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Bill Gilbert Analyzes 2015 HOF Vote

January 17, 2015

Bill Gilbert is a veteran member of SABR, a respected and exceptional baseball data analyst, and a free lance reporter for The Pecan Park Eagle.

Analyzing the 2015 Hall of Fame Vote

By Bill Gilbert

The Baseball Writers Association of America elected 4 players to the Hall of Fame this year for the first time since 1955, Randy Johnson (97.3%), Pedro Martinez (91.3%), John Smoltz (82.9%) and Craig Biggio (82.7%). All four easily surpassed the 75% required for election.

Of those on the ballot who were not elected, Mike Piazza came the closest with 69.9%, putting him in position for likely election next year. Twelve of the seventeen holdover candidates received more votes this year than last led by Curt Schilling (48 votes), Tim Raines (39 votes), Piazza (29 votes) and Biggio (27 votes).

Jeff Bagwell, who finished 6th in the balloting at 55.7%, had a disappointing showing, receiving 4 fewer votes than last year. He needs a strong move next year to get back on track. Others who received fewer votes in 2015 than 2014 were Jeff Kent (-10 votes), Mark McGwire (-8 votes), Sammy Sosa (-5 votes) and Lee Smith (-5 votes). Support for McGwire and Smith continues to decline and they are running out of time on the ballot. Smith’s final year is 2015 and McGwire’s is 2016 and neither are close to election. Sosa, with only 6.6% of the vote is in danger of dropping below 5.0% next year which would remove him from future ballots. Don Mattingly, in his final year on the ballot, picked up only 3 more votes to 9.1% and will drop off the ballot.

The voters are still largely negative with regards to players associated with Performance Enhancing Drugs (PEDs). Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds each picked up only 4 additional votes and are mired in the mid 30% range. It appears that voters have not changed their minds on PEDs with roughly one third supporting them and two thirds choosing not to vote for them, at least for now.

Following is a list of candidates that received votes in the election this year. For the holdovers, vote totals for last year are also shown.

PLAYER	YEARS ON BALLOT	2014 VOTES	2014 %	2015 VOTES	2015 %	14-15 VOTE #DIFFER	14-15 VOTE %DIFFER
RandyJohnson	1			534	97.3
PedroMartinez	1			500	91.1
John Smoltz	1			455	82.9
Craig Biggio	3	427	74.8	454	82.7	27	7.9
Mike Piazza	3	355	62.2	384	69.9	29	7.7
Jeff Bagwell	5	310	54.3	306	55.7	– 4	1.4
Tim Raines	8	263	46.1	302	55.0	39	8.9
Curt Schilling	3	167	29.2	215	39.2	48	10.0
RogerClemens	3	202	35.4	206	37.5	4	2.1
Barry Bonds	3	198	34.7	202	36.8	4	2.1
Lee Smith	13	171	29.9	166	30.2	– 5	– 0.3
Ed Martinez	6	144	25.2	148	27.0	4	1.8
Alan Trammell	14	119	20.8	138	25.1	19	4.3
Mike Mussina	2	116	20.3	135	24.6	19	4.3
Jeff Kent	2	87	15.2	77	14.0	– 10	– 1.2
Fred McGriff	6	67	11.7	71	12.9	4	1.2
Larry Walker	5	53	10.2	65	11.8	12	1.6
GaryScheffield	1			64	11.7
Mark McGwire	9	63	11.0	55	10.0	– 8	– 1.0
Don Mattingly	15	47	8.2	50	9.1	3	0.9
Sammy Sosa	3	41	7.2	36	6.6	– 5	– 0.6
NGarciaparra	1			30	5.5
———-	——-	——	—–	—–	—–	—–	—–
CarlosDelgado				21	3.8
Troy Percival				4	0.7
Aaron Boone				2	0.4
Tom Gordon				2	0.4
Darin Erstad				1	0.2

In addition to the three ballot newcomers who were elected, two others received enough votes to remain on the ballot, Gary Sheffield and Nomar Garciaparra, although Nomar barely made it with 5.5%. In something of a surprise, Carlos Delgado, with 10 straight 30 home run seasons, fell off the ballot in his first year.

The following seven players were on the ballot but did not receive any votes: Rich Aurilia, Tony Clark, Jermaine Dye, Cliff Floyd, Brian Giles, Eddie Guardado and Jason Schmidt.

One encouraging aspect this year is the continued increase in the average number of votes per ballot. In 2013, 569 writers voted for an average of 6.6 candidates. In 2014, 571 writers voted for an average of 8.4 candidates. This year, only 549 ballots were turned in but they continued to average 8.4 votes per ballot. If this continues, the problem of an overcrowded ballot should gradually be relieved. The change that reduces the time on the ballot from 15 to 10 years will also help. The 2016 class of ballot newcomers headlined by Ken Griffey, Jr., Trevor Hoffman, Billy Wagner and Jim Edmunds is not as strong as the last two. Griffey will make it in his first year but the others are not likely to generate much first ballot support. This should improve the chances of ballot holdovers like Piazza, Bagwell and Raines and especially Schilling and Mike Mussina with other starting pitchers out of the way. It will be a critical year for Bagwell who appears to be stuck in the 55% range.

