The Clinton County History Center has two events this week in The Scoreboard Speaks series.
On Wednesday, baseball is the topic with Rob Butcher and Dick Mitchener scheduled to take part. The community participation event will be held 7 p.m. Wednesday in the McCoy Room at Kelly Center on the Wilmington College campus.
On Saturday, it’s a look inside the front office as Jim Bailey and Greg Nared will be participating. This event will be held 7 p.m. Saturday in the community room at the Clinton County History Center. Bailey will take part via Zoom.
All active History Center members may attend free of charge. Non-members are $5 at-the-door per event. Learn more at clintoncountyhistory.org/the-scoreboard-speaks.
Jim Bailey is a 1964 graduate of Wilmington High School. He was a multi-sport star at WHS who spent 21 years with the Cleveland Browns and Baltimore Ravens organizations in the NFL. He was the Browns general counsel and executive vice president. He was named president and chief executive office of the United States Football League in 2016.
Greg Nared, a 1985 graduate of Wilmington High School and standout football and basketball player, works for the Dallas Mavericks organization in the NBA as director of Relations, Youth B-Ball, Mavs Gaming.
A successful author and father of two elite athletes who played professional basketball, Nared played basketball at the University of Maryland. He then worked 15 years for sports giant Nike, primarily as Tiger Woods’ business manager. After a year as the agent for Michelle Wie, Nared started his own sports management agency.
His book is titled “The Ultimate Assist: Helping Our Kids Succeed In Sports & Life.
Dick Mitchener is a 1952 graduate of Spring Valley High School where he played basketball, baseball and track all four years. He was invited to several Major League parks to try out, including Crosley Field in Cincinnati, Cleveland Stadium and Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Out of these invitations he was finally offered contracts by 11 of the 16 major league teams.
He ultimately signed with the Cleveland Indians via General Manager Hank Greenberg in the fall of 1952. He pitched four seasons in the minors. His best season was 1953 when he went 19-10 with a 3.08 earned run average. In 257 innings, he gave up just three homers and struck out 190.
Rob Butcher, a 1981 graduate of Wilmington High School, retired earlier this year after 35 years in professional baseball.
The last 27 years, Butcher was in charge of media relations for the Cincinnati Reds. Prior to that, Butcher worked for the AAA Columbus Clippers as well as the New York Yankees. He also was Major League Baseball’s media relations liaison for Team USA in the 2006, 2009 and 2017 World Baseball Classics
Over 30 seasons from 1994 through 2023, Butcher worked 44 of Major League Baseball’s 58 in-season jewel events, including 22 All-Star Games (1994, 1995, 1999, 2001-2019) and 22 World Series (1995, 1997, 2000-2011, 2013-2019, 2023). Also represented MLB at 3 World Baseball Classic events and 1 WBC qualifier event.
