The Pecan Park Eagle

TOP ALL TIME BA & HR TEAMS BY POSITION

March 16, 2014

Will Mike Piazza (L) and Jeff Kent separately have the most home runs by a catcher and a 2nd baseman, but will either live to see their inductions into the Hall of Fame?

Will Mike Piazza (L) and Jeff Kent separately have the most career home runs by a catcher and a 2nd baseman, but will either live to see their inductions into the Hall of Fame?

Weekends and early summer mornings are not too different for many of us longtime baseball history fans today than they’ve always been, but we do have to concede this much and more to the new digital age in which we now live. – The tools we have for research today are sure better, faster, more comprehensive, more decisive, more accessible, and more fun to play with than at any other time in history. The Pecan Park Eagle is simply grateful to have been born no earlier than e were. We would have hated missing out on the start of the best, if more complex, times in research and communication history.

Today’s quick look at the best offensive position sets by career bating average and home run totals is quite interesting as a Sunday morning project, we think, especially as we consider the very different picture for Hall of Fame induction for each Tha batting average boys, made up mostly from early 20th century careers, include 7 of 9 as Hall of Famers. The two HOF-missing starters include the long-banned Joe Jackson in left field and the still active, and thus ineligible catcher, Joe Mauer.

The home run team, on the other hand, includes only four HOF members and five (for various reasons) non members, including steroid-suspicion of several.

My criteria for these selections was simple. I don’t like to complicate Sunday mornings:

(1) There no pitcher selections.

(2) We picked the leaders for each of the eight field positions and the DH as the 9-offensive players.

(3) To be eligible, except for DH, a player had to play all or most of his career at the position for which he was selected.

By including the DH here, we were able then to include a couple of great players, Tris Speakers in the BA camp and Willie Mays in the HR group and ut them on the field as the two greatest center fielders in history as we moved out Ed Delahanty and Babe Ruth to the DH spots.

Interesting to note too is that active player Joe Mauer is still building on the best career batting average for a catcher at .323. Mauer would have to fall below Mickey Cochrane’s career .320 BA to lose his spot among thee all-timers.

Thanks to Baseball Almanac for being the ever ready resource for research of this nature. Check out the record files four own enlightenment and amusement, if you haven’t done so already:

http://www.baseball-almanac.com/himenu.shtml

Here’s how our two teams finally shook out by position:

HIGHEST BA	NAME	B.A.	HOF?
BY POSITION
CATCHER	JOE MAUER	.323	NO
1^ST BASE	BILL TERRY	.341	YES
2^ND BASE	ROGERS HORNSBY	.358	YES
3^RD BASE	JOHN McGRAW	.334	YES
SHORTSTOP	HONUS WAGNER	.327	YES
LEFT FIELD	JOE JACKSON	.356	NO
CENTER FIELD	TRIS SPEAKER	.345	YES
RIGHT FIELD	TY COBB	.366	YES
DH	ED DELHANTY	.346	YES

MOST HR	NAME	HR TTL	HOF?
BY POSITION
CATCHER	MIKE PIAZZA	427	NO
1^ST BASE	JIM THOME	612	NO
2^ND BASE	Jeff KENT	377	NO
3^RD BASE	MIKE SCHMIDT	548	YES
SHORTSTOP	ALEX RODRIGUEZ	654	NO
LEFT FIELD	BARRY BONDS	762	NO
CENTER FIELD	WILLIE MAYS	660	YES
RIGHT FIELD	HANK AARON	755	YES
DH	BABE RUTH	714	YES

Tags: career BA and HR teams by position
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The Texas Cyclone

March 15, 2014

The Texas Cyclone at Astroworld. That tall building on the left-center horizon is the Williams Tower in the Galleria. That white “glob” on the right center is the Astrodome. See! – The ride even came with scary skies!

The Texas Cyclone opened as the premier roller coaster at Astroworld on June 12, 1976. Constructed as a close replica of the original wooden Coney Island Cyclone built at Coney Island in 1927, the Texas version was built after Astroworld representatives cancelled their attempt to purchase and move the original track and ride from Brooklyn to Houston because of the prohibitively high costs involved.