Bill Gilbert

1/15/2015

Tags:2015 HOF Vote analysis, Bill Gilbert
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Institute for Baseball Studies Opens at Whittier

January 16, 2015

Whittier College
~ Home of the New Baseball Academic Studies Program ~

Thank you, Tom Keefe of Spokane, President of The Eddie Gaedel Society, for passing on to The Pecan Park Eagle this news about the Grand Opening tomorrow, January 16, 2015, of the Institute for Baseball Studies at Whittier College in Whittier, CA.

http://www.whittier.edu/event/grand-opening-institute-baseball-studies

A quick Google search also yielded this earlier, more informative article from October 2, 2014 about the purposes of this intended new academic program at Wittier:

“The Baseball Reliquary is a nonprofit, educational organization dedicated to fostering an appreciation of American art and culture through the prism of baseball history and to exploring the national pastime’s unparalleled creative possibilities. The Reliquary’s research collection will form the centerpiece of the Institute for Baseball Studies, which has been established to foster an intellectual community for creating and supporting interdisciplinary research and studies related to the cultural significance of baseball in American history. ”

For a full view of this informative piece, check out this link:

http://www.whittier.edu/news/baseballinstitute

Our first impression is only mildly parochial. It the Whittier program wants to encompass the big picture in their reliquary goals, they need to have a copy of our Larry Dierker SABR Chapter book, “Houston Baseball: The Early Years, 1861-1961.” Our book was important to the Hall of Library in Cooperstown – and it should be equally important.

As an unexpressed irony here, it just so happens that the claimed first academic studies program on baseball as a major cultural factor is Whittier, the undergraduate college of former President Richard M. Nixon, the biggest, most informed student of baseball history to ever occupy the White House.

If any of you know or learn anything further about the Whittier program, please leave a comment, or, even better, freelance an appropriate subject article and send it to The Pecan Park Eagle and we will publish it with you as our next distinguished gratis-pay columnist of the day.

Tags:Institute for Baseball Studies Opens at Whittier
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A Few More Memories of the 1950’s

January 16, 2015

Drive In Horror Movies were big in Houston during the 1950s. They encouraged bench style front seat togetherness among young couples at places like the South Main, Trail, Hi Nabor, King Center, and Winkler Drive In Theaters, among others.

Thanks for the link, Bob Dorrill. That little three-minute music and picture cascade brought back a lot of memories for one of us who remains, so far, as one of the long-of-tooth members of that supposedly simpler generation:

http://safeshare.tv/w/FEDEwZHZXu

Back in the 1950s, when yours truly welcomed in quietly at age 12 on January 1, 1950 and later blew out hard with everyone else on his 22nd birthday, December 31, 1959, here are some of the memorable differences, large and small, that I recall:

1.) Large: Racial segregation of blacks from whites in Houston was still the embarrassing norm. There were very few Asians here in those days and only a small enclave of Latinos who mainly lived in the Magnolia Park and Harrisburg @ Wayside areas of the east end. Bob Boyd became the first black to break the color line in local baseball on March 28, 1954, when he started at first base for the Houston Buffs. As one of those fans who came to support Boyd that long ago night in Buff Stadium, it marked the beginning of a lifelong history of hero worship in me for the man with the powerful bat, the graceful glove, and the infectious, fan-friendly smile. R.I.P., Bob Boyd! Thanks to our recently published SABR book, “Houston Baseball: The Early Years, 1861-1961”, your contributions to local baseball and, more importantly, to a much better Houston, are now recorded for the ages on the great wall of history.

2) Not-So-Big, But-Still-Large: Up until 1958 and the famous televised championship game between the Baltimore Colts and the New York Giants, the NFL was little more to the national scene in the 1950’s than a “once every Sunday” grainy black and white one-camera game coverage of a game from Chicago that involved either the Bears or the Chicago Cardinals against some other ancient franchise, like the Green Bay Packers or the Detroit Lions. Red Grange, the old “Galloping Ghost” from Illinois was the somber toned solo man on the mike. The NFL spent most of its last decade in the shadows of major league baseball just trying to grab TV attention for its product. The 1958 Colts-Giants drama was the turn key that helped lead to the establishment of the AFL, the brief skirmish between the NFL and AFL in the 1960’s, the settlement of an undisputed pro football champion by the playing of a “Super Bowl” in 1967, and inevitable consolidation of all surviving teams into an NFL that would forevermore from 1969 and the birth of Monday Night Football that would usurp baseball’s undisputed control of the professional sports market for all time.

3) Huge: In the summer of 1950, 500 cases of infantile paralysis, a polio age-specific variant form of the dreaded illness were diagnosed and treated at Hedgcroft Hospital on Montrose Boulevard in Houston. Parents lived in terror of the dreaded disease and many of us were required to remain out of the sun during the so-called “heat of the day”, which was then defined as 12:00 PM to 3:00 PM. – Go figure. It makes you wonder what they thought was less harmful about the 3:00 PM to 6:00 PM daily heat of July and August? – That latter time zone was no daily “norther”, if memory serves. By 1957, the polio vaccine discovery of Dr. Jonas Salk had “won the war” against the disease for all who could win the war against their own ignorance and made sure their families had taken the medicine. Unfortunately, there is no lifetime vaccine against ignorance. Polio is making a comeback in areas where people will not take the vaccine in an early and timely way.

