The Pecan Park Eagle

Archive for 2013

1961: Oilers Down Chargers for 1st AFL Title

October 21, 2013

BILLY CANNON’S 88 YARD CATCH AND TD RUN ON A THROW FROM OILERS QB GEORGE BLANDA SEALED VICTORY AND WON HIM THE MVP AWARD IN THE FIRST AFL TITLE GAME PLAYED AT JEPPESEN STADIUM IN HOUSTON ON JANUARY 1, 1961.

POST-COLUMN NOTE: BUD ADAMS HAS DIED IN HOUSTON, MONDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2013: Three hours after I made the decision to write this column on the first AFL championship win of the Houston Oilers, I received word over the radio that Houston Oilers founder and current Tennessee Titans owner Bud Adams has died in Houston. It is a curious coincidence that the vibes I felt this morning to do this piece today were especially strong. I assumed that the death three days ago of former beloved Oilers coach Bum Phillips may have had something to do with it, but now it’s even more curious that old Phillips nemesis Bud Adams also died only three days after Bum. – Rest in Peace, Bud Adams.

Now it’s onto the story I must have been writing at the time of Bud Adams’s death:

We dressed differently for football games in 1961.

January 1, 1961 was a bright sky beautiful rush of blue into the new year and Houston was preparing to square off against Los Angeles for the rebel AFL’s first championship title game at Jeppesen Stadium, the venue known better in recent years as Robertson, the lately demolished old home of the Houston Cougars. Back then it was a big deal to those of us who were Houston’s new coming of age generation. Yours truly had only the night before, on New Years Eve, turned 23. I had a great entry-level job as a case worker in the human services field, a degree in psychology from UH, and plans for graduate school in the fall on a scholarship to Tulane. I also had a beautiful girl friend, one who possessed the face and form of Audrey Hepburn in “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”, the drum-playing ability of a female Buddy Rich, an expertise in literature that extended all the way from modern comedy to the depths of Dostoyevsky. And she also dug music, sports, and me.

How I made the list of her joys, I’ll never know for sure. All I knew in 1961 is that my life was just beginning – and I was off to what felt like a good start. Sandy and I had tickets for that first Houston big league professional title game and we would not have missed it for the world. We even managed to get good seats on about the 30 yard line at the north end of the west side stands. We sat high enough to look out upon the campus of our UH alma mater – and beyond the university treetops to the general area down the Gulf Freeway road to Pecan Park where I had grown up.

I was 23. And my childhood already seemed as though it had taken place centuries earlier. A little more aging would cure my distorted depth perception on the passage of time.

Here’s how the Associated Press reported Houston’s first rare appearance and even scarcer victory in the big game:

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

BLANDA SPARKS HOUSTON’S 24-16 WIN

——————–

Fists Fly as Oilers Nab Title

HOUSTON (AP) – George Blanda, an old pro who came out of retirement to join a new league, threw three (passes for) touchdowns and kicked a field goal yesterday as the Houston Oilers won the first championship of the American Football League by defeating the Los Angeles Chargers, 24-16.

Blanda, former Chicago Bears’ scoring leader, saw his passing and kicking figure in every Houston point in a game in which a flurry of fist fights led to the ejection of three players.

Houston, a one-touchdown favorite, was never headed after a 17-yard touchdown pass from Blanda to Dave Smith overcame a 6-0 lead Los Angeles built in the first quarter on a pair of field goals by Ben Agajanian.

The Oilers had to cling to a one-point margin most of the way, however, until Blanda connected with Billy Cannon, 1959 Heisman Trophy winner from Louisiana State, for an 88-yard touchdown that provided the winning margin.

Blanda’s 18-yard second period field goal, and a seven-yard touchdown pass to Bill Groman in the third,offset Agajanian’s third field goal and the Chargers lone touchdown score by Paul Lowe, the number 2 rusher in the league.

The last fight of the day broke out as Houston held (a last Chargers drive) and took over with only a minute to play. Hogan Wharton, Houston guard, was ordered from the game. Julian Spece, Houston defensive halfback, and Maury Sleicher, Los Angeles end, were ejected in the second quarter.

Cannon, with eight votes, edged Blanda and Lowe as the game’s outstanding player. Blanda and Lowe had seven points each.

… excerpt from the Phoenix Arizona Republic, January 2, 1961, Page 35.

