word communication was familiar:

"Going back to the Series, bro."

That would be the World Series, bro. For the third straight season, bro. As a member of the New York Yankees, bro.

"He's spraying champagne, and I'm standing in the rain in (football) practice," Ryan said with a chuckle as he thought about Eric hootin' and hollerin' and showering his teammates with bubbly as the Yankees celebrated last Sunday's American League Championship Series triumph over the Los Angeles Angels, a victory that sent the fabled franchise back to the Fall Classic for the 40th time.

"It's hard not to be jealous of my little brother," said Ryan, "but I'm happy for him because he's getting to experience something few in the world get to."

Hinskie was in the World Series in 2008 with the Tampa Bay Rays and in 2007 with the Boston Red Sox.

Thank you, Brett. You got found the last player to appear in three straight World Series with three different teams.

And should he get some playing time in this year's title bout – the series resumes today with the Bronx Bombers looking to grab a 2-1 series edge against Philadelphia – he'll become the first player to have appeared in three consecutive World Series while wearing the uniforms of three different clubs since former slugger Don Baylor in 1986, '87 and '88.

Baylor with the Red Sox, the Twins, and the Athletics.

He's got a little history

I did not link to the Post-Crescent game story in the Midwest League Action post below, because I thought that Ryan Wilson's article deserved a stand alone post -- and this will probably bring up and issue or two with the Prodigal Beat Writer. But, there are neat facts in there that don't deserve getting lost in the mix. Like:

Dee Gordon was playing for the visiting Great Lakes Loons, but he certainly felt as though he was back in familiar territory Thursday.

The Loons' shortstop and leadoff hitter no doubt heard of Appleton growing up. His father, major league relief pitcher Tom Gordon, began his career with the Appleton Foxes.

"He just said (Appleton) was a nice place to play," said Dee Gordon, whose team beat Wisconsin 9-6 at Fox Cities Stadium. "He met a lot of nice people out here, and he just told me it would be a really nice place to play when I came here."

Tom "Flash" Gordon was drafted in the sixth round of the 1986 draft by the Kansas City Royals, who would be the parent club of the Foxes by the next season. Gordon pitched for Appleton in 1988 and had a 7-5 record with a 2.06 ERA before moving up to Double-A Memphis, and eventually, the major league Royals by the end of that same season.

Also, Matt Wallach of the Loons is the son of former major leaguer Tim* Wallach.

I want to say that I had both Tom Gordon and Tim* Wallach on my fantasy baseball team ... it was still called Rotisserie baseball in those days... back in college. I'll need to dig through my records to confirm that fact.

*-I put Eli here originally. Good DiMaggio, once those Chris Berman nicknames are in your head, you just can't get rid of them.