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SABR-Houston is Cornucopia of Baseball Joy!

September 18, 2012

Marie “Red” Mahoney of Houston is a veteran all-star outfielder who once played ball for the Soth Bend Blue Sox and Fort Wayne Daisies in the All American Girls Professional Baseball League. Red Mahoney and deceased fellow Texans Alva Jo Fischer and Ruth Lessing were the first women inducted into the Texas Baseball Hall of Fame in 2006. She was presented last nigh by SABR-Houston member and early Houston baseball researcher Marsha Franty.

The first fall meeting of the Larry Dierker SABR Chapter unfolded last night, 9/1712, at the Inn at the Ballpark in Houston, across the street from Minute Maid Park and it proved again to be the Cornucopia of Baseball Joy that our chapter consistently brings to the table. Fresh from our annual two-month summer meeting break, things returned to normal, pre-heating the hot stove season that is right around the corner.

The truth is, our baseball season in Houston never ends. Even when the Astros are not playing, we find plenty to do with our always expanding research into the early history of baseball in Houston, our active participation with the Houston Babies in the growing local vintage base ball circuit, our recruitment of new members, and our ongoing contact with the stars of Houston’s baseball community, who join us regularly as both speakers ad members.

What a deal SABR-Houston is for the hard-core baseball fan and historian – and last night was a broad blast in just about every direction our brothers and sisters in baseball do travel. Due to time and space constraints, I am only able to give you a sniff of baseball as a nostalgic aroma of variable scents, all pleasant – and mostly leathery. If you want a closer whiff, you’re just going to have to make the trip downtown to join us sometime. Our next meeting is Monday, 7:00 PM. October 8th, at The Inn at the Ballpark. Further word on the agenda will be forthcoming soon from our chapter president, Bob Dorrill.

Here’s a sample of the bases we touched last night:

Red Mahoney

 Marsha Franty introduced former AAGBBL all star and Texas Baseball Hall of Famer Marie “Red” Mahoney, who celebrates a somewhere in the 80s birthday this coming Friday, September 21st. Red answered questions in a relaxed conversational mode, making it abundantly lear that she didn’t get into women’s professional baseball back in 1940s to make any kind of “women’s lib” statement, “I went up there to play baseball because I loved the game and that was it.,” she emphasized time and again.  Red was a big star for South Bend and Fort Wayne in 1947-48, and possibly was one of the models for the center fielder that Madonna played in “League of Their Own” in the 1990s movie treatment of the women’s league.

Chris Chesnut, resplendent in a Texas Aggie knit sportshirt, then gave us a fun look at some famous complete 1-0 games, with special notice of the 1-0 no-hitter loss suffered by Houston Colt .45 pitcher Ken Johnson to the Cincinnati Reds on April 23, 1964.  As some of you may recall, Pete Rose reached 2nd base after one out in the top of the 9th on a throwing error by pitcher Johnson himself and then advanced to 3rd on a 5-3 ground out to Bob Aspromonte by Chico Ruiz. Rose then scored the only run of the game when 2nd baseman Nellie Fox booted a grounder by Vada Pinson.  Frank Robinson then flew out to Jimmy Wynn to end the inning, but the damage had been done. The Reds would retire the Colt .45s in the bottom of the 9th, handing Ken Johnson 1-0 loss in a game in which he gave up no hits. Rose tried to consoled Johnson later with the fact that his no-hitter when all the others had been forgotten because of its unique losing outcome.

Tony Cavender reviewed a new book about Gil Hodges, oe that again makes the arguable arguments for his induction to the Baseball Hall of Fame, citing this year’s inclusion of Ron Santo as compelling data for the same treatment of Hodges in the near future. The struggle will continue. As long as there is a guy named Rabbit Maranville in the House, the arguments in support of players with marginal stats will no doubt age on, with the charges for Gil Hodges stirring up the most dust.

New local member Paul Giesler delivered an entertaining talk on his involvement in the SABR biographical article project, stressing that the SABR goal is to build a 10,000 word or so bio on all former major leaguers. Giesler has done several, including a detailed one on one of the great characters of the game’s past, Billy Sturges. According to Giesler, Sturges was playing shortstop for the Cubs in Game Three of the 1932 World Series when his friend, Babe Ruth of the Yankees, allegedly called his shot. According to Sturges, Ruth had been jawing with the Cubs bench all day. Immediately prior to his “called shot,” Ruth apparently had raised his finger to point at the Cubs as he said something like “it only takes one” to hit a ball out of here. Again, as so often happens in baseball, and none more so elsewhere than here,  the hand moving allusion to possibility was viewed was viewed from afar as an outright prediction. And, Babe Ruth being Babe Ruth, after all, the choice between settling for fact or fiction in the matter was easy. Legends build on fiction. Facts have the same effect upon legend as soap does to dirt. Babe let it ride for whatever people wanted to make of what they saw and heard about.

