The Pecan Park Eagle

Archive for 2013

John Royal’s Memo to Reid Ryan

May 21, 2013

The Infamous MMP Signs: ~ John Royal of the Houston Press joins The Pecan Park Eagle in also saying, “Take ‘Em Down!” Put them somewhere they don’t destroy the field view.

John Royal of The Houston Press is a no-nonsense, cut to the chase kind of writer on issues facing Houstonians who has now turned his attentions to the doleful Houston Astros and their bright and shiny new president, Reid Ryan. Royal has come up with five things he believes strongly that the Astros should do immediately to start turning around their descent from public consciousness and caring – while there’s still time for effort to matter in the short-term.

Pick up the current edition of The Houston Press – or check out John Royal’s article at this link:

http://blogs.houstonpress.com/hairballs/2013/05/reid_ryan_fan_suggestions.php

The Pecan Park Eagle stands behind John Royal and the The Houston Press 100% on this one – especially on that number one suggestion for removing the uglification of those view-destroying, putrid gray signs hanging in left field.

Here are the titles for Royal’s Top Five things that President Ryan and the Astros should and could do now, but please read John’s article for the full expression of his viewpoint:

5) No More Dynamic Pricing

4) Get a Deal with CSN Houston Already

3) Celebrate Real Fans

2) Chop Food Prices

1) Get Rid of the Damn Sign(s)

Have a nice Tuesday, Everybody. And please keep your prayers, positive thoughts, and donations heading north to our friends and neighbors in Oklahoma. Ugly views at the ballpark pale measurably in comparison to the real life horror aftermath the tornado victims are facing this morning.

My apologies: Earlier today. I introduced this column with a photo of the late Larry Miggins and a man I mistakenly identified as John Harris, whom I have never met. The other man in the photo was John Lomax, formerly of the Houston Press, whom I have come to fully appreciate for his written works on our Houston Babies and his soulful coverage of the tragic death of our baseball brother, the wonderful Larry Joe Miggins. My apologies to all for a very human mistake – and thank you good friend Mike Vance for catching it on one bounce. Thanks to all of you too for your understanding. Heck, if I were perfect, I’d be writing for the Houston Chronicle, right?

Tags:Houston Astros, Houston Press, John Royal, Reid Ryan
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Vintage Game Played on Historic Ground

May 20, 2013

Houston Babies & Friends, Galveston, Texas, May 18, 2013. ~ On the grounds that once cavorted upon the 19th century pleasure & gaiety offerings of a place called Schmidt's Gardens.

Houston Babies & Friends, Galveston, Texas, May 18, 2013. ~ On the grounds where people once savored upon the 19th century pleasure & gaiety offerings of Schmidt’s Garden.

Thanks to SABR member and Babies photographer, Matt Rejmaniak, the Houston Babies and Katy Combine players are now apprised, after-the-fact, that their Saturday, May 18, 2013 vintage base ball game in Galveston played out on the historic ground of a late 19th century pleasure block of land on the beachfront of the Gulf.

“Bet nobody dressed like me back in the wild and wooly days!” ~ Beauty Queen Lynn

_____________________________________

Here’s how Matt Rejmaniak revealed the truth to the Pecan Park Eagle yesterday by e-mail:

“From a little research I’ve done, Saturday’s vintage ball game was played on the site of “Schmidt’s Garden”. Amazingly appropriate! It was the first time the Houston Babies ball club has played in Galveston since 1888!!!

http://civilwarmed.blogspot.com/2012/11/schmidts-garden-and-boy-named-quarantine.html

“Schmidt’s Garden, located on five acres of ground between Avenue 0 and P and 20th and 21st Streets, was the rendezvous of pleasure seekers in Galveston a century ago. In the 1870s and 1880s parties, picnics and festivals were held within the confines of the garden, dotted with beautiful trees, flowers and shrubbery. The garden was developed and owned by F.W. Schmidt, pioneer settler in Texas…Schmidt’s Garden was one of the most popular places on Galveston Island for outdoor recreation between 1873 and 1887. Dances, athletic events, and beer-drinking contests also were held at the Garden, which boasted an octagon shaped dance hall, a saloon and a refreshment stand.”