The new Texas Cyclone at Astroworld was designed by Don Rosser and William Cobb and built in Houston by the Frontier Construction Company. It’s vital figures included a wood frame, a chain lift and launch mechanism, a maximum height of 93 feet, a biggest drop of 80 feet from the first crest, at a maximum vertical angle of 53 degrees, at a maximum speed of 64 MPH, over a total length course of 3,180 feet, at 4.2 G Force, over 2 minutes and 15 seconds of brain-rattling ride.

You really had to ride the thing to get a full appreciation for the sinus and digestive system clearing experience the Texas Cyclone provided.

The Pecan Park Eagle was still young enough to do things like the Cyclone back in 1976 and we would not trade the memory for anything in the world. – I said “wouldn’t trade the memory.” There’s no way in the world today I would not want to get on anything like the Cyclone today and actually recreate the memory. – As GHWB may have once said, via Dana Carvey, – “wouldn’t be prudent.” My holding on for dear life skills have deteriorated considerably in recent years.

The first drop on the cyclone felt as though a giant sucking hole had just opened underneath you. At a sight-angle that looked more like a 90 degree cliff-drop than 53 degrees, you just went pummeling to earth with no time for prayers or mental processing. What that actually did was to build up the speed and momentum to be whirling up and down, but also all around, on clacking, clattering tracks that quickly helped generate the notion that a constant flood of adrenalin was now your new state of normal.

Back then, our initial reaction to that first biochemically disturbing ride was pretty much what a lot of people did on the heels of any disturbing, but exciting experience. Some people even reacted to a ride on the Cyclone as they would have to a bad marriage. As soon as it was over, they got in line to do it again. Ours wasn’t quite that dumb, but it came close. We wanted more of that Cyclone scare.

The Texas Cyclone made its last fright ride on October 30, 2005, the last day of Astroworld’s life as a popular amusement park. It was taken down and demolished on March 9, 2006, but its memory lives on as one of the crown jewels in Houston’s entertainment history crown.

Thanks for the memories, Texas Cyclone!

Tags: Texas Cyclone
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“Astroworld! Astroworld!”

March 14, 2014

Once Upon a Time, south of the Astrodome, there was a place called Astroworld, and it was treasured by Houstonians and visitors alike.

The original Astroworld radio/tv commercial jingle, as The Pecan Park Eagle remembered it:

“Astroworld! Astroworld! It’s a Wonderful World of Fun, Fun, Fun!

Astroworld! Astroworld! Where the Music Has Just Begun!

Games and Rides are Everywhere! Smiling Faces Say We Care!

Astroworld! Astroworld! Always Happy as the County Fair!”

The same jingle, as sung by Dene Hofheinz and contributed here by Bob Hulsey of Astros Daily:

You can find the commercial at AstrosDaily….

http://www.astrosdaily.com/audio/68astrowd.mp3

In the recorded version, Judge Hofheinz’s daughter, Dene Hofheinz, actually sings the jingle she wrote:

“Astroworld! Astroworld! It’s the wonderful world of fun, fun, fun!

Astroworld! Astroworld! Where the party has just begun!

Smiling faces everywhere! Happiness for all to share!

Astroworld! Astroworld! It’s the wonderful world of fun!…”

Astroworld Sidebar: Some of the young hippie LSD users of 1968 took the “ASTROWORLD” bumper stickers of that era and transformed them into virtually identical stickers that read as “ACIDWORLD.” As a member of one of those treatment teams that worked with the hallucinogen user population, all I can say is that the Summer of 1968 in Houston was not an exact copy of San Francisco’s “Summer of Love” in 1967, but it was certainly a dedicated attempt by teens and the growing so-called counter-culture population in the Montrose to hustle Houston into the “Dawning of the Age of Aquarius.”

