Honest Larry Miggins

October 21, 2012

Columbus Red Birds, 1950 Junior World Series Champions. Former Houston Buffs Larry Miggins and Solly Hemus, among others, both played for the club managed by Rollie Hemsley.

Honesty was Larry Miggins’ Policy

By

J.T. Hittoff, Columbus (OH) Dispatch, 2007.

Nobody tells the story quite as well as the old Irishman himself, but that time in Columbus, Ohio back in 1950 when one player’s honesty helped cost his club a game in the Junior World Series between the local Red Birds and the Baltimore Orioles is a story we all need to remember and honor because – chances are – we may be running out of people who are capable of ever reproducing this dilemma for a new story in the future.

J.T. Hittoff gave the Miggins example a pretty good ride in 2007 as the major part of a larger article he wrote for the Columbus Dispatch.  Here’s a link to his original piece:

http://www.dispatch.com/content/pages/sports/clippers/odd-remedy.html

And here’s the excerpted J.T. Hitoff coverage of how a really honest Irishman handled a tough big game situation:

Larry Miggins, LF
Columbus Red Birds
1950

 The right-handed-hitting (Larry) Miggins finished with a team-high 18 home runs, but only four in cavernous Red Bird Stadium.

 “I was a dead pull hitter, and the left-field line was 361 to the corner and it went out to center field, where it was 452,” Miggins said. “I hit two home runs all year at home to left field and by accident I hit two to right — I had 14 on the road and only four at home. I could have had 30-35 home runs in a different park.”

In a best-of-seven league semifinal, the Red Birds won two of three against St. Paul in Minnesota before heading to Columbus for what would be a memorable fourth game Sept. 17.

Columbus led 2-1 in the eighth inning, but a grand slam by St. Paul catcher Jake Early gave the Saints a three-run lead. The next batter, pitcher Bill Ayers, drove a ball to deep left field.

“I went over there and leaned up and missed the ball by about a foot,” Miggins said. “The ball hit a seat in the stands and bounced back and I grabbed it and fired it back to second base.”

When umpire Bill Jackowski called it a ground-rule double, St. Paul manager Tommy Heath rushed out of the dugout to protest. Like most managers, Heath was losing the argument so he tried one final plea to Jackowski: Ask Miggins if it was a home run. Sure enough, Jackowski started walking toward left field toward Miggins, known as one of the more honest players. His teammates tried to keep him away from Jackowski.

“(Center fielder) Harry Walker and I are talking and he sees what is happening and he says, ‘Come on, let’s go,’ ” Miggins said. “I said, ‘Where can I go? We’re on a baseball field?’

Solly Hemus, SS
Columbus Red Birds
1950

 “Jackowski said, ‘I lost the ball in the sun and couldn’t tell if it bounced in or went in on the fly. I gotta ask you man to man: Was it a home run?’ ” Miggins said. “I said, ‘Bill, anybody who hit a ball that far on the fly in this ballpark deserves a home run. Yes, it was a home run — but, for heaven’s sake, from now on you do the umpiring. I have enough trouble trying to play left field.’ “

Columbus lost that game but won the series in six games. The Red Birds followed that up by beating Indianapolis in the championship series when Mo Mozzali hit a home run in the top of the 13th inning in Game 7 to earn a spot in the Junior World Series. The Red Birds defeated International League champion Baltimore four games to one in what was the last Junior World Series title for Columbus — and the last year that Hemsley managed the team.

PPE Postscript: When Miggins tells the story, he paints this vivid word picture of umpire Jackowski marching toward him to get his call on “homer or not.” Behind the umpire, Larry says he can see friend and shortstop Solly Hemus tiptoeing toward him too at a slower pace, frantically waving his arms sideways, and silently making the “shush” sign with the index finger over his lips.

All to no avail. Truth prevailed over team cause or player friendship. Miggins says the Columbus fans almost booed him out of the stadium as he trotted back to the dugout at the end of the inning. His teammates weren’t too warm as welcome greeters either. “Thank God we won the Series,” Miggins concedes. “My life might have been in danger during the cooling off period.”

As it was, people came to appreciate Larry Miggins for what he did that day. It was an ultimate example of integrity.

We will never be able to replace Larry Miggins, but let’s hope we don’t run out of people whose honesty spills from the deepest parts of their souls. Their absence is our big loss in all the tough left field calls that come up in life each day.

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The Hell Fire Series

October 19, 2012

With the current baseball playoffs standing on the probable brink of another match between the Detroit Tigers and the St. Louis Cardinals (if they can use their present 3 games to 1 win advantage over the San Francisco Giants to full advantage), wonder generates: How do they handle their baseball playoffs in hell? (We are assuming, of course, that the place has enough players and front office people to pull it off.)

Here’s a brief look at a couple of the clubs trying to get there.

Site of the Hell Fire Baseball Playoff Games: Their groundskeepers deserve to be in the other place.

Hell’s Big Game

 

By Bill McCurdy

 

Once upon a red-sky time – in a ballpark down below,

All hell was burnin’ brimstone – as was the usual show.

They had a game a churnin’ – as they played into the last,

The Devils 3 – The Demons 3 – the 9th came hard and fast.

 

The game had much a ridin’ – as the Demons came to bat,

The Devils aimed to goose ‘em – and then to drown the cat,

By bringin’ Dolphie Hitler in – to panzerize the Demons,

Lucifer hoped to kill the need – for extra inning schemins’.

