Off Center with Tony Reid

Chandler, Arizona native Brennen Davis was a standout on the hardwood and the diamond at Basha High School.
After an incredible high school career, he made the decision to narrow his considerable talents to the baseball diamond as he committed to play college baseball at the University of Miami.
Those plans changed because following his senior year of high school, Davis was selected in the 2nd round of the 2018 MLB Draft by the legendary Chicago Cubs organization.
Battling through various injuries from from being hit in the face by a pitch in an April 2021 Spring Training game to dealing with serious sciatic nerve issues in his back, the top prospect still managed to shine bright over the past few years in the Cubs farm system.

Davis has been awarded two Buck O’Neil Cubs Minor League Player of the Year awards. His considerable star shined brightest when he was selected to play in the the All Star Futures Game as he earned MVP honors in the contest for his impressive 2-3, two home run performance in an 8 to 3 National League victory.
Once again healthy, Davis is making his climb up the Chicago MiLB pipeline to secure his spot in the considerable Cubbie’s outfield and be a staple in the big leagues for years to come.
Davis recently spoke to SC Daily about his most favorite and least favorite cards, his first PSA submission, his Pokémon collection, future man cave and much more.

Joey Harrington was seemingly born to play quarterback.

His grandfather played the position at the University of Portland and his father spent his college career as the signal caller at the University of Oregon. After Joey’s birth, legendary  Ducks coach Lou Casanova reportedly sent his parents a letter of intent for young Joey to join the Ducks years down the road.

The third generation Harrington field general did just that, after graduating from Central Catholic High School in Portland, where he finished his career with over 4,000 yards passing and 50 total touchdowns.

Harrington spent three remarkable seasons in Eugene, finishing 25-3 as a starter and, in turn, bringing the school back to national prominence. During his senior season with the Ducks, he threw for over 2,400 yards and 23 touchdowns and finished fourth in the Heisman Trophy voting.

Harrington was selected third overall in the 2002 NFL Draft by the Detroit Lions.  Thrust into the starting job early in year one, he held the job for all of his rookie season.

Detroit was a difficult place to play with the never ending front office issues, a lack of offensive line protection, an underwhelming amount of talent at many skill positions and a seemingly constant changing of team philosophy and identity. Harrington tried to stay positive but after four years in Detroit, he was traded to Miami, spent time in Atlanta and finished as a backup with the New Orleans Saints.

A member of the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame, he now serves as the President of the Harrington Family Foundation, helping provide scholarship and mentorship support to young people.

In our latest Q&A, Harrington talks about the rookie premiere photo shoot sign and swap, death threats from “fans,” beating Tom Brady and more. 

Brooklyn, born John Cangelosi moved south and graduated from Miami Springs High School in Miami Springs, FL.

After excelling on the diamond at Miami Dade College, the outfielder was drafted in the fourth round of the 1982 MLB January Draft by the Chicago White Sox.

After spending a few seasons in the Sox minor league organization, Cangelosi had an outstanding spring in 1986, and eventually won the starting center field job on the south side of The Windy City. He stole a then rookie record 50 bases for the ChiSox.

After the productive rookie season, Cangelosi was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates and became a part of a young, future playoff contending team.

After four summers playing at Three Rivers Stadium, The Candy Man called five other MLB cities home before retiring after the 1999 season.

The scrappy outfielder reunited with his skipper from Pittsburgh, the legendary Jim Leyland, in Miami. The two fiery competitors contributed to bringing a World Series title to Florida with the Marlins in 1997.

Since this retirement from the game, Cangelosi has continued to dedicate his life to the game he once played. He currently owns and operates Cangelosi Baseball, a Chicago-based training facility. The 13-year MLB veteran is also part owner of Bo Jackson’s Elite Sports in Lockport and Bensonville, IL and Hilliard, OH.

In this recent interview, the now 60-year-old Cangelosi takes time to tell us about seeing himself on has early baseball cards, playing games with cards as a kid, his most memorable fan interactions and some of his baseball idols.

Kevin Mitchell was born in San Diego and grew up in a tumultuous area of the city. Being raised by his grandmother from a young age, he preferred football and boxing, but grandma knew best and directed him to the diamond, even taking him to many of his Little League games.

