Manager: Wally Wilkins (Danville, KY - Founding Manager, Commissioner)

Notable: 1990, 1991, 1992 GABL champions.

Dynomite Minor Affiliates

Rookie - Gravel Switch, KY - Moonshiners

Lo A - Lexington, KY - Legends

Hi A - Glasgow, KY - Highlanders

AA - London, KY - Towers

AAA - Loretto, KY - Sour Mash (Home of Makers Mark)

2007 Outlook

Danville, KY – The Dynomite head into the 20th GABL season in rebuilding mode.  After their three straight championships in 1990-92 the Dynomite have only made one trip to the playoffs, loosing in the Championship Series to the Texas Outlaws in 2002.

 Saying goodbye to Danville in 2007 are:

 New Faces on the team for 2007:

Don Mattingly, a member of the three championship teams and now Manager of the Dynomite commented, "We have few expectations this season as we are developing pitching talent in the Farm System but they are not quite ready for the big league.  Some of our veterans are getting a little older but most are still in their prime.  We expect to be able to post one of our teams best batting averages in years with Ichiro, Jeter and Cano, Pudge and the rest of our batters, however we just don’t have the pitching needed in the tough AL division."

Owner Walter Wilkins stated, "We acquired some excellent prospects in the Rookie Draft and hope that a year of development will prove that we made the right picks, especially in our you pitchers."

As always one of the keys to the Dynomite success is the performance of Ichiro Suzuki.  Taken with the first pick in the 2002 draft, Ichiro has a career batting average with the Dynomite of .351 and has stolen 335 bases in 5 years with the Dynomite.  "Ichiro provides the catalyst at the top of our lineup," Mattingly stated.  "He helps us in so many ways, getting on base, keeping opposing pitchers off balance with his base-stealing skills and his defensive contributions as a gold-glove outfielder," Mattingly concluded.

Danville Hitting Coach, Dave Winfield added, “Behind Ichiro we have Gold-Glove Short Stop Derek Jeter, acquired in 2004 from AAE.  Jeter’s GABL career batting average of .318 makes him perfect behind Ichiro in the lineup.  Last year’s first round draft pick, Second Baseman Robinson Cano had an awesome year for the Dynomite in 2006, batting .323, and we expect him to continue to develop this year.”

Danville has struggled somewhat in the past couple of seasons due to a power outage with injuries to Outfielder Hideki Matsui being one of the keys. 

25-Man Roster

CATCHERS:

Ivan Rodriguez (Josh Willingham backup)

INFIELDERS:

1B – Josh Willingham, Chris Shelton

2B – Robinson Cano

3B – Shea Hillenbrand, Wilson Betemit

SS – Derek Jeter

UI – Jose Hernandez

DH – Conor Jackson

OUTFIELDERS:

Ichiro Suzuki, Jay Payton, Hideki Matsui, Preston Wilson,

STARTERS:

Mark Buehrle, Jose Contreras, Rick Wakefield, Ricky Nolasco, Ian Snell

BULLPEN:

Rick Bauer, Taylor Tankersley, Pedro Feliciano, Jason T. Davis, Rick Bauer, Matt Herges, Tyler Yates

Remainder of 38-Man Roster

AAA – C – Ramon Castro

AAA – C – Adam Melhuse

AAA – IF – Jeff Keppinger

AAA – SP – Casey Fossum

AAA – SP/RP Brad Halsey

AAA – RP – Arthur Rhodes

AAA – RP – Greg Aquino

AAA – RP – John Grabow

AAA – SP – Hayden Penn

AA – SP/RP – Scott Mathieson

2002 Outlook

Danville, KY -- The stills have been relocated and the bourbon is flowing as the Danville Dixie Dynomite prepare for the 15th GABL season.  After winning three straight championships in 1990-92 the Dynomite have been shutout of the playoffs.  Don Mattingly, a member of those three championship team and now Manager of the Dynomite commented, "We have high expectations that this will be remedied this season, however, we don't for one minute believe that it guaranteed or that it will be easy.  There are several strong teams in the league this season and several who could surprise if luck and good management break their way."

Owner Walter Wilkins stated, "The Rookie Draft provided some key elements to make reaching the playoffs a strong possibility, along with some serious trading to strengthen the offense, bullpen and starting pitching."

Key to the Dynomite return to the post season will be the performance of Ichiro, taken with the first pick in the draft.  "Everyone knew that Ichiro was our primary goal on draft day," Mattingly stated.  "He will provide the long missed spark at the top of our lineup and keep opposing pitchers off balance with his base-stealing skills along with the defensive contributions he makes as a gold-glove outfielder," concluded Donny Baseball.