FIRST AFL TITLE GAME, LOS ANGELES CHARGERS VS. HOUSTON OILERS,

IN HOUSTON, JANUARY 1, 1961: STATS, SCORING BY QUARTERS & PLAYERS:

1960 AFL TITLE GAME I	LA CHARGERS	HOUSTON OILERS
FIRST DOWNS	21	17
RUSHING YARDAGE	162	100
PASSING YARDAGE	171	301
TOTAL YARDAGE	333	401
PASS COMP/ATTEMPTS	21/41	16/32
INTERCEPTIONS BY	0	2
PUNTS/AVERAGE YARDS	4/41	5/34
FUMBLES LOST	0	0
YARDS PENALIZED	15	54

TEAMS	1^st QTR	2^nd QTR	3^rdQTR	4^th QTR		FINAL
CHARGERS	6	3	7	0	~	16
OILERS	0	10	7	7	~	24

SCORING BY QTR	TEAM SCORING	SCORING PLAY	SCORED BY	CHARGERS TTL SCORE	OILERS TTL SCORE
1	LA	FG – 38 YD	AGAJANIAN	3	0
1	LA	FG – 22 YD	AGAJANIAN	6	0
2	HOU	TD PASS – 17 YD	BLANDA TO SMITH	6	6
2	HOU	EX PT KICK	BLANDA	6	7
2	HOU	FG – 18 YD	BLANDA	6	10
2	LA	FG – 27	AGAJANIAN	9	10
3	HOU	TD PASS – 7 YD	BLANDA TO GROMAN	9	16
3	HOU	EX PT KICK	BLANDA	9	17
3	LA	TD RUN – 2 YD	LOWE	15	17
3	LA	EX PT KICK	AGAJANIAN	16	17
4	HOU	TD PASS – 88 YD	BLANDA TO CANNON	16	23
4	HOU	EX PT KICK	BLANDA	16	24

			FINAL	16	24
			ATTENDANCE	32,183
			VENUE	jEPPESEN	STADIUM
			GAME DATE	01/01/1961
			1^stAFL TITLE	HOUSTON	OILERS

Tags:First AFL Title Game in 1961
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Ten Years into the Selig All Star Game Plan

October 20, 2013

“COULD YOU PLEASE REPEAT THAT IN WAYS I LIKE TO HEAR?”

Before we kiss Commissioner Bud Selig goodbye and watch the baseball inside power brokers start greasing the skids for his induction into the Hall of Fame as the greatest “got-away-with-it” suckling of the game’s integrity since Hal Chase, why don’t we take a brief look at the most public example of his penchant for frittering away the idea of fair play by imperial mandate.

We now have a ten-year record of how Bud’s solution to All Star Game apathy has worked out. As no great surprise, the first decade of Selig’s All Star Game Plan has slipped by us all with hardly a mention, but that doesn’t mean that it hasn’t been harmful to baseball on other levels. What Selig did was throw away the idea that teams should always compete directly for any kind of advantage, runs, wins, home field, or whatever. – You simply don’t leave home field advantage in the World Series up to the league all-star team to determine who gets that leg up in the World Series to be played by some undetermined club three months later.

But he did. Bud Selig monkey wrenched the rules of fair play. Arising out of his own personal embarrassment and sense of failure in the 2002 All Star Game played in his home Miller Park in Milwaukee, Bud apparently felt he had to do something dramatic to either save the game from future apathy – or to distract people from the fact that it was his stance over how that game should be played that led to the real problem.

Here’s what happened, bare nuts: On July 9, 2002, the MLB All Star Game was played at Milwaukee’s band-spanking new Miller Park. It was an opportunity to showcase the squeaky clean and neat venue to the world – and an opportunity for Bud Selig to display himself before a world-wired television audience as one of the icons of that franchise’s 20th century history. Bud also brought with him the popular notion of that time that it was important to get all the players into the game, even on a brief token basis, if possible.

As a result, both leagues were pretty much running out of pitchers as the game rolled into the 9th inning. By the 11th inning, and the score still tied at 7-7, neither league had any remaining arms to pitch – without using position players at the risk of getting some very expensive ballplayer hurt doing something he ordinarily doesn’t do. It was time for everyone to huddle with the Commish on what to do.

Selig had little choice but to declare the first tie in All Star Game history with some kind of wide-eyed, ashen-faced promise to take steps to make sure this sort of thing never happened again. To late to help Selig personally. The time it happened, The time it happened, it happened in the park that his energy had helped to build.

