The Houston Babies swaggered into Constellation Field in Sugar Land Friday afternoon as though they had been sent on a mission by The Magnificent Seven.
The Houston Babies had come to town to give a good accounting of themselves.
For the first time in the five year period of their resurrection from the 19th century, the Houston Babies were invited to play vintage base ball yesterday at the site of a professional ball park against the up and coming Katy Combine. The contest was scheduled as the pre-game entertainment and educational program at Constellation Field, home of the Sugar Land Skeeters, prior to their 7:00 PM, Friday, August 8th ATLANTIC league game with the Long Island Ducks.
The Houston Babies prevailed by a tally of 9-5 as Robert Blair of the Babies became both the first vintage pitcher to win a game on a professional field in the Houston area and also the oldest player on record to start in such a contest. We do think that the oldest player to pitch and play records were again broken late in the game when elder statesman Mike McCroskey entered the contest in relief of Rapid Robert Blair.
McCroskey inherited too big a lead to earn a record first-time old-guy save at a professional park, but we do give him modest praise for “Andy Warholing” the quick and fleeting fame earnings of the stalwart Mr. Blair.
Our Babies victory charge of day was simple: “PLAY LIKE YOU BELONG on a professional baseball field!” And so they did play, breaking a 3-3 tie with a 6-run roll in the bottom of the 2nd that the club then protected for the rest of the game like their last available pacifier.
Ah, those Houston Babies! ~ Ain’t life grand? Life is better than grand in the Babies baseball bed. ~ Life is good.
Babies Manager Bob Dorrill stayed on the top steps, making sure that all Babies kept their eyes, heads, and hearts in the game all the way.
The McCroskey father & daughter team put together one of their patent family hits in the late innings today. He hit it and she ran it out safely as a designated pinch courtesy runner. – You see, when you have a dad whose nickname is “Piano Legs”, you have to run for him.
As per usual, and as did the others, Jo and Bill Hale brought their complete game efforts to the Babies heat wave party in Sugar Land on Friday.
The intensity of Mike McCroskey’s pitching effort was unbelievable.
…. but Big Mac’s efforts worked well enough to keep the thing going that young Bobby Blair had started,
Later in the evening, the Sugar Land Skeeters would blast the visiting Long Island Ducks out of the skies by 11-3 on these same grounds. It marked the first time in history for good results when babies and mosquitoes show up in the same place on the same day.
The post-game photo of the Babies was even happier, and it also added the additional bright red jersey presence of Miss Megan McCroskey and the street clothes inclusion of a venerable and much loved former Houston Buff, Mr. Larry Miggins.
Larry Miggins joined us in the Houston Babies dugout in preparation for his date on the mound to throw out the first pitch prior to the Skeeters game.
To cap the evening, Larry Miggins did throw out the first pitch prior to the SL Skeeters game and then went upstair to sign autographs for fans at the SABR table. It was a great night for all and we, SABR and the Houston Babies, want to thank Tal Smith, Deacon Jones, Ira Liebman, Tom Kennedy, and everyone else at Constellation Field who had a hand in making this great date possible.
For his first pitch, Larry Miggins chose to unleash his two-fingered parabolic glider fork ball. The ball split the outside black rubber border line in a nearly unhittable area of the strike zone.
In conclusion, here’s a copy of the flyer prepared by writer/historian Tom Kennedy in honor of Larry Miggins and his visit to Constellation Field this August evening.
The Pecan Park Eagle 
August 10, 2013 at 6:00 pm |
great job Bill and was a blast to play.
August 11, 2013 at 1:12 pm |
You folks are great; that must have been a real treat for you all.