 

Old Dolphie was a cranker-arm – goose-steppin’ every pitch,

But when he let each damned ball fly – many slipped a hitch,

And sailin’ wide and wild, they flew – and landed in the ditch,

And Dolphie walked four Demons – before he killed the glitch.

 

And headed for the bottom – of Lucifer’s last hope,

The Demons led the Devils – by a 4-3 Hitler mope,

Twas time for Satan’s big sticks – to show up with the soap,

And to wash away disaster; – they simply had to cope.

 

But Saddam went down swinging – and Osama pulled up lame,

And Qaddafi bit the bullet – the lodged one in his brain,

And the Demons took the Devils – moving up to higher ground,

To the Underworld Series, off they go – in no way to confound.

 

Leaving all this simple quest: Are the Unholy Ghosts around?

 

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The Dixie Series: 1920-1958

October 18, 2012

Buff Stadium, Houston (1928-1962): The Houston Buffs played all of their home game dates here over all eight of their pennant year appearances in the Dixie Series.

The day was coming, long before its growing voice was clearly heard. As the Texas League began to stabilize, near the end of World War I, the hunger for other hills to climb on the field and at the turnstiles was bound to grow – and so it did.

At the same time, the Southern Association league of eight clubs that played in cities stretching from New Orleans to Atlanta was reaching for the same quality increase in competition, income, and recognition.

The Texas League and the Southern Association were like the two proverbial sticks that came together to start a fire – and this one was a fir of competitive desire.

Prior to the 1920 season, ownership groups from the two leagues came together to plan a post-season playoff series between the champions of the Texas League and the Southern Association. It would be modeled after the major league World Series with the championship going to the first team to win four games in head-to-head, home and home based competition.

They picked a name for the competition that fit the mindset then of the two league cultures and the spirit of those early twentieth century times: The Dixie Series would annually pit the southeast and southwest sections of the country against each other over an area that covered only territory that once made up the old Civil War Confederacy.

The Dixie Series thrived continuously from 1920 through 1958, only missing three seasons (1943-1945) due to World War II when there was no play in either league.

Houston played in eight Dixie Series competitions, winning four and losing four.

Some of those outcomes were a little surprising, as per always is the case in baseball, if you play enough teams over the course of enough games over the time span of several years.

Things happen.

Dixie Series 1928: Houston Buffaloes defeat Birmingham Barons, 4 games to 2. (Houston’s Dixie Series Record is 1-0.)

The 1928 Buffs had a lot going for them. Their brand new ballpark, Buff Stadium, had been praised by many as the finest venue in minor league baseball; they had a pitching staff that included four 20-game winners; and they had a starting lineup that boomed from the bats of five men who hit over .300 for the entire season. Few in Texas, if any, were surprised when the Buffs won. Some may have been shocked that Birmingham actually captured a couple of games.

Dixie Series 1931: Birmingham Barons defeat Houston Buffaloes, 4 games to 3. (Houston’s Dixies Series Record is 1-1.)

The 1931 Houston Buffs were the club of future Gashouse Gang members Dizzy Dean and Joe Medwick. Dean had a pitching mark of 26-10 for the Buffs and Medwick hit .305. They were the young heart of a club that has been rated as one of the 100 best minor league clubs in history. Overall the Buffs had three 20 plus wins pitchers and three .300 hitters. They simply weren’t the best team in Game Seven of the Series.

Dixie Series 1940: Nashville Vols defeat Houston Buffaloes, 4 games to 1. (Houston’s Dixie Series Record is 1-2.)

Future St. Louis Cardinal manager Eddie Dyer is the field mentor of the Buffs. Howie Krist (22-9) and Howie Pollet (20-7) pace a staff that includes 7 pitchers with ERAs under 4 and 2 with ERAs under 2. Three players, including Danny Murtaugh, hover in the area of .300, and a couple of guys show some homer pop. The club just doesn’t have what it takes to get past a more talented in-that-moment Nashville team.

Dixie Series 1947: Houston Buffaloes defeat Mobile Bears, 4 games to 2. (Houston’s Dixie Series Record is 2-2.)

Two future St. Louis Cardinal managers, Johnny Keane and Solly Hemus, are on board as manager and second baseman for the Buffs. Clarence Beers (25-8) and Al Papai (21-10) pace the Buffs pitching as center fielder Hal Epps (.302) and first baseman John Hernandez (.301) provide a lot of the hitting and defense.

Dixie Series 1951: Birmingham Barons defeat Houston Buffaloes, 4 games to 2. (Houston’s Dixie Series Record is 2-3.)

First baseman Jerry Witte (38 HR) and left fielder Larry Miggins (27 HR) paced an aggressive and powerful batting order and Al Papai (21-10), Octavio Rubert (19-5), Vinegar Bend Mizell (15-13), and Freddie Martin keep opposition scoring way low. Illness to Mizell limits his productivity and availablity in the Series and the Buffs collapse at home, losing the Series to Birmingham.

Dixie Series 1954: Atlanta Crackers defeat Houston Buffaloes, 4 games to 3. (Houston’s Dixie Series Record is 2-4.)

