Undefeated Babies Take Two at Katy Festival

May 6, 2012

The Undefeated Houston Babies Took Two at Katy Yesterday.

Yesterday at the Katy Heritage Festival, May 5, 2012, the Houston Babies vintage base ball club proved to be the “Sinkhole de Mayo” for the other two teams participating in the round robin tourney. The Babies took the 10:00 AM opener, 8-6, in one extra inning of vintage ball play over the host Katy Combine and then took a lunch break while the Katy nine stayed on the field to play the visiting Boerne White Sox.

In the 12:00 Noon second contest, the Katy Combine rallied home spirit by coming all the way back from an 0-7 hole to take an 8-7 win over the Boerne nine.

The Babies then returned to play the 2:00 PM game against the Boerne White Sox, taking an 8-5 victory that was ,measurably helped by a last time up for Boerne double play from Danny Kramer in center on a one bounce fly and a relay throw to and from Alex Hajduk at shortstop to catcher Mike McCroskey at catcher for a sure-handed catch and tag on the Boerne runner attempting to score.  McCroskey may miss a few of those hot shots down the third base line that buzz his season ticket location at Minute Maid Park, but he catches them when they count in Babies games. Several batters and one final Boerne run later, Babies third baseman Bill Hale found the adrenalin energy for one last chase and catch of a one-bounce final out on a looping foul ball down the left line beyond third. The Babies (2-0) had taken the day over the two fine clubs from Katy (1-1) and Boerne (0-2).

A good time was had by almost all.

It was hot. – Mike McCroskey, Larry Joe Miggins, and Bob Stephens couldn’t find the shade fast enough at the end of their second game on Saturday.

Unfortunately, the day was marred by the scary collapse of Peggy Dorrill, the wife of Babies Manager Bob Dorrill, shortly into the second inning of the second Babies game. Peg had been felled by the high heat and humidity, forcing the Dorrills to leave early for safety’s sake. You don’t mess around with the potential for heat stroke once you see the kind of reaction that Peggy apparently had in Saturday’s dipping-into-the-90s weather. The Babies responded by winning another one, but this one was especially dedicated to Peggy Dorrill and her loyal husband prince of a thousand years, Bob “The Gipper” Dorrill. Get well, Peg! And stay cool and hydrated!

The Chic Fil-A cow showed in the morning and had a picture made with the Babies. The cow was there in the afternoon. The actor who played the gender-unspecified creature would have died in that cow outfit.

Phil Holland: “8 for 8 on a double game date.”

Because I lost access to the scorecard when the Dorrills departed when Peggy went down, I’m unable to bring you line item scoring and a lot of detailed data on all performances, but there was one performance by a Babies player that went way beyond the need for written transcription. Our wonderful 70 years plus aged second baseman, Phil Holland, who already plays the game like a man thirty years younger, went on an amazing tear at the plate. Holland was a perfect 8 for 8 on the day, going 5 for 5 in the first contest nd keeping the club in the game while some their bats rested. He was finally retired on a sac fly in his ninth time up on the day, but his RBI in that case pushed across a critical run and left the door open for two others that followed.

As per usual, Alex Hajduk stung the ball hard on the day and, this time, little brother Zac Hajduk was on hand with a pretty good hammer of his own. Longball Miggins, Bill Hale, Kyle Burns, all also made their own contributions – and Miggins, of course, was his usual wounded warrior, but always stand up, diving defensive gemologist in the field.

“Daddy Long Day” needs to be the new nickname for pitcher Larry Hajduk. Larry pitched every toss in every inning of both games, adding two more wins to his career vintage ball pitching record – and doing it all without complaint that his arm would occasionally fall off and force yet another timeout for attachment in the right shoulder socket.

