The Pecan Park Eagle

By the Time # 2 Derek Jeter Retires …

June 22, 2014

The Yankees will retire Joe Torre's #6 on August 23rd. Then, when Derek Jeter retires and his # 2 joins the wall, the Yankees wll have retired all of their single digit numbers.

The Yankees will retire Joe Torre’s #6 on August 23rd. Then, when Derek Jeter retires and his # 2 joins the wall, the Yankees will have retired all of their single digit numbers.

By the time # 2 Derek Jeter retires, the New York Yankees will have retired all of their single digit numbers for players and the string will look like this:

Retired Yankees single Digit Uniform Numbers

1) Billy Martin

2) Derek Jeter

3) Babe Ruth

4) Lou Gehrig

5) Joe DiMaggio

6) Joe Torre

7) Mickey Mantle

8) Yogi Berra/Bill Dickey

9) Roger Maris

Want to see the rest of the 1st Ten?

10) Phil Rizzuto

How about the rest of the Yankee retired numbers?

15) Thurman Munson

16) Whitey Ford

23) Don Mattingly

32) Elston Howard

37) Casey Stengel

42) Jackie Robinson

44) Reggie Jackson

49) Ron Guidry

The question is …. Where is all of this happy permanent celebrating finally leading the game? Granted, the storied Yankees have more of a winning history to celebrate than all others, but where do we end up if most teams have retired all their single digit uniform numbers? The possibilities are sometimes amusing:

a) Baseball teams with an identification system that bears a closer resemblance to football’s two-digit celebration of tenacious linebackers and larger beefy linemen.

b) Three digit numbers in which all players named Mendoza get to fight over the right to use “200”.

c) Elite Number One closers who never give up a run choosing the binary favorites of either “1” for their status (unless they happen to be Yankees) or “0” for what they give up.

d) “000” should satisfy the pitcher with the best ERA record.

e) “911” for the effective reliever who works both often and on short notice.

f) “666” for the player who is a hell of a lot better than all the rest.

g) “359” for guys who are fast enough to break the four-minute mile.

h) “003” for all the batters who time just a tad faster than Mickey Mantle running from home to first.

i) “007” for the managers who will do anything to foil the sinister plots of others to defeat their teams.

j) or we could just shift over to the use of Roman numerals as the NFL’s Super Bowl has done. Issue # III to the next Babe Ruth prospect. The bubble will pop, but the kid, at least, will get to have some short-time fun.

Maybe the retirement-happy clubs could follow the Astros example and re-direct the honors focus to stars and names on a “Walk of Fame” around the various ball parks. I like what the Astros are doing in this regard, but I still think they should retire # 36 for Joe Niekro and # 50 for J.R. Richard before they close the door on uniform numbers retirements. Those two guys really deserve that honor. Then they can go back to the process of avoiding a retirement of all their Astros single digit numbers too – without ever winning a single World Series.

Tags: baseball uniform retired numbers
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West End Park Plaque Goes Up July 12

June 21, 2014

The West End Park plaque dedication has been moved to Antioch Park at Allen Center at the corner of Smith & Clay. 10 AM, Saturday, July 13, 2014 remains as our fixed ceremonial time. Please join us.

The West End Park plaque dedication has been moved to Antioch Park at Allen Center at the corner of Smith & Clay. 10 AM, Saturday, July 12, 2014 remains as our fixed ceremonial time. Please join us.

If you are anywhere near Houston on Saturday morning, July 12, 2014, come join the crowd downtown at the Allen Center intersection of Jefferson and Brazos. The Harris County Historical Commission will be installing a plaque to commemorate the the once four-block tract that served as the site of West End Park, home of Houston professional baseball from 1905 to 1927. The venue also served as a place used by Negro League baseball during that era of segregation and also by both high school and college football for much of that time. West End Park continued in use for a broad variety of amateur and semi-professional sports for several years beyond the 1928 Houston Buffaloes move to Buffalo Stadium on the near east side of downtown. Rice and Notre Dame once played a college football game at West End Park

Mike Vance, Editor of SABR’s new “Houston Baseball: The Early Years, 1861-1961,” deserves the credit for spearheading the movement to have this action of attention taken in behalf of an important site in our local history and he is most deserving of our appreciation. As Executive Director of the non-profit organization known as Houston Arts and Media, Mike is involved in all kinds of “cultural archeology” projects that include, but go way beyond sports alone. The Pecan Park Eagle can think of no other person in our town who is more active in efforts to build, protect, acknowledge, and preserve our City of Houston and broader community history of how we got to be the metropolis we are today.