— Matt Rejmaniak

_________________________________________

Writer John DeLapp of the Galveston County News also gave the 14-14 tie game great story and pictorial coverage in their Sunday, May 19th edition too. Grab a copy, if you can, or check it out over the Internet through their paid subscriber service.

If you missed our game story here at The Pecan Park Eagle yesterday, or if you haven’t seen the extra photos that were added to it late last night, try this link:

https://thepecanparkeagle.wordpress.com/2013/05/19/babies-combine-in-14-14-galveston-tie/

"Us Houston Babies just waited our times to bat on the bench. We didn't know nuthin' 'bout us playin' a game on ground that used to be a beer garden and dance hall!"

“Us Houston Babies just waited our times to bat on the bench. We didn’t know nuthin’ ’bout us playin’ a game on ground that used to be an outdoor saloon!”

Tags:Vintage Base Ball in Texas
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Babies-Combine in 14-14 Galveston Tie

May 19, 2013

At Galvez Field, Bob Stevens (L) of the Babies eyes the short fences and predicts to manager Bob Dorrill: "This will be my fist 4-homer day!"

At Galvez Field, Bob Stevens (L) of the Babies eyes the short fences and predicts to manager Bob Dorrill: “This will be my first 4-homer day!”

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. The day started with the Beach Revue Bathing Beauty Contest!

By the sea! By the sea! By the beautiful sea!

Yesterday, the Houston Babies tangled with their growing friendly arch rival, the Katy Combine, on new, but old and familiar grounds. As part of the Hotel Galvez Beach Central here-comes-summer weekend show, the Babies were only outshone by those other babes who showed up as contestants in the beach girl swim suit beauty contest. Even muscle beach Babies personnel like Bill Hale, Larry Hajduk, and yours truly, Bill McCurdy, couldn’t make the difference this time.

The girls were just too flat-out gorgeous! – Well, the swim suit girls weren’t exactly flat-out, but, I’m just saying – as competition on that level, the Houston Babies weren’t even close to winning any attention-competition with the always alluring and uplifting presence of beautiful ladies.

(Can I say that much without getting into further trouble at home? My gosh, as a veteran of the Spanish-American War, a little slack here would be appreciated.)

As for the game, the Babies and Combine had to make do with a field so small that it brought new sweetness to the old baseball phrase for a park of easy homers. Galvez Field was the juiciest of juice boxes, so much so that Babies Manager Bob Dorrill and Combine Manager Dave Flores agreed prior to the game to an important ground rule: Every ball hit over, past, or through the close-in fence signs would be tagged as a ground rule single. As a result, almost all hits in the game, including those hit on top of the parking garage, were simply singles. A few swinging bunt singles, ground ball worm-burners to the outfield, and copiously repetitious fielding errors also allowed for all the other basemen.

Galvez Field from home plate, looking in to the Hotel Galvez: That sign is one of several that marked the short fence line. It’s what Bob Stevens saw when he called his shot that wasn’t to be due to ground rules.

A pretty young lady named Lynn won the swim suit contest and also threw out the first pitch of the game. That’s the old Pecan Park Eagle himself calling her perfect shot pitch.for our many listeners.

The game was memorable from several standpoints: (1) It was the first the Houston Babies have played in Galveston since 1888; (2) It was a successful demonstration of vintage baseball on The Island, one that we all hope will inspire the resurrection of the Galveston Sand Crabs as the newest of our local area old rules teams; and (3) It gave us all a day at the beach among the beautiful people of Galveston. All participants in the game especially want to thank Adrienne Culpepper and Will Wright of the Beach Central program for the invitation – and also thanks to the Hotel Galvez for their wonderful hospitality.