Thanks, Larry, for being the hearty soul from Buffalo you have always been, Larry’s late life greatness as a vintage ball hurler is proof again of a wonderful quote by 19th century British writer George Eliot. The same application here also belongs to Phil Holland, Mike McCroskey, Larry Joe Miggins, Bob Stephens, Bill Hale, and all our other long-of-tooth Babies.

Eliot put it this way: “It is never too late to become the person you might have been.”

If it were nothing else, and it is much more, vintage base ball is the opportunity to recapture the hopes and dreams of the sandlot in real-time – and to put in motion all those things we may still do, in addition to baseball, for the creative joy of living our time through all the life cells that still comprise who we are, now and forever, until the day we die.

John Lomax, Danny Kramer, & Blind Tom Flores.

Writer John Lomax and photographer Danny Kramer, both of The Houston Press, were also on hand Saturday in preparation for a feature story on vintage base ball that they are planning for their paper this coming summer. Along the way, the reporters accepted our invitation to suit up and play for the Babies in Game Two. For those of you who are wondering about professional boundaries disappearing here, forget about it. This was not the first time The Houston Press has demonstrated its ability to take sides.

Thanks for the coverage, guys! All of Houston Area vintage base ball needs and appreciates the support of The Press.

DANNY KRAMER’S KNEE:
After Big Double Play.

Two more notes: It was the initial throw from center by Danny Kramer that sparked the game-saving double play in the final frame against Boerne in the second game, and not Kyle Burns as we originally reported. My apologies to both men for the reporting error. The mistake was brought to m attention by first sacker Larry Joe Miggins, not the modest Mr. Kramer. Miggins even retrieved the now included photo of what happened to Danny’s knee on the same play. After catching the ball for a one-bounce out, Kramer apparently slipped, either retrieving or throwing the game-saver, thus giving up his own blood for the noble cause of victory in behalf of the Houston Babies. – And that brings me to point number two:

You see, we have learned that kind of play he made for us is in his bloodline. The Houston Press photographer and Houston Babies center fielder in Game Two last Saturday that was Danny Kramer just happens also to be the son of Green Bay Packers Team Hall of Fame guard Jerry Kramer of the Vince Lombardi era.

Oh My Gosh, Mr. Kramer!

The Houston Babies owe you a debt of gratitude, sir, gratitude for being the kind of man you are – and for playing the only kind of game that Kramers play – the all out brand.

Thanks too to everyone in Katy that made yesterday’s great fun in the Combine City possible. And thanks to the Boerne White Sox too for coming all the over to Katy from the Greater San Antonio area to make our three-team tourney possible.

Also, stay tuned for upcoming news about the next appearance of the Houston Babies at the George Ranch near Sugar Land sometime around the Fourth of July. That activity will take place only if the Babies club members are willing to commit themselves to it on what will likely be another “hot as a firecracker” Independence Day period on the Houston area  heat clock. Be on the lookout for further word to players from Babies Manager Bob Dorrill.

CLOSING ON A UNIFORM DESIGN FASHION NOTE …

THANKS, SUE!

Based upon what she saw in a first run prototype of the late 19th century alternate Babies road uniform I featured here yesterday, an old friend I’ll just call “Sue” suggested the baby diaper would look better with some baseball stitches. Well, here’s how it looks with stitches and the nickname “Babies” added as angled script.

Thanks for the remedy, Sweet Sue! And have a nice Sunday.

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Houston Babies at Katy Festival Today!

May 5, 2012

Katy Combine Manager Tom Fores (L) and Houston Babies Manager Bob Dorrill square off on the ground rules as their two clubs prepare to meet in the vintage base ball tourney scheduled for the Katy Spring Festival today, Saturday, May 5, 2012, in Katy, Texas.

Good morning, Pecan Park Eagle readers, and welcome to Saturday, May 5, 2012, Even as we speak, depending upon when you finally get up, the Houston Babies are either preparing for vintage base ball action, playing the games, just finishing up, or long gone home. The answer depends largely upon your age and, I guess,  what kind of Friday night you jut had. At any rate, if it’s early enough come join us. The action starts at 10 AM and we will most likely play two games against Katy whatever other team shows up before the day is done.