Repeating news of one change here: the time and and date remain the same as originally planned. That’s 10:00 AM, Saturday, July 12, 2014. The site of the ceremony, however, has now been changed to Antioch Park at Allen Center at the corner of Smith and Clay. Please pass the word to any friends you know who are coming – and please make plans to join us. These kinds of days are always a dual celebration – of an important memory of Houston history that is being saved for the ages, even when the wrecking ball of time and other priorities have wiped all physical evidence of its being from our sight.- and in appreciation for our fellow Houstonians who work so hard to make sure that important historical places are not lost to the bad memory of Father Time. – Hope to see you there this time because its one of those chances we all have to show our appreciation and support for a job that was both, worth doing – and also well done.

Thank you, Mike Vance!

Please join us on Saturday morning, July 12, 2014, at 10:00 AM for this special dedication to the memory of West End Park.

Who knows? Maybe that will also be your day to find your own pathway into the movement for preserving Greater Houston and Harris County history before some developers push something else irreplaceable into extinction for the sake of creating another treeless parking lot or strip center.

West End Park in the Early Years. That’s the steeple of Antioch Baptist Church in the foul ground area beyond left field.

Have a nice weekend, everybody! Get out and enjoy all that Houston has to offer! We’ll see you downtown on July 12th!

Tags: West End Park in Houston
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New Old Post Card Fuels Beeville Memories

June 19, 2014

Looking North on Washington St. in Beeville, Texas, Near the Turn of the 19th Century to the 20th.

Looking North on Washington St., Near the Turn of the 19th Century to the 20th.

This recently acquired postcard of Beeville, Texas, my birthplace and home until my family moved to Houston on my 5th birthday, December 31, 1942, also managed to set off a flood of old thoughts about Beeville, most of which we have covered here in previous columns. Today is an attempt to string a few Beeville photos together in ways that tell a story of Beeville the town and its contributions to the sport of baseball.

If you look just the other side of the white horse in the above photo’s lower left side, you will be symbolically introduced to the one-story red brick building above the horse that served as the locale of the Beeville Bee, my grandfather’s first newspaper in town from 1886 until today, when it is now long ago out of the family and known as the Beeville Bee-Picayune. Grandfather (William O. McCurdy) started the operation alone as a 20 year-old and he remained in business until his early death from tuberculosis at age 47. He died at Santa Rosa Hospital in San Antonio in May 1913, the same place where Hall of Fame lefty Rube Waddell also passed away nearly a year later in April 1914 at age 37.

Grandfather took this picture from the front door of The Bee, also looking N across the street to the “Base Ball To Day” banner that straddles Washington. Date of the photo is now thought to be 1910, Beeville’s first year in professional baseball.

Here’s the same perspective photo I took in 2001 of my grandfather’s work in the previous shot so many years earlier.

As is true in most “Then and Now” comparative photos, some things change big time time. And some things seem to remain the same.

Masthead banner of the Beeville Bee in 1889. If it were a little larger here, you would also se that the "influence" of The Bee reaches to the far eat and the little town of Houston.

Masthead banner of the Beeville Bee in 1889. If it were a little larger here, you would also see that the “influence” of The Bee reaches to the far right geographical side of the picture and the little town of Houston.

Grandfather was a populist and a champion of the little guy in his day. I’ve always regretted that he had to die a full quarter of a century prior to my birth, but I’ve also been grateful that he was a writer. Writers always leave their words and often a part of their soul in print.. He was also funny. For example, in his early years, Grandfather relied a lot on local “write-ups” of small ton events for some “space-filling” among his patent press news and editorials. His patince wor thin one year, however, when some readers down in Port Lavaca waited until nearly Easter to send the previous Christmas Party Report to The Bee for publication.

The Port Lavacan social write-up didn’t make it into print by The Bee, as Grandfather McCurdy explained in this light-hearted, but serious explanation that did appear:

“We regret to inform our friends down in Port Lavaca that The Bee is unable to publish the report of their Christmas ‘doings’ as we are now on the clock and ready to roll into Easter. Our local Bee contributors are deeply appreciated, but all need to member this simple fact. – The hoary hand of time has quite a different effect upon local news from what it does to the aging of wine. – It doesn’t get better with age.”