Early Houston Baseball Researcher Mike Vance gave us a great sweeping look at the early presence of major league clubs that both trained in and barnstormed through Houston. According to Mike, over two-thirds of all Hall of Famers have either had a direct playing, managing, or coaching experience at a Houston based ballpark. The list of confirmed names was awesome in the truest sense of that word.

Larry Miggins and Red Mahoney were both honored for recent and upcoming birthdays. Both are local icons and national treasures and we are delighted to be blessed with their company. Red is one of the surviving members of the AAGPBBL and Larry may be the only survivor of both the 1951 Texas League Champion Houston Buffs and the 1946 Jersey City club that played against Jackie Robinson’s Montreal Royals in Robinson organized baseball debut in 1946. We are checking to confirm where Larry stands on the list of survivors at both Houston and Jersey City.

A great night was had by all.

Larry Miggins hit 28 home runs for the 1951 Texas League champion Houston Buffs. Here he stands by the 1951 pennant trophy that was awarded to the Buffs, but was en route from Jo Russell to Mike McCroskey last night night for storage.

Red Mahoney and SABR researcher and friend Marsha Franty. Marsha Franty and Mike Vance have interviewed Red Mahoney extensively for the Early Houston Baseball Project.

Come join us in October. If you really love baseball, we think you will be glad that you did.

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Even Astros Not This Bad

September 17, 2012

God gave us baseball, but he gave it to us with the expectation that we would find pitchers and fielders who wouldn’t give up 19 runs to the other team in a single inning of play.

Back in 2005, Tom Kaiser and David King put together one of the most entertaining and informative little books that’s ever come along about the fabled minor league baseball organization we still know today as The Texas League. It was entitled “The Texas League’s Greatest Hits: Baseball in the Lone Star State” by Trinity Press and you can probably still find it through Amazon or E-Bay and be well worth the better part of twenty bucks that $19.95 with sales tax will more than consume.

The book is a treasure of baseball stories that often cross the line as downright freakish records. The one I chose to share with you today is just such an item too.

Get this.

I think the game was played on June 29, 1896 since the only reported date is a newspaper edition story from the June 30, 1898 of the San Antonio Express as, I presume, a next day account. I also have to assume that the game between the Galveston Sand Crabs and the Fort Worth Panthers was being played in the latter mentioned city since the big action of note here happened in the bottom half of the fourth inning, the normal spot for home teams batting.

I could be wrong. Back then, teams often flipped for bats first and second and it might have been one of those times the visitors chose to bat last. Off hand, I don’t know if the 1898 Texas League had a rule in place that set the alignment as visitors first and home second. Since that’s not the material part of the story, let’s just assume that the game being played as Galveston@Fort Worth.

At any rate, when Fort Worth came to bat in the bottom of the fourth, they had a6-4 lead over Galveston. By the time this inning of bat was finally completed, the Fort Worth lead had swelled to 25-4. That’s right. The Panthers had scored 19 runs on the Sand Crabs in a single inning. They would go on to score 6 more for a 31-4 final tally over the thoroughly deflated and flattened Sand Crabs.

Much detail about the inning has been lost, but we do know this much: Fort worth had 12 hits in the fourth, including 8 singles 2 doubles, 1 triple, and 1 home run. The Sand Crabs also kicked in 4 errors and a passed ball to intensify the self-immolation process and gulping Texas League record the most most runs ever surrendered in one inning as a mark that still stands to this day, 114 years later.

That June 30th San Antonio Express game article bore with it the title that “Even the (1898 San Antonio) Bronchos Never Did Anything Quite So Bad as This.”

To that, we would quickly add: “Neither Have the 2012 Houston Astros.”

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What Now, Lance Berkman?

September 16, 2012

Lance Berkman was always a popular speaker and frequent honoree at the annual Houston Winter Baseball Dinner.

Lance Berkman may be done as an active major league player. With a Cardinals season shortened again by knee trouble that has required additional surgery on his right knee, there’s now a good chance that Lance will retire rather than return for his 15th season as a big leaguer. Adding to that possibility are Berkman’s recently expressed desires for moving back to Rice for graduate school work and a place on Rice baseball coach Wayne’s bench as a special assistant.

The call to his baseball roots – and a possible place in Rice’s baseball future – appear to be strong. Add to the mix that Lance Berkman is one of the wealthiest MLB players, by his own merits, et cetera, and we have the makings of a man with a free shot on pursuing his own passion at the galloping gate of middle age with no financial pressure to take on anything he really doesn’t want to do.

Nice deal for Lance.