Strong for-average and power hitting, good starting pitching, good defense, and great relief work carried the 1954 Buffs. Third baseman Ken Boyer ( .319, 21 HR) was busy cutting his teeth for a long MLB career. Bob Boyd was on board as the first black player in Houston integrated professional baseball history, but his contributions (.321, 7 HR) were on the field. Willard Brown also joined the Buffs after playing most of the year with Dallas and he, Eddie Phillips, and Don Blasingame also contributed. Willard Schmidt (18-5) was the mound ace and relievers Luis Arryo and Bobby Tiefenauer were the superglow that kept an average starting rotation boat afloat. They just couldn’t do it in Game 7 versus Atlanta.

Dixie Series 1956: Houston Buffaloes defeat Atlanta Crackers, 4 games to 2. (Houston’s Dixie Series Record is 3-4.)

With Harry Walker on board as manager, Bob Mabe (21-10) and Tom Hughes (18-6) are the dual carb aces of another solid Buffs pitching staff. Pidge Browne breaks out at first base with hit math and power (.328, 29 HR) – and he is ably supported by people like third baseman Benny Valenzuela (.314, 18 HR) and center fielder Russell Rac (.289, 19 HR). Having Ruben Amaro, Sr. at shortstop also seals the defense as the Buffs avenge their 1954 loss to Atlanta.

Dixie Series 1957: Houston Buffaloes defeat Atlanta Crackers, 4 games to 2. (Houston’s Dixie Series Record is 3-4.)

Catcher Nelson Burbrink (.308, 0 HR) is the only full season .300 hitter for the Buffs, but his total lack of power and the decline in production from Pidge Browne leads to the acquisition of first baseman Edwin Little (.243, 30 HR) from Oklahoma City for more pop on the long ball in late-season play. Adequate pitching that rises to special occasions carries the Buffs through to victory and an all-time even record in Dixie Series play.

After the 1958 season, the Dixie Series ends. The end coincides with the city’s last season as a member of the Texas League as the Houston Buffaloes move up in 1959 to face AAA competition in the American Association under independent ownership by Marty Marion and his group of investors.

Here is a concise graph that depicts the results of 36 series that occurred over the course of the entire chronological period of the 39 years that the Dixie Series existed:

The Dixie Series 1920 – 1958

YEAR WINNING LEAGUE WINNING TEAM LOSING TEAM RESULTS
1920 Texas League Fort Worth Panthers Little Rock Travelers 4 games to 2
1921 Texas League Fort Worth Panthers Memphis Chicks 4 games to 2
1922 Southern Association Mobile Bears Fort Worth Panthers 4 games to 2
1923 Texas League Fort Worth Panthers New Orleans Pelicans 4 games to 2
1924 Texas League Fort Worth Panthers Memphis Chicks 4 games to 3
1925 Texas League Fort Worth Panthers Atlanta Crackers 4 games to 2
1926 Texas League Dallas Steers New Orleans Pelicans 4 games to 2
1927 Texas League Wichita Falls Spudders New Orleans Pelicans 4 games to 0
1928 Texas League Houston Buffaloes Birmingham Barons 4 games to 2
1929 Southern Association Birmingham Barons Dallas Steers 4 games to 2
1930 Texas League Fort Worth Panthers Memphis Chicks 4 games to 1
1931 Southern Association Birmingham Barons Houston Buffaloes 4 games to 3
1932 Southern Association Chattanooga Lookouts Beaumont Exporters 4 games to 1
1933 Southern Association New Orleans Pelicans San Antonio Missions 4 games to 2
1934 Southern Association New Orleans Pelicans Galveston Buccaneers 4 games to 2
1935 Texas League Oklahoma City Indians Atlanta Crackers 4 games to 2
1936 Texas League Tulsa Oilers Birmingham Barons 4 games to 0
1937 Texas League Fort Worth Cats Little Rock Travelers 4 games to 1
1938 Southern Association Atlanta Crackers Beaumont Exporters 4 games to 0
1939 Texas League Fort Worth Cats Nashville Vols 4 games to 3
1940 Southern Association Nashville Vols Houston Buffaloes 4 games to 1
1941 Southern Association Nashville Vols Dallas Rebels 4 games to 0
1942 Southern Association Nashville Vols Shreveport Sports 4 games to 2
1943 No Series WWII
1944 No Series WWII
1945 No Series WWII
1946 Texas League Dallas Rebels Atlanta Crackers 4 games to 0
1947 Texas League Houston Buffaloes Mobile Bears 4 games to 2
1948 Southern Association Birmingham Barons Fort Worth Cats 4 games to 1
1949 Southern Association Nashville Vols Tulsa Oilers 4 games to 3
1950 Texas League San Antonio Missions Nashville Vols 4 games to 3
1951 Southern Association Birmingham Barons Houston Buffaloes 4 games to 2
1952 Southern Association Memphis Chicks Shreveport Sports 4 games to 2
1953 Texas League Dallas Eagles Nashville Vols 4 games to 2
1954 Southern Association Atlanta Crackers Houston Buffaloes 4 games to 3
1955 Southern Association Mobile Bears Shreveport Sports 4 games to 0
1956 Texas League Houston Buffaloes Atlanta Crackers 4 games to 2
1957 Texas League Houston Buffaloes Atlanta Crackers 4 games to 2
1958 Southern Association Birmingham Barons Corpus Christi Giants 4 games to 2

1958 was the last encounter in the Dixie Series between the Southern Association and Texas League. Beginning in 1959 it was replaced by the Pan-Am Series, the Texas League vs. the Mexican League.
SOURCE: The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, Volume 2

Retrieved from

“http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Dixie_Series“

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Ground Truth: By Rob Sangster

October 17, 2012

I’ve just learned that my old St. Thomas buddy Rob Sangster is now the published author of his first fictional work. From the looks of the things, “Ground Truth” is a tightly wound political intrigue action thriller and, if it’s even half as engaging as the mind of the fellow who wrote it, we are all in for a delightful escapist trip to a world of adventure that has pulled ay my friend forever.

