Mikulik becomes 'Shoeless Joe'

It's a good thing the Asheville Tourists did most of their scoring late in Wednesday night's 11-8, 10-inning victory over the Delmarva Shorebirds. Otherwise, Tourists manager Joe Mikulik might be tempted to keep his shoes off for good.

Mikulik coached the first three innings without his cleats to mark the 109th birthday of "Shoeless" Joe Jackson, raise money for the Asheville Tourists Children's Fund and increase awareness of children in western North Carolina who need shoes.

"It's for a good cause and it just so happened to be Shoeless Joe's 109th anniversary," Mikulik explained. "They asked me to do it and I went ahead and did it.

"At this level, it's financially hard to give that much money to the kids, so if we can help the cause of needy children and needy people, I went ahead and did it."

As he brought the lineup card out to home plate before the game at McCormick Field, Mikulik deposited a pair of shoes in a collection bin.

"They were understanding," he said, referring to Shorebirds manager Ramon Sambo and the umpiring crew, although one umpire wondered if Mikulik might stay shoeless should the Tourists get off to a quick start.

That became a moot point as Delmarva scored four times in the third to take a 5-1 lead.

"I said I'd do it for three innings and I did it for three innings," Mikulik said. "I didn't want to take attention away from the game. ... I didn't want all the attention to be on me."

Still, he spent three innings in his socks in the coach's box along the third-base line. And he wondered how Jackson could have played even one game without shoes. Legend has it that the South Carolina native went shoeless while playing Class D ball because a pair of spikes caused a blister.

"I was thinking about that and how important it is to get traction and go out there and be able to play," Mikulik said. "That would have been quite difficult, I think, to hit and field your position.

"I did some research and the fans gave [Jackson] a hard time. The fans here were supportive. They knew the cause, they're very supportive of what we were doing."

Mikulik, the dean of South Atlantic League managers in his ninth season, also had the support of his players.

"I guess they thought it was pretty cool," he said. "They understand we're all fortunate we're in this game. There's a whole lot of people who aren't able to be in our position, to play professional baseball and be in this business."

The night ended happily for everyone in Asheville as the Tourists overcame a six-run deficit. They scored four times in the bottom of the ninth to tie it, then won on Jeffrey Cunningham's three-run homer in the 10th.

For Mikulik, however, there's one bit of unfinished business. He's working with assistant general manager Chris Smith to auction off the athletic socks he wore.

"I would like to donate that to the Children's Fund," he said. "If we could get it rolling, that'd be great."