Change in the actual game and how it was played was subsequently more driven by managers moving in the direction of holding players back as they would in regular league games. Selig’s big contribution to the war on all star game apathy was to attach this inappropriate reward to the winning league: Beginning in 2013, and continuing to this day, the league that wins the All Star Game also wins home field advantage in the World Series for the team from its ranks that plays in the Big Show that same year.

How fair is that? And how significant is it? And is the sort of decision-making that should be rewarded with a waltz card ticket to the Baseball Hall of Fame?

As we await the NL Cardinals and AL Red Sox in the 2013 World Series, Boston will have the home field advantage in the 2-3-2 game format, starting at Fenway Park, thanks to the 3-0 AL win back in July. It just means that, if the Series foes to 7 games that Boston will be assured of 4 home games versus only 3 for the Cardinals.

How’s it going, so far? Is there a significant relationship here between home field advantage and actually winning? The sample is to small now, but, so far, the team with home field advantage in the 10 games played by the Selig prescription has won 7 times. If that ratio holds for a century, my guess is that we would have to consider 70 wins against 30 misses as a significant result of having home field advantage.

Let The Pecan Park Eagle know your own thoughts on this particular Selig subject.

Here’s the chart:

FIRST DECADE: WORLD SERIES WINS BY CLUBS THAT GAINED HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE IN THE SUMMER ALL STAR GAME

YEAR	ALL STAR GAME W	SCORE	WORLD SERIES W	TEAM WINNER	SERIES IN GAMES	SELIG W/L TAB
2003	American	7-6	National	Marlins	4-2	0-1
2004	American	9-4	American	Red Sox	4-0	1-1
2005	American	7-5	American	White Sox	4-0	2-1
2006	American	3-2	National	Cardinals	4-1	2-2
2007	American	5-4	American	Red Sox	4-0	3-2
2008	American	4-3	National	Phillies	4-1	3-3
2009	American	4-3	American	Yankees	4-2	4-3
2010	National	3-1	National	Giants	4-1	5-3
2011	National	5-1	National	Cardinals	4-3	6-3
2012	National	8-0	National	Giants	4-0	7-3
2013	American	3-0	?	?	?	?

Have a nice Sunday, everybody! – And Good Luck to QB Case Keenum and the Houston Texans in Kansas City!

GO, CASE, GO!

Tags:Bud Selig's All Star Game Plan
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Goodbye, Bum, and God Bless!

October 19, 2013

O.A. “Bum” Phillips
Born: 9/29/23
Died: 10/18/13
Rest in Peace

His legal name was Oail Andrew Phillips, but his real name was “Bum”.

Bum. – Bum Phillips. – He just turned 90 years old on September 29, 2013. This humble native of Orange, Texas died yesterday in Goliad. That date was October 18, 2013.His son, Wade Phillips, posted the announcement of his father’s passing on Twitter, with the note: “He was a good dad, a good coach, and a good Christian.”

“Bum” was how we knew him, but “bum” was also the last thing he was in our eyes – or in actuality. Bum coached and he cared about his work in a way that went far beyond the normal call to long hours that most, if not all football coaches must put in. He really cared about his players, the fans, and people in general – and he felt very deeply the pain of disappointed Houston supporters. . And, years ago, when he couldn’t open doors for his Houston Oilers and their fans that locked away the Super Bowl berth in games that the Oilers lost in Pittsburgh in 1978 and 1979, Bum gave us this immortal line: “”Last year we knocked on the door. This year we beat on it. Next year we’re going to kick the son of a bitch in.”

Bum never got that chance in Pittsburgh. After losing in the playoffs to Oakland in 1980, Oilers owner Bud Adams simply made one of the biggest mistakes of his error-plagued life as a team owner. Adams fired Bum Phillips, ending his six-year run as Head Coach of the Houston Oilers from 1975 through 1980. Phillips had many other coaching jobs on the way up at the high school, college, and NFL assistant coaches’ level – and he also went on from Houston for a good run as Head Coach of the New Orleans Saints from 1980 through the first 12 games of the 1985 season. He quit after coaching the team through the greater part of the 1985 regular season because it was simply time to go. After New Orleans, Bum worked for a while as a radio and television football color analyst and then retired to his ranch in Goliad, Texas to raise horses and just watch football for the rest of his ride through life.