Here’s a brief look at Rob’s website description of his new book. Once I’ve obtained and read my own hard copy,  I will review it here – objectively as possible. And I do not shill for anyone, not even my old friends. If you tell me that it’s a book that’s hard to put down – it had better be – and that truth better rest in the writing quality, story drive, and character credibility of the narrative – and not because each book comes coated with super-glue.

Rob and I sometimes muse over the fact that his life has carried him all over the world while mine only got me as far as New Orleans for graduate school at Tulane and a brief stay of employment at Tulane Med School before coming back to Houston by way of Austin in 1966. My world traveling has included a couple of trips to Ireland and a beautiful one two years ago to Italy, but no flat-out, throw-your-life-to-the-winds of an all-out adventure on the Sangsterian level.

Richard Nixon

Still, through my reading and the international character of my local life play, I’ve done some mind and soul traveling of my own through my private practice and non-fictional publication years. I also have a completed novel, but it sits in dust in hard copy form only from 1998 on my grandfather’s old writing desk. It’s called “Sisler’s Legacy” and its an occultish baseball fiction novel about something that happens to the great George Sisler and the St. Louis Browns in 1920 that forever alters the face of baseball through the Bud Selig era. Richard Nixon even gets thrown into the mix of things along the way.

In the end, “Sisler’s Legacy” implicitly predicts the coming of the great steroid scandal, even though the thing was finished in the year that McGwire and Sosa both broke Roger Maris’s single season 61* homer mark.

New York @ St. Louis, ppd.

Maybe Rob’s big step away from non-fiction will now inspire me to dust off the old ‘script to see what’s salvageable and let the spit hit the fan from there.

Here’s a link to Rob Sangster’s website and the marketing pitch for his new book, “Ground Truth:”

http://www.robsangster.com/books.html

And finally, I will close today with a bit of whimsy. The first two paragraphs on Rob Sangster are straight from the About Me section of his website. The second two paragraphs on me are simply a parody I wrote today on the roughly comparable experiences I’ve had in my own younger life.

Rob Sangster

Rob Sangster

Chased by a Cape Buffalo in Botswana and then by a corrupt governor in Tennessee. Abducted by a black market money changer in Mombasa. Spent one New Years Eve in Paradise Bay, Antarctica; another in the Himalayas. Is this from the plot of a novel? Nope. It’s Rob Sangster’s life.

And throw in swimming with Humpback whales, spending the night on top of a Mayan temple in Tikal, Guatemala, and traveling in seven continents and more than 100 countries – all of which were more important to him than earning the last possible dollar. And that attitude led inevitably to . . . becoming a writer.

Bill McCurdy

Bill McCurdy

Chased by a Houston Buffalo Stadium cop in the city’s East End and then all the way down Cullen Boulevard by a corrupt ballpark vendor for the change he tried to steal from me. Abducted as a hitchhiker by a crazy girl driver of a cool rumbling 1954 2-Door Red & Black Ford Hardtop Sedan on Buffalo Drive (Allen Parkway). Spent one New Years Eve in Pasadena, Texas; another in Hempstead. Is this from the plot of a novel? Absolutely nope. It’s Bill McCurdy’s life.

And throw in swimming with bully Tod Herring and his Deady Junior High School buddies at the Mason Park pool, spending the horror movie night in the very top row of the balcony at the Eastwood Theatre on Telephone Road, and traveling to seven different drive-in burger joints in one Houston Saturday night 100 mile cruise – that was in itself as a journey more important than his arrival at any of his drive-in destinations. And that attitude led inevitably to . . . becoming a writer.

Have a nice day, everybody. Have a happy and literate Wednesday – and may all your dearest thoughts today be complete ones.

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Horseless Telephone of the Early 21st Century

October 16, 2012

In homage to Salvador Dali, the artist who bent time, life, and human perception to the possibility of a new day over the horizon.

Irony of ironies.

As we were concluding our 60th Reunion of the 1952 St. Christopher’s 8th Grade Class this past Sunday, I thought it might be a good time to update and obtain accurate e-mail addresses from some of my fellow classmates. Things were going fine until I reached one old friend who responded in a friendly way as follows:

“No, you cannot have my e-mail address because I don’t have one and never will. If you want to talk with me, just pick up the phone and call. I don’t have time for any of that (newfangled) stuff.”

I was a little shocked, but not surprised. Some people are still offended by the idea of e-mail contact as cold and impersonal because it allows for no immediate chew-the-fat social time. I’m sure that a century ago there were still people who took offense at telephone call attempts from anyone other than immediate family:

“No, you cannot have my telephone number, so, please don’t ask again. If you want to talk with me, drop by the house sometime and leave your calling card. I’ll let you know if I want to talk with you.”

E-mail, the Internet, the computer – these things are just too “new” for some people, even though the home computer has now been around since its primitive days in the early 1980s and the Internet since the 1990s. To some people, they are still “strange visitors from a strange land” – and with much power to evoke intimidation.