Beauty Queen Lynn

Murdoch’s to our SW was the destiny for any supernaturally magiccal foul balls that went straight back from the batter’s box. Fortunately, there were none.

As for the game, it was a barn-burner. Katy jumped out to quick big lead – and they even held a 14-6 edge through the 5th inning of our 7-inning game. With Larry Hajduk replacing starter Bob Blair in the bottom of the 5th, the Babies tallied 5 runs in the top of the 6th to narrow their deficit to 11-14. Buffalo Hajduk then helped his own cause with a sterling bit of defensive play in the bottom of the 6th to keep the score at 14-11, Katy, with one inning to go. The Babies then scored another 3 in their last time up to tie things at 14-14. – Hajduk the Elder then shut down Katy in the bottom of the 7th as regulation play ended and darkness drew near. The two clubs mutually agreed to finish their demo game right there with a well-deserved 14-14 tie as the final score.

To our SE was the target area for foul balls down the right field line. With the kind of lob pitching our batters see, fouls to the right side also were a non-factor.

To our SE was the target area for foul balls down the right field line. With the kind of lob pitching our all BR hittters see, fouls to the right side also were a non-factor.

Larry “Buffalo” Hajduk was named Player of the Game for his late inning relief pitching, his excellent fielding, and his better than average hitting on the day. Way to go, Buffalo!

Babies players batted in this order on the day: Phil Holland, Kyle Burns, Alex Hajduk, Larry Hajduk, Bill Hale, Bob Blair, Robby Martin, Robby Pina, Bob Stevens, and Jo Hale.

Combine players (to the extent that I have them identified) batted in this order: Brandon “Money” Flores, Jimmy “Hay-hauler” Turner, Dave “Triple Play” Flores, Fernando the Panamanian Slugger, Vince “The Viper” Columbo, Jeff “Slim” Roberts, George “Cypress” Tilton, Jess the Roller-by Girl, Chris “Omega/Red” Flores, and Malcolm (Who?).

The Houston Babies celebrate a golden day with one of the Beach Revue girls joining them as very much in the picture. That’s Kyle Burns up front with his dog, “Flicka”, who served as our Babies Mascot of the Day.

It was a great fun day. The beauty contest winner, a gorgeous blonde, threw out the first pitch – and earlier, she and another contestant, a beautiful brunette, took numerous photos with each team.

“May 18, 2013? Ah yes! I remember it well!”
~ Babies Mgr., Bob Dorrill.

The next time you have a chance to watch a vintage baseball game, check it out. As Buddy Holly of the Crickets used to say, “You don’t know what you been a missin’, Oh Boy!”

—————————————————–

Footnote: Thanks to SABR member and long time Babies crank Mark Rejmaniak for the bathing beauty photos. Mark, your camera eye has made this column what it needed to be and totally made my day. The Pecan Park Eagle thanks you for the fine work and lasting contribution. – Bill McCurdy

Tags:Galveston Beach Central, Hotel Galvez, Houston Babies, Katy Combine
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Browns at Heart

May 18, 2013

Maybe it was the orange signage in the background at PNC Park that framed their comical losing play. Maybe it was the growing possibility that the Houston Astros may soon go places with season losses that even defied the creative losing capacities of the old St. Louis Browns. Maybe it’s the new orange-tinged Astros uniform scheme that reminds of the Browns. Maybe it’s the fact that both the Browns and the Astros have shown a preference for minor league talent rosters. Maybe it’s the Astros fan fear that the Astros will eventually sell off any player who gets too good to play cheap. Maybe it’s just the way the Astros keep coming up with new ways to lose games. Who knows?

Whatever it is – it’s ringing the connection bell between the Houston Astros and the old St. Louis Browns pretty good.

Are the Astros sort of mutating into something like the “Browns at Heart”?

