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Robbery-Wreck Kills Two Former Astros

December 8, 2018

 

Luis Valbuena
1985~2018
Rest in Peace

 

Jose Castillo
1981-2018
Rest in Peace

Two Days Ago, Thursday, December 6, 2018 ~ Another senseless and sad day is upon us as we receive and try to digest the news from Venezueula that ~ upon this day ~ former Astros Luis Valbuena and Jose Castillo both have been killed in a vehicle collision that occurred when their transportation car from a game in winter ball hit a large rock in the road that caused a multiple fatality wreck.

Four men have since been arrested as suspects in an apparently common practice down there in which robbers place these rocks on streets in targeted attempts to stop the cars of affluent travellers for the purpose of their robberies, dead or alive. The bodies of Valbuena and Castillo both had been pillaged at the scene and apparently some to all of their belongings had been found on the personage of the four men arrested.

A friend of mine with some awareness of the harsh conditions that exist all over South America explained it this way:

“South America is a place in which the few ruling class members control all the wealth ~ and some of those got there in the most directly criminal ways ~ like the production, sale and movement of drugs to all places that are reachable by the cartels they have been established to the service of those aims.

“Most of the people live in abject poverty ~ with no middle class ledge inside their countries to inspire hope for any honest pursuit of a stable, secure future.”

And so we leap: Playing baseball was much bigger than a simple career choice for Valbuena and Castillo. It was their chance to rise above the normally poor options of ~ living at home in relative to abject poverty;  going to work for one of the cartels; becoming independent criminals, like the ones whose robbery plan caused their deaths; or, by joining the masses trying to escape these conditions by crashing the US border, becoming two additions, plus their families, to the probable millions still seeking political asylum as illegal aliens who chose to start their own game by “stealing home.”

Here’s a link to one the coverage stories. This one contains some quoted reactions from some Astros people:

https://www.chron.com/sports/astros/article/Former-Astros-infielder-Luis-Valbuena-dies-in-car-13449049.php

Rest in Peace, Luis and Jose! ~ Know too that we fans loved you ~ and that we shall miss ever seeing either of you again playing the beautiful game of baseball!

 

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Bill McCurdy

Principal Writer, Editor, Publisher

The Pecan Park Eagle

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Posted in Baseball, culture, History | 3 Comments »

Musial’s Take on Hofheinz’s Dome Humility

December 7, 2018

 

roy hofheinz-1965

Judge Roy Hofheinz at the Astrodome during the pre-1965 infrastructure completion phase of construction. I’m guessing that the place was a lot closer to completion when Stan Musial saw it for the first time at the December 1964 Houston baseball meetings.

Musial’s Take on Hofheinz’s Dome Humility. ~ 

To Darrell Pittman: Thanks for this clip from 1964 on Stan Musial’s first tourist visit to the site of the forthcoming 1965 first season of the Astrodome’s place in new indoor, air-conditioned baseball history ~ or as, we are reasonably sure the Judge must have proclaimed it ~ even that early ~ as the new “Eighth Wonder of the World!”

Nothing like inviting an ego buzz-cut from one of the most humble down-to-earth great ones that ever played his way into the Hall of Fame with no need for boastful help from prideful speech.

Enjoy!

Thank You, Stan the Man! ~ On this day that we buried the nation’s most humble and accomplished college first basemen whoever later rose to the office of President (as in POTUS), any reminder of you from any source ~ or any cranny of the mind of your own laid back character is easy to come by. ~ If such things happen wherever you and George now find yourselves, maybe you can invite the guy over for a game of catch sometime.

 

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Bill McCurdy

Principal Writer, Editor, Publisher

The Pecan Park Eagle

Tags:
Posted in Baseball, culture, History, Houston | 1 Comment »

Astroball Is a Must Read Book on Change

December 6, 2018

Future Hall of Famer Carlos Beltran.
In 2017, he was a charismatic positive influence upon many of the younger Astro World Series Championship players.