And here’s an Editorial from The Galveston Daily News, Wednesday Morning, June 5, 1968, Page 4~

____________________

New “Astroworld” truly Wonderful World of Fun

Astrodome Attracted large crowds on opening weekend in spite of threatening weather and intermittent showers.

We predict the crowds will grow in size – and continue – from now on.

Astroworld is that kind of place. It’s designed to appeal to everyone. We think it does.

Although it is basically patterned after Six Flags Over Texas at Arlington, it is different enough, both in physical looks and types of rides, that the veteran visitor to Six Flags will enjoy Astroworld probably just as much someone who has never seen either attraction.

Astroworld, like Six Flags, has hired scores of clean-cut, nice looking young people and dressed them in attractive, colorful costumes and taught them how to smile sincerely and to be genuinely helpful to visitors.

Astroworld is clean and kept clean. The architecture is appealing. The landscaping is attractive. Most of the rides are interesting and entertaining enough to attract visitors of all ages, although there are a number of thrill rides that pack in the kids.

This New Houston “tourist and home-folks” attraction is the direct opposite of the old-time dirty carnival, (with) its high-pressure hawkers and its Skid Row type employees.

Astroworld is the kind of place where you can turn the children loose and not worry about them.

It’s a place where the adults can spend a few leisurely hours enjoying hr adult-type rides. taking in the architecture and browsing in the many shops.

Parking is not a real problem. Astroworld will never run out of parking space in the huge area south of the Astrodome. Enough trams make regular runs from the parking lot to the Astroworld entrance that there is no long waiting.

The price of admission, which covers everything except what you spend on food and shopping, is reasonable. So are food prices.

When compared with Six Flags or Disneyland, Astroworld is not nearly as sophisticated in the handling of large numbers of people fast and efficiently, both at rides and food service establishments. The lines, we thought, grew too long and moved too slowly for the number of people there. Part of the problem, no doubt, will be solved when large numbers of people learn their new jobs.

But From The overall point of view, there is little to criticize, but much to praise at Astroworld.

It doesn’t take a crystal ball to predict that Astroworld will continue to grow and develop in the years ahead and steadily become an even greater attraction. The fact that Astroworld is located adjacent to the Astrodome is an important factor.

There’s one other important point to make. Astrodome will work for Galveston, too. That’s because he Island is part of “astro-Universe” ad we think its only logical that a number of visitors to Astroworld will take time to visit Galveston’s beaches, Marineworld, and other attractions.

Astroworld is a great addition to this entire Gulf Coast area of Texas.

~ Editorial from The Galveston Daily News, Wednesday Morning, June 5, 1968, Page 4.

____________________

When a community has media like The Galveston Daily News, who needs a Chamber of Commerce?

Tags: 1968, Astroworld Opens
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July 2, 1971: Wynn Leads Astros to 3-2 Win

March 13, 2014

Jimmy Wynn, standing next to the seat from the far gold section in left field, where he hit his Dome Monster Shot a season earlier than the homer depicted in today’s column.

On Friday night. July 2, 1971, center fielder Jimmy Wynn led the Houston Astros to a 3-2 win at the Astrodome, securing Larry Dierker’s 11th pitching win of the season and also blasting the 175th home run of his career in the second inning. The ball was captured in the left field stands by young man Pearland fan Tom Hunter. As Tom grew up further and moved to Denver as part of his life journey, he always kept the Wynn home run ball and cherished its memory. In 1989. when Jimmy Wynn just happened to be in Denver for an Old-timer’s Game at Mile High Stadium, Hunter took the ball to his earlier life hero and explained how he came to be in possession of it. Good guy that he always is, Jimmy “The Toy Cannon” Wynn agreed to sign the ball personally to Tom Hunter.

Such is the stuff that all our dreams are made of as baseball fans, and Jimmy Wynn is one of those guys who does not disappoint, if he can possibly avoid it. And that’s because he’s the same loving, decent, and appreciative humble man off the field – and that’s the man who also thrived as one of the most talented, powerful, and exciting players of his era in major league baseball.