Beeville, Texas today is a city of about 14,000, Its economy is supported by cattle, oil and gas, agriculture, and the presence of a state maximum security prison. It is located 180 miles southwest of Houston on US Hwy. 59. It is 90 miles south of San Antonio and 50 miles north of Corpus Christi.

William O. McCurdy
Publisher, Editor, Reporter
The Beeville Bee
1886-1913

“The Mason (TX) News wants an editor who can read, write, and argue politics, and, at the same time be religious, funny, scientific, and historical as well; write to please everybody, know everything without being told; always have something good to say about everybody else; live on wind, and make more money than enemies. For such a man, a good opening will be made in the graveyard!”

~ W.O. McCurdy, Editor, The Beeville Bee, May 3, 1889.

NOTE: Grandfather was age 23 when he published that typical-of-him declarative statement.

The Beeville Orange Growers, 1910.

The Beeville Orange Growers existed as Beeville’s first foray into professional baseball as members of the Southwest Texas League in 1910-11. The loop collapsed from a lack of financial support and a heavy presence of inter-city ill will doing that probably included some corruption and incompetence among the umpiring officials. In spite of the dark side factors, 1910 produced the first of four native Beevillans who would go on to play major league baseball. (See #6 in the back row, Melvin “Bert” Gallia (RHP, MLB: 1912-1920). The club was also managed for most of 1911 by future UT coaching icon, Billy Disch. Professional baseball made another brief run in Beeville during the late 1920s and also had a brief spin in independent league baseball in the 1970s, but never really gained a permanent home in the little cattle, ad, and oil community that loved playing the game as an amateur town team in some form well into the 1960s.

THE FIVE NATIVE BEEVILLIANS OF MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL

1) MELVIN “BERT” GALLIA: LIFE SPAN: 1891-1976; RH PITCHER; MLB YEARS: 1912-1920; MLB RECORD: 66 W – 69 L – 3.14 ERA.

BERT GALLIA
BEEVILLE NATIVE
MLB: 1912-1920

2) CURT WALKER: LIFE SPAN: 1896-1955; OUTFIELDER, BL/TR; ; MLB YEARS: 1919-1930; BA: .304,; 2BH: 235; 3BH: 117: HR 64; Struck out only 254 times in 5,575 plate appearances.

CURT WALKER
BEEVILLE NATIVE
MLB: 1919-1930
TEXAS BASEBALL
HALL OF FAME

3) LLOYD “LEFTY” BROWN: LIFE SPAN: 1904-1974; LH PITCHER; MLB YEARS: 1925, 1928-1937; 1940; MLB RECORD: 91 W – 105 L – 4.20 ERA.

LLOYD “LEFTY” BROWN
BEEVILLE NATIVE
MLB YEARS: 1925. 1928-1937, 1940.

4) RUDY JARAMILLO: Life Span (1950-Still Living) Rudy never played in the majors, but the BL/TR former minor league outfielder/first baseman excelled for years as a major league batting instructor for the Texas Rangers. His work was good enough to get him elected to the Texas Baseball Hall of Fame in 2001. He was every step of the way accepted for his employment as a major league asset to the clubs that employed him as an effective teaching coach.

RUDY JARAMILLO
BEEVILLE NATIVE
MLB BATTING COACH
TEXAS BASEBALL HALL OF FAME

5) EDDIE TAUBENSEE: LIFE SPAN: 1968 – Still Living; CATCHER, BL/TR; ; MLB YEARS: 1991-2001; BA: .273,; 2BH: 251; 3BH: 9: HR 94.