In the December 3, 2018 meeting of our Larry Dierker Chapter of SABR, writer Ben Reiter have a rousing presentation of his new book, “Astroball: The New Way to Win It All” before a packed house of members at the Spaghetti Western Cafe on Shepherd Drive in Houston.

The author started with a well written reading from the text that dynamically addresses how the Astros rose from the depths of a multiple year dip into the well-above 100 season losses early in this decade to becoming World Series Champions in 2017 and an ongoing contender this year forward as a result of the constantly refining influences of a system that combines the best of futuristic analytics and traditional scouting on the talent recruitment and deployment side of things ~ and with an eye toward finding ways to quantify contributing morale factors ~ like the presence of a big positive clubhouse presence of Carlos Beltran as a value to the winning formula.

In 2017, the aging Beltran was often referenced as the guy who just seemed to inspire winning and improved play by the others on the team ~ and, maybe especially among the younger guys, who enjoyed his company on the club, or in the dugout, or the clubhouse, or on the road ~ or any other travel moment when they had a chance to either observe what he was doing during the games ~ or saying to them, both personally and in general.

Does the Beltran 2017 experience suggest that teams should be looking for those kinds of qualities in one or two older players in ways that have only occurred by coincidence in the past?

Good Luck to MLB Thinkers who find an efficacious way to include the intangibles in a more tangible form that does not bastardize the big picture on what it takes to win it all. Otherwise, what good would a definable “charismatic positive influence” be if it left out all those great Yankee champions who apparently hated each other through their ways to World Series victories on the heels of internal discord?

Astroball, the book, is much more than a look into the problems of quantifying the subjective. Ben Reiter has done a first class, thorough job of charting out the change in things from Moneyball through the introduction of Analytics and the integration of new statistical evaluative techniques with traditional scouting evaluations that have gone into putting the Astros championship face together during the successful Jeff Luhnow tenure as General Manager.

Reiter’s book templates an evolving process of change. It’s well written and a must read for everyone who cares about the inner workings of the club and the future of MLB roster planning.

And good luck to you, Ben Reiter, for a book that screams the truth we all seem to put aside too quickly, too often. Life is a constant process of change. And all of us, even the game of baseball, have two choices on how to respond. ~ We can either find a way to participate in and grow with the change ~ or we can just close our eyes and ears and allow ourselves to be swallowed up by it.

 

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Bill McCurdy

Principal Writer, Editor, Publisher

The Pecan Park Eagle

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Posted in Baseball, culture, History, Houston | Leave a Comment »

Death of the “CG” Era by the Last 6 Decades

December 3, 2018
6. Larry Dierker

Larry Dierker, Houston Astros

Death of the Complete Game Era by the Last 6 Decades

This is no big news. The “Complete Game” stat is all but a burial away from formal extinction. With the 100-pitches-per-game limit now standing as the great teacher of millennial-aged rookies about what to expect of themselves, even on good days, now the stat to have fun with is ~ is the pitcher one of those new “iron men” ~someone with the stuff, the control, and the stamina to stay in the game to or through seven innings! ~ or is he one of the growing cast of new rocket arms who tries to look good for four, but one who expects rescue after five ~ and really knows that he won’t be around half his starts to even figure in the decision?

Six Decades with the Astros and Complete Game Pitchers

Decade Astros Pitcher W L W% ERA G GS CG IP SO BB
1969 Larry Dierker 20 13 .606 2.33 39 37 20 305.1 247 72
1976 J.R. Richard 20 15 .571 2.75 39 39 14 291.0 214 151
1989 Mike Scott 20 10 .667 3.10 33 32 9 229.0 172 62
1999 Mike Hampton 22 4 .846 2.90 34 34 3 239.0 177 101
2004 Roy Oswalt 20 10 .667 3.49 36 35 2 237.0 206 62
2015 Dallas Keuchel 20 8 .714 2.48 33 33 2 232.0 261 51

I did this little chart this morning just for the fun of it. My goal was to pull up an Astros 20-game winner from each of their six decades in the big leagues and see how the GS-CG stat ratio has held up on the declining CG side ever since one of the last great “CG Men” took the mound to register the franchise’s first 20-game winner season in 1969.