Thank you, Jimmy Wynn, for the high level of class and positivity that you bring to every gathering of baseball people!

And for Tom Hunter, and especially those of you who weren’t around for that referenced game in 1971, here’s an account by writer John Black on how it unfolded on the pages of The Galveston News of July 3, 1971 and the box score records of Baseball Almanac.Com:

____________________

ASTROS NUDGE REDS 3-2

By John Black

HOUSTON – Larry Dierker’s frustrating drive for his 11th victory ended here Friday night as the Houton ace downed the Cincinnati Reds 3 to 2. Thank you, Jim Wynn.

Dierker, in his fourth try for win number 11, overcame a two-run Red rally in the seventh. He allowed but six hits and fanned five.

Wynn drove in the first two runs and Bob Watson’s single in the eighth provided the winning tally.

Doug Rader tripled with two down in the second. With the infield back deep for the free-swinging Wynn, the Astro center fielder dumped a bunt single down the third base line to score Rader.

In the fifth, Wynn rapped a Gary Nolan fastball into the left field seats for a home run. (Enter Mr. Tom Hunter as a participant in this game story. He got the ball.)

The Reds tied the score off Dierker after (shortstop) Roger Metzger missed a good opportunity for a triple play in the Cincinnati seventh.

John Bench opened with a walk and moved to second on Tony Perez’s single. Bernie Carbo hit a line drive at Metzger, who dropped the ball which (second baseman) Joe Morgan recovered for a force play. Tommy Helms’ single scored Bench and pinch hitter George Foster’s ground out counted Carbo.

Nolan allowed only six Astro hits while losing his third game of the season to the Domemen without a win. The sixth safety was an eighth-inning single by Watson that counted Metzger with the go-ahead run. Metzger was on second via a bunt single and sacrifice by Joe Morgan.

Dierker gave way to reliever Fred Gladding in the ninth after walking Carbo. Dierker complained of arm troubles, and Gladding got Tommy Helms on one pitch after pinch runner Buddy Bradford was caught stealing.

~ John Black, Galveston Daily News, Saturday, July 3, 1971, Page 14.

____________________

Cincinnati Reds	ab	r	h	rbi
Rose rf	4	0	2	0
McRae cf	4	0	2	0
May 1b	4	0	0	0
Bench c	3	1	0	0
Perez 3b	4	0	1	0
Carbo lf	3	1	0	0
Bradford pr	0	0	0	0
Helms 2b	4	0	1	1
Concepcion ss	2	0	0	0
Foster ph	1	0	0	1
Woodward ss	0	0	0	0
Nolan p	3	0	0	0
Totals	32	2	6	2

Houston Astros	ab	r	h	rbi
Metzger ss	4	1	1	0
Morgan 2b	3	0	0	0
Cedeno cf	3	0	0	0
Watson lf	4	0	2	1
Menke 1b	3	0	0	0
Rader 3b	4	1	1	0
Wynn rf	3	1	2	2
Hiatt c	3	0	1	0
Dierker p	2	0	0	0
Gladding p	0	0	0	0
Totals	29	3	7	3

Cincinnati	0	0	0		0	0	0		2	0	0	–	2	6	0
Houston	0	1	0		0	1	0		0	1	x	–	3	7	0

Cincinnati Reds	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO

Nolan L (6-8)	8.0	7	3	3	2	6
Totals	8.0	7	3	3	2	6

Houston Astros	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
Dierker W (11-4)	8.1	6	2	2	2	5
Gladding SV (8)	0.2	0	0	0	0	0
Totals	9.0	6	2	2	2	5
E–None. 2B–Cincinnati Rose (14,off Dierker); Helms (16,off Dierker), Houston Watson (13,off Nolan). 3B–Houston Rader (3,off Nolan). HR–Houston Wynn (3,5th inning off Nolan 0 on, 1 out). SH–Dierker (3,off Nolan); Morgan (4,off Nolan). CS–Bradford (2,2nd base by Gladding/Hiatt). U-HP–Stan Landes, 1B–Ed Sudol, 2B–Mel Steiner, 3B–Bob Engel. T–2:11. A–17,996.