Bum Phillips was a defensive coach and his apples didn’t fall far from the tree. His only son, Wade Phillips, played defense for the University of Houston and went on to become a head coach in the NFL several times over on his way to becoming the defensive coach of the Houston Texans.

In his own time, Bum Phillips served as an assistant to some great ones at the collegiate level too. He worked for Bear Bryant at Texas A&M, Bill Yeoman at Houston, and Hayden Fry at SMU.

Bum had a way of expressing the truth that eliminated all the “yes, buts” that some people always use for the sake of establishing how right they always are. My favorite example concerns one of the choice things he once said about running back Earl Campbell. When asked if Earl Campbell was in a class by himself, Bum Phillips answered this way: “”I don’t know if he’s in a class by himself, but I do know that when that class gets together, it sure don’t take long to call the roll.”

God Bless You, Bum! Once again, there were no silly follow-up comments or ego-extensions from those who need the attention of every spotlight, even when the lights aren’t turned on in their behalf.

At the time of his death yesterday, Bum was still campaigning for funds to back the establishment of a school for deaf children at his Goliad ranch. Bum cared about people, especially kids – and we shall only hope that someone else close to this effort will pick up the torch in behalf of this last act of genuine love that was still flowing through the veins of this good man at the time of his passing.

Bum is survived by his wife, Debbie, his son, Wade and five daughters by his first marriage and nearly two dozen grandchildren.

Houston now has to mourn and say goodbye to one of its true sports icons in the next few days, but we get to keep his memory and all the love he brought into our daily lives by just walking around and breathing the air as Bum Phillips. His acts of great accomplishment and kindness were simply bonuses that also flowed naturally from the heart, mind, soul and spirit of an eloquently plain-speaking, good and decent human being.

Rest in Peace, Bum. We love you too.

Tags:The Death of Bum Phillips
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Gene Autry: Back in the Saddle Forever

October 18, 2013

Back in 1952, a lot of media pundits figured that western movies, especially those featuring “B” movie mogul stars like Gene Autry were all on their way to El Passe’ – but they were wrong – at least, for a while on the genre – and forever on the star. Here in an interview conducted and described by Bob Thomas as an AP story, Autry speaks his mind on the story. What no one, including Thomas, could see in 1952 was the fact that Gene Autry’s joy for working went way beyond making “cowboy films.” It even took a never-ending turn toward the act of owning the Los Angeles/California Angels of the American League.

Here’s how writer Bob Thomas told the part of the Gene Autry Story that he could see unfolding in the twilight of the singing cowboy star’s movie career in 1952:

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

Hollywood Spotlight: Gene Autry Says TV Not Hurting Movies

By Bob Thomas

Hollywood (AP) – Gene Autry, who has made a fortune as a crooning cowpoke, is having a loud last laugh at the people who yowled when he went into television films.

Theater men protested that he would ruin himself with the film houses.

But the cowboy’s popularity in the theaters doesn’t seem to have diminished. He is currently filming “Winning the West,” one of six features he plans to make this year. He figures his audience is greatly increased because of TV.

“I’m getting a lot more mail from the big cities like Los Angeles and New York,” he said. “I never had much of a following in the big towns, because my pictures never got much of a play there. But now the big city kids see me on TV.”

Incidentally, since TV, his mail has gotten a whole lot harder to read; it now comes from a younger audience.

Autry said that western movies are in a slump.

“There have been too many big budget westerns with stars like Clark Gable, Gregory Peck, John Wayne, and Kirk Douglas,” he observed. “Naturally, this cuts into the playing time of the program westerns.

“But the program western field is better now, because it has thinned out. Roy Rogers isn’t making pictures now, nor are Tim Holt or Charlie Starrett. Now there only four regular series – myself at Columbia, Rex Allen and Rocky Lane at Republic and Johnny Mack Brown at Monogram. Bill Elliott is making some, but I don’t think it’s a series.

“But it has happened this way before,” he added. “Westerns go in cycles. One thing is always certain: Their popularity will always return.”

At present, the moneyed cowboy is making six (movie theater) features a year, 26 half-hour TV shows, a weekly radio show, four other TV series and managing his extensive financial holdings. I asked him if he ever thought of retiring as a performer.

“I suppose I ought to,” he replied. “But I’m doggoned if I don’t just like working.”