We’re talking here, of course, about our one and only treasured pitcher/broadcaster/manager/author ~ Mr. Larry Dierker ~ who in 1969 once placed the “CG” accomplishment bar at the start of things in our small place in the baseball world at the mountain top of the baseball universe.

Then we simply went through the other five decades that have unfolded since and selected another 20-game winner Astros starter from each period and posted his stats as typical of the entire decade in six instances  to show the down turn change that shows up remarkably clear and self-evident.

There was an instance in the 2001-2010 decade in which we could have chosen Roy Oswalt’s 2005 and that pick would have yielded 4 “CGs” instead of the 2 “CGs” he had in 2005, but that would have been relatively insignificant ~ and in deference to our preference for symmetry, we used 2004 in his case.

The big point that Larry Dierker makes consistently is that the 100-pitch count has changed the game. It has taught rookie starters to expect less of themselves in the matter of how long they are going to be in the game each time they take the mound.

Is that a good thing, a bad thing, or just a difference?

To me, its seems like a big difference, and it’s a difference I think we should be concerned about. Unless throwing more than 100 pitches a game is going to cause one’s arm to fall off ~ or cause cancer or something ~ we are cheating the game and ourselves from ever again seeing the rubber-armed talents that reached the Hall of Fame, at least partially, because of that talent capacity. (See lefty Warren Spahn as a relatively recent example.)

Worse may be the lesson that the 100-pitch count is spreading to young pitchers everywhere.

WOW! As much as we talk patricianly about how baseball offers some lessons that life needs to learn and better use, maybe it’s time to acknowledge that life could teach baseball some lessons that would better serve the interests of these young pitchers as they are learning the game on the 100-pitch count.

Some Personal Reflections

I don’t know anybody whoever succeeded in business on a 100-pitch count ~ and I sure don’t know a soul whoever won their doctoral degree in any academic field on one either. This is about any problem or goal that appears or becomes important to us in life. If it’s valid, if we have the ability and the willingness to resolve or achieve it, and if we are nothing less than relentless in our pursuit of our desired accomplishment, and we have the ability to learn and let people help us when help is truly needed, then there’s nothing that is going to stop us from getting there.

Students have asked me in the past: “When did you actually know for sure that you were going to get your doctoral degree?” ~ My answer was simple: “It happened when I realized that I knew my subject ~ that I had done the work ~ and that there was no one on my faculty doctoral committee that cared more about stopping me than I cared about getting there.”

There are no 100-pitch counts and bullpens in the everyday lives that most of us face.

 

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Bill McCurdy

Principal Writer, Editor, Publisher

The Pecan Park Eagle

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Posted in Baseball, culture, History, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

Kelly Now Catching for Whomever

November 29, 2018

King Kelly. Hall of Fame
19th Century Master of Deception

Catcher King Kelly, as most of you know, was pretty famous for his acts of deception as a 19th century Hall of Famer, mostly for both Boston and Chicago of the National League. He was famous for his supposedly successful acts of deception bending the rules to the extreme for the sake of winning ~ and, sometimes, just outright lying and cheating for the sake of getting the last out in close games.

The problem is a familiar one to baseball from early on, but probably could not have been worse than it was during the 19th century ~ when it was even harder to build evidence from contemporary accounts as to what actually happened on the field ~ and the issue of separating fact from fiction was at its worst.

The old “Ruth’s Called Shot” fever reigned. ~ There was no New York Replay Review Committee to help with asides like did Babe Ruth really predict his home tin Chicago during the 1942 World Series.

