Mike McCroskey 1 – Roseanne Barr 0.

“I BELIEVE I CAN FLY …
I BELIEVE I CAN TOUCH THE SKY …”
– MICHAEL McCROSKEY.

Thanks to a delightful, if unexpectedly submitted in the guise of an e-mail to this editor, the following account from surprise guest columnist Greg Lucas supplies The Pecan Park Eagle with the heartwarming story of our own SABR brother, Mike McCroskey, and his National Anthem singing debut last night before a real professional baseball game at a real baseball venue, courtesy of Ira Liebman and the Sugar Land Skeeters at Constellation Field in Sugar Land. Prior to last night, the deserving Mr. McCroskey has only sung The Star Spangled Banner at vintage baseball games of the Houston Babies before crowds of, perhaps, 35 to 40 fans, tops.

Way to go, Michael – and thank you, Greg Lucas, for penning your own name to this small, but important piece of Houston area baseball history!

MIKE McCROSKEY SINGS PRE-GAME NATIONAL ANTHEM AT CONSTELLATION FIELD PRIOR TO A SUGAR LAND SKEETERS GAME

By Greg Lucas, Guest Columnist of The Pecan Park Eagle

Spread the word… Mike McCroskey is available for more of those high paying national anthem singing gigs. He wowed the crowd at Constellation Field Saturday–and gave his discoverer, Ira Liebman, a great sigh of relief–when he showed up and whipped out all the right notes and words.

Said Liebman, “Mike underwent a grueling audition process and, in my judgement, he was ready for the big stage. We had him sing some of Julie Andrews parts from “The Sound of Music” to gauge his range. He knocked it out of the park, excuse the pun, with “The Hills are Alive with the Sound of Music.” We knew he could handle the high parts in the Anthem.”

Dressed in a Larry Dierker-like Hawaiian shirt, McCroskey confidently tore the microphone from the hands of the Skeeter intern who was helping him and strode confidently in front of home plate. When his rendition of Francis Scott Key’s song ended, McCroskey had to work his way through a crowd of admirers holding autograph books and pleading to have him pose for photos. “I can’t handle all this now folks,” McCroskey was heard to say,”These folks have a game to play.”

So, the legend begins. …

“Hey! We need a little help back here” That blonde-headed feller just blew out one of the light towers with his high notes!”

“He didn’t really blow out all the lights with his singing, but he did just about explode both my ear drums!”

“Wish I’d have been there to have seen that arch light blow out!”

“IT DON’T MATTER WHAT YOU DID, OR DIDN’T DO, McCROSKEY! – I’M COMING FOR YA! – YOU GOTTA BE A BETTER PICK THAN TOM ARNOLD!”

“AND HAPPY BIRTHDAY TOO, MIKE McCROSKEY!
~ OUR LITTLE GROUP AT THE HALL OF FAME REGRETS WE CANNOT BE THERE IN PERSON THIS SUNDAY, 8/24/14, TO WISH YOU THAT SPECIAL SALUTATION, BUT WE ARE ALSO SURE YOU UNDERSTAND AND APPRECIATE OUR COMMON REASON FOR NOT BEING PRESENT LAST NIGHT FOR YOUR BALLPARK SINGING DEBUT!”

Tags: MIKE MCCROSKEY SINGS NATIONAL ANTHEM AT CONSTELLATION FIELD.

This entry was posted on August 24, 2014 at 3:31 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

8 Responses to “Mike McCroskey 1 – Roseanne Barr 0.”

Mike McCroskey Says:
August 24, 2014 at 5:12 pm | Reply
Bill, Greg: I appreciate both the kind words and the humor. This column was a nice surprise for my birthday today. And thanks to Jo Russell and Ira for the opportunity. It was a bucket list experience!
Also, I had myself introduced as a member of the Houston Larry Dierker chapter of the Society for American Baseball Research, so we all got a plug.

Mike
- Bill McCurdy Says:
  August 24, 2014 at 5:21 pm | Reply
  Well, Happy Birthday Too, Mike McCroskey. We got lucky on that one because at least one of us had no idea. Hope your day is full of peace, fun, gratitude, and special time with the family that loves you.
Bob Dorrill Says:
August 24, 2014 at 5:21 pm | Reply
Please don’t forget that Mike sang the Anthem at SABR’s Annual Convention here in Houston in early August in front of 550 members who recognize when they hear the song performed properly. Great job Mike
Mark Says:
August 24, 2014 at 5:49 pm | Reply
Happy birthday Mike, and congrats on singing.
Gregg Hurt Says:
August 24, 2014 at 7:50 pm | Reply
Happy Birthday from your old buddy who was there in the early days of singing The Star Spangled Banner at McDonald Gymnasium on the campus of Lamar Tech in 1968. I’ve always felt you carried a bit too much vibrato, but, then again, I’m used to hearing a professional Baritone who spent two years at Julliard. Way to go! Cool article.
Rick B. Says:
August 24, 2014 at 8:08 pm | Reply
Happy birthday, Mike, from a fellow SABR member that you haven’t met yet. My oldest son and I were at the game and can vouch for the fact that yours was a great rendition of our national anthem.
Marsha Franty Says:
August 25, 2014 at 2:07 am | Reply
Happy Birthday, Mike! I hope I get to hear your fantastic rendition of our Anthem many more times!
huey Says:
August 26, 2014 at 7:43 pm | Reply
You’ve got to be kiddin’ me.
Where’s the Bible?
did you smoke it?
Huey