EDDIE TAUBENSEE
BEEVILLE NATIVE
MLB YEARS: 1991-2001

The people of baseball today still love baseball:

The Ball Field at Coastal Bend College Beeville, Texas

Joe Hunter Field at Coastal Bend College
Beeville, Texas

Joe Hunter Field
From Beyond the Wall

Many of them also love art. The Beeville Art Museum recently received a nice review in The Houston Chronicle. Here are four outside photos of the approximate grounds that once served as land belonging to the Hodges family back in the 19th century:

Beeville Art Museum
Beeville, Texas

Meanwhile, something new and creative found The Beeville Bee once this column went to digital print this morning. Lance Carter. that terrific professional photographer who helped us as a researcher during the SABR Early Houston Baseball book project took it upon himself to do one of his “Ghosts of Baseball” photo art jobs on those two then and now (1910 and 2001) shots from the same vantage point of downtown Beeville that I presented earlier in this column. To get the great effect that you shall see in the following photo, Lance superimposes one photo on top of the other and than brings them to visual life again in a way show some of the new and old life aspects bound together as through that spot has been forever frozen in time. I also think I then got Lance Carter’s agreement to do a “Ghosts of Baseball” (or the Houston Past and Present) as a pictorial using the same technique in the near future.

Here’s the Carter “Ghost” version of my two previous Beeville main street photos from 1910 and 2001:

Ghost of Baseball 1910 and 2001 Beeville, Texas By Lance B. Carter

Ghost of Baseball
1910 and 2001
Beeville, Texas
By Lance Carter

And, if you’ve never seen Lance Carter’s photo website, check it out at www.lancepcarter.com – or visit with Lance at www.facebook.com/lpcphoto

That’s enough of Beeville for now. Have a nice Thursday, everybody!

Tags: a Beeville Review
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1915: Sugarland Mauls Houston, 10-4

June 18, 2014

The Houston Plummers had a rough day in a baseball game with Sugarland back on July 26, 1915 in the City of Sweetness.. They lost, 10-4.

The Houston Modern Plummers had a rough day in a baseball game with Sugarland back on July 26, 1915 in the City of Sweetness.. They lost, 10-4.

“Sugarland, Tx., July 26 (1915). – In a one-sided game of baseball, Sugarland defeated the Modern Plummers of Houston by a score of 10-4. The features of the game were a home run by Guenther, with a man on base, and the batting of the home team. Batteries: For Sugarland, Craig and Seager; for (the) Modern Plummers, Sellman, Turley, and Swaine.”

~ Galveston Daily News, July 27, 1915, Page 6.

______________________________

Based upon the sparse available information in this brief column item report, we may only assume that Sugarland (it was still a one-word town in 1915) owned the bragging rights to Mr. Guenther for his two-run homer, but it isn’t clearly stated as a fact.

The bigger mystery is that nickname for the Houston club, the Modern Plummers. And poor limited me can see only these three possibilities: (1) The Galveston Daily News failed to pick up that the Houston boys had misspelled the word “plumber” and went to press with that uncorrected errata; (2) Or, like “Sugarland” and “Sugar Land,” the word plumber was simply spelled differently in 1915; or (3) These guys weren’t playing under the plumber’s banner, anyway. They were actually members of a delicate-handed artisan group that once styled feathered plumes for ladies hats – and that’s why they lost to Sugarland. Their hands were too soft to handle a rough and tumble game of baseball.

…of course, that crack of possibility still exists that someone just misspelled the word “plumber” and nobody picked up on it.

Ain’t speculative history awesome?

Tags: Sugarland defeats Houston in 1915 semi-pro or amateur baseball action.
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1867 Opposition to Baseball in Galveston

June 17, 2014

“HEY, DIERKER! I’M FEELING SOME SUDDEN VIOLENT EXERTION! WHAT DO YOU SAY WE DITCH THESE BOARDS AND GO CHILL OUT AT THE GYM?”

A 19th Century Report from Galveston

“Base Ball – An effort is being made by the young men to establish a Base Ball club. This is not the first instance in which the attempt has been made. We do not believe that base ball is the game for our climate. Base ball is the game that exposes the player to the sun and to brief, violent exertion. This sort of exercise is healthful in colder climates. Our gymnastic exercise needs longer time and less violence, with little or no exposure to the sun. A covered gymnasium, will, we think, better serve the purpose of aspiring athletes than the ball field.”

~ Galveston Flakes Daily Bulletin, May 24, 1867, Page 5.