If he does put the lid on his career now, Lance leaves with a 14 season career (1999-2012) that will always be capped by his World Series ring and role with the 2011 St. Louis Cardinals championship year and backed by his ten plus years with the Houston Astros as one of the driving forces behind our “Killer B” years and that solo unsuccessful trip to the 2005 World Series as an Astro.

If this is it, Berkman leaves with a .296 career batting average, a .544 slugging percentage, and .409 on base percentage. His 1,200 RBI halt at a nice round number, but his 1,843 hits and 360 career home runs fall short of some easier. more memorable landmark spots at 2,000 and 400.

Berkman’s career 412 doubles include two seasons, 2001 and 2008, when he led the National League with 55 and 46 doubles on the season. He also led the 2002 NL season with 128 RBI.

Lance Berkman will be 37 years old next February 10th. No one can blame him for retiring at his age with his health issues and with his accomplishments.He’s had  a good career, good enough to put him on the roster and probably the starting lineup of any 25-man all time Houston Astros club, just not good enough for any serious National Baseball Hall of Fame consideration.

Whatever you do now, Lance, most, if not all of us Houston baseball fans still thank you for being one of the greatest Astros in franchise history.

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Astros’ Lucky # 5 Has Left the House

September 15, 2012

“What’s that? You say I can make the Astros’ starting rotation if I can last five innings and still post a 4.99 ERA? – Hey, bud, that sounds doable to me! Where do I sign?”

Following the Astros’ 6-4 rally from being down 0-4 to defeat the Phillies, 6-4, Thursday night at Minute Maid Park, SABR colleague Bill Gilbert wrote the following:

“The Astros reached the five run mark again last night and even tacked on an extra run in a comeback (from 0-4) win over the Phillies, 6-4.  It was the biggest offensive explosion since a 10-1 win over the Cubs on August 14.  A three-run home run by Matt Dominguez, his third this month, was again the big weapon.

“The game was played before an announced paid crowd of just over 13,000. which must be the season ticket base.  The crowd appeared to be much smaller.”

That win pulled the Astros back to .500 ball through 12 games n September – also sustaining the club’s September roll of never losing any game in which they scored a minimum of five runs. That skein also went through the window last night as the Phillies went out there and put a 12-6 bashing on the Astros that stopped the “lucky 5 runs” winning streak.

Any September 2012 finish near .500 for the month will be “Astros-Amazing” in its own right. The club is now at 6-7 for the month, but I’m looking for a fade from the even mark that happens fairly radically over the second half of September.

My greatest anticipation for this team? The 2012 Astros will finish the season before the season finishes them, but it’s going to be close. As Astros fans, our greatest hope for resurrection is down the road. Maybe a standing 3-5 years away until something happens to make us believe we are moving closer, not farther away from winning at all.

Have a great weekend, everybody!

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Players Who Homered in 1st MLB At Bat

September 14, 2012

Clyde Vollmer: My only surviving baseball card subject was among those who homered in his first MLB time at bat.

For me, the memory start with former outfielder Clyde Vollmer. For some reason of random chance, his baseball card was the only one that survived from my once vast childhood baseball card collection. The others were all lost to the usual reasons – and I had two parents who discarded any toy or possession that didn’t move in a week’s time. It wasn’t that we had a lot, because we didn’t, but both my parents were anti-clutter, especially my dad.

Old Clyde somehow found refuge in a box of my old school books and essays. I only found his card image, the same as the one shown here, when I was going through some old stored things of my own about 1970. Now Clyde Vollmer sits proudly, if crowdedly, in my “baseball room” in a nice plastic display holder.

That being said, Clyde also was famous for something far bigger than his survivorship of my father’s constant pursuit of order as an undeclared minimalist, Clyde Vollmer also was one of those rare players who homered in his first major league time at bat.

Clyde Vollmer’s major league debut homer came on May 31, 1942 as a member of the Cincinnati Reds. If you look over the list of all who have done the same trick through as recently as September 2, 2012, you will will find the names of four fairly anonymous former Houston Astros on the roll:  Jose Sosa, Dave Matranga, Charlton Jimerson, and Mark Saccomanno. Carlos Lee also performed the same trick in his May 7, 1999 MLB debut, but he did his first HR as a member of the Chicago White Sox.

At any rate, just going over the list is an entertaining exercise to me. I was little surprised to learn that we even had a couple of these first time up homers occur prior to 1900. They most probably were a couple of those fast-hopping grounders that got past the outfielders in one of those 500 feet deep ballpark venues of earlier times.