The Babies take an undefeated record into this one and are hoping to keep the streak going. Playing by 1860 rules, our role models just happened to the all time champions of perfect seasons, the 1869 Cincinnati Red Stockings.

Here’s a link to further information on today’s Katy Spring Heritage festival. It also contains an easy to find address for the city park site of all festivities. It’s a lot of good clean family fun, complete with music, food, drink, arts & crafts, vintage ball, and other things to do. So, come join us. The Babies also welcome the presence of additional “cranks” in the crowd. (“Cranks” was the 19th century word for “fans.”)

http://katyheritagefestival.com/w/

Houston Babies General Manager Yours Truly (Bill McCurdy) is shown here modeling an alternate road jersey that we may addd to our team wardrobe if we ever move up to the time in which primitive gloves are used, but for now, we have no immediate plans to make the leap into that level of modernity. Please note that we are acquiring may different logo suggestions for the Babies, but the only official one, so far, is the running and throwing baby by Patrick Lopez that is featured here, just over my right shoulder in the picture.

Happy weekend, everybody. Hope we see some of you today at the Katy Heritage Festival road trip site.

Look for a full report here tomorrow on today’s field action.

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Skeeters Sketch: May 4, 2012

May 4, 2012

FIRST OF ALL. DON’T FORGET TO COME WATCH THE HOUSTON BABIES PLAY VINTAGE BASE BALL AT THE KATY HERITAGE FESTIVAL THIS SATURDAY, MAY 5TH, STARTING AT 10:00 AM! GOOGLE THE KATY HERITAGE FESTIVAL FOR DIRECTIONS AND FURTHER INFO. – (Official Houston Babies Sketch by Patrick Lopez)

 

The Sugar Land Skeeters (3-4) took the old DDT blast in Waldorf, Maryland Thursday night, dropping their third straight road game to the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs (5-2) at Regency Furniture Stadium. The final score in this one was 9-5, also marking down the fact that the local little stingers got stung themselves with an all-games-three-times-loss on the their first rattle-out-of-the-box road trip in history.Bobby Livingston (0-0) started his second game for Sugar Land, again avoiding a decision in his four and a third innings of work. Heath Phillips (0-1) relieved Livingston in the fourth and drew the black bean. Before the fun was done, Houstonians Trey Rackel and Sean Morgan also made brief spots on the mound.

Trailing 5-0 in the top of the six, Sugar Land rallied. With two on and one out, Skeeters big first baseman Jason Botts, batting left, caught a hanging slider and bopped it the opposite way for a three-run home run to bring the Skeeters close at 5-3.

After the bases loaded on a walk, third baseman Jimmy Van Ostrand hit a sacrifice fly ball out to left field, scoring Josh Pressley from third to cut the lead down to one, 5-4. The Blue Crabs intentionally walked left fielder Ben Harrison to load the bases again for Skeeters shortstop Deybis Benitez. Without a hit in the series to that point, Benitez then pasted a clutch single up the middle, scoring Drew Locke from third to tie the game, 5-5.

Feast reverted to famine for the Skeeters in the bottom of the sixth. A leadoff triple by Blue Crabs left fielder Brian Barton was followed by a crisp double from right fielder Richard Giannotti. That scored the go-ahead run to put the home team back in the lead, 6-5. The Blue Crabs added three more runs in the bottom of the seventh, just for good measure. The last nine batters went down in order to finish the game.

Blue Crabs reliever Eduardo Morlan (1-0) got the win after starting pitcher Dan Reichert (0-0) failed to hold the Skeeters in the sixth.

The Skeeters continue their 10-game road trip with a trip to Lancaster to face the Barnstormers for a three-game series starting Friday night from Clipper Magazine Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for 6:05 p.m. CDT.