4) A Small Irony: During my student days at my beloved St. Thomas High School, 1952-1956, students could be suspended or dealt with in other harsh terms for using their Physical Education class time to slip through a hole that then existed in the back gym wall for the purpose of organizing and participating in a lunch money game of Craps – you know, the game that’s played with a roll of the dice. – Tonight, however, January 15, 2015, is Casino Night at dear old STHS for all of us surviving alumni who still feel the need to help the school’s fundraiser campaign with another roll of the dice – or a game of Texas Hold ‘Em or Blackjack. I couldn’t make it due to other commitments, but I completely support the idea of Casino Night and what it is aimed to do. – That is, to help St. Thomas High School. I just can’t escape the irony of how this change of attitude toward games of chance so neatly mirrors the mentality of Las Vegas, – It’s OK to gamble in ‘Vegas too – just as long as “the house” controls the action and gets its cut. – Go Eagles! – Seven Come Eleven! – All the Way to Heaven!

Tags:1950s memories
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Way to Celebrate a 1st Title, Coach Herman

January 14, 2015

TOM HERMAN
~ 2014 Frank Broyles Award Winner
` 2014 Offensive Coordinator, The Ohio State University National Champions of College Football
~ 2015 Head Football Coach, The University of Houston

SOMETIMES A PICTURE REALLY IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS!

HOPE AND POSSIBILITY ARE A SPECIAL JOY UNTO THEMSELVES!

RESPECTFULLY PARTISAN HERE ~ THE PECAN PARK EAGLE!

WELCOME AGAIN TO HOUSTON, TOM HERMAN!

AND GO UH COUGARS!

Tags:Goodbye Columbus, Hello Houston
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Welcome to Houston Coach Tom Herman

January 13, 2015

That 42-20 whipping that the Ohio State Buckeyes put on the Oregon Ducks at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas last night in the first NCAA Division 1 Football Playoff-based Championship Series also came home with the cachet of that win spilling into Houston too, once the man, the now and finally departing offensive coordinator Tom Herman wakes up, even as we may be writing, and gets on the road to his new job at UH off the Gulf Freeway at Cullen Boulevard here in Houston as head football coach at UH. – Come on home, Tom, we Cougars welcome you for as long as you will have us. We are just fortunate that UH hired you when they did – and did not wait until after the game last night to tender an offer. Winning a national championship tends to promote second thoughts about leaving any job associated with the effort – and certainly could have added a few rings to the bell or digits to the bottom line of what it might now take to get your name on a brand new coaching contract.

As a Cougar family, we’ve got to thank our lucky stars for your decision to come here as our new football coach – and for the way UH snatched victory from the jaws of defeat in the Armed Forces Bowl against Pittsburgh a couple of weeks ago. – What a setup this is turning out to be at UH – both for recruiting and season ticket sales. The Cougar Den is all abuzz this morning – as it used to be and that’s as it should be.

Some of Herman’s early hires for his coaching staff look great too. Thanks, Tom, for bringing in Major Applewhite as your first offensive coordinator. We’ve always liked this guy at our house for his record at UT, his intelligence, and for that Longhorn cachet from their long winning winning history – the same one they are on the way to regaining if the “good ole boys” among the old school UT powerful alumni will simply be patient with now-moving-into-his-second-year as head coach, Charlie Strong. Welcome, Major! Just remember who you are now recruiting for when you hit the door bells at each signee-prospect’s house.

I don’t have much time or anything else that really needs to be said this morning. I’m just happy with the way things seem to be shaping up for UH today. Who knows how how long we will be able to keep Tom Herman, if he’s as successful as he probably is going to be, but we Cougars will take the honey for as long as it drips. (Wait a minute! It’s bears that go for the honey – not Cougars. That’s why UH lost former coach Art Briles to Baylor and …. I guess the Texas A&M coach (old whatz-his-name) is a bear in disguise too.)

We seem to have awakened at UH to the fact we will need to pay more to get more and keep what’s good in the new coaches we find. Tom Herman will be getting more than any coach the university has ever paid. And we can only hope that a strategy and future money round-up plan is already in place for trying to keep him when the time comes, as we know it will, when some other NCAA Division 1 Daddy Warbucks school comes along to wrestle him from our always-in-the-past fleeting, feeble, and under-financed grasp.

Even if that happens again, we’ve come around after this past season to our agreement with the long of tooth UH alumnus who expressed this reason for wanting to fire Tony Levine after UH opened the new stadium in 2014 with an embarrassing loss to UTSA. He said it on the elevator, on our way to going down after the game, after I reminded him that there didn’t seem to be any point to overpaying at UH for a good coach who was going to leave us, anyway, when the right offer came along from a big name school.

“That’s OK,” said the wizened UH fellow alum. “Let him go when the time comes. I’d rather see us have a good coach for two years than a bad coach for ten.”

Welcome to Houston and UH, Tom Herman – and please – don’t ever accept any phone calls from Steve Patterson over in Austin.

Tags:Welcome to Houston Coach Tom Herman
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Calling All Sam Spades of Baseball History

January 12, 2015

“I’ll be glad to help you find out about the mysterious post card, Mr. Blair, but just remember, I get fifty dollars a day, plus expenses.”