Had there been the kind of digital record coverage in 1932 that we have now, can you just imagine the commentary on screen as the world waited to get evidence on how much the ego and will of Babe Ruth were responsible for this jaw-dropping moment:

A Magical HD Moment in HD Fantasy Form at the 1932 World Series….

Milo Hamilton: “What do you think, Wrangler? Did Babe Ruth just do what we think he did? ~ Whoa, everybody! Did he raise his right hand and point with his index finger to centerfield ~ as if to tell Cubs pitcher Charley Root that he planned to hit that bomb to centerfield exactly where he put it? ~ HOLY TOLEDO! ~ What’s this game coming to?”

Wrangler: “Hold on, Milo. ~ We’re getting New York’s opinion now. ~ New York is saying that Ruth did raise his right hand before the homer pitch ~ but it was the middle finger he was raising ~ and it was pointed straight at pitcher Root ~ with a much wordier message ~ based upon his visible facial movements ~ and it was apparently much more personal.”

Who knows. ~ We could play fact or fiction with Babe Ruth alone for the rest of our tomorrows and never run out of contentious moments in his history.

As for King Kelly, even with far more modest stats, he could rival and probably out-do Babe Ruth on the cheat and lie side of fact-or-fiction.

Sarah Wexler wrote a great column on King Kelly three years ago for the December 4, 2015 edition of The Hardball Times. I completely recommend it as a great read on the fact-or-fiction aspects of this man’s career. Some old news stays fresh.

 

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Bill McCurdy

Principal Writer, Editor, Publisher

The Pecan Park Eagle

 

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Posted in Baseball, culture, History | Leave a Comment »

LA Baseball in Pasadena CA on Thurs., Nov. 29

November 25, 2018

Friends & Reliquarians:

The Baseball Reliquary concludes its busy 2018 season of exhibitions and programming with a very special evening this Thursday, November 29, beginning at 6:30 p.m. at the Donald R. Wright Auditorium, Pasadena Central Library, 285 E. Walnut Street. The official flyer is attached.

We present “L.A. Baseball: From the Pacific Coast League to the Major Leagues,” a panel discussion and reading related to the new book published by the Photo Friends of the Los Angeles Public Library and edited by longtime Reliquarian David Davis. Featured speakers will include several contributors to the book: Tomas J. Benitez, David Davis, Lynell George, Amy Inouye, Glynn Martin, Bob Timmermann, and Tom Zimmerman.

Copies of “L.A. Baseball: From the Pacific Coast League to the Major Leagues” will be available for $16.39 (which includes CA sales tax), payable by cash, check, or credit card.

We hope to see you next Thursday!

Sincerely,
Terry Cannon
Executive Director
The Baseball Reliquary
www.baseballreliquary.org

e-mail: terymar@earthlink.net
phone: (626) 791-7647

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As a Reliquarian in Houston, we simply want to express our support for your attendance at the last great opportunity in 2018 to experience the fine historical work that the Baseball Reliquary does for fans living in the Greater LA area ~ and also the many travelers to that hub US city. If you are subscriber to The Pecan Park Eagle ! and are going to be in the Pasadena CA this coming Thursday, please treat yourself to the opportunity that avails to you, via the Baseball Reliquary.

And please accepts our wishes again for a peaceful and happy holiday season. And you know what helps a lot of us this time of year. ~ The smiles come easily when we keep in mind that ~ after New Years, spring training is only about six weeks away!

 

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Bill McCurdy

Principal Writer, Editor, Publisher

The Pecan Park Eagle

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The ’61 Buffs Who Became Colt .45s and Astros

November 24, 2018

Umpire: “How you and five other ’61 Buffs are going to make it to the big leagues is beyond ALL possible belief!?!”
**********
Buffs Catcher Campbell: “BIG DEAL! ~ So’s your strike zone!”