Tags: 1867 FOES OF BASEBALL IN GALVESTON
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Great Material from Great PPE Supporters

June 16, 2014

Larry Miggins
Houston Buffs
St. Louis Cardinals

Thank you, Tom Hunter, for this most recent story and video clip of Vin Scully telling that now growing-in-fame story of how he and high school classmate Larry Miggins fulfilled a Scully wish of Larry playing and Vin broadcasting a big league game. Against all odds, it actually happened on May 13, 1952 when Miggins came to bat at Ebbets Field for the Cardinals and smashed a homer to left off lefty Preacher Roe of the Dodgers in the third inning. Quite improbably too, junior limited air-time broadcaster Scully just happened to be at the mike to make the call. This latest Scully rendering took place last Wednesday, June 11, 2014 at the Ronald Reagan Library in California.

To read the story coverage article by Tony Lee, log on to the following link:

http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-Sports/2014/06/15/Vin-Scully-Ronald-Reagan-Knocked-the-Biggest-Fence-of-All-Do

The actual speech video is located at the bottom of the Lee article where you may either listen to the whole speech or move the time bar to the 46-minutes point and listen directly to Scully describe the Miggins story. It was his last planned subject of the evening.

The Mysterious Grinning Monkey Orchids

Thank you, Miriam Edelman, for this wonderful exposition of seventeen exotic and beautiful phot0s of places and phenomena of this world we call home. Displays of this kind always remind me of how awesomely little I’ve actually seen directly with own eyes during my now years-stretching lifetime. (Segue:) And thank you, youngish old friend and fellow St. Thomas classmate Rob Sangster for reminding my by example of how a precious, blessed few of us heeded the call and did not fail to make footprints on so many of the physical roads less traveled.

From what I’ve been able to read, so far, those mysterious grinning monkey orchids, indeed, are for real – and not from Photoshop, as I first suspected. If my findings are more a matter of layered deception, please let me know, but I don’t think they are. Is it possible that orchids are tasty to simians and that this manifestation is the botany world’s Darwinian defensive design to frighten the monkeys away?

A Spiral Aurora Borealis

The collection also reminds me of two other items that remain on my bucket list of things to see: the Aurora Borealis and also the Houston Astros winning a World Series. I could reach the former by moving to the far north. I may reach the latter if I can simply refrain from moving my hope a single one inch, in spite of the past three one-hundred-plus-loss seasons.

Years ago, I missed my first shot at one of life’s largest invitations to venture onto the road less traveled. I neglected to heed the advice that I saw often on giant billboards and on the sides of city buses. The message was always simple and the same. It read: “Join the Navy and See the World!”

Have a nice Monday, everybody, no matter how near or far you drift from home.

Tags: it's a wonderful world
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It Was a Glorious Day to Play Baseball

June 15, 2014

The Houston Babies found their way together from their own field of dreams back in 2008.

It Was A Glorious Day to Play Baseball

by Bob Dorrill

Bob Dorrill, our Pecan Park Eagle free lance reporter, also serves as manager of the Houston Babies, Director of the Larry Dierker Chapter of SABR, one of the seven authors of our recently released work, Houston Baseball, The Early Years, 1861-1961, and Houston Coordinator of the 2014 National Convention of SABR that comes to Houston this summer from July 30-August 3rd. Bob, The Eagle and all fans of local baseball thank you for adding Babies beat writing to your already amazing resume and busy schedule.. The Houston baseball community needs more baseball adhesive glue from people like you. So, take care of yourself. It is hard these days to find genuine heroes – and you, my friend, are one for the ages! Thanks for the great job you do in behalf of baseball.

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It was a glorious day to play baseball. The sun was out, the field meticulous after having been groomed by the grounds crew and both teams were ready to play Vintage Baseball.

This was the scene yesterday, Friday the 13th, 2014, at Constellation Field in Sugar Land as the Houston Babies hosted the Katy Combine before the regularly scheduled game between the Sugar Land Skeeters and the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs. For our game Skeeters play by play broadcaster and sometimes Babies player Ira Liebman did the honors of crying out “Play Ball” as the home team Babies hit the field.

What followed was a lively game, shortened to four innings due to time constraints. While the Babies and the Combine can’t take all the credit it must be reported that every single seat was sold for “Turn Back the Clock Night” featuring vintage baseball and some fans were turned away when they found that no more tickets were available.

The Babies, who won the initial “Turn Back the Clock Night” game last year fought hard to repeat but were defeated 5 – 3 by the highly talented Combine team. Due to the size of the ballpark triples seemed to be the rule as both teams hit the ball into the far reaches of Constellation Field including Alex Hajduk, in his new “hockey look” and Kyle Burns for the Babies as well as two Combine players.