Baseball Almanac Box Score |

Tags: 7/02/71: Astros 3 - Reds 2
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March 12: Happy Birthday, Jimmy Wynn!

March 12, 2014

James Sherman Wynn
Born: March 12, 1942
Cincinnati. Ohio

Happy 72nd Birthday, Jimmy Wynn! And much peace and happiness to one of the finest men to ever play the grand old game of baseball.

We love you!

Career Stats: http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/w/wynnji01.shtml

Tags: birthday wsh, Jimmy Wynn
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Tal Smith: Game Needs Rules That Protect Pace

March 11, 2014

The pace of baseball was working pretty well when Tal Smith (L) and Bill Virdon were moving the Houston Astros deep into the “W” column back in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Yesterday I received a personal e-mail from Houston baseball administrative icon Tal Smith about Monday’s column in The Pecan Park Eagle on the subject: Suggestions for Shorter Baseball Games. With his permission, here are Tal Smith’s ideas on the real need for improvement in the way the game plays out today and some clearly fair suggestions that could stand over time as possible remedies that both enliven and protect the pace and integrity of the way the game plays out in the 21st century.:

____________________

Dear Bill,

Good column, And it has spurred some good responses from your legion of readers.

In my judgment, it is imperative that baseball speeds up the pace of the game. Elapsed time is not as relevant as pace.

Time prevents me at the moment from long discourse, but I will throw out a few comments and suggestions.

1. The two most time-consuming events that don’t really contribute positively to the flow of the game are (a) hitters stepping out and (b) mound conferences.

2. The elimination of velcro (batting gloves) would sure help with all the tinkering by batters, but, regrettably, is probably not feasible.

3. Suppose baseball instituted “time outs” like other sports. Grant managers/pitching coaches two 30 second time outs per game for mound or infield conferences that do not result in a pitching change.

4. Grant catchers one mound conference per pitcher per inning. Violations will result in an automatic “ball” call on the batter.

5. Make relief pitchers face a minimum of 3 batters before another same inning pitching change can be made. Pitching changes between innings would not be bound by the three batter minimum since they can usually be made without the 3-5 minute delay that results from changes made during an inning. This rule would hopefully cut down the number of pitching changes made during a game and also reduce the number of incessant L-R match-up changes.

6. Batters will not be permitted to step out of the box unless they have made contact with the preceding pitch (a foul ball or foul tip) or, in the umpire’s judgment, they had to avoid being hit by the previous pitch. The penalty for violating this rule would be a called strike, bt the call must be made by the umpire before the next pitch.

Got to go now. Just wanted to provide some more “food for thought.”

Regards,

Tal

____________________

Thanks, Tal!

Count The Pecan Park Eagle as a strong supporter of tweaking the pace over saving actual time as the main goal for any new rules aimed at stepping up the moving life of everyday games. Your suggestions strike me as practical ways to control the key people who most often slow down the pace and extend the time of games played.

We hope that you will all check in with a public comment or question for Tal Smith in the section that follows this second column in a row on the need for change in the way baseball plays out our grand old game in 2014.

Tags: Tal Smith: On Picking Up the Pace of Baseball.
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Suggestions for Shorter Baseball Games

March 10, 2014

“WHAT? YOU SAY YOU WANNA PUT THE CLOCK ON ME? – WHAT HAPPENS IF I NEED EXTRA TIME TO PICK MY NOSE OR CLEAR UP A WEDGIE BETWEEN PITCHES?”

The Pecan Park Eagle didn’t get a lot of suggestions for shortening the average time of a baseball game in response to my column last week on the question, but we also did not receive a single message of support for the idea that the games need to keep growing in length beyond three hours. Moat people seem to like the idea of shorter games; some say the tempo and competitiveness of the game is more important; others bring up school night pressures; while others yet harken back to their imagined pastoral pace of the game as it once must have played out in rural 19th century America. Virtually everyone agrees that television commercials increase the length of game times at the big league level.