 

The 1961 last edition of the minor league Houston Buffs produced six players who went on to become members of the new major league Houston Colt .45s. Five of the six made it onto the 1962 first National League season roster; the last one got there the following 1963 season; and three of the six men even saw later time in the bigs as renamed Astros from 1965 forward. ~ Allow me to express the fates and fortunes of those last three big leapers in a way that more admirably matches their historical accomplishment:

Three former Houston Buffs from their final 1961 roster as minor leaguers playing at old Buff Stadium (1928-1961) would later go on to play major league baseball for the Houston Astros in the Astrodome (1965-1999), the place that Judge Hofheinz once dubbed as “The Eighth Wonder of The World.”

Here’s a simple alphabetical table of their names and subsequent years of service with the Colt .45s and Astros:

1961 BUFFS TO> COLT .45s ASTROS
Pidge BROWNE 1962
Jim CAMPBELL 1962-63
Ron DAVIS 1962 1966-68
Dave GIUSTI 1962, 1964 1965-68
JC HARTMAN 1962-63
Aaron POINTER 1963 1966-67

And, thanks to Baseball Reference.Com, here’s a more detailed look at each of the six most elevating transformers in Houston’s minor to major league transitional history:

 Pidge Browne

Positions: Pinch Hitter and First Baseman

Bats: Left  •  Throws: Left

6-1, 190lb (185cm, 86kg)

Born: March 21, 1929 in Peekskill, NY us

Died: June 3, 1997 (Aged 68-074d) in Houston, TX

Buried: Earthman Resthaven Cemetery, Houston, TX

Debut: April 13, 1962 (Age 33-023d, 9,551st in MLB history)
vs. PHI 1 AB, 0 H, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 0 SB

Last Game: July 29, 1962 (Age 33-130d)
vs. CHC 1 AB, 0 H, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 0 SB

Full Name: Prentice Almont Browne

Pronunciation: \BROWN-ee\

Career MLB BA: .210

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 Jim Campbell

Position: Catcher

Bats: Right  •  Throws: Right

6-0, 190lb (183cm, 86kg)

Born: June 24, 1937 (Age: 81-153d) in Palo Alto, CA us

Debut: July 17, 1962 (Age 25-023d, 9,601st in MLB history)
vs. PHI 2 AB, 0 H, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 0 SB

Last Game: July 23, 1963 (Age 26-029d)
vs. PHI 1 AB, 1 H, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 0 SB

Rookie Status: Exceeded rookie limits during 1963 season

Full Name: James Robert Campbell

Career MLB BA: .221

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 Ron Davis

Position: Outfielder

Bats: Right  •  Throws: Right

6-0, 175lb (183cm, 79kg)

Born: October 21, 1941 in Roanoke Rapids, NC us

Died: September 5, 1992 (Aged 50-320d) in Houston, TX

Buried: Davis Family Cemetery, Conway, NC

School: Duke University (Durham, NC)

Debut: August 1, 1962 (Age 20-284d, 9,608th in MLB history)
vs. MLN 4 AB, 1 H, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 0 SB

Last Game: September 25, 1969 (Age 27-339d)
vs. PHI 1 AB, 0 H, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 0 SB

Rookie Status: Exceeded rookie limits during 1966 season

Full Name: Ronald Everette Davis

Career MLB BA: .233

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 Dave Giusti

Position: Pitcher

Bats: Right  •  Throws: Right

5-11, 190lb (180cm, 86kg)

Born: November 27, 1939 (Age: 78-362d) in Seneca Falls, NY us

High School: North HS (Syracuse, NY)

School: Syracuse University (Syracuse, NY)

Debut: April 13, 1962 (Age 22-137d, 9,551st in MLB history)
vs. PHI 0 AB, 0 H, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 0 SB

Last Game: September 27, 1977 (Age 37-304d)
vs. PHI 0.1 IP, 4 H, 0 SO, 1 BB, 3 ER