Houston Babies slugger Alex Hajduk announced that he was wearing a beard for as long as the New York Rangers hockey team stayed alive for the Stanley Cup. – Shall we presume that the whiskers are now gone?

This year as last, we were pleased to have the multi-talented and top hat dressed Mr. Dale Ryan serve as our “Blind Tom”. Dale called them as he saw them but on one occasion did ask the “cranks” in the stands to assist him on a very close play.

Our General Manager, Bill McCurdy, was a little under the weather (I wonder if the 95 degree temperatures had something to do with that) and missed his first vintage game in memory. In his stead, Tal Smith pinch hit for Bill as acting GM. About half way through the second inning Tal was seen on his cell phone, perhaps trying to make a quick trade for another player because of a DL problem on the Babies roster. Robert Pena and Bob Blair both showed up for the game to cheer their mates, but neither could play due to injuries. . We were hoping for Tracy McGrady in Tal’s deal, but it fell through. Apparently the Skeeters wanted too much in return.

Honorary Baby Jimmy Wynn was in the house cheering us on as was “Deacon” Jones.

Clubs like the Houston Babies and the Katy Combne find their own Field of Dreams each time they meet in a friendly game of vintage 1860s base ball. All we need now is for Joe Jackson, Moonlight Graham, Kevin Costner, James Earl Jones, and Roy Hobbs to show up.

Clubs like the Houston Babies and the Katy Combine find their own Field of Dreams each time they meet in a friendly game of vintage 1860s base ball. All we need now is for Joe Jackson, Moonlight Graham, Kevin Costner, James Earl Jones, and Roy Hobbs to show up.

After the game we relaxed and watched the regular game which went 12 innings before the Skeeters prevailed 3-2. During the fourth inning there was a search throughout Constellation Field for “The Most Interesting Person in the Park” and it turned out to be none other than our very own second baseman Phil Holland. Phil sure looked good on the giant screen as he received his gift. He was immediately asked for his autograph.

The Houston Babies and Katy Combine next play on October 26^th at the George Ranch as part of Texas Market Days.

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Happy Fathers Day
From The Pecan Park Eagle
Sunday, June 15, 2014

Tags: Houston Babies Base Ball
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Houston Babies Ignore Galveston Rowdyism

June 13, 2014

“Travis Street Park”
Home of the 1888 Houston Babies ~ By Patrick Lopez ~ As “Buffalo Watching”

PRETTY ROUGH

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The Statement Made By the News as to the Disgraceful Conduct of the Galveston Ball Team – The Report is Not Believed.

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Galveston Evening Tribune, May 1, 1888. The Galvestons are out on a tour of the state and it was hoped that the players would so conduct themselves, both on and off the ball field, as to win the respect of the public. It is possible for a man to be a gentleman under all circumstances, although he may not be a ballplayer. These preliminary remarks are based on reports that have reached Galveston – reports that every lover of the National game in Galveston most heartily wishes may be untrue.

Here are some sample reports from the Houston Post of the 1st (of May) and apply to the game.

“Manager Sullivan, of the Galvestons, wants clean ball playing and will stick fines to Pujol and Stallings for their hoodlumism yesterday.”

“If the umpire cannot manage Pujol, turn him over to the police. People do pay their money to witness an exhibition of hoodlumism. Nor do ladies occupy the ladies stand to hear startling dirty talk to the umpire.”

The correspondent of the News at Houston furnishes a lot of stuff this morning that is not only absolutely sicking (sp) but untrue. It is pronounced untrue for the reason that the Houston Post of today makes no reference to anything of the kind and it is safe to say that if the Galveston players behaved as the News says they did that the Post would have referred to it both elaborately and extensively. The Post says of the game:

“The Houston Babies redeemed themselves yesterday by playing the prettiest game of baseball ever witnessed in Houston.They were mad with themselves for playing so listlessly on Monday and to ease their conscience they fairly plowed up the earth with the Galveston Giants. They jumped on (Galveston pitcher) Stallings and lined him right and left. (Houston pitcher) Flood pitched a beautiful game and was beautifully held by Lohbeck. Dunn, the new man, showed up strong in the field and at the bat, and is a dandy on he coaching line. The other players covered their territories in handsome style.”