“The manila envelope from some stranger in California named ‘A Goheen’ arrived at the home of Houston Babies vintage baseball pitcher Robert Blair on a Tuesday in early January 2015 – or maybe it was late December of 2014. The arrival time doesn’t matter. – Mystery No. One in this case was simple. Mr. Blair didn’t know know anyone named A. Goheen, nor did he believe in the existence of a goheen, or any family pack of a (‘a’ for ‘any’) goheen species that might be capable of addressing or mailing a letter or package of any kind. Mr. Blair wanted my help.

“We met in my office, pretty close to Joe DiMaggio’s old neighborhood last Friday, January 2nd. ‘Mr. Blair,’ I said, ‘this is all well and good, but I think you need to know up front. I get fifty dollars a day, plus expenses, for my work.’ He didn’t bat an eye. He just slapped a c-note on my desk for starters and I was immediately all ears.

“Mystery No. One was pretty weak as a reason for paying a guy like me the big bucks, but Mystery No. Two smelled as bad as we always think it does when we are so inclined to even think of #2. Mystery No. Two was an old post card from 1911. It had a picture on one side of a bunch of men playing baseball in what appears to be a small town lot or country field – and a message from some guy to a girl on the other:

“The card was ‘posted’ in Winters, California on July 7, 1911 and it was addressed to Miss Lelia Hollingsworth in Woodland, California. It read, errors and all, as follows: ‘Dearf friend – did you get home all right dance was to much crowd – yours truly Eddie’

“Who were these people? Did simple small town Eddie ever find the stones to make a stronger rush on Lelia? And where did he ever get the idea that asking a dame by post card if she got home all right from a dance that he attended too was a good strategy for getting to first base with her? Then it occurred to me that he may have tried to pick her up at the dance and been turned down – and that the stupid post card was just a lame try for a second chance that he probably didn’t deserve in the first place.

“Then Mr. Blair informed me that he didn’t give a damn about Lelia and Eddie. – All he wanted to know was – is there any way to find out where this photo was taken – and by whom?

“Blair also filled me in yesterday that he solved the ‘A Goheen’ part of this mystery. Goheen turned out to be some kind of antique pop culture materials dealer. Blair’s brother Daryl had bought the post card for his brother, Robert, and then had Goheen send it to Blair on the Q.T. as some kind of surprise gift. Daryl Blair had not figured on it causing enough mystery stir to chase his brother all the way to San Francisco to seek my help.

{Addendum: “As it turns out, we do know where the photo was taken. Mr. Goheen has written the following: ‘Real photo postcard cancelled July 7, 1911 of baseball game. Several of the players are wearing suits (not uniforms), the rest more casual clothing including bib overalls. Photo taken in Winters, CA as evidenced by signs painted on surrounding warehouses. Post mark is also Winters, CA. The postcard is in very good condition although the photo has darkened edges which don’t affect the photo. Winters, CA is a small agricultural community in Northern CA specializing in producing.’}

“I’m asking you readers here, as a guest columnist for The Pecan Park Eagle, to help me out, if you know anything – or if you have any bright ideas about the baseball game picture itself – or its photographer! Please help a guy out by leaving your tips or ideas as comments on my column as you also try to keep in mind a big reason for helping me and Mr. Blair out of what’s left of the unsolved mystery. Remember, I get fifty dollars a day, plus expenses. – We could both strike it rich.

“Why, I haven’t had this much fun since a good looking woman, a fat man, and a little guy that smelled like a bottle of cheap perfume all came at me at one time to help them find a mysterious statue of a black bird. That one turned out to be the the stuff that dreams are made of and – who knows – with your help – maybe this one could too.”

By Sam Spayed, Private Detective, San Francisco, California and Special Correspondent to The Pecan Park Eagle

____________________

Jan. 12, 2015: Further explanation now comes in via an alleged letter to Sam Spayed and an actual letter to Robert “Shirtless Bob” Blair, both from a man named Andy Goheen, the supplier of the mysterious baseball game post card from 1911. – Remarkably, Sam Spayed received this welcome help without having to divvy up the c-note that he had received from Robert Blair to gumshoe the matter. What a coincidence. Tuesday is Sam’s drinking night out with Iva Archer, the widow of his late partner, Miles Archer, down at the Blue Parrot, near Fisherman’s Wharf. I guess we know who’ll be buying the booze tonight. – Editor, The Pecan Park Eagle.

____________________

Alleged Letter from Andy Goheen to Sam Spayed

Dear Mr. Spayed,

My name is Andy Goheen. I only know your client, Robert Blair, as “Shirtless Bob”, the brother of an E-Bay customer of mine named Daryl Blair. Here’s a copy of the letter I wrote to “Shirtless Bob” shortly after the New Year – or, perhaps, it was just short of Christmas. I’m no longer sure. I’m now only certain of one thing – his name was “Shirtless Bob”. Be sure of that.

Respectfully, Andy Goheen

____________________

Actual Letter from Andy Goheen to Robert “Shirtless Bob” Blair

Good Afternoon, Shirtless Bob

I received your letter of a few days past expressing some confusion about the vintage baseball game postcard which I recently sent to you. To demystify the event; I put this card on an e-bay auction several weeks ago and it was purchased by one Daryl Blair. The winning request was for me to send it directly to you with no receipt or invoice which would tip you off to the purchaser. He was positive that you would enjoy the card as, according to his description, you are a baseball FANATIC.

