The Pecan Park Eagle

Thanks, Baseball….

Thanks for “once upon a time” giving me a dad who played, loved, and passed on the game of baseball to his kids!

Thanks to the Pecan Park Eagles of Houston, a little sandlot club of East End Houston kids, to play baseball every summer week day as though it were Game 5 of the 2017 World Series.

Thanks to Solly Hemus, Jerry Witte, Larry Miggins, and Frank Mancuso of the Houston Buffs for teaching so many of us post-World War II Houston kids to both love the game of baseball as we also learned to value the character of the men who played to win championships for our growing minor league town.

Thanks to Houston Buffs President Allen Russell for even setting the Buff Stadium infield on fire with gasoline to keep a wet field from causing a rain out.

Thanks to William Bendix in the 1948 film, “The Babe Ruth Story,” for introducing so many of us to an image of Babe Ruth that never grew smaller as we came to learn more about baseball’s greatest early hero.

Thanks to Buffs broadcaster Loel Passe for lighting up the Houston airways with a volume of homer-driven “now-you-goin’-gang” cheerleader lines. “Hot ziggity dog and good old sassafras tea,” we loved him.

Thanks to George Kirksey, Mickey Herskowitz, Craig Cullinan, Jr., R.E. “Bob” Smith, and the one and only Judge Roy Hofheinz for all they did to get Houston into the National League as an expansion franchise, starting in 1962.

Thanks to Tal Smith and all that have come before and after him to build one of the strongest front offices in baseball.

Thanks, especially, to Bill Virdon, Hal Lanier, Larry Dierker, and Phil Garner for managing Houston to the lip of full greatness in the World Series. Somebody had to provide the push that came before this year’s big shove – and you guys – and a few others – are the ones who provided that intelligence and energy.

Thanks to every franchise player, great or small, for their contributions to the club’s commitment to winning.

Thanks to owner Jim Crane, General Manager Jeff Luhnow, and Club President Reid Ryan,  for providing us with the patience and the plan that led successfully to 2017.

Thanks to Mike Acosta for caring how the Astros actively protected and preserved the artifacts from special moments in the club’s history.

Thanks to the ticket-buying fans for their commitments to the club’s ongoing successful journey!

Thanks to Manager A.J. Hinch and the 2017 Houston Astros for making our club the newest annual champion of the World Series!

And a loud “Thank You, Astros” to our wonderful Ball Club for giving us something now that can never be taken away. In the words of our immortally revered Mr. Jose Altuve, it is our turn as fans to state the obvious:

“Hey there, 2017 Astros, never forget! ~ We Houston Fans Literally Love You!”

Affectionately and Loyally,

Your fans

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Tags: Hey Astros! ~ We Literally Love You!

This entry was posted on November 3, 2017 at 3:05 pm and is filed under Baseball. 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.