…an explanation by Phil McCracken
Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Hello all!  I do not usually make it a habit of writing stories about PEBA teams other than the Sandgnats, but in this case it was unavoidable.  Let’s go back 17 years in time, where I wasn’t a well known writer for a Crystal Lake professional baseball team.  I was in fact just learning how to research a story and put those facts into words that would hopefully entertain a few. 

“A few” are the exact words to describe how many fans were showing their support in a North Carolina Little League game.  It was a special day for several local youngsters around the Winston-Salem area.  Rain had persuaded dozens of parents and fans alike to temporarily abandon the current game and get dried off.  It was breezy that day and was far from ideal for a young 13-year-old to be making a name for himself.  It was this day, however, which the locals (especially Trixie Chapman) would recall for future decades, if not the rest of their lives.  The rest of Anthony Cox’s life – well, baseball life – began on that very day.

Anthony, enormous Adam’s apple and all, threw 7 complete innings without allowing a single hit.  Yes, he had uncanny control for a boy his age and threw absolute darts at the hitters, but nobody expected young Anthony to throw a no-hitter!  Anthony let out a scream that would make a horror movie actress jealous and wanted to celebrate like he had never before.  His catcher jumped up to give him a mighty high five, but as most kids at that age do, they missed.  Anthony, desperate for some instant gratification, ran over to the crowd to look for his parents, but only myself, Trixie Chapman, and an avid 85-year-old baseball fan remained.  The aforementioned fan and I were male, so young Mr.  Cox ran into the arms of the lovely Mrs. Chapman.  She had stayed because she liked danger and loved the rain.  Mrs. Chapman greeted him with a warm hug and a kiss on the cheek.  To a boy at that age, as his hormones are out of control, that kind of contact from an attractive and older lady is a big tease.

Let us flash forward to the biggest tease of them all.  It is May 11, 2008 and mid-afternoon at Wembley Stadium, where 22,546 paid fans are about to witness PEBA history!  Now 30 years old, Anthony Cox is three outs away from throwing a major league no-hitter.  Beside a fourth inning blunder by otherwise sure-handed Jeremy Lawrence, Cox had only allowed 2 London Underground batters to reach base (via the walk) the entire game.  What happened next was, in my mind, utterly disgusting!  Charleston manager, Jeff Chapman, pulled Mr.  Cox out of the game!  A seemingly inexplicable move, Chapman defended his move after the game by the following statement, “I am the manager of this Statesmen team and I decided that Cox was gassed and he had to come out.”  I then asked him, ”Not to criticize, sir, but Anthony Cox had thrown under 100 pitches before you pulled him out of the game and allowed 1 base runner to reach base in the last 4 innings of work.  Aside from those facts, your team was up 7 to 0 and you had a golden opportunity for one of your own to throw a rare PEBA no-hitter.  How can you justify yanking Cox at that point in the game?  This wouldn’t have anything to do with the early 90’s in North Carolina, would it?”  Jeff Chapman replied, “What did you say?  You son of a…. this interview is over!”

Well, the Statesmen did not only win the game, they shut the Underground out and combined for a 2 pitcher no-hitter!  While that is great news in general, Cox was disallowed a chance to make PEBA history by throwing a complete game no-hitter.  In my mind – and I’m sure tens of thousands of Statesmen fans – taking Cox out at that point (when he was cruising along) was a complete injustice.  But I guess the Chapmans haven’t always been involved in the most just of things in their lives.

Back to 1991, where young Anthony Cox had just thrown his first no-hitter of his career.  It was the summer before Anthony would start high school, he had just experienced his best baseball achievement of his life and he had just received affection from a gorgeous blonde named Trixie!  What could be better?  Well, in the next week, his confidence skyrocketed and would stay there for years to come.  This newfound swagger was aided just a wee bit by the fact that his freshmen year science teacher was none other than Trixie Chapman!  Anthony had no idea who she was at that point, but with all of his buddies drooling over her luscious looks and bodacious body, he was definitely going to find out.