What follows the art pictorial of last night’s dumb and dumber 5-4 loss to Pittsburgh is a parody of that ancient Frank Sinatra song, “Young at Heart”. The lyrics below will fit that tune as they also pursue the possibility that the Astros may be in motion in 2013 to now becoming the “Browns at Heart”.

With 2 outs in the 9th, Elmore & Paredes of the Astros team up on a dropped pop fly that allows the Pirates to score the winning run from 3rd. Are they “Browns at Heart”?

Browns at Heart (a parody set in motion to the tune of that old song, “Young at Heart”

Fairy tales – don’t come true – it won’t happen for you,
If they’re Browns at Heart.
For it’s hard – you will find – to see fertile of mind,
If they’re – Browns at Heart.

Astro minds – hit extremes – with impossible schemes,
Try to laugh – as your dreams – fall apart at the seams,
And life gets more frustrating – with each passing day,
But you can’t watch ’em on the TV – anyway.

Don’t you know – they’re not worth – every treasure on earth,
If they’re Browns at Heart.
For as old – as you are – it’s just bending your bar,
To see – Browns at Heart.

And if you – should survive – past their loss 105,
Look at all – they’ll deprive – out of being alive!
And here is the worst part – you had a head start,
If you paid your hard-earned bucks on – Browns at Heart.

Tags:"YOUNG AT HEART" PARODY, Houston Astros, St.. Louis Browns
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A Gathering of Eagles and Buffalos and Cougars

May 17, 2013

“Place no faith in tomorrow, for the hands may there be still.”

Friday, May 16. 2013 was another of those golden days, time with buddies, neighbors, and classmates on the very turf where we all grew up in the Houston East End. One could plan for years to do something like this little reunion and it might not happen, but this one did, by accident or spiritual design – and I don’t believe in accidents.

From my place on the west side. I picked up another former Pecan Park Eagle named Ken Kern from his place in off 610 South and drove us to Kelley’s Country Kitchen at 8015 Park Place Blvd. off the Gulf Freeway. There we met up with a mutual friend from way back named Foster Foucheaux, who had driven up from Pearland to meet us for lunch.

Our relationship chain worked like this: Ken and I were Pecan Park neighbors from 1945 to forever. I lived on Japonica and Ken lived on Myrtle. As we got older, we both flocked to the sandlot that was bordered by both our streets. We came to name ourselves “The Pecan Park Eagles” and to play out so much of our passion for the game on that hallowed ground. By the time high school came along, I remained an eagle by enrolling at St. Thomas and commuting everyday to STHS at 4500 Memorial. Ken became a buffalo, a Milby HS Buffalo.

Foster Foucheaux grew up in Park Place, a neighborhood to the southeast of Pecan Park. We met in 1947 when my parents enrolled me as a second-grader in St. Christopher’s Catholic School. We were classmates and baseball teammates at Chris through our 1952 8th grade graduation.Then Foster went to Milby where he and Ken met and became fiends.

And those were the three legs of group relationship stool. I lost track of Foster in high school, but Ken and I still got together occasionally to commiserate over girl friend issues as we cruised the East End drive inns. Then all of us went our separate ways as working UH students, but Ken and I did share time as ROTC students.

We talked about the things yesterday that older men discuss: our health issues; the way we were; our happiness and our regrets; and our gratitude for each day we awaken on the top side of the growing grass. One sad note invaded with the news that Ken’s older brother Lloyd had died recently. I had known about it after the fact of his funeral and before today so I came prepared. I have this always-with-me desire to give of myself to those I care about and, sometimes that need gets expressed in ways that aren’t well understood by some people. That was not the case yesterday,

I gave Foster and Ken copies of my two personally most important poems, Summer Baseball (1969) and The Pecan Park Eagle (1993), plus one by an anonymous writer that has no known date stamp. It’s called “The Clock of Life”, but more importantly to me, at least, it has become my mantra for a life-in-the-moment appreciation of what fills my cup.