One old friend of mine, Dr. Don Matlosz of Fresno State University, even bothered to submit an itemized comment at the first column site of changes he’d like to see for the sake of making the games shorter. I always pay attention to Matlosz; he’s not only a good friend from way back, but a smart New Jersey born and raised baseball guy to boot. As a result, and for the sake of further discussion, The Eagle shall repeat his four suggestions here.

Dr. Don Matlosz’s Four Suggestions for Shortening the Time of Baseball Games

Baseball needs to speed up and here are some suggestions to accomplish this task:

1. (Call for an) intentional walk and the batter automatically goes to first base (without the four thrown balls).
2. Batters do not need to step out on every pitch. Let pitchers quick pitch in order to keep the batters in the box
3. I think this was a Charles Finley idea. Instead of 4 balls and three strikes make it 3 balls and two strikes.
4. Don’t throw the ball around the infield after each out.

Since we don’t always agree with Dr. Matlosz, here are the Pecan Park Eagle thoughts on his list of four:

1) The designated intentional walk without the pitches. I don’t like it. The game of baseball is a lot about how players handle their flow of adrenaline and nerves during the quiet moments of a tense game. No walk is assured until a pitcher shows that he can deliver four balls to the catcher that are not thrown wildly to the screen. With the winning run on third when the “IW” is initiated, a wild pitch could still possibly end the ball game. We say – leave this one as it is.

2) Place Limits on Batters Stepping Out to Halt the Game. We totally agree. Most of these moves are the result of tension itches that football and basketball players have little time to experience during the constant flow of speed in their games. They are caused by neurological signals in response to stress and the flow of adrenalin. In football, their most common appearance is the lineman who jumps offside prior to the ball being snapped into play. Batters should have to deal with stress equally to the stress that the pitcher faces delivering balls that are not thrown away. We say, take away all stepping out calls for time. If a bug is flying toward your face at the same time the ball is about to be released, well, then this will be one of those times in your career we get to see how well you hit with a bug stuck in your mouth. What fun – and what a time saver.

3) Drop the Walk/Strikeout count from 4/3 to 3/2. As they sometimes say in New Jersey, “faggedaboudit!” No way we should make this change. This one is no minor change. This one interferes with the integrity of the game. “Two strikes and you’re out?” How does this line sound when you apply it to baseball or your love life or your mortgage payment? “For it’s ONE … TWO … STRIKES, … YOU’RE OUT – at the old ball game!”

4) Round the Horn Tosses after an Infield Out. No big deal in the vast room of time-wasting. If we were measuring how much time it takes to clean a bead room, infield ball tossing would be equivalent to the time it takes to turn on the bedroom light and open or close closet doors. It’s just no biggie as a time-waster.

What then? Any of us with this answer might possess the brilliance we would need to serve as Commissioner of Baseball. Wait a minute. I forgot, Brilliance is not a major requirement of that office. If it were, home field advantage in the World Series would not be at stake in the All Star Game; Milwaukee would still e in the American League; and Houston would still be in the National League. (Never confuse “treacherous and deceitful” with “brilliance,” especially in the matter of assessing commissioners.)

Pecan Park Eagle Suggestions.

1) Shorten TV Time Outs. In a nutshell, I’d say baseball needs to sell TV sponsors on “less time for the same or more money.”

2) No Batter Time Outs. Make the batter stand in and hit with no leg-scratching time out calls.

3) No Infield or Pitcher-Catcher Huddles.

4) No freebie visits to the mound by the manager or any coach. If a manager or coach visits the mound, he must remove the pitcher from the game; anything else that needs to be said or restated in the dugout once your team is at bat – or hand signaled to the field when the guys are out there on defense.

5) Put the clock on the pitcher. Put the clock on pitchers as to how many seconds they have to throw the next pitch, once an out is declared or, during a time at bat in progress from the last time a pitch was thrown. These steps would also cut down on time-wasting between batters.