Rookie Status: Exceeded rookie limits during 1962 season

Full Name: David John Giusti

Pronunciation: \JUST-ee\

View Player Bio from the SABR BioProject

Career Pitching, W-L, ERA: 100-91, 3.60

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 J C Hartman

Position: Shortstop

Bats: Right  •  Throws: Right

6-0, 175lb (183cm, 79kg)

Born: April 15, 1934 (Age: 84-223d) in Cottonton, AL us

Debut: July 21, 1962 (Age 28-097d, 9,605th in MLB history)
vs. STL 1 AB, 0 H, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 0 SB

Last Game: July 1, 1963 (Age 29-077d)
vs. STL 0 AB, 0 H, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 0 SB

Rookie Status: Exceeded rookie limits during 1962 season

Full Name: J C Hartman

Nicknames: Cool

Career MLB BA: .185

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 Aaron Pointer

Position: Left fielder

Bats: Right  •  Throws: Right

6-2, 185lb (188cm, 83kg)

Born: April 19, 1942 (Age: 76-219d) in Little Rock, AR us

High School: McClymonds HS (Oakland, CA)

School: University of San Francisco (San Francisco, CA)

Debut: September 22, 1963 (Age 21-156d, 9,787th in MLB history)
vs. PHI 0 AB, 0 H, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 0 SB

Last Game: October 1, 1967 (Age 25-165d)
vs. PIT 1 AB, 0 H, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 0 SB

Full Name: Aaron Elton Pointer

Nicknames: Hawk

Celebrity Note: Little brother of famous “Pointer Sisters” singing group

Career MLB BA: .208

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Bill McCurdy

Principal Writer, Editor, Publisher

The Pecan Park Eagle

 

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Posted in Baseball, History, Houston | 5 Comments »

Rays Hire Speechless Rodney Linares as Coach

November 23, 2018

Rodney Linares reached Triple-A this year (2018) after managing Rookie ball, Class A, Class A Advanced and Double-A teams for the Astros.

It’s a feel-good story that came straight down the Thanksgiving Day gravy train line that once-in-a-while gets around. ~ Our thanks to close friend and SABR colleague Sam Quintero for making sure that it did not slip past the usually agile and insightful monitoring of these such things at The Pecan Park Eagle.

Here’s a link to the full meal treatment story, complete with cranberry sauce and tastefully prepared by staff writer Marc Topkins for the Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, November 22, 2018 edition of the Tampa Bay Times:

https://www.tampabay.com/blogs/rays/2018/11/21/rays-hire-rodney-linares-as-thrid-base-coach/

And here’s the dipped-in-hope honey-flavored turkey wing summary of what all the excitement is about:

Long-time minor league Astros coaching staff jewel Rodney Linares has been hired by the Rays as their big club’s third base coach for the 2019 season. After 22 seasons with the Astros, it will be the patient-service fellow’s first opportunity to show what he brings to the table at the major league level.

“I was speechless, it took me a little while to gather my thoughts after I  was told. It was such a blessing,” Linares said Wednesday. “I immediately started crying and I called my dad right away. It was just a special moment. You work your whole life to get to the big leagues and now this opportunity arises. It’s an amazing feeling.” (Excerpted Topkins article quote.)

Good Luck to you, Rodney Linares! ~ It’s your time to finally reach the MLB deserved and delicious career position dessert table!

 

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Bill McCurdy

Principal Writer, Editor, Publisher

The Pecan Park Eagle

 

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Posted in Baseball, culture, History, Houston | Leave a Comment »

Happy Thanksgiving 2018

November 21, 2018

 

Classic Thanksgiving cartoon by Glenn McCoy.

Dear Pilgrims ~ Hail Ye! ~ Hear Me!

This is the Voice of the Future speaking to you from the year 2018! We may sound to you that we are speaking in a strange new form of English usage ~ but that’s cool. ~ We’re down with that!