~ Charleston Daily Mail, July 2, 1952, Page 7.

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

Gene Autry finally retired from making kiddie cowboy shows, but his joy for work, and the pursuit of another dream, had only just begun when he opened that other door as owner of the brand new AL Los Angeles Angels in 1961.

Sadly, Gene Autry would not live to see his Angels win their first and only World Series crown, but maybe that’s just how it has to be with some people who cannot really retire. Their dreams simply always have to remain just out of reach.

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Buried Treasure at Baseball Reference.Com

October 17, 2013

It’s difficult being a technically challenged person with all the information that’s available to us today on the Internet, but I try – and often times I even succeed, with help of data websites that are able to anticipate the needs of researchers like me and make it easy to access. The key here is – you have to go hands and eyes on what the website is trying to make easy for you. Sometimes, they even express it in written instructions that hardly anyone could possibly misunderstand – unless a person simply refused to read the website guide material.

Baseball Reference.Com is my favorite example of a website that goes into extra innings to make their baseball history data available and usable, but you have to read the instructions to fine tune data into comparable data files. For example, let’s say you want to compare how Craig Biggio performed in his first ten years as a hitter versus how he performed in his second ten years of his twenty total year MLB career.

First, click this link to the website:

http://www.baseball-reference.com/

Second, type in his name, Craig Biggio, at the active search window and press enter.

Third, click in the last column at the end of the 1997 row in the white area. Then do the same in the 1998 row. That will produce the first summery you see below on Craig’s first ten years.

Fourth, repeat that action for the two rows that bookend the second half of Biggio’s career (1998-2007) and you will have the same data that is visible below in the second data summary.

Have some comparative fun. We are only limited now by our imaginations and our curiosities as to how we use this one tool alone.

Have a nice Day!

Craig Biggio

Data Bank One: Craig Biggio Batting Stats, 1988-1997

Year	Tm	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+	TB	GDP	HBP	SH	SF	IBB
1988-1997	HOU	1379	5949	5104	874	1470	282	36	116	545	268	82	634	753	.288	.377	.426	.803	123	2172	57	119	51	40	38
Average		138	595	510	87	147	28	4	12	54	27	8	63	75						217	6	12	5	4	4
per 162 games		162	697	598	103	172	33	5	14	64	32	10	75	89						255	7	14	6	5	5

Data Bank Two: Craig Biggio Batting Stats, 1998-2007

Year	Tm	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+	TB	GDP	HBP	SH	SF	IBB
1998-2007	HOU	1471	6555	5772	970	1590	386	19	175	630	146	42	526	1000	.275	.351	.440	.791	102	2539	93	166	50	41	30
Average		147	656	577	97	159	39	2	18	63	15	4	53	100						254	9	17	5	4	3
per 162 games		162	722	635	107	175	43	3	20	70	17	5	58	110						280	11	19	6	5	4

Tags:Baseball Reference.Com, Craig Biggio Career Stats
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Hum Drum Report on Ruth’s 60th HR

October 16, 2013

On Friday. September 30, 1927, set the 60 HR mark that would stand alone as the MLB homer record for the next 34 years.

The headlines rolled out pretty well, but the chopped-down Associated Press story of Babe Ruth’s 60th home run that survived its two-inch column way into the Bridgeport (CN) Telegram back on Saturday morning, October 1, 1927, was about as tasty as ice-cold watermelon without a single sprinkle of salt. Also note that only 8,000 fans showed up to see Ruth hit his 60th home run on the next to last game of the season, but cut fans a break here. People worked longer hours in 1927 – and All the games were played in the daylight hours when most employed fans were still working. The last game on Saturday, Oct. 1, 1927 would attract 20,000 fans to see the Yankees edge the Senators, 4-3, for their 110th win of the season, but they would not see Ruth extend his HR record. The Babe would go 0 for 3 on the day after he blasted new record HR # 60.

At any rate, here’s how this AP account of Ruth’s Sept. 30th record game flowed, or shall we say – blandly oozed:

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

Ruth Sets New Home Run Mark by Driving Out 60th as Yanks Beat Senators, 4-2

RECORD-BREAKING HOMER BREAKS 2-2 DEADLOCK IN EIGHTH INNING; BABE ALSO SCORES THREE RUNS

New York, Sept. 30 – (By Associated Press). Babe Ruth’s sixtieth homer of the season, creating a new major league record, carried the New York Yankees to a 4 to 2 win over the Washington Senators today.