Your letter included interest in my knowledge of the card’s history. I will attempt to answer your questions; I have had the card since about 1980. I grew up in Winters, CA (where the card is from) and lived there for about 28 years (1955 – 1982). I am a postal history buff originally more interested in the postmark on the card than the photo although it is of interest to me. I purchased the card from a postal history dealer in Sacramento, CA. I was looking through his inventory, noticed the card was from Winters, looked the photo over and was surprised to see that I could identify the actual location where the baseball game was being played. Winters is still and has always been a small town. When I lived there it was about 1600 people in size and likely much smaller in 1911. The photo was taken in the Warehouse District of Winters on the east side of a major street named Railroad Ave. The location of the game when I lived in that town is still very much like the original location in 1911, only a lot more run down as a lot of the warehouses fell into disrepair in later years. I wish I knew more about the guys playing but, unfortunately, do not. It appears to be the epitome of a Saturday pick-up game, but I do know that the town of Winters had a town club at that time as did all of the other small towns around there. They played amateur league ball with a vengeance locally and took it pretty seriously although this card doesn’t seem to be of that team. The players would have had uniforms on if it were that team.

I have recently been down-sizing some of the many things I have collected over the years. This card was one of those down-sizes. I figured that someone more into baseball might like it more than I. It turns out that that’s you. I hope you enjoy it. If you have any further questions, I would be glad to try and answer.

Regards, Andy Goheen

Tags:1911 baseball theme post card
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Solving the Washington Redskins Mascot Issue

January 11, 2015

"HAIL TO THE REDSPINS!" ~ BY ALLOWING RED TOPS TO BECOME THE NEW MASCOT OF THE WASHINGTON NFL CLUB.

“HAIL TO THE REDSPINS!”
~ BY ALLOWING RED SPINNING TOPS TO BECOME THE NEW MASCOT OF THE WASHINGTON NFL CLUB.

Will the Washington Redskins eventually bow to the pressure of political correctness and change their hallowed and historical nickname from “Redskins” to something that doesn’t offend those with an ounce or two of Native American blood in their veins? Of course, I’m also one of those people who’s got so much Irish blood rampaging through my body that hardly anything offends me along these lines about Ireland or Irishmen. If enough of us Irish-Americans were so offended, we would have stormed the academic and athletic walls of Notre Dame University long ago.

Fighting Irish? You bet!

I do very much get the Native American objection to the skin color reference in the Washington mascot name, even though I really think that any racist intention behind the word “Redskin” disappeared long ago, but that doesn’t matter. What was once intended still brings dishonor and hurt – to those who caused it – and those it targeted. The word is literally offensive to many Native Americans and, for that reason, not political correctness to keep from getting yourself or company in trouble, but you really don’t care, anyway, the name needs to go. We are fifteen years deep into the 21st century now and everything we can do to stay vigilant and oppositional to racism in any expressed form is important. The trick is to accomplish just and fair change without trampling all over freedom of speech. It isn’t easy to do when two causes like racism and the heritage identity of an old NFL franchise collide, but the matter still needs positive and active resolution.

As anyone who’s been to UT Law School knows, Former Chief Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes once said: “Your freedom to throw your fist ends where my chin begins.” That’s a long time rule of thumb on culpability in issues of physical damage and emotional assaults that extend to slander, libel or harassment, but Holmes would have a damnable time keeping it as simple today. He and the courts of his time didn’t have to deal with the Internet, Facebook, and Twitter – to say nothing of political correctness zealotry.

Let’s simply try not to lose our respectful sense of humor or freedom of speech in the process – and that’s what Sunday’s column here is all about.

____________________

The “Proposal”

There is a way for Washington to almost keep their treasured nickname by changing the “k” in “Redskins” to a “p” – a move that alters the word to read “Redspins” – their suggested new nickname for the spinning red tops that now shall serve as their new team spirit bearer. The featured graphic is little more than an inartistic graphic of how the helmet logos and team flag will appear once the transition to the full name of Washington Redspins is fully approved, functional, and in stores for commercial use on all new retail merchandise.

How wonderful are those red tops as a new mascot? Just as wonderful as the delusion that anything in Washington that gets set in motion could ever move forth with great and united energy in one for-the-good-of-the-people direction toward a national success that is enjoyed by everyone. Remember, anything that starts in Washington with strings attached is never free to move under the force of its own expedited energy. It can only spin for the ambiguous and misleading reasons it was set in motion by politicians in the first place – and it will only spin for as long as it takes the public to forget whatever it was set in motion to help people dis-remember from the git-go.

“Hail to the Redspins” would be the new fight song – with lyrics similar, but appropriately different from the ones that were in place for the original:

Original Lyrics ~ Hail to The Redskins

Hail to the Redskins!

Hail, victory!

Braves on the warpath!

Fight for Old D.C.!

Scalp ’em, swamp ‘um — We will take ‘um big score

Read ‘um, Weep ‘um,

Touchdown! — We want heap more

Fight on, Fight on – ‘Til you have won

Sons of Wash-ing-ton. Rah!, Rah!, Rah!