Our time/space broadcasting technology may also resonate into your neck of the woods ears like the always booming Voice of God ~ but hang tight ~ we are not God ~ nor any other spirit that your own ladies in those black pointed hats has conjured up in one of those big boiling plots! ~ No way! ~ We simply are who we say we are ~ The Voice of the Future ~ and we are here to give you a shout out about that not-so-fast first Thanksgiving cartoon that you dudes have decided to publish! ~ You know the one! ~ The one that shows all the female Pilgrims sweating their hearts out over the preparation of that first turkey day dinner of gratitude ~ while the male pilgrims cavalierly engage the even then famous Washington Redskins in the first Turkey Day football game in history!

Just hold the presses right there, folks!

My wife saw that cartoon all the way up here in the 21st century (thanks to an ancestral aunt who lives among you in 1621 as one of the black pointed hat ladies who witch-crafted it all the way up here to her) and now she wants me to do what I can to dissuade you from letting this new practice of an annual thanksgiving day upon which the men get to play while the women slave away fixing them a scrumptious meal as the whole thing unfolds into the shocking tradition it is likely to become!

“I’ve never seen such rampant sexism and racism in the act of getting started from the very first day as an American tradition ~ while everyone just moves around ~ filling all the necessary roles ~ and making it happen!” So said me deary ~ and in a fomentation of fury I’ve rarely seen in this once sweet image of youthful saucy energy that she truly is!

“Me neither,” I said ~ and in my strongest voice of concisely chiseled emotional support.

“William,” Norma continued, “I think we should try to do something about it with our present level of understanding, need, and technology! ~ DON’T YOU?” ~ She added, in a voice that reverberated like a bolt of runaway thunder.

“Me too!” I quickly answered. Then I looked into a nearby mirror and smiled, as I also mutely formed the sound of those two glorious words of courage again ~ this time, mimed and so silently whispered into my own smiling face ~ as I watched the formation of each facial muscle I was required to make to have pitched and flat-out delivered the first aloud expression of these great liberators ~ the ones that came instants earlier with credible affirmation oozing from both my words of response to my dear wife Norma’s strongly emphatic request for support of her opinion ~ and my own desire to do the right thing.

“Me too!” ~ Gee, I thought! You did sound great, kiddo! Then I uttered those same two turn-key words again ~ and this time ~ more softly ~ and to my own congratulatory ears.

Norma wanted more.

“Well, what are you going to do about it,” Norma demanded. ~ “Are you going to do one of your time travel broadcasts ~ one that shakes the leaves of every apple tree in the valley during their harvest time season? ~ ‘Cause, if you do, let ’em think you’re God all they want. We sure know you’re not, but they’ve never met you ~ and it wouldn’t hurt them to worry about an invasion of bugs for a while ~ and, at least, until they mend their ways!”

“Me too!” ~ I said again, in even greater focus. ~ “But I cannot tell them an untruth. And besides, I’ve already told them the truth in the part you walked in and heard.”

But here’s what I will tell them, sweetheart ~ even if the word “commandments” does fall a little bit on the heavy-handed and unenforceable side: …..

Male Pilgrims Behold ~

And Heed These 11 (ahem) Commandments

For Pilgrims on Your Next & 2nd Thanksgiving Day:

1. Put away that oblong-shaped ball.

2. Only pick it up when its freezing outside.

3. Send the Redskins home to help their squaws.

4. Never play football on Thanksgiving Day again.

5. Make baseball your Thanksgiving Day tradition.

6. First find 4 trees that are 90′ apart in a diamond shape.

7. Make sure you can hear the dinner bell from that spot.

8. Cut down the trees, but leave the stumps in place.

9. Use the 4 stumps as home plate and the 3 bases.

10. Play ball ~ if you can find the balls to do so in 1622.

11. When dishes are invented, men should help wash them. *

* And, if ever there were a new 11th General Commandment, this one about the dishes ought to be it. If it weren’t for the more general “raise and lower the toilet seat with the ladies in mind,” it probably would be #11 among the new general commandments too.