With the score tied at 2-2 in the eighth, Koenig (NY) tripled with one out and came home as Ruth shattered his old mark of 59 homers with a full-mash (sp) shot into the sun seats of the right field stands. Ruth also hit two singles and scored three of New York’s runs. The Yankees got to (Washington’s) Tom Zachary for single runs in the fourth and sixth innings to set the stage for Ruth’s record-smashing climax.

The score:

Baseball Almanac Box Scores: Washington Senators 2, New York Yankees 4

Game played on Friday, September 30, 1927 at Yankee Stadium I

Washington Senators	ab	r	h	rbi
Rice rf	3	0	1	0
Harris 2b	3	0	0	0
Ganzel cf	4	0	1	0
Goslin lf	4	1	1	0
Judge 1b	4	0	0	0
Ruel c	2	1	1	1
Bluege 3b	3	0	1	1
Gillis ss	4	0	0	0
Zachary p	2	0	0	0
Johnson ph	1	0	0	0
Totals	30	2	5	2

New York Yankees	ab	r	h	rbi
Combs cf	4	0	0	0
Koenig ss	4	1	1	0
Ruth rf	3	3	3	2
Gehrig 1b	4	0	2	0
Meusel lf	3	0	1	2
Lazzeri 2b	3	0	0	0
Dugan 3b	3	0	1	0
Bengough c	3	0	1	0
Pipgras p	2	0	0	0
Pennock p	1	0	0	0
Totals	30	4	9	4

Washington	0	0	0		2	0	0		0	0	0	–	2	5	0
New York	0	0	0		1	0	1		0	2	x	–	4	9	1

Washington Senators	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO

Zachary L(8-13)	8.0	9	4	4	1	1
Totals	8.0	9	4	4	1	1

New York Yankees	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
Pipgras	6.0	4	2	2	5	0
Pennock W(19-8)	3.0	1	0	0	1	0
Totals	9.0	5	2	2	6	0
E–Gehrig (15). DP–Washington 2. Harris-Bluege-Judge, Gillis-Harris-Judge. 2B–Washington Rice (33). 3B–New York Koenig (10). HR–New York Ruth (60,8th inning off Zachary 1 on 1 out). Team LOB–7. SH–Meusel (21). Team–4. SB–Rice (19); Ruel (9); Bluege (15). U–Bill Dinneen, Tommy Connolly, Brick Owens. T–1:38. A–8,000.

Game played on Friday, September 30, 1927 at Yankee Stadium I

Baseball Almanac Box Score |

Tags:Ruth's 60 HR mark
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Hot Stove Pipes: Need Fan Rule Changes for MLB

October 15, 2013

The Hot Stove League Fire is Now Kindled.

OK, with the MLB league championship games heating up and the World Series coming next, it’s not too early for those of who live in cities like Houston to strike a match and light up the Hot Stove League with topics on how our teams and the game itself can be improved. I have two related rules changes I’d like to recommend, both of which pertaining to my favorite “pet peeve” subject of fan interference, something that baseball normally just ignores, allowing mindless people to reach over the rails down the outfield lines and across the rail from front row outfield bleacher seats and kill an active play in progress by capturing or simply touching the ball that’s coming near them.

The “ground rule double” call now governs the fan-touched fair balls hit down the line. The umpire’s “home run or out by fan interference” call now controls fans touching balls hit near the outfield walls in fair play.

Neither rule curtails fan interference. And the game goes on, played by the 18/20 legal players in the lineups of each team at the time – in addition to the unwanted contributions of front row “buttinsky” fans who just have to grab for every baseball they can get their hands on. PA announcers often warn fans that they can be ejected from the ballpark for interfering with the game, but it never happens in ways that I can see. Money-tight owners apparently are fearful that these wonderful ball-grabbing fans will get their feelings hurt by a much-deserved ejection and not come back to future games.

Enough is enough. For rules to mean anything, there must be a consequence that teaches both transgressors and victims a lesson that neither cares to forget or repeat.

The transgressor is the idiot ball-grabber. The victim is the game of baseball itself, the fans who paid to see the game played as it was intended, and the owners who fear turnstile retribution from ejected transgressor fans.