~ Galveston Evening Tribute, May 1, 1888, Page 5.

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New Book Reminder:

If you care to learn much more about the early history of Houston baseball, please check out the following link. “Houston Baseball, The Early Years, 1861-1961” is a brand new release and the only comprehensive scholarly and entertaining work on the role of baseball in Houston, most probably from the city’s 1836 start. It is the product of the Houston Larry Dierker Chapter of SABR, the Society for American Baseball Research. It was written by multiple authors, including Steve Bertone, Bob Dorrill, Marsha Franty, Mickey Herskowitz, Bill McCurdy, Joe Thompson, and Mike Vance. Patrick Lopez provided watercolor architectural drawings of the city’s primary ball parks, dating back to the 19th century, and Mike Vance also performed a masterful job as the editor of the final product that is our legacy gift to the total history of our greater Houston community. The book was beautifully produced by Bright Sky Press in Houston. Physically, the book is 368 pages in hard cover with dust jacket format, weighing in also at 4 pounds a copy. The price is $50.00, but worth every penny for its scholarly commitment to an accurate, comprehensive study of the game’s history in this area of the state. We might add too that our “Early Houston Baseball” book is both the first and only one of its kind on this general subject. It is a good and accurate story that now belongs to the ages with its 2014 publication.

Here’s the website link for more information: http://www.houstonbaseball.org/

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See the New Houston Babies Play Today at Constellation Field Prior to the Sugar Land Skeeters Game!

The reincarnated Houston Babies vintage base ball team will square off at 5:00 PM today, Friday the 13th of May 2014 at Constellation Field against the great Katy Combine team. Come see the Babies and Katy play. Then stay to watch the exciting action of Sugar Land Skeeters Atlantic Independent League Baseball.

Tags: Houston Babies Game
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Hello. I Must Be Going.

June 12, 2014

HARPO, CHICO,and GROUCHO MARX

Hello. I Must Be Going. ~

~ Classic Marx Brothers Quotes

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One morning I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How he got in my pajamas, I don’t know.

~ Groucho Marx in Animal Crackers (Movie)

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I never forget a face, but in your case I’ll be glad to make an exception.

~ Groucho Marx

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Hello! I must be going!

~ Groucho Marx

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I sent the club a wire stating: Please accept my resignation. I don’t want to belong to any club that will accept me as a member.

~ Groucho Marx

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Margaret Dumont: Why, I’ve never been more insulted in my life.

Groucho Marx: Patience, Madam. The evening is young.

Groucho/Margaret Dumont (Movie)

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“Honk! Honk!”

~ Harpo Marx

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Man: Are you a man or a mouse?

Groucho: Put a piece of cheese on the floor and you’ll find out.

~ Groucho in A Day at the Races (movie)

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Groucho: That’s in every contract, that’s what you call a sanity clause.

Chico: You can’t a fool a me there ain’t no sanity clause

Groucho/Chico in A Night at the Opera (movie)

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Groucho: Women should be obscene and not heard.

~ Groucho Marx

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Groucho: My divorce taught me the meaning of “community property.” I learned it meant that she alone would now get to live off the property while I moved out to live off the community.

~ Groucho Marx

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Hello. I must be going.

~ Groucho Marx/The Pecan Park Eagle/Other Kindred Spirits.

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FOOTNOTE: While researching Groucho Marx for this column, I found a really interesting article by his grandson, Andy Marx. “The Day My Grandfather Groucho and I Saved ‘You Bet Your Life’” is an excellent example of how easily historical artifacts may be either “saved for history” or “lost forever” on the caprice of circumstances in place at a particular moment in time. Here’s the link:

http://boingboing.net/2013/03/12/the-day-my-grandfather-groucho.html

SUB-FOOTNOTE: Andy Marx’s other grandfather was Gus Kahn, one of the great song lyricists of the early 20th century. What a gene pool Andy Marx was born into from the start. I also love the credo that he publishes at his own creative project website. There’s a link to it at the end of the referenced column). It reads: “There are no rules here. We’re trying to accomplish something.”