New Lyrics ~ Hail to The Redspins

Hail to the Redspins!

Hail, Re-cov-e-ry!

Tops on the Table!

Spinning – for old D.C.!

Borrow from the future, yes – but we want a whole lot more!

Twist ’em up, Turn ’em down,

Touchdowns? Absolutely none!

But keep on spinning ’till our credit’s done!

Sons of Wash-ing-ton. Rah!, Rah!, Rah!

Hail to the Redspins!

Hail, Re-cov-e-ry!

Tops on the Table!

Spinning – for old D.C.!

____________________

Fortunately for us Houston sports fans, people who live here, or come here, seem to be happy to call themselves “Texans” in the “Space City” where “Rockets” are revered and where baseball lovers seem to enjoy following a team that is named innocuously for some kind of extraterrestrial space material that most of us had never even heard about prior to 1965. Try rubbing two sticks together and building a fire for mascot name changes in Houston in the name of political correctness, but, if you do, don’t hold your breath waiting for the smoke to rise.

Tags:Washinton should trade Redskins to Redspins
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The McCroskey Report: Biggio MMP Party

January 10, 2015

Craig Biggio barely had time to catch his breath from a whirlwind trip to New York circles, which included a Top Ten List appearance on the David Letterman Late Show, when he was whisked over to the Grand Rotunda of Minute Maid Park’s Union Station for the first of many jubilant Houston parties that are sure to come through all the time that lays ahead of us on the way from here to his late July 2015 formal induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame at Cooperstown, NY.

Fortunately for The Pecan Park Eagle, our roving Astros-Event-Ubiquitous reporter, Mike McCroskey, was there at 5:00 PM this Friday, Jan. 9, 2015, to take it all in and then file this special exclusive story for this Saturday dateline column. Good timing for McCroskey too. He got to try out one of the earliest color cameras ever used back in the 19th century. Mike purchased this historic piece at a private auction in December because it was once the personal working property of iconic Civil War photographer Matthew Brady. He’s been aching to try it out on something big and contemporary ever since – and today, he got his chance.

Also thanks to Mike McCroskey, here’s a link to the Craig Biggio and other HOF inductees and their appearance on the David Letterman Late Show Wednesday, January 7, 2015, as presenters on “The Top Ten Things I Said When I Learned I Had Been Selected for The Baseball Hall of Fame”:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W817X4DVJMI&app=desktop

Thanks, Mike. – The words and pictures here are both wonderful. You have succeeded in keeping our readers in the loop!

Editor, The Pecan Park Eagle

____________________

Craig Biggio Joyfully Toasted by Astros President Reid Ryan and Others at Friday’s Big(gio) Bash at MMP!
~Photo by Mike McCroskey

Biggio HOF Announcement Homecoming Party is MLB Hit # 3.061

Mike McCroskey, Special Assignment Writer for The Pecan Park Eagle

Several thousand fans packed Union Station and overflowed into the stands and gift shop of Minute Maid park to honor Craig Biggio on what was the first of several celebrations to honor Craig Biggio’s first ever Astro elected to the Hall of Fame. Reid Ryan began the ceremony by stating that owner Jim Crane wanted to make Biggio’s election a first class celebration all season for the Houston fans. There will be several special Biggio days at the ballpark this season before and after the Cooperstown induction.

HOF member Nolan Ryan heads to the podium to introduce Craig Biggio as Allyson Footer snaps his image. ~ Photo by Mike McCroskey

HOF member Nolan Ryan heads to the podium to introduce Craig Biggio as Alyson Footer snaps his image.
~ Photo by Mike McCroskey

Nolan Ryan welcomed Biggio to the stage. Saying he remembered when he came up they thought he might be the batboy. Wasn’t sure if he was even shaving yet.

Houston Mayor Anise Parker was introduced to a smattering if applause and a few boos. She admonished the fans to respect the recipient and class prevailed. She read a proclamation declaring today officially Craig Biggio day in Houston.

Astros Owner Jim Crane describes Biggio as the "Heart of the Astros" as Alyson Footer (lower right) also takes his picture. ~ Photo by Mike McCroskey

Astros Owner Jim Crane describes Biggio as the “Heart of the Astros” as Alyson Footer (red head, lower right) also takes his picture.
~ Photo by Mike McCroskey

Then Reid Ryan read a proclamation from a Harris County judge which declared today Craig Biggio Day in Harris County. Then State rep Sylvester Turner came to the stage and said that there were 29 million Texans who were proud of Craig Biggio and presented him with a framed Texas flag, which had been flown over our Capital. Not bad for a kid from New York.

HOF Inductee and Houston Hero Craig Biggio thanks all the fans for their support over the years.
~ Photo by Mike McCroskey

Craig said how proud he was to have played in Houston. That he played hard everyday to earn respect. And you had to keep earning it everyday. He said “we had a mediocre team in 2007, but when I announced my retirement, 40,000 filled the ball park every game for the rest if the year. It was very humbling. Thank you Houston fans. You’re the best!”