PLAYERS WHO HOMERED IN THEIR FIRST MLB TIME AT BAT (Wikipedia):

Player Team Date Career HR
Joe Harrington Boston Beaneaters Sep 10, 1895 3
Bill Duggleby& Philadelphia Phillies Apr 21, 1898 6
Johnny Bates Boston Beaneaters Apr 12, 1906 25
Luke Stuart St. Louis Browns Aug 8, 1921 1
Walter Mueller# Pittsburgh Pirates May 7, 1922 2
Earl Averill† Cleveland Indians Apr 16, 1929 238
Clise Dudley# Brooklyn Dodgers Apr 27, 1929 3
Gordon Slade Brooklyn Dodgers May 24, 1930 8
Eddie Morgan# St. Louis Cardinals Apr 14, 1936 1
Ace Parker Philadelphia Phillies Apr 30, 1937 2
Gene Hasson Philadelphia Athletics Sep 9, 1937 4
Ernie Koy Brooklyn Dodgers Apr 19, 1938 36
Heinie Mueller Philadelphia Phillies Apr 19, 1938 17
Bill LeFebvre# Boston Red Sox June 10, 1938 1
Clyde Vollmer# Cincinnati Reds May 31, 1942 69
Paul Gillespie Chicago Cubs Sep 11, 1942 6
Buddy Kerr New York Giants Sep 8, 1943 31
Hack Miller Detroit Tigers Apr 23, 1944 1
Whitey Lockman New York Giants Jul 5, 1945 114
Eddie Pellagrini Boston Red Sox Apr 22, 1946 20
Dan Bankhead Brooklyn Dodgers Aug 26, 1947 1
George Vico# Detroit Tigers Apr 20, 1948 12
Les Layton New York Giants May 21, 1948 2
Ed Sanicki Philadelphia Phillies Sep 14, 1949 3
Ted Tappe Cincinnati Reds Sep 14, 1950 5
Bob Nieman St. Louis Browns Sep 14, 1951 125
Hoyt Wilhelm† New York Giants Apr 23, 1952 1
Wally Moon St. Louis Cardinals April 13, 1954 142
Chuck Tanner# Milwaukee Braves Apr 12, 1955 21
Bill White New York Giants May 7, 1956 202
Frank Ernaga Chicago Cubs May 24, 1957 2
Don Leppert Pittsburgh Pirates June 18, 1961 15
Cuno Barragan Chicago Cubs Sep 1, 1961 1
Bob Tillman Boston Red Sox May 19, 1962 79
John Kennedy Washington Senators Sep 5, 1962 32
Buster Narum Baltimore Orioles May 5, 1963 3
Gates Brown Detroit Tigers June 19, 1963 84
Bert Campaneris# Kansas City Athletics Jul 23, 1964 79
Bill Roman Detroit Tigers Sep 30, 1964 1
Brant Alyea# Washington Senators Sep 12, 1965 38
John Miller New York Yankees Sep 11, 1966 2
Rick Renick Minnesota Twins Jul 11, 1968 20
Joe Keough Oakland Athletics Aug 7, 1968 9
Gene Lamont Detroit Tigers Sep 2, 1970 4
Don Rose# California Angels May 24, 1972 1
Benny Ayala New York Mets Aug 27, 1974 38
Reggie Sanders Detroit Tigers Sep 1, 1974 3
John Montefusco San Francisco Giants Sep 3, 1974 4
José Sosa Houston Astros Jul 30, 1975 1
Dave McKay Minnesota Twins Aug 22, 1975 21
Alvis Woods# Toronto Blue Jays Apr 7, 1977 35
Dave Machemer California Angels Jun 21, 1978 1
Johnnie LeMaster San Francisco Giants Sep 2, 1975 22
Tim Wallach Montreal Expos Sep 6, 1980 260
Gary Gaetti Minnesota Twins Sep 20, 1981 360
Carmelo Martínez Chicago Cubs Aug 22, 1983 108
Mike Fitzgerald New York Mets Sep 13, 1983 48
Andre David Minnesota Twins Jun 29, 1984 1
Will Clark San Francisco Giants Apr 8, 1986 284
Terry Steinbach Oakland Athletics Sep 12, 1986 162
Jay Bell# Cleveland Indians Sep 29, 1986 195
Ricky Jordan Philadelphia Phillies Jul 17, 1988 55
Junior Félix# Toronto Blue Jays May 4, 1989 55
José Offerman Los Angeles Dodgers Aug 19, 1990 57
Dave Eiland San Diego Padres Apr 10, 1992 1
Jim Bullinger# Chicago Cubs Jun 8, 1992 4
Jay Gainer# Colorado Rockies May 14, 1993 3
Mitch Lyden Florida Marlins Jun 16, 1993 1
Garey Ingram Los Angeles Dodgers May 19, 1994 3
Jon Nunnally Kansas City Royals Apr 29, 1995 42
Jermaine Dye Atlanta Braves May 17, 1996 325
Dustin Hermanson Montreal Expos Apr 16, 1997 2
Brad Fullmer Montreal Expos Sep 2, 1997 114
Marlon Anderson Philadelphia Phillies Sep 8, 1998 63
Carlos Lee* Chicago White Sox May 7, 1999 353
Guillermo Mota* Montreal Expos Jun 9, 1999 2
Esteban Yan*# Tampa Bay Devil Rays June 4, 2000 1
Alex Cabrera Arizona Diamondbacks Jun 26, 2000 5
Keith McDonald St. Louis Cardinals July 4, 2000 3
Chris Richard# St. Louis Cardinals Jul 17, 2000 34
Gene Stechschulte# St. Louis Cardinals Apr 17, 2001 1
Marcus Thames*# New York Yankees Jun 10, 2002 115
Miguel Olivo* Chicago White Sox Sep 15, 2002 134
Dave Matranga Houston Astros Jun 27, 2003 1
Kazuo Matsui New York Mets Apr 6, 2004 32
Héctor Luna* St. Louis Cardinals Apr 8, 2004 13
Greg Dobbs* Seattle Mariners Sep 8, 2004 39
Andy Phillips# New York Yankees Sep 26, 2004 14
Mike Jacobs* New York Mets Aug 21, 2005 100
Jeremy Hermida*& Florida Marlins Aug 31, 2005 64
Mike Napoli* Los Angeles Angels  May 4, 2006 134
Adam Wainwright*# St. Louis Cardinals May 24, 2006 5
Kevin Kouzmanoff*#& Cleveland Indians Sep 2, 2006 82
Charlton Jimerson*# Houston Astros Sep 4, 2006 2
Josh Fields* Chicago White Sox Sep 18, 2006 34
Elijah Dukes* Tampa Bay Devil Rays Apr 2, 2007 31
Mark Worrell* St. Louis Cardinals Jun 5, 2008 1
Lou Montañez* Baltimore Orioles Aug 6, 2008 5
Mark Saccomanno*# Houston Astros Sep 8, 2008 1
Jordan Schafer* Atlanta Braves Apr 5, 2009 7
Gerardo Parra* Arizona D’backs May 13, 2009 22
John Hester* Arizona D’backs Aug 28, 2009 3
Jason Heyward* Atlanta Braves Apr 5, 2010 46
Luke Hughes* Minnesota Twins Apr 28, 2010 8
Starlin Castro* Chicago Cubs May 7, 2010 25
Daniel Nava&#* Boston Red Sox Jun 12, 2010 4
J. P. Arencibia*# Toronto Blue Jays Aug 7, 2010 41
Brandon Guyer* Tampa Bay Rays May 6, 2011 3
Tommy Milone*# Washington Nationals Sep 3, 2011 1
Brett Pill* San Francisco Giants Sep 6, 2011 5
Starling Marte*# Pittsburgh Pirates Jul 26, 2012 3
Eddy Rodriguez* San Diego Padres Aug 2, 2012 1
Jurickson Profar* Texas Rangers Sep 2, 2012 1