Here are my two rules change suggestions for MLB. They are very simple, very clear, and very pointed toward the establishment of black and white consequences that aim to wipe out the practice of fan interference by the provision of real lessons:

Rule One Change (on fair balls touched by fans leaning over the rails down the line in foul territory): If the batted fair ball was hit by a home team batter, it is automatically ruled a ground rule single. On the other hand, if the batted fair ball was hit by a visiting team batter, it is automatically ruled a ground rule triple.

Before you get carried away with any concerns that this radical rules change would simply invite visiting clubs to plant fan-interfering visitor fans down the lines, or you get lost in fearing how unfair it now will be for the home team, remember the first intent. – That is to establish a sharp first consequence for fan interference that will demand better control of fans who violate the rules by mindlessly reaching over the rails and snatching at any baseball that moves. This rule puts the pressure on the home team to do something about all fan interference, or else, suffer the consequences that tilt heavily more harsh upon the home club. My guess is that we could make fan interference down the lines almost unheard of in a very short time. The interfering fans aren’t going to enjoy the reaction from the home crowd who just watched them hand a ground rule triple to the visitors.

The current “ground rule double” is no deterring consequence. If anything, in fact, it is nothing more than a quick way to second base that teaches nothing to no one.

Rule Two Change (on balls touched or caught by outfield fans leaning over the rail in fair play above the field): If the ball was hit by a home team batter, the play is ruled a fly out catch by the nearest fielder. On the other hand, if the ball was hit by a visiting team batter, the play is ruled a home run. – Also, if the play was unclear as to the location of the ball in relation to the field exit plane, the two stated above rules still apply.

As we recently saw in the A’s v. Tigers ALDS game in Detroit, the Tigers were awarded a home run in right field when two home fans seemed to lean over the rail to deflect a ball that might have been caught. It fell to the ground in deflection away from any possible catch and was soon awarded to the home field Tigers as a home run. Under this suggested new rule, the batter would have been declared out.

As with suggested Rule One, the pressure is all upon the home team to clean up the mess of fan interference. If clubs don’t want close calls at the outfield walls, they need to modify outfield barriers so that fans cannot reach over the line and get their hands on a ball that’s in play.

That’s it. But these are just my hard thoughts on what needs to happen. Please check in with your own opinions.

Let’s get this Hot Stove League cooking.

Tags:fan interference, Hot Stove League
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Buff Biographies: Harry Elliott

October 14, 2013

Harry Elliott

Sadly this morning, I’ve only now learned that one of my favorite former Houston Buffs from the 1953 club died this past summer. At the age of 89, Harry Elliott passed away on August 9, 2013 in his home town of Little River, Kansas.

Outfielder Harry Elliott (BR/TR) (5’9″, 175 lb.) was a slashing line drive power hitter who posted a career minor league batting average of .326 over 7 seasons (1951-54, 1956-58) that also included 205 HR. His greatest season in the minors came early when he hit .391 in 139 games for the 1951 Alexandria Aces of the Evangeline League. By 1954, Elliott banged out a .350 average for San Diego of the AAA Pacific Coast League in 168 games.

Harry had a short dip into the MLB coffee grind while he was in the Cardinal system, batting a career .256 with only 2 HR as a pinch hitter/left fielder with St. Louis of the National League during the seasons of 1953 and 1955. Back then, playing left field behind another guy named Stan Musial was no speed lane to the big time. Elliott spent the entire season of 1955 with St Louis in 1955, but he was sent down to Houston in 1953 after only 28 games of play off the Cardinal bench. Harry’s arrival in Houston was one of the few bright spots in an otherwise dull and gray hum-drum 6th place Buffs Texas League season. Elliott batted .328 with 8 HR in 115 games during his only Buffs 1953 season.

Harry Lewis Elliott was born December 30, 1923 in San Francisco, but he graduated from Watertown High School in Minnesota before attending the University of Minnesota prior to the start of his baseball career. When he broke into the big leagues on August 1, 1953, his start occurred exactly 60 years and 8 days prior to his passing from this life.

Harry Elliott was an animated and spirited figure, moving productively in the foreground of the otherwise mostly gray and hapless 1953 Buffs. The Pecan Park Eagle is certain that his family must have experienced much of that energy too in their own relationships with him and that he is very missed by whomever he left behind.