The Mets signed him to a minor league free agent deal where he rapidly ascended through the organization and made this debut for the team in 1986. He was a valuable piece of the Mets World Series championship team that season, contributing throughout the playoffs and coming up clutch in Game 6 of the Fall Classic.

He was known for his powerful bat but certain highlights throughout his career made him memorable for what he did in the field, which included playing every position but pitcher and catcher during his time in the majors.

His career year came in 1989 when he won National League MVP honors by leading the league in home runs with 47 and driving in 125.  He sparked the Giants playoff run and eventual World Series berth.

Mitchell played 13 big league seasons for the Mets, Padres, Giants, Mariners, Reds, Red Sox, Indians and A’s. After battling through various injuries that robbed him of much of the shine of his playing prime, he retired after the 1998 season. In his career, he piled up 1,000 hits, nearly 250 homers and over 700 RBIs.

These days he teaches hitting to younger kids.

In this recent Card Back interview, Mitchell talks about some of what was written on the reverse side of some of the cards issued during his career, including his aggressive mentality at the plate, the catch everyone asks him about, his magical MVP season and more.

Steubenville, Ohio born and raised, Rich Donnelly graduated from Steubenville Catholic Central high school where he played both baseball and basketball.

A baseball lover at heart, Donnelly took his skills to Xavier University after graduating from high school.

The catcher was signed by the Minnesota Twins in 1967 and spent four seasons in the team’s minor league organization.

Donnelly transitioned seamlessly into a long and successful managerial career in professional baseball.  He managed in the Texas Rangers’ minor league system from 1972 to 1979 and again in 1981 and 1982. He was the team’s bullpen coach in 1980 and first base coach from 1983 to 1985.

Donnelly was a key member of legendary manager Jim Leyland’s staff in three different organizations over a 14-year span. He spent over a decade with Leyland in Pittsburgh, two years in Florida where the team captured a World Series title in 1997 and a single season in Colorado, where Donnelly stayed until 2002.

He then spent three years, 2003 through 2005, as a third base coach in Milwaukee and the following two years, 2006 and 2007 as the Los Angeles Dodgers’ third base coach.

After a few years working in player development for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Donnelly made a few coaching stops in the minors before again returning to the big leagues with the Seattle Mariners in 2014.

Donnelly, most recently, coached again in the New York Mets farm system in 2019.

His baseball life has, to say the least, been quite a ride. We caught up to him recently to talk about his love for the Pirates, all of the baseball cards he’s appeared on over the years, coaching Macho Man Randy Savage and so much more.

Downingtown West High star quarterback Will Howard excelled on the gridiron in the Philadelphia area and was ranked the 13th best pro style quarterback of the 2020 senior class by 247Sports. His senior season was capped off by winning the Maxwell Football Club Pennsylvania Player of the Year Award, among other honors.

At Kansas State University in 2020, Howard became one of just of four freshmen quarterbacks to make seven starts and set the school record for passing touchdowns as a freshman with eight.

Sean Clifford will leave Happy Valley as the most statistically decorated quarterback in the rich history of the Penn State University football program.
As successful as he was on the field– from setting school records for career passing yards, touchdown passes, completions, completion percentage to winning bowl games– what he’s building off the field for current and future generations of college athletes may prove to be more significant.

The Nittany Lion faithful were happy to have Clifford return for his sixth year and further his football legacy in front of 100,000 fans at Beaver Stadium. However, Clifford also returned to Central PA to build his own company, Limitless NIL.  

His future includes NFL aspirations and a thriving Limitless NIL company that he co-founded and operates with his younger brother Liam and others.

In a recent interview with Tony, Clifford talked about seeing himself on a trading card for the first time, the importance of the sports card and memorabilia market, the inspirational poster of Peyton Manning that was on his wall as a kid and more.

Altadena, CA native Chad Brown was a defensive star at John Muir High School in the late 1980s.

In his retirement, Brown has made a successful transition into media, working as a radio host, a sideline reporter and a color analyst for various networks. Brown also owns and operates Pro Exotics, a company that sells non-venomous snakes.