Larry Dierker was one of the most recognizable famous faces in the crowd too - and we assume that Alyson Footer was taking his picture also as Mike proceeded to do so here. ~ Photo by Mike McCroskey

Larry Dierker was one of the most recognizable famous faces in the crowd. We assume that Alyson Footer also was taking this shot off camera.
~ Photo by Mike McCroskey

Faces in the crowd included former managers and players Phil Garner and Larry Dierker, MLB charmer Allison Footer and Minute Maid’s Fred Arnold. Amazingly I was able to leave the event without being asked for a single autograph.

“30”/ Mike McCroskey

Mike McCroskey
Special Correspondent
The Pecan Park Eagle
~ How on earth could this man possibly have left the building Friday without a single autograph request? ~

Tags:A Mike McCroskey Report, Biggio HOF Bash at MMP
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Don’t Mean a Thing, Without Chrome Bling!

January 9, 2015

Thanks for sending this portfolio to me, Sam Quintero! This one was irresistible to any “pass” motion I may have feigned with my electronic finger in the past. I’ve never written in any long form about my lifelong love for the cars of the 1950s, but this one column changes that limitation for all time, with one big exception. – Unless you are old enough to have been coming of age when all these sights were everyday drooling stimuli for just about every teenage guy in America, these sights are far more powerful as pictures in the recreation of a loving thrill that sums up for some of us our eternal attraction to that style of automobile design. Ask us what we think of all those familiar oval shaped gray and tan plastic cars that today are barely distinguishable from one another, or from themselves over one model year to the next. They all look pretty much the same these days. Without their attached manufacturing brand logos, they are all too similar to be distinctively identified – and they all lack that shiny substance that once distinctively adorned our great American muscle cars. Ask us wizened ones what we think, and we will unitedly tell you, in parody of the lyrics from a great old swing era big band number from an even earlier time, that, when it comes to cars:

“It Don’t Mean a Thing, If It Ain’t Got Chrome Bling!”

Feast your eyes and feed the soul on a small sample of what were once the great American cars for each of us who wanted to rumble down the pavement of our own street of dreams. We didn’t always get there, or end up exactly where we thought we were going with the map plans and partners we started out with, but that’s life. Our job isn’t to be right about everything we think is out there when we start the journey, but to learn and adjust to our mistakes, and to celebrate and be grateful for the people and experiences that came along to teach us what we needed to learn to reach our best destination.

In the end, it’s all about us coming to understand this much about time. – Today is where we live, but that isn’t limiting. It’s very powerful. It’s where we get things done with those things that are possible. The future and the past exist only in the mind. We cannot capture what is yet to be with our promises. We cannot regain what might have been with our regrets. In baseball, as in life, we are all day-to-day, taking each game and each day – one breath at a time.

Our journeys are each our own, but, once upon a time, we could always make sure the chrome was bright and shiny before we gassed up to go!

IT WASN’T JUST THE CHEVYS ~ THAT FED US ALL THE HEAVIES!

Tags:Roam with Chrome
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Jim Russell: A Baseball Life

January 8, 2015

The 1950 Brooklyn Dodgers
~ Jim Russell’s Last MLB Stop thru 1951
~ courtesy of the Mid Mon Valley Sports Hall of Fame

Funny how the stars align. At a time we celebrate the induction of our great Houston star Craig Biggio and three others’ 2015 inductee selections for the Baseball Hall of Fame, a story of a really good ballplayer, Jim Russell, comes our way by virtue of his son Stephen Russell’s contribution of that rare 1988 rookie photo of Craig Biggio with the younger Russell after or before a game in Montreal.

Later this same day, Stephen Russell sent me a story about his father’s career that was written in 2013 by George Von Benko of South Connellsville, PA that The Pecan Park Eagle will now share with you here.

Jim Russell was not one the greats who light the fire of our fan passions, but he, indeed, was one of that larger cast of good ballplayers who keep the infrastructure going from one era to the next as a living thing to be enjoyed by baseball fans all over the world. Jim Russell played for ten seasons in the big leagues with Pittsburgh (1942-47), Boston, NL (1948-49) and Brooklyn (1950-51). As a tall right-handed switch-hitting outfielder, Russell batted .267 over his career, with 67 HR. His best season for average was 1944 when his 181 hits translated into 34 doubles, 14 triples, 8 homers and a .314 batting average. His 12 homers in 1945 were his biggest long ball season. A native son of the famous Monongahela Valley in the baseball rich region of western Pennsylvania, Jim Russell passed away of a heart attack in 1987 at the age of 69. His deserving memory is worthy of our preservation. It always has been the role of actors like Jim Russell to keep the baseball theater lights going on a non-stop run from history to forever. If they do not, the stars that come along will have no place to shine.

Thank you Stephen V. Russell too for making this article possible. We appreciate the 1988 photo you had made with Craig Biggio and today shared with us, along with your keen observations about the man as a rookie and future great. May your work as Director of the Mid Mon Valley Historical Society and Sports Museum also continue to flourish in the land of Stan Musial and the two Ken Griffeys far beyond our shared limited time on this wonderful place on earth we know as America.

____________________

Posted: Tuesday, May 28, 2013 2:00 am

Russell added to region’s rich baseball history

By George Von Benko

For the Herald-Standard, Uniontown, PA

Western Pennsylvania has a very rich baseball history, one of the standouts from the past was former Fayette City native Jim Russell.