***********************************************************************************

The WIkipedia source for this report is viewable at

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Major_League_Baseball_players_

with_a_home_run_in_their_first_major_league_at_bat

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Is Five the Magic Number? Not really.

September 13, 2012

The 2012 Baseball Season at Minute Maid Park is mercifully winding down.

Yesterday I received one of those  entertaining and insightful emails that just seem to flow from friend, colleague, and fellow SABR member Bill Gilbert whenever he seems disposed to write them. It was an open message to a number of us so I wanted to share it here with an even broader audience of interest in signs of hope and confirmations of decline in the short-term life span of the 2012 Houston Astros.

Here are Bill’s thoughts, complete with photo and by line attribution:

Bill Gilbert

“Is Five the Magic Number?” by Bill Gilbert.

“Has anyone noticed that the Astros have already won five games in September, the same number they won in the entire month of August and two more than they won in July? In three of the wins, the Astros scored five runs.  They have not lost a game this month in which they scored five runs. In each of the wins when the team scored five, Manager Tony DeFrancesco called upon an old Earl Weaver approach, the three-run homer, twice by Matt Dominguez and once by Brett Wallace.

“The crowds in Minute Maid Park have been non-existent, even against the Cubs.  I read an account of the Monday night game that suggested the number of people in attendance was a couple of thousand, dwindling to about 500 at the end of the 3 hour, 50 minute game won by the Cubs 4-1.  Jim Deshaies  appropriately described the game as a “slogfest”.  I also read that the TV ratings for the Sunday game (opposite the Texans game) were so low they couldn’t be measured.  

“What a change from the September excitement at Minute Maid Park in 2004 and 2005 and even 2006.  Not only that but we have to look at those ugly new billboards in left field.”

