Great Article/Post from Jeff Mills(News and Record) on Alan Ashkinazy and 30 years of the Greensboro Batting Center

Congratulations to Alan Ashkinazy on 30 years of the Greensboro Batting Center, now located on High Point Road in the Westgate Shopping Center….Thirty years and going back to 1987 in an office complex down on Creekridge Road…Back when Larry Davis and Jim Pritchett did a LIVE radio remote broadcast, from Alan’s Greensboro Batting Center on a Saturday morning, on AM 1400 WKEW…The early days of “Alan Ashkinazy’s Greensboro Batting Center” and that what it was called back then with Alan and Steve Schwarz calling the shots and calling the balls and strikes….Not many strikes and at least not enough to slow Alan(Ash) down….The Batting Center has come a long way since back in 1987 and I remember going there with all the netting and the pitching machines…Little kids like Hal Clendenin were regular customers and the kid Jeff, whose name escapes me now, he was always down there collecting baseball cards(Jeff had a sister named Jenifer who used to help out with Colt Baseball)….Always good to see Alan and Steve and Alan would always call me Jocko back then…

Jeff Mills has put together a great piece/post/article/story on Alan Ashkinazy and the 30 years of the Greensboro Batting Center and we a have portion of that for you down below, and there will be a link that you can Click On to check out the entire post….We would like to print the entire post, but the news outlets frown on that practice…Another fine piece of work by Jeff Mills(N&R) and be sure to check it and again, Congratulations to Alan Ashkinazy, on 30 years of the Greensboro Batting Center, a true baseball landmark in the City of Greensboro….

Alan Ashkinazy’s baseball business stands test of time, celebrates 30 years
by Jeff Mills with the News and Record at www.greensboro.com

GREENSBORO — Don’t be fooled by the New York City accent. It’s a remnant of youth, a vocal birthmark, a reminder of days gone by.

The truth is, at 56, Alan Ashkinazy is a Southerner by choice. He has lived in our city longer than he lived in Brooklyn and Queens.

Ashkinazy came to Greensboro in 1985 as a 23-year-old prospect for the Boston Red Sox, a 5-foot-7 dynamo playing second base and batting leadoff for the Hornets. He was a South Atlantic League All-Star who twice led his team in stolen bases, a table-setter who drew 249 walks and scored 186 runs in 234 games here.

He was just passing through.

Or so he thought.

This month, Ashkinazy’s Greensboro Batting Center turns 30 years old. It’s a business built on baseball, a place where two generations of players have learned to hit, pitch and catch.

“When parents come in now and bring their kids, and the parents were taking lessons here 20 years ago, that’s hard to beat,” Ashkinazy says. “That’s very satisfying. Because it tells me I had such an impact on this person that they trust me to teach someone who means more to them than themselves.”

Ashkinazy will throw an anniversary party from 1 to 6 p.m. Sunday at the batting center in Westgate Shopping Center on Gate City Boulevard. It’s a celebration of longevity for a business Ashkinazy claims is the longest-running indoor facility for baseball and softball training in the country.

It’s a bold claim. But it suits Ashkinazy’s style. He’s no shrinking violet.

CLICK HERE to read on/read more/read all, from Jeff Mills at the N&R…..

One thought on “Great Article/Post from Jeff Mills(News and Record) on Alan Ashkinazy and 30 years of the Greensboro Batting Center

  1. Congratulations Alan. A lot of fun Baseball times with you at Stoner White Baseball Park. All the best. Brenda and Cal DeLauro cheering you on from Kansas City, MO

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