The guys each also received a small bottle of magic soil that I had dug up from the home plate area of our old sandlot field at Japonica and Myrtle in 2010. Ken and I played there from about 1948 to 1954. Foster never played there, but he was an East Ender too and a valued school baseball teammate at St. Christopher’s. That was good enough for me.

Ken received two sandlot soil bottles: One for him. And one for Lloyd.

The lunch discussion over good old fashioned East End comfort food lasted three hours and we vowed to do it again, even as we kept in mind the message of the clock:

The Clock of Life

~ author unknown ~

The clock of life is wound but once

And no one has the power

To know just when the hands will stop

At late or early hour

NOW Is the only time you own

Live, Love, Toil in God’s Will

Place no faith in tomorrow

For the clock may there be still

Have a nice weekend, everybody – one day at a time.

Tags:essay on age, life in the here and now
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Ross Youngs vs. Curt Walker: One More Time

May 16, 2013

A new book on Ross Youngs by David King is coming our way soon.

Curt Walker started his professional career as a Houston Buff in 1919.

Curt Walker was a Houston Buff in 1919.

Curt Walker of Beeville, Texas was one of my earliest baseball idols, but it had nothing to do with seeing him play or knowing first hand how really good he was. He was my dad’s friend, one of my fatherless dad’s earliest role models from our shared birthplace of Beeville. Dad and his buddies used to go to downtown Beeville as kids of the 1920s to check on Cincinnati Reds scores because of Curt. Before I was born, Dad and Curt later played town ball together for Beeville in the 1930’s. They hunted together. They grabbed coffee together at the old American Cafe on Washington, Beeville’s “main street” business drag.

By the time I reached adolescence and started accessing published records of baseball’s past performers, I learned that our family friend, Curt Walker, had done pretty well for himself as a big league ballplayer from 1919-1930. Then, years later, in 1972, I was astonished by the news that another deserving small town Texas contemporary named Ross Youngs had been approved for induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame by the Veteran’s Committee.

What about Curt? I wondered. I’m no stat head, and this is no knock on Ross Young’s deservedness for the honor, but I just couldn’t see what made Youngs a superior candidate for that honor than Curt Walker. From anecdotal sources, I got the idea that Youngs may have been the faster between these two fast men, but both were great defending outfielders with great batting eyes. Physically and by age too, they were virtually Texas twins. The only really major differences were that Youngs played all of his ten-year MLB career with the New York Giants and Curt Walker played most of his twelve-year career with the Cincinnati Reds.

With the new book on Youngs by David King coming out soon, I have to take us through this basically unscientific comparison one more time:

Curt Walker was born in Beeville, Texas on July 3, 1896. Ross Youngs was born in Shiner, Texas on April 10, 1897.

Curt grew to a playing height and weight of 5’9″, 170 pounds; Ross rose to 5’*8″ and 162. Both batted left and threw right.

Ross batted .322 in a career that covered 5,336 plate appearances; Curt batted .304 over 5,575 plate trips.

Ross banged out 2BH, 3BH, & HR totals of 236-93-42; Curt closed on same with totals of 235-117-64.

Ross had R/RBI totals of 812/592. Curt finished with totals of 718/688.

Ross racked up 1,491 career hits. Curt posted 1,475 total hits.

Ross registered OBP/SA totals of .399/.441; Curt went in the same tub with .374/.440 marks.

Ross walked 550 times; Curt drew 535 bases on balls.

Ross struck out only 390 times in 5,336 plate appearances, but Curt fanned only 254 times in 5,575 plate trips.

Ross Youngs died of Bright’s Disease at age 30 on September 22, 1927 in San Antonio, Texas. Curt Walker died of a heart attack at the age of 59 on December 9, 1955 in Beeville, Texas.

My Conclusion: Ross Youngs had more friends in high places than Curt Walker. Youngs also played his career in New York and was struck down by a terrible disease at the height of his career. Lot’s of sympathy votes hatch from going out that way. Curt Walker was more of an everyday, quiet kind of guy who played out his career in a small market city, lived into his retirement years to the boondocks of little Beeville, a place that hardly a Veterans Committee member ever visited.