Thanks, Bill Gilbert. Your take on things is always intriguing.

Unfortunately, Wednesday night’s game with the Cubs proved that the number “5” can smile on more than one down-and-out team as the next biggest NLC loser, the Chicago Cubs, took a 5-1 victory over the Astros after wrestling away a final chance by Houston to confirm the strength of their local power over the once famous Bagwell number.

Trailing 4-0 going into the bottom of the 8th, the Astros finally rallied for a hit-bunched run against Cubs starter Travis Wood, bringing on Shawn Kemp in relief. After Camp walked Jeff Lowrie to load the bases with two outs, up came J.D. Martinez with both the power and the possibility of grandslamming the Astros to a  5-4 lead and a hopeful continuation of the five-spot hand the club had been playing for wins in September.

Didn’t happen.

Martinez quickly went in the hole – winging and broadly missing down and out pitches that would have each taken golf shots for some kind of sweet spot ride to paradise. After taking a close call on a another low and away pitch, Martinez than concluded his chances with a third wild swing miss for strike three and the end of hope for a sacks-full parade to the plate as runs.

Frank Merriwell is nowhere to be found on the 40-man 2012 Houston Astros roster.

Martinez later admitted that he was probably trying too hard to crush the ball an imposing 500 feet, which, unfortunately, is a distance that is way beyond the leave-the-park requirements of the cozy Crawford Boxes in left field, as we all know.

Who said it? “The fruits of over-eager are marked among the meager.”

At any rate, the Cubs capped “5” with one more tally in the top of the 9th to go on and win the game, 5-1,and move 11 games up on the last place Astros with 19 games left to play for each club.

Oh well. Somewhere, over the rainbow, skies are blue. But, enough, for now. We’ve thought about the Astros enough for one day. Let’s think about them tomorrow. For tomorrow is another day.

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Goodbye, National League!

September 12, 2012

Joe E. Brown: “I’m gonna miss them Astros!”
Bill Frawley: “Me too, Joe!”

It won’t be long now. The Houston Astros are now less than a month away from closing out their final season as a National League club after 51 seasons as an active member and just about a century of minor league association as long-time farm club of the St. Louis Cardinals and short-time affiliate of the Chicago Cubs.

Now it soon ends – and against the same team against which it all began back on Tuesday, April 10, 1962 against the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday, April 10, 1962, when Houston was just starting out their big league run at old Colt Stadium as the Colt .45s. Houston won big that day, going 11-2 behind little lefty starter Bobby Shantz as Roman Mejiias led all hitters with 3 hits, 2 homers, and 6 rbi on the day for the locals.

Baseball Almanac Box ScoresHouston Colt .45s 11 – Chicago Cubs 2.

 
Game played on Tuesday, April 10, 1962 at Colt Stadium
Chicago Cubs ab   r   h rbi
Brock cf 3 0 0 1
Hubbs 2b 4 0 0 0
Williams lf 4 0 1 0
Banks 1b 4 1 2 1
Altman rf 4 0 0 0
Santo 3b 3 0 0 0
White ss 1 0 0 0
  Rodgers ph,ss 1 0 0 0
Barragan c 3 0 1 0
Cardwell p 1 0 0 0
  Gerard p 0 0 0 0
  Morhardt ph 1 0 0 0
  Schultz p 0 0 0 0
  Warner p 0 0 0 0
  McKnight ph 1 1 1 0
  Lary p 0 0 0 0
Totals 30 2 5 2
Houston Colt .45s ab   r   h rbi
Aspromonte 3b 4 3 3 0
Spangler cf 3 3 2 1
Mejias rf 5 3 3 6
Larker 1b 4 1 1 1
Pendleton lf 4 0 1 1
Smith c 4 1 2 1
Amalfitano 2b 3 0 1 1
Buddin ss 3 0 0 0
Shantz p 4 0 0 0
Totals 34 11 13 11
Chicago 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 – 2 5 0
Houston 1 0 4 0 0 0 3 3 x – 11 13 2
  Chicago Cubs IP H R ER BB SO
Cardwell  L (0-1) 2.2 5 5 5 2 1
  Gerard 2.1 1 0 0 1 0
  Schultz 1.0 4 3 3 0 1
  Warner 1.0 1 0 0 0 0
  Lary 1.0 2 3 3 1 0
Tota
8.0
13
11
11
4
2
  Houston Colt .45s IP H R ER BB SO
Shantz  W (1-0) 9.0 5 2 2 2 4
Totals
9.0
5
2
2
2
4