6) Put the clock on batters too. Next batters would also have the clock on them to get in the box after each out. Failure by the pitcher or batter to be ready in time would result in a ball called on the late pitcher or a strike called on the late batter.

7) In general, put more time control upon the main people who have the greatest ability to drag out the game. The time allotted to both pitcher and batter should be carefully studied and consistently applied by a new 8) timekeeping umpire who uses all the technology available today for making it measurably fair all the way around. All of these suggestions for change are aimed at the people who set the pace for slowing down games in the name of strategy or personal style that brings nothing but boredom to most fans. We don’t really buy tickets to watch these “human rain delays.”

The key people corrected here are Managers, Pitchers, Catchers, and Batters.

In time, players will adjust to the expectation of a quicker paced game – and, once the fans get a good taste of it, they will not settle for anything less..

What do the rest of you think?

Tags: ways to shorten baseball games
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Play It Again in Galveston, Sam!

March 9, 2014

“I am shocked to find that gambling is going on in Casablanca – and that it may have been going on at some point in the history of Galveston!” – Capt. Louis Renault

An Article From the Galveston Daily News, January 16, 1953, Page 7 ~

MACEOS AREN’T CONNECTED WITH GAMBLING, SAYS SERIO

If there’s any professional gambling going on in Galveston now, the name of Maceo is not involved, Sam Serio, secretary-treasurer, of Maceo & Co. and long time associate of the Maceos said Thursday.

The original partnership of Maceo & Co. – which reputedly made millions in the hey-day of big time gambling here – has gone out of business, Serio said.

Only four of the original 14 members of the organization are still associated with the company, which is now involved in “strictly legitimate business” with Rose Maceo as president, Serio asserted.

He said that Maceo & Co., owner of the Balinese Room on the beach front, the Western Room in the downtown Turf building, and the Kemah Club in Kemah, has leased these places to Galveston men who are strictly “on their own.”

The Murdoch bathhouse bingo parlor, formerly operated by the Maceos, and all other concessions in the Turf building, including the former Studio Lounge, Turf Grill, and the Turf Tap Room have been leased out to Galvestonians, Serio said.

He would not divulge the names of any of the lessees, saying only “there’s not a Maceo in the lot.”

Maceo & Co. is parent company of Gulf Properties, listed as owners of land and buildings and of the furnishings of some of the Maceo-owned buildings. Maceo & Co. will still operate the Stewart Beach Catering Co., the Beach Amusement Park, Murdoch’s bathhouse proper, and will operate in oil and real estate.

____________________

Tags: Maceos deny ties to Gambling in Galveston
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“Worst Time of the Football Year”

March 8, 2014

Some fans are only around for the victory parade.

“Not even Punxsutawney Phil’s shadow could save us from this madness that is the worst time of the football year”

…. Jerome Solomon, Houston Chronicle, Friday, March 7, 2014, Section C, Page 1.

Yesterday, Jerome Solomon was writing about the long arduous time that in our words sweeps like a harrowing to a tediously boring rope bridge of thought for football fans and commentators over the span of time that separates Super Bowl Sunday from the May 8th draft day. We covered this same subject the other day here at The Eagle in our “What’s Wrong with this Picture?” column, but from the perspective that all this football talk was heating up during the NBA season and as MLB was gearing up for spring training – at a time we traditionally have thought of football being in their own off-season until the teams return to their own pre-season camps in August.

Solomon’s point probably overrules our more naive or less clear perspective that any major human endeavor, particularly in sports, can be 100% divided into seasons and off-seasons. Only the detached and lesser involved corporate fans are capable of that kind of spacing. If it’s something we have given our hearts to, the participation of our interests in an organized sport is pretty much of a 24/7, 12-months a year thing. We will always have the time of the year that is given over to scheduled play, but then the rest of the year is spent on that rope bridge, watching our team as fans do what we hope they will do to make our club better during the next schedule of games.

