Revisiting The Stories Of Ex-Pro Baseball Players From Hartford County

HARTFORD-TOLLAND COUNTIES, CT — The calendar has turned to March, and even though another quick blast of a late-arriving winter is due over the next 24 hours, the forecast beginning Sunday calls for nearly a week of mainly sunny days with temperatures in the 40s.

In Florida and Arizona, the mercury reads considerably higher as Major League Baseball teams prepare for the March 30 start to the regular season, with spring training exhibition games in full swing. Locally, high school baseball players begin conditioning drills March 11, with the first official day of practice slated for March 18.

Last year at this time, MLB was in the midst of a lockout which wound up lasting 99 days. To fill the void, Patch ran a series of five stories on its sites in Hartford County, featuring interviews with former pro ballplayers of the 1980s and 1990s from the region.

One of the players made it to the big leagues, while others saw their playing days end at the Double-A level. The stories featured their recollections of teammates, coaches and memorable moments from their brief professional careers.

The series proved very popular with readers, but in case you missed it, here are the five stories all in one place, unedited from when they first appeared a year ago. Click on a name to read that player's full story.

• Gary Burnham, South Windsor
• Ray Fagnant, East Granby
• Mauro Gozzo, Berlin
• Mike Schweighoffer, Farmington
• Brad Tweedlie, Enfield