Before every home game at BB&T Ballpark, Dash graphics guru Caleb Pardick prepares a special game program, PlayBall! He does a great job with it, and it gives fans a chance to get an inside look at the Dash both on and off the field.

One of our favorite features is “Outside the Lines,” which gives fans a chance to learn about players away from the diamond. We’ve had plenty of good ones thus far this season. Here are some of our favorites:

Chris Bassitt:

Have you ever seen those weird-looking aquarium-like objects at fast food places? The ones that you drop a quarter in and it almost always falls to the bottom? Well, during a recent road trip, Chris Bassitt showed off his skills in these games and managed to drop a few quarters on the platforms. As a result, he had gotten most of his lunch for free. “My friend used to work at a place with one of these things,” Bassitt said. “I guess I got good at it.” This is certainly a unique way for a minor league player to pocket some of his meal money.

Kyle Bellamy missed all of last season but got to know Michael Scott in 2011 (Jody Stewart/W-S Dash).

Kyle Bellamy:

It’s never easy to suffer an injury. Current Dash reliever Kyle Bellamy had to go through that throughout the 2011 season. The right-hander had surgery on his right shoulder and went more than 600 days between outings. Other than missing the games, Bellamy had to cope with another reality of being injured. “Sitting on the couch,” Bellamy said, “you can’t really do much.” So he turned to Netflix to pass the time. “Netflix is a savior. I’m a big Office fan. And there’s 100-something Office episodes. I watched all of them.”

Dan Black:

Black is one of the Dash’s bigger players. At 6-foot-5 and 240 pounds, he does dwarf some teammates. As a result, Black has earned an interesting yet fitting nickname—the “Big Black Bear.” “[Dash manager] Tommy [Thompson] actually coined that a couple of years ago when I was in instructionals,” Black said. “I don’t think any coaching staff member has ever used my real name since.” Black has embraced the nickname and reacts to it just as well as someone referring to him as “Dan.” He also immortalized the nickname by engraving one of his bats with “Black Bear.”

Nick McCully:

Nick McCully has lived in almost 20% of the country in the last two and a half years (Steve Orcutt/W-S Dash).

McCully has done plenty of traveling lately. “I’ve lived in Iowa, Florida, Arizona, New Jersey, Delaware, North Carolina, South Carolina, New York and Florida in the past two in and half years,” the pitcher said.  That’s nine states, or almost 20% of the country. “It’s tough because my car is always packed,” he said.  To make it easier to get around after moving to a new place, McCully said he relies on people familiar with the area.  “Teammates pick me up, and I’ve taken a lot of cabs,” the right-hander said.

Jake Oester:

It was established early in life that Jake Oester was going to be a baseball player. A young Jake would tag along with his father Ron, who played second base for the Cincinnati Reds for 12 years. As a child, Oester was a regular in the Reds clubhouse. “I got to go to all different ballparks and hang out there on weekends and after school,” he said. Oester ate up all the attention from the big leaguers.  “The guys treated me like one of the players. I got to hit in the cages and hang in the clubhouse. They used to make fun of me and joke that I must not have any friends because I was always here.”

Trayce Thompson:

At first glance, one might think Trayce Thompson is the black sheep in a family of professional basketball players. His father Mychal was the top pick in 1978 NBA draft, while older brothers Mychel and Klay both have played in the NBA. But it wasn’t the path Thompson wanted to take. “We all played all three sports growing up,” he said. “We were good at all three and my dad never forced me to play basketball.” Thompson’s brother Klay currently plays for the Golden State Warriors, but he almost chose a different sport as well. “I’m kind of surprised Klay went with basketball,” Thompson said. “He was really good at football; I thought he would go that route.”

Daniel Wagner:

Other than playing baseball in college, Daniel Wagner was involved in music.  The infielder majored in music production at Belmont University.  “I started playing the guitar when I was either 15 or 16 and just kind of fell in love with it,” Wagner said.  Wagner said he also produces and writes a lot of songs.  Jack Johnson and John Mayer are among music artists he looks to for inspiration.  Although he’s focused on his baseball career, he said he might pursue his musical interests after his baseball career is over.  “I enjoy it, so it’s definitely a possibility in the future,” Wagner said.

Mike and I join you with the Pre-Game Dash tonight at 6:45 on wsdash.com. Talk to you then!

- Brian