Sabermetric guru Bill James takes this position on the Youngs/Walker controversy: He basically concludes that it isn’t so much that Walker deserves the HOF as much as Youngs, but that Ross Youngs never should have been inducted in the first place. He believes that both men were good ballplayers, just not statistically good enough in either case for the Hall of Fame.

With their shared affinity for avoiding the “K”, I would gladly take either man for the top of my batting order in 2013.

It will be interesting to see what new light David King brings to the legacy of Ross Youngs. For some of us, he will always be connected to the disappearing act that the Veterans Committee performed on Curt Walker.

Tags:Curt Walker, Ross Youngs
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Buff Biographies: Joe Medwick

May 14, 2013

Joe Medwick
Outfielder
Houston Buffs
1931-1932, 1948

Joe Medwick wasn’t included in the 1948 autograph book about the 1948 Houston Buffs by Morris Frank and Adie Marks. He wasn’t supposed to be back in Houston that year.

19-year-old outfielder Joe Medwick wasn’t the easiest guy to get along with when he joined the 1931 Houston Buffs in 1931. Blessed with Hall of Fame baseball skills and a thin skin to the comments and trash talk of others, many of his teammates chose to stand-off rather than set off the young powder keg in the middle of a game situation. He seemed to get a little worse as he moved into his early to mid twenties before finally mellowing out with maturity during the latter years of his total baseball career (1930-49, 1951-52). He did not leave baseball, however, for a career in any of the commercial human relationships fields, nor did he seek or find work in the State Department’s diplomatic corp.

Columnist Lloyd Gregory and a Buffs fan hung the nickname “Ducky” on Joe Medwick. Of course, they did it from afar.

Medwick acquired his nickname, “Ducky”, in 1931 after a female fan wrote to Houston Post Dispatch columnist Lloyd Gregory, claiming that she hard started calling him by that name because she thought he waddled like a duck when he walked. Gregory apparently agreed with the fan and started using the moniker in his own public references to Medwick in his columns.

It stuck, or “resonated”, as we might say in 2013. The Houston public saw him as “Ducky” through a second season in 1932 and then sent their slugging and swifty center fielder onward and upward to St. Louis late in the 1932 season to waddle all the way to baseball greatness, starting with the St. Louis Cardinals’ Gashouse Gang.

Medwick hit .305 with 19 league-leading homers and 126 RBI for the 1931 Texas League champion Buffs. In 1932, Ducky raised his batting average to .354 with 26 HR; this time, not leading the league in either category.

Over the course of his 17-year MLB career with the St. Louis Cardinals (1932-40, 1947-48)); Brooklyn Dodgers (1940-43, 1946); New York Giants (1943-45); and Boston Braves (1945), Joe Medwick batted .324 with 205 HR and 1,383 RBI.

For his 7 seasons as a minor leaguer (1930-32, 1948-49, 1951-52), Ducky batted .336 with 83 HR. He also served as a manager at three different minor cities in his last three active seasons (1949, 1951-52).

Joe Medwick was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1968 He died at age 63 on March 21, 1975.

Tags:Joe Medwick
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Buff Biographies: Johnny Keane

May 13, 2013

Excerpt from “Your 1948 Houston Buffs, Dixie Champions: Brief Biographies By Morris Frank and Adie Marks (1948).

Johnny Keane
Manager
1947 Houston Buffs

Johnny Keane managed the first team I ever followed, the 1947 Houston Buffs, to both the Texas League pennant and the Dixie Series championship. Seventeen years later, he led the comeback-romping 1964 St. Louis Cardinals to an incredible last-chapter snatching of the National League pennant from the Cincinnati Reds and the phaltering phingers of the pholding Philadelphia Phillies. The Cardinals then edged the New York Yankees in the seven-game 1964 World Series. It was a big surprise championship, but the biggest surprise followed almost immediately.

