Travels with Fredman: 44 years as a people in sports columnist 

Travels with Fredman - Forty-four years ago, with the sound of typewriter keys pounding out copy as a backdrop, I walked into the Whale newspaper’s office with a sports column written in cursive on a yellow tablet. I considered calling it Travels with Fredman, building in the flexibility to write about my life covering sports, but in a spontaneous, nondeliberative moment, I chose People in Sports. On Tuesday, I got a text from granddaughter Lizzie, who coaches the Fred Thomas girls’ lacrosse team along with her Temple teammate Taylor Gibbs. “What does your afternoon look like today?” she asked. “Depends how I prioritize things. What do you need?” I answered. And that’s how I ended up taking photos of graduating eighth-graders after the Smyrna at Fred Thomas game. The Freds are 16-0-1 over the last two seasons. The day before, I was a photojournalist and captured two JV lacrosse unbeaten teams – Stephen Decatur at Cape – which ended in an 8-8 tie. I photographed my granddaughter Meredith getting mauled, mugged and flattened on the way to the goal, then called for a charge. Just funny and electric stuff. Maybe I’ll change the column to Gramps with Cramps because when my hammy quivers, I actually have to stand up.     

Race relevance - Taijuan Walker was released by the Phillies who decided to eat the last year of his four-year, $72 million contract, which is a lot of Tastykakes, rather than sending him to the mound with his 9.0 ERA. Walker became the face and neck (tattoos) of a sinking ship. He is described on his Wikipedia page as the child of a father who is Black and a mother half-Mexican, half-white. Mexican is a nationality, not a race, and does any of it matter inside the sports arena? Walker is always reported as a good clubhouse guy by those inside the organization. Teammates and broadcasters rooted for his success. He deserved better than to be a scapegoat, but he will receive $15 million not to pitch the rest of the season. He is currently a free agent. Manager Rob Thomson, who was also let go, had a contract recently extended through 2027 with pay somewhere about $3 million a year. Thomson is at least half-Canadian. Topper is top of the list of Phillies managers in terms of winning percentage, and he doesn’t need a certified financial planner to manage his money.

Healthy scratch - I think pregame listings on a T-shirt would be cool, but I don’t know if any are copyrighted. I like “Downgraded to Doubtful,” “Upgraded to Questionable,” “Physically Unable to Perform” and my personal favorite from hockey, “Healthy Scratch.” I also like “Emergency Quarterback” or “Third Man In,” not to be confused with a fight during an ice hockey game. I’ve never seen a fight in a field hockey game, not to say it’s never happened. 

Bad to the bone - I’m not sure coaches teach toughness. Certainly barking at players doesn’t make them tough. I was covering middle school track and saw forward-leaning sprinter Caleb Baxley of Beacon face-plant onto the track and bounce across the finish line. I suggested he run straight up and he said, “I’m just glad I got second.” I saw another kid in the mile with something wrong with his lower leg, either a cramp or an injury he brought into the race. He gutted it out and powered through the final two laps. I’m not sure running on an injured leg is advisable, but there was no stopping the kid and no one was yelling at him one way or another.  

Snippets - Sawyer Walker (Cape) had one goal and seven draw controls as the Bison of Howard University defeated Delaware State University 13-3 in women's lacrosse. Sawyer has 24 goals and 132 draw controls on the season. Sawyer’s dad Keith is a former head basketball coach at Delaware State. Conrad School’s baseball team is the only undefeated high school team in the state at 13-0. High school hardball is a hard place to make a living, where over half the teams in Delaware have a winning record – take that to your statistics class. Cape is currently 9-2 and defending state champions. Salesianum is the state's only undefeated boys’ volleyball team at 11-0. Sallies  closes out the regular season Friday, May 8, at Cape Henlopen. Strong rumors approaching facts for those of us with our ears to the track indicate some male athletes transferring out. If it's not positively recruiting or selling, there are no discouraging words, and someone has to start the conversation. Fred Thomas baseball is 6-0 coming off a 10-0 inaugural season. The Freds are coached by Ben Ashby, Zach Dale and Mark Maher. Jaxon Clampitt went 6.2 innings last May as Cape won the state championship of Delaware baseball. Now he is a college freshman in the rotation for the Florida Tech Panthers. Last week, Jaxon went five innings in a loss to the University of Tampa, the No. 2 team in NCAA Division II baseball. Go on now, git!