Rest in Peace for now, Harry Elliott. – With a little faith, hope, and heart, – and some good old fashioned baseball luck – the herd will ride again,

Tags:Harry Elliott, Houston Buff Biographies
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A Day in Our Life with UH Football

October 13, 2013

On a day in which storms held off til game’s end, the UH defense held off the Memphis Tigers as the young Cougar offense sputtered through a tough day in the learning process at BBVA Compass Stadium in Houston.

Memphis 15
(1-4, 0-2 AAC)

Houston 25
(5-0, 2-0 AAC)
Coverage: ESPNews

11:00 AM CT, October 12, 2013

BBVA COMPASS STADIUM, HOUSTON, TX

QUARTERS>	1	2	3	4	~	FINAL
MEMPHIS	3	6	6	0	~	15
HOUSTON	7	3	8	7	~	25

Top Performers:

Passing: J. O’Korn (HOU) – 198 YDS, 1 TD
Rushing: K. Farrow (HOU) – 15 CAR, 33 YDS, 2 TD
Receiving: M. Frazier (MEM) – 5 REC, 81 YDS

The 20,000 capacity soccer stadium was only about half full for a UH football game that started at 11:00 AM.

In spite of the light turnout, the involved Cougar student body was there in full.

And Shasta the Cougar masot prowled the sidelines.

And Shasta the Cougar mascot prowled the sidelines.

… as did Shasta’s girl friend, Missy Shasta, student spirit groups, and an assortment of beautiful cheerleader/acrobats.

The Coogs came ready …

... and the UH defense played hard, forcing 4 fumble recoveries to pace their national leadership in positive turover ratios.

… and the UH defense played hard, forcing 4 fumble recoveries to pace their national leadership in positive turnover ratios.

A beautiful UH cheerleader appealed to Cougar fans to get their voices into the game behind UH – and we all gave it our best shout!

A great day was enjoyed by UH Cougars everywhere.

It was a day in which our defense reminded us that Wade Phillips is one of us.

It was a day in which UH alums again were reminded by all the spirited young people around us of the “can do” heart that beats within us all.

It was a day in which one step upon the old UH campus would have reminded us all of where we each started our separate, but joined journeys in life.

Have nice Sunday, everybody. – And “Eat ‘Em Up, Cougars!”

Tags:uh-memphis 10/12/2013
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More on Howard Glenn’s Death in Houston

October 12, 2013

Oct. 9, 1960: #66 Howard Glenn makes the tackle on an Oiler RB. Within 3 hours, Glenn will be dead from game injuries.

Three days ago, October 9, 2013, I wrote an article about the death of Howard Glenn, a lineman for the New York Titans, from injuries sustained in an AFL game his team played against the Houston Oilers exactly 53 years earlier at old Jeppesen Stadium on Cullen Boulevard. It is called “Houston: Death on a Football Afternoon”.

Since then, contributor Tom Hunter has forwarded me another more detailed exploration of that tragic day and what may have happened to Howard Glenn that fateful date. Howard’s death apparently brought about the formal hiring of the Titans’ team physician and a requirement by the AFL that teams have x-ray equipment available at game sites as minimal changes in the direction of providing some in-place protection from the sorry fate that long ago claimed the life of Howard Glenn.

Howard Glenn and I would be about the same age today, had he not been killed playing football under the plantation mentality that widely existed within professional football ownership and within a sadly large part of our culture back in 1960. That identification by age thought sorrows me all the more. – I got to live a long life and am hoping for more. – Howard Glenn did not get that rainbow ride, nor can he wish or work for anything else. His time here ended on a hot, humid day in Houston over a half century ago.

Life isn’t fair. – But nobody ever said it was. – If it were, the only sadness left around would be the kind that emanates from those who wallow in self-pity no matter what the truth may be.

Howard Glenn was neither a subject or object of pity. He was a victim of the times and what can happen to those who play football under the worst of circumstances – or even the best of conditions.

This recent article suggests that the New York Jets, the direct descendants of those Titans, may want to give some thought to inducting #66 Howard Glenn into their franchise Hall of Honor. Please read this piece and let The Pecan Park Eagle know your thoughts about Howard Glenn. – Do you think admitting an unremarkable skills person like Howard Glenn into the Jets Hall of Honor because he is a symbol of the once rampant neglect of its own makes sense?

Here’s a link to this recent article – and thanks again, Tom Hunter!

http://infinitejets.blogspot.com/2013/08/ny-jets-66-howard-glenn.html

Have a nice Saturday, Everybody!

Tags:Howard Glenn
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