The Yankees fired Yogi Berra as their manager for losing the ’64 Series and hired Johnny Keane as his replacement. In spite of Johnny’s desire to get back at Cardinals’ owner August Bush for his own plans to fire him until the team’s miracle rally, his placement with the Yankees was quick to prove itself a very bad fit.

Keane’s authoritarian ways didn’t go over well with the arrogant Yankee big apple celebrity athletes. The 1965 Yankees slipped all the way down to 6th. Then, New York AL ’66 headed toward a last place finish in the tenth spot, Keane was fired and replaced by Ralph Houk. Johnny Keane’s baseball career was over and done.

Johnny Keane returned to his Houston home after the Yankee firing, but his health had taken a heavy silent toll from the stress. At age 55, he died of heart failure on January 6, 1967.

Johnny Keane’s baseball history with the Houston Buffs was ancient and deep. He loved the city, playing shortstop here for four seasons from 1934 to 1937. He later managed the Buffs from 1946 to 1948, even getting into a few games as a player.

Keane was a minor league manager for seventeen seasons (1938-41, 1946-58) and a major league manager for six seasons with St. Louis, NL (1961-64) and New York, AL (1965-66).

Tags:Buff Biographies, Johnny Keane
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Mother’s Day Reflections 2013

May 12, 2013

Here’s my dad wishing my mom a Happy Mother’s Day in 1993. They were both gone by July 1994. Mom died in early June, four days after their 58th anniversary. Dad, who had been in good health, died exactly five weeks later.

Happy Mother’s Day, Mom, wherever your happy soul resides in Heaven’s broad cloudscape. We still love you, even though you are no longer with us, and we still feel the presence of your love in everything right that we take on to do.

You taught us that “God is Love”. So be it. You were right, as were you correct about all the other lessons of pure love’s true nature: All love that is giving, that is right, that is building life for the better – is God’s Love.

It took us awhile, but we got it. – Mother’s Love is God’s Love too. All caring for others and the world around us is God’s Love. And once it reaches our hearts, it stays with us forever.

God’s Love is True Love too. Any kind of notion that True Love is about having a partner that makes us feel good all the time is not Love, at all, but lust. Easy way to recall the difference: Love frees. Lust owns.

Thank you, Mom, for freeing me to live. I’m not perfect, but I give life my best.

Because of you.

Happy Mother’s Day!

Tags:mothers day refliections
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Buff Biographies: Allen Russell

May 11, 2013

Excerpt from “Your 1948 Houston Buffs, Dixie Champions: Brief Biographies By Morris Frank and Adie Marks (1948).

Allen Russell started with the Houston Buffs as a parking lot attendant back in the mid-1930s, working himself up to top as President of the club from 1946 through 1952. Short on formal education, but long on street-wisdom, vision, energy, people smarts, and a love of the game, Allen Russell did more than other single individual in local history to sell Houston as a future major league city,

Allen Russell Houston Buffs President 1946-1961

Allen Russell
Houston Buffs President
1946-1952

Several seasons of outdrawing the major league St. Louis Browns with the AA Texas League Houston Buffs was just the icing on the cake that front-loaded the serious, specific campaign by others in behalf of Houston’s big league dreams after Russell departed the Buffs following the 1952 season.

Allen Russell was Houston Baseball’s human dynamo. His read on the needs of his Buff Stadium fans was little more than an example of the empathy he had for the needs of the people. And his ability to anticipate the future comfort needs of fans was simply one of the big reasons that Houston adopted the far reaching state of mind in its plans for baseball and is now playing the game more than a half century later in its second covered stadium.

Thank you, Allen Russell, for taking the breaker shot that set all the balls in motion for baseball success in Houston on so many critical levels at the end of World War II.

Now, if the Astros can only get back to winning more games than they lose by 2015.

Tags:Allen Russell
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