E–Smith (1), Amalfitano (1).  DP–Chicago 1, Houston 2.  2B–Houston Smith (1,off Cardwell).  3B–Chicago McKnight (1,off Shantz), Houston Spangler (1,off Cardwell).  HR–Chicago Banks (1,7th inning off Shantz 0 on, 1 out), Houston Mejias 2 (2,3rd inning off Cardwell 2 on, 0 out,8th inning off Lary 2 on, 2 out); Smith (1,3rd inning off Cardwell 0 on, 2 out).  SF–Brock (1,off Shantz).  Team LOB–4.  SH–Buddin (1,off Schultz).  HBP–Amalfitano (1,by Schultz).  Team–5.  SB–Aspromonte (1,2nd base off Lary/Barragan).  CS–Amalfitano (1,2nd base by Warner/Barragan).  HBP–Schultz (1,Amalfitano).  U-HP–Dusty Boggess,1B–Stan Landes, 2B–Vinnie Smith, 3B–Mel Steiner.  T–2:32.  A–25,271.
Game played on Tuesday, April 10, 1962 at Colt Stadium
Baseball Almanac Box Score | Printer Friendly Box Scores

Now it all ends at Wrigley Field in Chicago at 1:20 PM on Wednesday, October 3, 2012 against the same frustrated Cubs that once welcomed the Pride of Houston to the NL. They aren’t the same players, of course, but they are the same hapless Cubs.

We are going to miss those Cubs pretty quickly once the Astros move to the American League. next season, but that’s life. As we go along, and if we end up lasting a while on the road to survival, we always end up missing someone who is no longer there. And for the Astros and their fans, the Cubs will surely rank high on that list of lost and/or missing persons.

Maybe we should all pack our bags for Chicago that first week in October and be there to say goodbye to the Cubs and the National League in person. – What do you think?

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This & That: Look-A-Likes & Artifacts

September 11, 2012

Sometimes the mind stops grazing over catchy little recognitions and won’t-go-away thoughts and decides to record them, either to get them put out of the way – or to light the fires of ignition somewhere in the name of further action.

My “This & That” items for today feature one of each type – and in the same order presented above. The first has to do with two people that I think are look-a-likes, enough to be brothers, per se. The second features a question about the history of Houston street signs that quickly expands into many other related, albeit mundane, areas of local history:

In the above side-by-side, Jim Crane (left) is the far more recognizable figure as the new majority owner of the Houston Astros. Every since I first met him in person at a function prior to the season, however, I’ve been stuck with this incredible identity transference because of how much he both looks and moves about in much the same way as my retired investor cousin Jim Hunt (right).

To me, the two “Jims” look enough alike to have been blood brothers – or  father and son, at least.What do you think?

In a selfish way, I almost wish they were brothers, even at the risk of them both then being more like the other than they presently are. We would then either have an Astros owner who was deeply dedicated to the presentation of club history, including the preservation of “Tai’s Hill”  – or I would have a cousin who only allowed me into his house if I passed through the turnstile at his front door.

This concrete street sign still stands at the NE corner of Japonica @ Flowers in Houston where it has been for the past approximately 70 years. On the other side of that fence behind the sign, lived the mother of Gus and Frank Mancuso. It was just a half block away from where I grew up in Pecan Park at 6646 Japonica.

That old concrete street sign ought to have some value to the history of street signage in Houston. Do we have anyone out there working on the identification, collection, preservation, and presentation of these kinds of items in Houston history? This one is special to me because of its location in the middle of so many childhood memories, but I would think all these old items are important to the story of the literal and figurative roads we have travelled as a community over the years.

If nothing else, I would gladly take this one home with me, if it were both possible and permissible, but I would prefer it to go to some organization like the Houston Heritage Society for the eventual display to the community.

Do we have anything in motion for the study and disposition of mundane historical artifacts of Harris County or the Greater Houston Area? And, come to think of it, do we know what the oldest continuing, still-in-business store, shop, or for-profit small business entity is in Houston as of September 1, 2012?

History. So many questions. So little time. And not enough ready access to money for doing things right.

Add a “Whatnot” to today’s tab …

Season Ticket holders who can make it safely as runners from 1st to 3rd on a sharply hit ball to right will receive a 50% discount on their 2013 renewal package. Those who are thrown out will pay double for their tickets in 2013.

Every runner will be given this uniform and warpaint to wear on his and her tears from 1st to 3rd base.

All 2012 Astros Season Ticket holders will be given the chance to try their luck as runners for a better ticket price in 2013. On “Run for Your Price Break” Night, each ticket holder will step onto the field as a runner at 1st with the starting Astros lineup on the field. Owner Jim Crane will personally be there to fungo bat sharply hit singles to right field for each runner.

Each runner must try to reach 3rd base from 1st safely. Stopping at second, or getting thrown out in progress, will result in doubling the quoted price for his or tickets in 2013. Ticket holding runners who make it safely to 3rd base, however, will receive a 50% discount on their 2013 quoted package price.