Fifteen years ago, I cut bait in my private office from a human answering service that then handled a pretty high volume of calls for my consultant services. I did so for reasons of cost effectiveness and the availability of new answering machine technology that would allow me to handle the same calls in virtually the same way in my own voice at hardly any cost once I got past the reasonable price of the equipment at the original point of sale.

It worked great. My fears that people might be offended by a recorded message were quickly dispelled. More places were doing the same thing in the mid-1990s and the expectations of callers were adjusting to the change as simply a shift to the “new normal.”

Only thing is, “voice mail” service from AT&T and other phone company providers soon proved even better and we all moved to that generic option for quality, price, and the lack of maintenance that came with answering machine tape purchases and equipment breakdowns.

Oh, yes. – Back to “irony of ironies.” My classmate said he didn’t have time for e-mail. The irony is – we only were able to organize our reunion so quickly because of Internet e-mail – not because of the telephone. And because of the e-mail technology, I was able to write a column on the reunion that appeared on the Internet for the whole world to see yesterday – and on the very first morning that followed the event.

I was also able to send eleven individual people photos by e-mail attachment to all classmates who have the Internet. My friend who declared his lack of time for the Internet (and here comes that irony winger again) did not get these for some simple reasons. (1) He doesn’t have the Internet and an e-mail box that could receive them; (2) I don’t have time to go buy the photo paper I would need to print them out at some extra expense to me; and (3) I really don’t have time this week to package hard copy photos (that I don’t possess anyway) and take them down to the post office and stand in line to pay the postage on sending these out by “snail mail.”

Because of the Internet e-mail option, it is possible today to send something like a 500-page manuscript to your editor, publisher, or printing typesetter and get an almost instant response the same way. The net result is faster communication with greater clarity of purpose and better positive movement of production.

The quill, typewriters, telephones, and the post office could never bring us all together quite so magnificently.

As for the straight communication of information, like the time and date for an important meeting, it happens instantly with those are Internet-wired and accustomed to checking their e-mail boxes daily. What slows you down are the people who don’t check their e-mail boxes – and those who only have phones and may not even have a voice mail option.

After a while, it makes you wish that people who want get involved in any kind of serious dynamic group action in 2012 would either get themselves wired to the task before they sign up – or else – just hold off until they are.

It’s nothing personal. It’s just how it is. If we want to fly with the eagles these days, we’ve got to have a craft that will get us off the ground. And that craft is no longer a landline phone at home without any voice mail.

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A Happy 60th Year Reunion

October 15, 2012

Smack Dab in the Middle of It: Bill McCurdy, Larry Baggett, & Martha Fischer Kubicek celebrate in joy the 60th anniversary of their 1952 graduation from St. Christopher’s Parochial School (8th grade) in the SE Houston neighborhood of Park Place.

Yesterday, Sunday, October 14, 2012, is a day that a handful of us will remember forever as the 60th year reunion of the St. Christopher’s Parochial School 8th grade graduating class. Eleven members (8 men and 3 women) of the approximately 20 surviving classmates made it to the home of classmate Garland Debner Pohl and her husband, Bill Pohl, for the afternoon dinner social. For many, it was our first glimpse of each other in the total lapsed time, but a few of us had made it to a slightly wider range class year reunion at St. Chris back in 1997.

The eleven St. Christopher’s alums in attendance included Larry Baggett, Earl Cobden, Don Dittlinger, Foster Foucheaux, Martha Fischer Kubicek, Bill McCurdy, Star Boyle O’Connor, Jerry Peters, Garland Debner Pohl, John Robinson, and Neil Sweeney. – Nine spouses also attended.

For the record, and with our thoughts and prayers for each in remembrance, our nine identifiably deceased include Joseph King and his wife, Mary Lou Dalberg King, Robert Long, Barbara Jean Marshall, Ronnie Martinsen, Ronnie Massey, Billy Murphy, Jon Roark, and Marshall Seavey.

For one reason or another, as life always works out, several other surviving members of our 1952 class were unable to attend. We thought of you too, even if you could not join us in your own versions of aging flesh. As the old song goes, “time waits for no one,” and Father Time leaves no door bells unrung. Had you been here, you would have been in the good and loving company of some of your earliest friends on the planet. Maybe next time, if there is one, you will be here too.

St. Christopher’s Parochial School
Houston, Texas
Class of 1952

Garland Debner Pohl
Our Gracious Reunion Hostess

We spent a lot of time reminiscing over little things, like the way our principal Sister Mary Immaculata held the power to control us into silence with her eyes alone – and how we used to qualify for special holidays on “Canned Goods Day” by bringing our pastor, Father Fulkerson, enough food of what he liked to eat from his own pantry.

I’m guessing they have laws or rules against pastoral holiday declarations in exchange for food contributions in today’s world and, speaking of such, there was no talk of politics yesterday, nor what our generation might have done to better save the world. We were just there together for a few precious hours that will likely never come again – and that seemed enough.

“Will be good shepherd for food” sounds funny, doesn’t it?

We plan to cover all the “meaning of life” lessons we’ve absorbed at out next reunion. That one is now set for 2052 and the 100th anniversary of our eighth grade class graduation.

As for all of you e-mail wired fellow alums, look for pictures of the eleven classmates I took in your Internet mailboxes today.

Have a nice day, everybody. And have a nice life.

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Cardinal Halloween Magic Rolls Nats

October 13, 2012

What is it with these guys behind the red birds on the bat?