Russell was born on Oct. 1, 1918, in Fayette City, Pa., the son of James and Lillian Russell. His father was of Irish-Welsh descent and his mother was Swedish. As a child, Russell had rheumatic fever, and an infection developed in his heart, but he recovered. He dropped out of school and went to work in the mines like his father.

Russell honed his baseball skills playing sandlot baseball and caught the attention of baseball scouts. He signed his first professional contract with the McKeesport (Pa.) Little Pirates in 1937 and for the next five seasons played minor league ball in several towns, including Butler, Beaver Falls, Youngstown, Springfield (Ill.), and St. Joseph of the Michigan State League.

In 1941 Russell moved up to Class B, playing 125 games for Meridian of the Southeastern League where he led the league in stolen bases with 51 and established a new single-season record. He finished the ’41 campaign with the Memphis Chicks of the Class A Southern Association, and batted .383 with 10 doubles in 24 games, but was displeased with his salary.

Jim Russell
Pittsburgh Pirates
1942-47

He was selected by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the minor league draft and assigned to Toronto of the International League (AA) for the 1942 campaign. He batted .295 and was a September call-up by the Pirates and appeared in five games. He had one hit in 14 at-bats.

Russell played six years for the Pirates and batted .277 with 40 home runs, 288 RBI and 51 stolen bases. Russell’s manager in Pittsburgh was future Hall of Famer Frankie Frisch. The “Fordham Flash” liked what he saw in the 24-year old outfielder, commenting that Russell had a chance to be as good “as he wants to be.”

Frisch was a hard-nosed player in his day and liked Russell’s speed and ability, and taught him to drag bunt to take advantage of his speed.

“Why, that fellow Russell ought to bunt .300 in any league! He actually overtakes and beats the ball when he pulls a bunt down the line!” Frisch said in a newspaper article at the time.

Jim Russell
Boston Braves
1948-49

During the offseason in 1947, Russell was traded to the Boston Braves along with catcher Bill Salkeld and pitcher Al Lyons for outfielder Johnny Hopp and second baseman Danny Murtaugh.

Russell at first embraced the move to Boston. Here is what he had to say about the move in a 1947 newspaper story.

“The best thing about coming to Boston,” Russell claimed. “Is that I won’t have to bat against Johnny Sain and Warren Spahn.”

The switch-hitting Russell reflected on his career with the Pirates.

“Being a hometown boy,” he said. “I probably pressed a little too much trying to do well before the fans. I know my dad used to come out to see me, and I tried too hard to get some hits for him.”

Braves Field was also a favorite park for Russell.

“The best day I had all last year was in Boston,” he stated. “I got five hits in six times at-bat, including two doubles and a triple.

“Another thing about Braves Field, I’ll get hits on drives they used to catch off me in deep right-center in Pittsburgh. I know that every time I hit a ball on the nose in Braves Field it went against the fences. My best power is to right center and I lost a lot of hits in Pittsburgh, because of the long distance to the fences in that part of the park.”

Russell played two season for the Braves and hit .246 with 17 home runs and 108 RBI. On June 7, 1948, in a game against the Cubs in Wrigley Field, Russell had a career moment when he tied a National League record with four extra-base hits in a single game. He homered and doubled from both sides of the plate, and also drove in six runs as the Braves defeated the Cubs, 9-5. He was a big part of the Braves’ drive for the pennant.

His season came to an end on July 22, 1948, when he was admitted to Christ Hospital in Cincinnati with an infected tooth and decaying jaw bone which were believed to have caused a fever he had for two weeks prior to entering the hospital. On August 30, it was announced that Russell would miss the remainder of the season. The Braves received permission to add outfielder Ray Sanders to the World Series roster to replace Russell.

In 1949, Russell and teammate Earl Torgeson got into a fight at a Chicago hotel and both combatants came away injured. Torgeson suffered a sprained thumb, while Russell came away with two black eyes. This was the tip of the iceberg and manager Billy Southworth soon left the club.

Jim Russell
Brooklyn Dodgers
1950-51

Russell was traded to Brooklyn on Christmas Eve 1949, along with Ed Sauer and cash for Luis Olmo. Russell’s contract was assigned to the Dodgers’ top farm club, the Montreal Royals of the International League. He balked and threatened to retire, he was given a shot at the big league club and made it.

He was Dodgers fan favorite with nicknames like “Bing-Bango, Sock and Slub.” In 1950, four home runs won games outright and five home runs came against their archrival St. Louis Cardinals. He played for Brooklyn in 1950 and part of 1951, batting .216 with 10 home runs and 32 RBI.

Russell finished his playing career in 1952 and 1953 with the Portland Beavers of the Pacific Coast League and then retired back to Pennsylvania. He was a scout for the Dodgers and Senators, and owned Russell Brothers Beer Distributing. He became a salesman for Smith-Corona and moved to the Tampa, Fla., area. He experienced health problems and died of a heart attack in 1987 at the age of 69.

Russell was inducted into the Mid Mon Valley Sports Hall of Fame in 1952.

George Von Benko’s “Memory Lane” columns appear in the Tuesday editions of the Herald-Standard. He also hosts a sports talk show on WMBS-AM radio from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturdays.

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