Those who choose not to participate will simply either pay the quoted Astros package price by the team’s payment deadline, or else, surrender their options and accrued benefits and be forced to start over at the end of the line as new ticket applicants should they later change their minds.

Bud Selig

Oh, yes, one more thing: Commissioner Bud Selig has agreed to serve as the umpire on all ticket holder runs from 1st to 3rd.

Fair enough?

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Biggest MLB Losers Race is Ho-Hummer

September 10, 2012

“We will never catch the Astros from Cleveland at the rate we’re going!” (And thanks to cousin Jim Hunt for this use of his late aunt Myrtle Hunt’s artful work here.)

Coming down to the wire in the stretch, it’s pretty much an awesome away in the Baseball’s Biggest Loser Sweeps. Through all game of 9/09/2012, the Houston Astros hold a ten furlong lead over their stablemate from the NL Central, the Chicago Cubs, followed closely on the Cubbies tail by the Colorado Rockies of the NL West and two AL Central mates to complete the trailing pack of four, the Minnesota Twins and the Cleveland Indians.

5 BIGGEST MLB LOSERS W L PCT GB
Houston Astros 44 96 .314 –
Chicago Cubs 54 86 .386 10.0
Colorado Rockies 56 83 .403 12.5
Minnesota Twins 58 82 .414 14.0
Cleveland Indians 59 81 .421 15.0

No horse from the “Pack of Four” is going to catch the Astros in this not-so-hot-to-trot tiptoe race to the 2012 MLB stroller’s gate that is the biggest losers contest at baseball’s highest level. Through games of September 9th, these five clubs are the only ones in the big leagues who have yet to win sixty games on the year and one of those, our current far away leader and presumed biggest loser in the end, the Houston Astros, has yet to rattle the gate on fifty wins.

If baseball’s biggest loser can be determined by the established measurement of eliminated fat, the Astros won this race from the moment they started dumping players like Carlos Lee, Brett Meyers, and Wandy Rodriquez – all guys who took their fat contracts and better than AA/AAA talent with them to finish out the 2012 season in other venues. Their movement made sense in the light of the rebuilding plan, but, let’s face it, it also guaranteed that the club would play put the season with young inexperienced talent that in most cases (from what I’ve seen) was not yet ready to perform well at the major league level.

Now it’s way past the time for Astros fans to just bite the bullet and move on, but, in that regard, we all have to decide for ourselves how we do it. For me, the current level of play has just about killed my desire to go see any more games this year in person, whether the tickets are free or not. The novelty of seeing the new guys play just doesn’t spread too far when winning doesn’t happen that often – and watching “major leaguers” make fundamental mistakes on throws from the outfield, etc. is not my idea of grand fun – or how the game should be played at the major league level under any circumstance.

We are losing so much because we are playing out the 2012 season with AA/AAA level talent. Now, the way to become MLB’s real biggest loser is – to do the same thing next year. The novelty of watching the Astros play American League ball in brand new uniforms has about as much gate punch as one might expect through the first home stands with the Yankees and Red Sox. After that, everything goes straight to one question:

Are the Astros winning – or not?

Baseball fans are like any others. We need to know that winning is always possible – and not just one of those wild acorns that Darrell Royal once said any blind hog could find every once in a blue moon. Or something like that.

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You can learn a lot by observing

September 9, 2012

“You can learn a lot by observing.”

This morning, our Irish pastor priest brought together two of my favorite themes in human behavior: (1) the universal base discordant in all human conflict, the fear of the other, and (2) our personal need to be watchful of ourselves for the sake of assessing whether we are either or both contributors and/or agitators to the goal of world peace among all of us seemingly very different people.

Father brought out the example of being in the grocery  store self-check out lane (must have been Kroger) and getting behind a disheveled homeless man who was having trouble running a crumbled up dollar bill through the payment machine for some small item. The priest said he was aware of clerks and the more normally dressed neighborhood people sort of peeling back from the man, not wanting to get involved with someone who also smelled as though he had not bathed in a while.

The priest decided to move in and help. It meant exchanging the old dollar for one that would clear the payment machine. “I was mindful of the fact that I could always get rid of the crumpled up dollar bill and wash my hands when I got home.” the priest confessed.

“Then it occurred to me,” the priest added. “I was acting against the inclination to also simply ignore this different appearing person and trying to do something to help him as though he were my own brother.”

The priest’s implied message from there was that we can learn a lot about what’s in our hearts by observing how we respond to what’s going on around us, especially when it pulls us out of our personal comfort zones of everything that’s familiar and seemingly safe..

Let’s see, it seems to me that I recall a famous American pragmatist in baseball suggesting something along those same lines. Give me a few minutes. I’m sure his name will come to me.

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