Last night, as they twice did in Game Seven against the Texas Rangers in the World Series last year, the St. Louis Cardinals twice survived a stand at that “one strike away” door into eternal baseball damnation one more time with a dazzling rally in the 9th and rolled to an amazing win over the Washington Nationals before their heartbroken fans.

If Nolan Ryan stayed awake to watch, and we have a hunch he did, it isn’t a big stretch to see him muttering something like the following with a deadpan face to his dear spouse: “Let’s change the channel, Ruth. I think we’ve seen this show before and I didn’t like it the first time it played.”

I watched the Cardinals-Nats Game Five at home with my adult son Neal and had drifted easily into one of those teaching modes that often come over me these days about things I care about. Neal doesn’t mind. He either likes it, or else, he has long-past-childhood mastered the “humor thy father as he needs” mode of attentive listening.

When the Nats pushed across an insurance run in the bottom of the 8th to give them a 7-5 two-run lead over the Cards, I commented to Neal that the extra run had most probably given Washington the cushion they would need to finish St. Louis in the 9th. “With closer Drew Storen pitching for the Nats,” I said, “it isn’t likely that the Cards will get the two runs they now need to tie the game in their final time at bat.”

With the Astros now AL-bound, Neal has shifted his loyalties from the Astros to the NL-icon Cardinals. That’s important here to the point of my son’s following response: “Dad, do your thoughts on probability take into account that the Nationals are playing the Cardinals?”

“Of course, they do,” I affirmed.

“Then you and I must have been watching two different Game Sevens in the World Series last year,” Neal said in that smirky tone he sometimes good-naturedly reserves for me alone. What actually happened next in the game is best summarized in the following graphic by that top of the 9th inning scoring cell for the St. Louis Cardinals:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
STL 0 0 0 1 2 0 1 1 4 9 11 0
WSH 3 0 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 7 11 0

The amazing, magical Cardinals did it again! Twice coming back from the fated door and escaping the “one-strike-away” plunge, the St. Louis Cardinals plated four RBI from the two-bottom position player hitters in the batting order to set up their own two-run lead as a margin that would break the hearts and smother the dreams of all Washington.

Daniel Descalso ripped a two-out bases loaded single that caromed off the glove of Nationals shortstop Ian Desmond to score the two runs that pulled the Cardinals into a 7-7 tie. Then Pete Kozma followed with an opposite field single to right that plated two more runs for the final 9-7 margin that closer Jason Motte would defend to the death of Washington hope in the bottom of the 9th.

Maybe the science of baseball statistics and the art of long-term baseball watchfulness have to be slightly adjusted when it comes to assessing probabilities in big games that include the St. Louis Cardinals in the Halloween month of October. – Makes you wonder if MLB has ever inspected their clubhouse for the bubbling hot presence of a witchcraft cauldron, plus the bells, books, and candles that are so popularly used in the darkly wishful arts.

Now the Cardinals are off to play the club that wears the orange and black Halloween colors, the San Francisco Giants, for the 2012 National League pennant. This one is a best four of seven match, pitting the 2011 World Series champion Cardinals against the club now representing the 2010 World Series champion Giants.

The Cardinals pulled off the greatest comeback in a single playoff game by coming back to win from a 6-0 deficit. The Giants became the first NL club to rally from an o-2 hole at home to win a five-game playoff series on the road against the Reds.

And now the Cardinals and Giants meet each other.

As Bette Davis mighty have said it, were she around today to express anything about the upcoming pennant series between the Cardinals and that other magical NL team, the Giants: “Hold on, baseball fans, we may be in for a long and bumpy night!”

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A Day at the Beach

October 12, 2012

Bill and Norma on the beach.

Thursday was one of those golden family days. Norma and Neal and I took off for Galveston on the day following Norma’s birthday to do nothing, but spend time with each other and plenty of it. I think we can say today that we fairly put a successful “Mission Accomplished” banner over that one. It just felt so good to be with the two most special people in my life and to unwind at a different beat from the busy shared life we all live here in Houston.

Neal and Bill at the new Pleasure Pier.

We had lunch at Bubba Gump’s on the new Pleasure Pier. The seafood and pasta were not the best quality and a little on the price side, but the atmosphere and view of the Gulf and beach from the east side outdoor dining area made the stop there worthwhile, even if turns out to be a one-time dining adventure. Watching the seagulls, a few pelicans, and a couple of young people attempting to surf was almost worth the time we spent there in itself.

Neal and Norma at Bubba Gump’s.

Folks, this is almost the middle of October, but yesterday felt a lot more like the last two weeks in July. Our ugly eight month long heat and humidity season just may be expanding until it tags all of Southeast Texas as the land of endless summer, but that didn’t matter yesterday. The weather was perfect for a day trip to the Island.

The Strand historical area is still a fun place to get lost in forgetting about the clock. It contains a number of places to tourist-shop, buy affordable good food, and learn something about the City of Galveston and its history – especially with storms.

On the surface of things, Galveston seems to be recovering nicely from Hurricane Ike. The new construction and fix-em-up paint variation on all the old gingerbread houses was a remarkable testament to the rebounding spirit of the Galveston community.

Visitors can even play chess on the Strand these days. We got too lost in our meanderings this time to visit the new flight museum, or tour the harbor, or check out Moody Gardens, but that’s OK. Galveston is no longer a one-gulp jump-in-the-ocean town.

