DETROIT -- When reporters stepped into manager Jeff Banister's office early Saturday afternoon, he had the World Cup playing on his TV. The tournament is being played in Russia this year, and seeing famous Russian landmarks flash across the screen got Banister thinking about the time he played and taught baseball in Russia.
Banister was part of a group of players from the Double-A Eastern League who went on a 16-day tour of the Soviet Union in 1989 to put on baseball clinics and play games against the Russian national team.
"I had a blast," Banister recalled.