In addition to the drafting of Ichiro, Randy Choate, Rudy Seanez, Jim Brower and Bret Prinz Danville added a potential infield prospect in Hiram Bocachica and a veteran in Dave Magadan.  Trades for Pedro Martinez, Craig Biggio, Quilvio Veras, Turk Wendell and Chuck McElroy added some depth and improved offense.  Danville has to play hard against the defending champions, GHR, and Texas and hold off Intercourse and Independence in the American Division and hold their own against Columbus, Grandview and Florida in the National Division to earn that playoff spot.

Roster:

Ivan Rodriguez, Mike Redman, Tino Martinez, Craig Biggio, Quilvio Veras, Craig Paquette, Russ Branyon, Jose Hernandez, Ichiro Suzuki, Juan Gonzalez, Jeremy Burnitz, Jay Payton, Dave Justice, Mark Buehrle, Pedro Martinez, Rick Wakefield, Chad Durbin, Masato Yoshii, Steve Woodard, Randy Choate, Kazuhiro Sasaki, Arthur Rhodes, Rudy Seanez, Bret Prinz, Ramon Castro, Dave Magadan, Mike Lansing, Dave Berg, Lou Merloni, Tom Goodwin, Jimmy Anderson, Jim Brower, Turk Wendell, Chuck McElroy, Brian Schneider, Hiram Bocachica, Lorenzo Barcelo, Omar Oliveres  

Dynos Move Franchise To New Location

Feb 3, 2000 - The Dynomite Front Office announced today that the Franchise would be playing the 2000 season in the spacious confines of the newly built Bomb Shelter located in Danville, Kentucky.  This move will also make it easier on the GM in trying to remember the 3-letter designation which will now be DDD instead of CDD as it has been for so many years.  "We like to keep things simple here in the South, y'all know what I mean boy?" commented GM and owner Walter J. Wilkins II.   He went on to say "all them different letters was confusing people, that's why we put xxx on the flour bags!"

Commissioner, Wally "Cumberland Mountain" Wilkins said that the move had been approved by the Commissioner's office after confirmation of the deposit of a sizable donation in a numbered Swiss Account.  "We felt that this move was in the best interest of the Dynomite, the GABL, and my finances." said the Commissioner.

When contacted about the team's outlook for the coming season, Manager Don Mattingly hinted that the team is hoping to obtain some of the ever-elusive starting pitching to build on last years winning record.  "We finished the season with a winning record inspite of that inept handling of the usage by the GM, he forced me to put players in when they were too tired.  This year we have hidden the Frankensteinbrenner pills and don't expect that he will be near as tough to handle."

The Dynos GM commented that "We look forward to the upcoming draft and hope to have many productive meetings between now and the end of the meetings at Spring Training."

Orlando Hernandez, Ramon Martinez, Hideo Nomo, Ishmael Valdes, Paul Abbott, Brian Boehringer, Steve Woodard, Masato Yoshii, Rich Garces, Kerry Ligtenberg, Trevor Miller, Mike Munoz, Eric Plunk, Carlos Reyes, Mariano Rivera, Felix Rodriguez, Rudy Seanez, Mike Redmond, Ivan Rodriguez, Manny Alexander, David Bell, Dave Berg, Wade Boggs, Rico Brogna, Royce Clayton, Hanley Frias, Jerry Hairston, Tino Martinez, Dean Palmer, Craig Paquette, Jeremy Brunitzm Juan Gonzalez, Tom Goodwin, Eduardo Perez, Ruben Rivera, Brian Simmons, Tony Womack, Chili Davis

Cuts: Matt Franco, Tom "Flash" Gordon, Mark Hutton, Clint Sodowsky, Pat Watkins, Joey Cora,Ryan Jackson, Tim Raines

Manager Profile

Wally Wilkins manages the Danville Dixie Dynomite, is GABL Commissioner, and is one of the original founding Managers of the GABL.

As the Cobbtown Dixie Dynomite, the team was league Champion 3 consecutive years from 1990-1992 behind the awesome pitching of Nolan Ryan and powered by the bats of Don Mattingly, Wade Boggs, and Julio Franco as regulars throughout the run. Cameo appearances included a combined 40 homeruns, in 96 games, platooning Steve Balboni & Kevin Maas at first base the year that Mattingly was severely limited by his back (1991 GABL Season).

Wally is married with 3 adult children and 6 grandchildren.  Wally turned 50 on September 4, 2006 and operates an eBay store called Wally’s Wishing Well.  His eBay ID is Wallys_Wishing_Well.