There’s also a third kind of fan and their brood, the band-wagoners and their tag-alongs, the band-wagoner dependents who only go to games when the band-wagoner gets on board with their obsession that – they will “become a winner by their active support of the winners.” If and when the team starts losing again, these are the first fans to peel away.

A fourth group, which also may have some crossover similarities to any of the other groups, is the community-bond fan. These are the fans that basically go to any local game in any sport because the team represents Houston.

That’s how The Eagle sees it, anyway.

Houston is historically a baseball town, in spite of its obvious groundswell of support for pro football since the coming of the Houston Oilers in 1960. Anyone who doubts the fact of Houston’s baseball history will need to get their hands on the book that our local Society of American Baseball Research chapter has researched and written over the past three years. It’s called “Houston Baseball: The Early Years, 1861-1961”. This hardback copy work by our local Larry Dierker Chapter is due for release in April. Prue-publication orders for the 363 page beautifully written and documented and meticulously edited effort by Mike Vance into a work for the ages will both inform and entertain you. Orders are now being accepted at a special discount rate at our local website. Please click on this link below for additional ordering information:

http://houstonbaseball.org/

Have a nice weekend, everybody!

Tags: different kinds fo fans
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Thank Goodness It’s Pun Day

March 7, 2014

The phrase “good pun” is an oxymoron in the minds of many. Of course in the City of Oxy, no one argues the judgment that most of the freeway drivers in that city are also Oxy-Morons.

Some puns, like the two we used here as insert pictures, require some visual assistance to communicate the pun effect, but most are like the batch I received yesterday from good friend and colleague Miriam Edelman. – A clear few words alone instantly communicates a double meaning that some of us will find funny – if only for a nanosecond of quiet and physically still amusement. Each pun lands and then flies away from the mind like a mental, but momentary bluebird of happiness. It only stays long enough to take up mental space that could have been given over to a worry thought about something we cannot control.

Puns are little happy releases of pressure from the mind. – It is better to read one hundred new puns a day than it is to spend those same energies on one hundred worry thoughts each day over matters you cannot control.

Enjoy! It’s Pun Day! But if you enjoy giving up your throne in the center of the universe of serious business, it can be Pun Day any day you say it is! Even some time, every day!

Thank you, Miriam Edelman, and thanks to everyone who created this little box of mind candy:

Those who jump off a bridge in Paris are in Seine.

A man’s home is his castle, in a manor of speaking.

Dijon vu – the same mustard as before.Practice safe eating – always use condiments.

Shotgun wedding – A case of wife or death.

A man needs a mistress just to break the monogamy.

A hangover is the wrath of grapes.

Dancing cheek-to-cheek is really a form of floor play.

Does the name Pavlov ring a bell?

Condoms should be used on every conceivable occasion.

Reading while sunbathing makes you well red.

When two egotists meet, it’s an I for an I.

A bicycle can’t stand on its own because it is two tired.

What’s the definition of a will? (It’s a dead give away.)]

Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.

In democracy your vote counts. In feudalism your count votes.

She was engaged to a boyfriend with a wooden leg but broke it off.

A chicken crossing the road is poultry in motion.

If you don’t pay your exorcist, you’ll get repossessed.

With her marriage, she got a new name and a dress.

The man who fell into an upholstery machine is fully recovered.

You feel stuck with your debt if you can’t budge it.

Local Area Network in Australia – the LAN down under.

Every calendar’s days are numbered.

A lot of money is tainted – taint yours and taint mine.

A boiled egg in the morning is hard to beat.

He had a photographic memory that was never developed.

A midget fortune-teller who escapes from prison is a small medium at large.

Once you’ve seen one shopping centre, you’ve seen a mall.

Bakers trade bread recipes on a knead-to-know basis.

Santa’s helpers are subordinate clauses.

Acupuncture is a jab well done.

… Well said, punsters! Thanks for the nanosecond long mini-vacation!

Tags: puns as mind rest over what we think matters
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