The new Pleasure Pier now rises over the beachfront horizon like a symbolic fist in the air from Galveston to all future storms. “C’mon, monsters,” it seems to say as the voice of Galveston. “Do it again and I will get back up again before you’re even a lost memory.”

Galveston of 1900 and 1908 had to rise again. The world needs the view she gives to us on all that is right and beautiful in life.

… and sometimes a day of rest on the way to spiritual rejuvenation begins simply with a peaceful walk on the beach, breathing in all of the healing restorative power of the saltwater air. The McCurdys thoroughly recommend the Galveston day trip.

Have a nice any day, everybody, and a “hallmarky” signal of peace and love too, even if you refuse it!

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Rube Waddell, A.D.D.

October 11, 2012

Long before our awareness of “Attention Deficit Disorder” and the medications that help to control the behavior that spins from this condition, there were people in this world like George Edward “Rube” Waddell, the Hall of Fame lefty pitcher that lit up batters during the first decade of the twentieth century and the American League.

Rube was a virtual savant performer, able to pitch with the best in the world against other greats like Cy Young, Addie Joss, and Walter Johnson and winning far more often than losing against some of the best of the American League.

As we vividly note in Norman Macht’s first volume on Connie Mack, the price a club paid for having the talents of Waddell on their side was the personal behavior of the man himself. Left to his own devices, urges, impulses, attractions, and addictions, Rube was every pound and muscle inch little more than an overgrown child with no control over his distractions from the game of baseball and his contractual obligations to the club. Waddell would sometimes disappear for days or weeks to tend bar somewhere, go fishing, or hang out with new friends he met along the way. He was able to come back because of the talent he brought with him. An average or marginal pitcher would have been finished at the first turn down this “bad actor” lane.

And Rube Waddell had a temper that could frighten anyone, if they pushed the right buttons long enough. On page 322 of Norman Macht’s “Connie Mack and The Early Years of Baseball,” the author describes the Athletics Manager Connie Mack’s lesson in the first decade of the 20th century from Waddell’s temper after the eccentric lefty returned to the club on the heels of being jailed on an assault and battery charge:

“I went after him strong,” Mack said. “I was laying on the words thick and fast and I saw a nasty look come into Rube’s eyes.” Quick as a flash it dawned on me that I had gone too far. Breaking off in the middle of a scorching sentence, I reached out my hand and said, ‘Say, Rube, I had you that time. All that time you thought I was in earnest.’ And do you know that great big fellow who was ready a few seconds earlier to throw me through the door actually broke down and cried.”

Yep. “Anger Management” would have been a good alternative recommendation back then, but there was no such option back in Rube Waddell’s “Turn of the 20th Century” era. Then as now, the jailhouse is still our best option for those fists, knives, or guns people who take out their anger upon others. “Anger Management” only works for people who choose it soberly in calmer moments.

Rube Waddell wasn’t just about anger. His mind and behavior were all over the place, fitting him almost everywhere in the psychiatric lexicon of things. As a psychiatric disorder, Rube Waddell is variously diagnosable all over the psychiatric diagnostic manual dial as a schizophrenic, a bi-polar disorder, a character disorder bordering on sociopathy, an inadequate personality disorder, an alcoholic and/or drug addict, or even a codependent relationship partner.

His behavior often suggested that he was not particularly grounded in reality; he suffered mood swings from out of control highs to down in the depth lows; he sometimes took advantage of people in ways that showed little concern from him about the suffering they had endured from his behavior; he could binge drink for days and weeks; and he probably used other substances that helped him self medicate the difficult feelings he housed.

Rube was famous for chasing fire trucks, supposedly leaving his dugout during games to chase a fire-wagon down the street. I’m not really sure how often this sort of thing happened, but it serves as a good model for the kind of behavior that is typical of some people who suffer from “Attention Deficit Disorder” as a hard level of extreme distractibility from long-term attention to an engagement at hand. A.D.D. people have trouble at work and home because they simply cannot stay focused on what is going on in the moment for very long. A.D.D. seems to derive from some kind of biochemical imbalance which responds well in many people to the kinds of meds we now have available.

There were no efficacious treatment drugs for A.D.D. in Rube Waddell’s time. Rube did what most people still do to medicate themselves. They drink and drug themselves with whatever is available as a mind-altering substance, most often suffering the downside of whatever flows from the loss of impulse control effects that flow from entertainment drinks and substances.

I cannot place old Rube in any category for sure since I’ll never have a chance to meet him in this lifetime, but I will hedge enough to suggest that his two principal issues were “Bi-polar Mood Disorder” with “Attention Deficit Disorder” and that any treatment for him would begin or end with the presence or absence of appropriate  medication, administered to a patient who was willing to start his treatment by taking his medication regularly as prescribed. Only then could we move on to the stuff that might have mattered.

I still like old Rube. Waddell is history’s proof that you don’t always have to have peace of mind, relationship sanity, or a full grip on reality to do great things that entertain, but do not bring harm to others.