What Trixie’s husband, Jeff, found out some two summers later was a lot more intriguing.  Although Jeff Chapman grew up in Jupiter, FL, he once was once a highly-touted pitching coach and wannabe manager, coaching young teens to be the best they could possibly be.  Mr.  Chapman was living in North Carolina in 1993 and teaching a young Anthony Cox how to begin to throw a circle change via the NCTA.  The North Carolina Traveling All-Stars were supported by local fund raisers and (more importantly) by the state, so that these young talented kids would have a chance to enjoy coaches teaching skills that rivaled their own baseball skills.  Anthony always had talent but never properly prepared himself.

Now that Coach Chapman had him under his wing for the last year, Anthony had blossomed beautifully!  They were in the second to the last game of the summer and, if they won their game, they were onto the state championship game of the NCTA.  Oh, did I mention that Anthony Cox was due to start that game?  He was, but during the current game, Anthony didn’t have much to do other than watch in order to save his arm.  At this point in the game Coach Chapman’s mind was focused on the game on the field, but for some reason he was distracted.  His team was up 4-1 and it was then the bottom of the 6^th inning.  He looked over where his wife was sitting to receive a gratifying smile or blown kiss or something.  He couldn’t find her and he was taken aback.  Just then it dawned on him that young Anthony had asked to go to the bathroom back when the 5^th inning started.  Two of the people he cared the most for in his life had vanished!

He told both of the other coaches that he would be back in a minute.  Coach Chapman marched right to the portable bathrooms and he knocked furiously to no avail.  There wasn’t anybody inside!  He then was miffed and turned around to go back to the game when he heard a sucking noise and a giggle.  He walked about 10 feet behind the portables in tall grass and found his very own wife and his young prodigy making out together!  Poor Jeff Chapman started to yell, but could only spew forth lots and lots of vomit as he was completely sickened by what he had just witnessed.

To spare the Chapman family and to prevent the Crystal Lake paper from being sued, I will fail to mention all of the juicy details of what happened soon after that sultry summer day.  I will say that Anthony Cox missed his next start and his team lost the NCTA championship.  What followed in their personal lives would be known locally as Trixie Gate.  Yes, Mrs. Chapman had broken the law by engaging in sexual activity with a minor.  Unfortunately, that is all I can legally say about this issue.  I can, however, say that at that time, in 1993, hundreds if not thousands of people felt sympathy for Jeff Chapman.  Hell, I did!  I never would have wanted to experience the emotional trauma he experienced, nor would I wish that on anyone.

That being said, it is in the past.  A decade and a half in the past, and Mr. Chapman should be able to plain and simple let it go!  No longer do I have sympathy for a coach that denied Anthony Cox an opportunity at a big league no-hitter.  A coach who trumped his pitching coach and yanked a player right when he was about to taste PEBA immortality.  Was it a guarantee that Anthony Cox would have thrown the no-hitter?  No, but Jeff Chapman should have swallowed his pride and let Anthony Cox have his moment in the sun.  Maybe Chapman, who was humiliated by Cox years ago, is embarrassed by the fact that Cox makes $2,476,000 more annually than he.  That could be true, but Jeff Chapman should’ve been able to be man enough to keep the past in the past!  Now the Statesmen fans and the PEBA world are surrounded by strangeness.

Was it strange for Anthony Cox and Jeff Chapman to know each other in 1993, 14 years before they would be reunited with the Charleston Statesmen?  Was it strange for Trixie Chapman to be the only person to give young Anthony Cox any congratulations after his only no-hitter of his life?  Is it strange that Anthony Cox was denied greatness two times by Jeff Chapman in a NCTA championship game in 1993 and yet again for a major league no hit bid in 2008?  Is it strange that the circle changeup that Chapman taught Cox when he was a boy is responsible for his recent PEBA success strange?  Is the mere coincidence of me, Jeff Chapman and Anthony Cox actually being in the Winston-Salem area at that particular time to endure Trixie Gate and now all be involved in the professional world of PEBA strange?  Indeed it is!  But despite all of life’s curveballs and unexpected surprises, Jeff Chapman should have been able to have a heart on May 11, 2008 and let the world of PEBA see Anthony Cox shine!  After all, Cox has thrown back to back-to-back starts without allowing an earned run in May.  He could be the IL pitcher of the month and throwing a no-hitter would have most assuredly won it for him.  Now, we will never know.  Thanks a lot Mr.  Chapman!  This reporter believes you owe it to the Statesmen fans to issue a public apology.