Censorship of Groucho on “You Bet Your Life”: As Bob Hulsey commented below on our original column, NBC filmed the old Groucho quiz show rather than trust him not to cross the blue line on what passed for the moral standards of the 1950s. As a result, some of Groucho’s best material ended up on the cutting room floor rather than go broadcasted into American homes. Here’s an example that a reader of the Andy Marx column left as a comment there. Chances are high that it was one those bursts of wit that would’ve been censored in the 1950s, but could have flown like a protected species bird through the broadcast skies of our 21st century:

I saw a clip from an episode that never aired in which Groucho was interviewing a beautiful young woman who said that she wanted to be an actress and a mother. He said (paraphrasing) “That won’t be easy. How do you plan to go about that?”

Contestant: “Well, if I keep both feet on the ground and stay focused I think I can.”

Groucho: “If you keep both feet on the ground you’ll never become a mother.”

You bet your life, Groucho. How true that is.

Tags: Andy Marx references, Marx Brother Quotes
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Tandem Teammate HR Leaders by Team and Year

June 10, 2014

Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig didn’t get etra tandem homer total credit for the homers they bashed in the post-season cornfields of Iowa.

When was the time the Astros had two formidable home run threats on the roster at the same time? By standards of national history, that would have been the downfall 2000 season, the club’s first year in the downtown ballpark we first called Enron Field. The tandem was only a one-year phenomenon, but it was good enough in the short term to place the work of Jeff Bagwell (47) and Richard Hidalgo (44) among the 26 greatest combo long-ballers that any MLB team has ever seen. It’s too bad that Hidalgo’s 2000 season could not have been captured like an electrical mist in a bottle and sprayed upon him every spring. He could have been one of the great ones of all time, but it just wasn’t meant to be.

The list here is interesting. It’s dominated by Hall of Famers and mixed with a number of contemporary steroid suspects, but not everyone here falls into either of those categories (maybe).

It’s also interesting to note that sometimes a crazy number team leader will combine with more than one other member of the club to make the list twice. (See Barry Bonds).

Have fun as all of us Astros fans contemplate the future possibilities of George Springer and Jon Singleton one day making this list.

26 Best Tandem Player HR Totals by Teammates in Major League Baseball

115 (’61 Yankees)
61	Roger Maris
54	Mickey Mantle

110 (’01 Giants)
73	Barry Bonds
37	Rich Aurilia

107 (’27 Yankees)
60	Babe Ruth
47	Lou Gehrig

101 (’98 Cardinals)
70	Mark McGwire
31	Ray Lankford

100 (’02 Rangers)
57	Alex Rodriguez
43	Rafael Palmeiro

99 (’99 Cardinals)
65	Mark McGwire
34	Fernando Tatis

99 (’01 Rangers)
52	Alex Rodriguez
47	Rafael Palmeiro

98 (’98 Mariners)
56	Ken Griffey, Jr.
42	Alex Rodriguez

97 (’98 Cubs)
66	Sammy Sosa
31	Henry Rodriguez

96 (’97 Mariners)
56	Ken Griffey, Jr.
40	Jay Buhner

96 (’98 Cardinals)
70	Mark McGwire
26	Ron Gant

95 (’98 Cardinals)
70	Mark McGwire
25	Brian Jordan

95 (’01 Giants)
73	Barry Bonds
22	Jeff Kent

93 (’30 Cubs)
56	Hack Wilson
37	Gabby Hartnett

93 (’32 A’s)
58	Jimmie Foxx
35	Al Simmons

93 (’96 Mariners)
49	Ken Griffey, Jr.
44	Jay Buhner

92 (’31 Yankees)
46	Babe Ruth
46	Lou Gehrig

92 (’05 Red Sox)
47	David Ortiz
45	Manny Ramirez

91 (’38 Tigers)
58	Hank Greenberg
33	Rudy York

91 (’65 Giants)
52	Willie Mays
39	Willie McCovey

91 (’00 Astros)
47	Jeff Bagwell
44	Richard Hidalgo

90 (’30 Yankees)
49	Babe Ruth
41	Lou Gehrig

90 (’97 Rockies)
49	Larry Walker
41	Andres Galarraga

90 (’99 Mariners)
48	Ken Griffey, Jr.
42	Alex Rodriguez

90 (’01 D’backs)
57	Luis Gonzalez
33	Reggie Sanders

90 (’06 Phillies)
58	Ryan Howard
32	Chase Utley

Tags: 2-player HR leaders by year
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