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Bill Gilbert: Worst Astros Finish Strong

October 10, 2012

SABR Colleague Bill Gilbert is back with the Pecan Park Eagle today to give us his final appraisal of the worst season of the Houston Astros on the field. Thanks again Bill for making your two cents worth, at least a buck and a quarter at current market valuation. We shall hope that your closing possibilities that the Astros may be back to a competitive level of play by 2015 live up over time with reality. If they do, I will be hoping we get to keep the core leaders of the club’s competitive resurrection once the “boyz2men” new Astros stars are good enough and old enough and contract free enough to ask Mr. Crane for some real money. If all the good efforts of Mr. Luhnow go the way we hope they shall, we shall next hope that we never move to an operational level in which we only get to keep the star players who are willing to remain in Houston at below market level salaries.

The line between fiscal responsibility  and miserly cheapness is sometimes blurry and shrouded with clubs that never quite get to the World Series before they lose all their best players to trades or free agency. For now, we shall best hope that the new ownership understands this point and that we shall stay clear of administrative murkiness in the financial policy area once the Luhnow Field Performance Plan leads the Astros out of the current rebuilding wilderness.

That being said, here is the inimitable Bill Gilbert and his well=considered thoughts and conclusions on the field side of things in 2012. – Bill McCurdy, The Pecan Park Eagle.

Minute Maid Park in Houston during brighter days. The 2012 Astros finished with a worst-in-their-history record of 55 wins and 107 losses, but hold hope for better days to come through a rigorous rebuilding of the farm system. Bill Gilbert comments today on what their actual field performances may be telling us.

Astros Complete Worst Season with a Strong Finish

By Bill Gilbert

Bill Gilbert

 The Houston Astros finished the 2012 season with a record of 55-107, one game worse than last year.  After playing their worst baseball in the team’s 51 year history in June, July and August (18-63), the team seemed to respond to the leadership of interim manager, Tony DeFrancesco and compiled a 15-15 record beginning September 1, slightly better than that of The Texas Rangers (15-16) in the same time frame.

Except for the Cardinals, who took 5 games out of 6 from the Astros in September, the team inflicted some pain on the other teams they played.  They took 2 out of 3 from the Reds in Cincinnati in a series beginning September 7 but it obviously didn’t slow down the Reds as they breezed to the NL Central Division title.  Next came the Phillies who rode into town on a 7-game winning streak that propelled them into contention for a wild card.  They figured to keep rolling against Houston’s band of replacement players but it didn’t happen.  The Astros took 3 out of 4 and the Phillies were not heard from again as a potential contender.

The Pirates came to town on September 21, desperately seeking a few wins that would allow them to finish with a winning record for the first time in 20 years.  However, the Astros took 2 out of 3, pretty much putting the winning record out of reach.  The Astros moved on to Milwaukee to face the Brewers who had been hot and still had an outside chance at the wild card.  The Astros took 2 of 3, mathematically eliminating the Brewers from any chance for post-season play.

Finally, the Astros finished the season in Chicago against the Cubs, who needed to sweep the 3-game series to keep from having a 100-loss season for the first time in 50 years.  However, the Astros received shutout pitching from Bud Norris, Lucas Harrell and the bullpen to take the first 2 games of the series before dropping the finale 5-4.  The loss in the final game was disappointing since a win would have ended the Astros tenure in the National League the same way they came in with a sweep of the Cubs in 1962.  Also it would have been win No. 4000 for the club. Instead they finish their 51-year stay in the National League with a record of 3999-4134.

The Astros relative success in the last month of the season was largely the result of two things that had been missing all season, consistent pitching and the long ball.  The staff turned in 5 shutouts in the final 30 games and the hitters bashed 34 home runs.  However this wasn’t enough to keep the Astros from ranking near the bottom in many hitting and pitching categories.  For the season, they scored an average of 3.6 runs per game, the lowest in the major leagues.  They finished last in the National League in batting average (.236), on-base percentage (.302) and slugging average (.371) while striking out more than any other team.  Despite the improvement in September, the pitchers ERA was 4.56 for the season compared to the league average of 3.94.  Only the Rockies were worse.

Team MVP, Jose Altuve led the club in batting average (.290), on-base percentage (.340) and stolen bases (33).  Justin Maxwell led the team in home runs with 18 and J.D. Martinez was the RBI leader with 55 despite spending some time in the minor leagues.  Harrell led the pitching staff with 11 wins and an ERA of 3.76.  The top reliever was Wilton Lopez with 6 wins, 10 saves and an ERA of 2.17.

The Astros used 27 position players and 23 pitchers during the season.  Nine players, mostly veterans, were traded away during the season and most of the rest were auditioning for positions in 2013.  Some showed significant promise.  Matt Dominguez may look like he is too young to shave but plays third base well and hit better than expected.  Maxwell has power but must cut down on strikeouts to be an everyday player.  Former Met prospect, Fernando Martinez, played well in September and should be a factor next year.  Jed Lowrie has the makings of an above average shortstop both offensively and defensively.

Looking to the future, patience will be required.  Here’s my blueprint for the future:

Year                                    Wins                        Status

2012                                    55                        Embarrassing

2013                                    60-70                        Improving

2014                                    70-80                        Respectable

2015                                    81+                        Contending

This is a bold projection but I think it is warranted based on the bold steps taken by Jeff Luhnow in tearing down and rebuilding the franchise.  Anything less will probably result in further erosion of what’s left of the fan base.  The key will be a significant upgrade in the pitching staff.  Harrell, Norris and Jordan Lyles could become reliable starting pitchers but none projects as an ace.  Most of the players the Astros obtained in trades were pitchers and several of them need to develop into productive major leaguers for the Astros to regain their position as a perennial contender.

Bill Gilbert

10/9/12

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