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Norma to Bill: “I’m grateful that our relationship always has been based on giving each other the mutual right to be different from each other!”
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Bill to Norma: “Me too!”

            ~ from Everyone at The Pecan Park Eagle!

 

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Bill McCurdy

Principal Writer, Editor, Publisher

The Pecan Park Eagle

 

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Posted in Baseball, culture, Football, History, humor | 1 Comment »

Houston Nearer Major Leagues (Feb 1960)

November 21, 2018

Bob Smith and Roy Hofheinz are the first 2 men on the far left;
George Kirksey and Craig Cullinan are the last 2 men in dark suits on the far right;
County Judge Bill Elliott is the short fellow in the center.

This Associated Press article from the February 11, 1960 edition of the Corpus Christi Times helps to fill in most of the money blanks on how difficult the money differences between the Houston Buffs and the Houston Sports Association came to be over their territorial rights settlement and any hope that the local new big league club might come to rebirth in either the newly proposed Continental League ~ or the established National League ~ by their anciently powerful Houston Buffaloes identity. Although not mentioned here, Judge Roy Hofheinz of the HSA would see to it that the Buffs and Buff Stadium would be reduced to less than a stone upon a stone within the next three years. With the gathering steam of support, for and from within the established NL in favor of Houston and Hofheinz’s pledge that this city was set to bring futuristic change to baseball venue construction , the embryonic Continental League would soon enough be aborted as real plans for the world’s first covered baseball stadium were born and brought to fruition on that same patch of land that’s referenced here in the following piece.

On October 17, 1960, at the annual Major League Baseball owners meetings in Chicago, Houston and New York were awarded expansion club franchises as members of the National League. Judge Hofheinz and His HSA crew were there to receive the news in person and later pose for the featured photo shown here. The two new teams would begin play in 1962 as the Houston Colt .45s and the New York Mets.

Where has the time gone?

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Houston Nearer Major Leagues *

Houston (AP) ~ Houston moved closer to major league baseball yesterday with (the) selection of site for the stadium and an offer by backers of the Continental League to buy or merge with the Houston member of the American Association.

One of the five founders of the Continental Baseball League, the Houston Sports Association offered to buy control of the Houston Buffs for $184,000.

But Russell Rowles, Buff board chairman, indicated the cash offer would be unsatisfactory.

He said, however, he would recommend that stockholders give study to an alternative proposal submitted by Continental backers that the two groups be merged.

Two weeks ago Buff officers offered to sell for $262,500. Marty Marion, Buff President, earlier set a sales price of $492,500 for the club. The price included Marion’s $25,000 five-year contract.

The alternate proposal would have the Continental group and Buff stockholders name committees to work out ways to work out an equitable merger of the groups, said Craig Cullinan Jr., chairman of the syndicate that holds Houston’s Continental franchise.

The offer to purchase the Buffs expires at 5:00 pm Monday.

The offer came only a few hours after county officials announced commitments on a 300-acre site for a huge county sports center with major league baseball and professional football facilities.

The proposed site is in Houston on Highway 59 south and about eight miles south of the downtown area.

Bill Elliott, County Judge, said the county is in position to seek prospective tenants for the stadium.

Cullinan said, “It is clearly apparent to all baseball fans of this area (that) the Continental League is Houston’s best and only way to reach major league status. The Houston Sports Association is doing everything in its power to clear all obstacles immediately so that Houston can present a combined effort in achieving its long sought goal.”

He said that ~ “In the event the Houston Buffs reject both proposals, the Houston Sports Association will continue to develop its program for the opening of the Continental League season here in 1961.

Rowles said current stockholders agreed to sell to the Continental group for $262,500 ~ the exact price paid for the stock last year.

 

* Headline Article, Page 12, by AP, Corpus Christi Times, Thursday, February 11, 1960

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Bill McCurdy

Principal Writer, Editor, Publisher

The Pecan Park Eagle

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