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Game 37: Mingo returns in Crabs blue to whupp F-Men
By Scott Gourley, Eye Crabs Correspondent

Crabs 9, Fontanetti's 0

San Jose-based Fontanetti's
Surprised Fontanetti's players watch Ron Mingo, the Crab, take the field. "That's cold," said John Nelson, the player on the left.

(Ron Mingo has been playing the visitor role at the Arcata Ball Park since leaving the Giants in 1971, to be player/manager for San Jose-based Fontanetti's. When his contract wasn't extended this year, the Crabs picked up Mingo as a "temporary option." His former team was kept clueless until Mingo took the field in Game 37 on Saturday.)

Sure, everybody idolizes speed typists. Kids look up to them. The Guiness folks record their feats. Legions of groupies form around qwerty-crunching celebrities like Barbara Blackburn or Gregory Arakelian.

But have Barbara or Gregory ever played pro football (Philadelphia Eagles) and pro baseball (Anaheim Angels) for the same four years? Have either of them gone on to play for the Astros or the San Francisco Giants? Have they followed that with a professional boxing stint that included time in George Foreman's camp? And can they do all this while still hammering 225 words/minute on a computer (166 words on a manual dinosaur)? We think not.

And those are just a few of the reasons that Ron Mingo is something of a cult hero in West Coast semi-pro baseball.

Ron Mingo has been playing the visitor role at the Arcata Ball Park every year since leaving the Giants after the '71 season (and they have the nerve to call Ripkin "The Iron Man"?). But when his player-manager contract wasn't extended earlier this year, the Humboldt Crabs seized the opportunity to surprise San Jose-based Fontanetti's baseball club by picking up a "temporary option" on the hollering first baseman.

Trivia: They're called Fontanetti's (with the seemingly out-of-place apostrophe) because they're owned by Jerry Fontanetti of San Jose sporting goods/batting cage lineage.

"Humboldt is a big name in Bay Area baseball," Mingo explained during a Friday afternoon conspirators' luncheon at Jambalaya. "It's known all over. We measure each other by 'What did you do against the Crabs?' You're the measuring stick. Coming up here is something that everyone looks forward to every year."

Few would accuse Ron Mingo of being subdued - until they have the pleasure of meeting Ron's wife, Wanda. Passionately proud of her 17 year marriage to "The Old Buzzard," she's quick to tell people that "Ron loves baseball so much that he eats it, sleeps it, walks it and talks it."

"It's really an honor for all teams to come up," Ron continued. "The teams look forward to it all year. They tell new players that 'You really haven't played baseball until you play in front of those Crabs' fans.' Some of them are shell-shocked by the fans."

The secret acquisition was safe - thanks to the cooperation of all three television outlets - until the opening lineup announcements on Friday evening when Mingo's sudden field appearance in Crabs' blue and white was met by a stunned response from Fontanetti's.

Their newly obtained wooden bats were equally stunned as locally-grown LHP Matt Nielsen picked up another 13 strikeouts in a nine-inning shutout performance on the mound. Even San Jose's "Boom" Nelson couldn't apply any offensive magic from his time with the Milwaukee Brewers.

The Crabs bats, however, came alive in the bottom fourth. As The Party Place partied on in the left field batting cage, an Ayers single and Guzman walk set the stage for the first of three runs to score on a Lopez single. The next two Crabs runs came on an error that left Ron Mingo smiling on first.

About the time that Maghan replaced Mingo in the seventh, the Humboldt drizzle thickened enough to mandate a switch from ball-point to gel marker to continue the scrawled notebook missives. Then it was bats alive in the bottom seventh as the Crabs picked up another six runs on three hits (Hanson, Ayers, Guzman) and three errors.

Now coaching first, Mingo's encouraging voice continued blasting through Shorty's Woodshed: "Let's give Fontanetti's what they came to get - a good whuppin."

And a good whuppin it was, with a final score of 9-0. Too bad that three fans had to miss the outcome, having been asked earlier in the evening to dance "The American Star Shuffle" due to their inability to control their own stupidity.

Reflecting on Fontanetti's stunned reaction to the first base surprise, Crabs' President Jerry Nutter mused, "After pulling this off, the next thing we're going to do is invade a foreign country."

They wouldn't stand a chance.


Ron Mingo
Ron Mingo
The Wit and Wisdom of Ron Mingo
As shouted from first base during top of the third inning
 

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NorCal’s Mingo no ‘Antique’ on keyboard

By John Graef

(Roy Hobbs Baseball 2000)

Don't let Ron Mingo's size fool you. He has been known to move as quick and as agile and anyone in the world. I'm, of course, talking about his fingers.

Ron "typewriter" Mingo, a member of the NorCal Antiques of the Masters Division at the 2000 Roy Hobbs World Series, is considered to be one of the five fastest typists in the world.

He set the record for most typed words per minute on a manual typewriter with 166 when he was back in college. His best speed on a computer is 225 words per minute. But, his goal of reaching 300 words per minute was cut short when he was involved in a car accident back in 1993, ending his speed typing career.

Ron's ability to type as fast as he does has allowed him to enjoy an abundance of rich experiences throughout his life. He has traveled all around the world giving motivational speeches and typing seminars where he has taught such methods as typing to music

But Ron's adventures don't simply consist of typing. Back in 1965, he signed to play baseball with the L.A. Angels where he played in 14 pro games. "They brought me up to the big leagues because I talked so much, they liked that," Ron said with a smile.

From there he bounced around to Houston, San Francisco and Philadelphia where he also played professional football with the Eagles for 2 1/2 years.

Ron even threw himself into the ring when he was an amateur boxer for six years. There he had the opportunity to spar with the likes of Michael Dokes, Kenny Norton, and the then heavy-weight champion, George Foreman.

His "biggest thrill" however, was back in 1969 when he was married at home plate. "The players from the Milwaukee Brewers and Chicago Cubs crossed their bats to form the aisle for my wife to walk down," Ron said as he was staring off into the distance. It was easy to tell that he was picturing the moment in his mind.

Through it all, Ron has compiled quite a resume of experiences. "They're all memories now," he said reminiscing, "Definitely good memories, though."