In spite of their three-game dive on the first road trip of the season, the Skeeters remain in a three-way tie for first place in the Freedom Division of the 140-game Atlantic League season.

For further up-to-date information on the Sugar Land Skeeters, check out their website at http://sugarlandskeeters.com/index.cfm

ATLANTIC LEAGUE STANDINGS

Liberty Division W L PCT GB STREAK LAST 10
Bridgeport Bluefish 5 2 0.714 – 3W 5-2
Southern Maryland Blue Crabs 5 2 0.714 – 4W 5-2
Camden Riversharks 4 3 0.571 1 1W 4-3
Long Island Ducks 3 4 0.429 2 3L 3-4
Freedom Division W L PCT GB STREAK LAST 10
Sugar Land Skeeters 3 4 0.429 – 3L 3-4
Somerset Patriots 3 4 0.429 – 2W 3-4
Lancaster Barnstormers 3 4 0.429 – 2L 3-4
York Revolution 2 5 0.286 1 1L 2-5

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An Old Buff Tale

May 3, 2012

Houston Daily Post, Wednesday, October 26, 1887.

Early last Tuesday morning, this past one, the one going forward into Tuesday, May 1st, in the wee small hours, no less, I awoke from a most amazing slumber vision at about 3:30 AM. I had dreamed I finally made a successful trip back in time to Houston of the late 19th century. To be more precise, the date was October 25, 1887. I had been out there a lot lately in reality concordance with our 21st century time and space zone, but now, in the dream, at least, I was in this other place.

Everything about my senses in the dream made it feel completely real. In fact, it was the visceral intensity of the whole thing, far more than the content of what actually happened there, that had awakened me in the pre-dawn hours of May Day, 2012.

All I remember of it went as follows:

It was late in the day on an autumn Tuesday in Houston of 1887. I was walking through the almost vacant grandstands of the old ball park that used to stand at the corner of Travis and McGowen. In a strange departure from my normal character and habits, I had been gambling with a small group of cigar-chomping swells, betting on everything from ball and strike calls to the over/under number on foul balls that would reach the grandstands per inning. – It’s a good thing I won because I’d already raised enough sand among my companions by the 1932 Houston Buffs jersey and cap I had been wearing – and I don’t know how I could have paid off with modern money that none of them had ever previously seen.

I walked away from the “five guys” – listening to their mumbled questions about me.

As I approached the stands on the McGowen side, I saw a Houston Daily Post reporter that apparently had passed out from too much to drink on the second bench from the front row. I figured he was the Post guy because he had one of those press cards stuck in the ribbon of his derby hat and the Post was the only paper covering the game that day.

I bumped him in the side with my knee. “Hey,” I said, “get up.”

“Who’s there?” The startled Post reporter asked as he rubbed his eyes hard and swiveled quickly to a sitting position, all the while staring up at me distrustfully and quite defensively.

“I say,” the reporter demanded. “Who in blazes are you, sir? – And why do you come to the ballpark today dressed in that strange garb?”

“Just think of me as the Spirit of Old Buff, sir” I answered. “My friends and i are here from the future to learn what we can about how our city embraced the game of baseball back in the 19th century. – And while I’m at it, I have to tell you – you 19th century writers could make it a lot easier for us if you could write more specifically bout the names and locations of ballparks and teams back in the old days!”

“What do you mean by ‘old days’, sir,” the Post reporter demanded. “These are the days – the only days in time that belong to us. If you and your sort do not understand when we write that the Houstons play to day at the ball park, that’s no concern of mine. I have my own deadlines to meet, sir, and, as for you – your impertinence is only matched by the unsightly vision of your peculiar clothing and shady-sided contact with crooked gentlemen who choose to gamble on every occurrence in Houston from sunrise to sunset.”

About this time in the dream, the image of the reporter began to waver and fade before my eyes, as did the sound of his voice weaken and fadeaway as though it were disappearing down a long narrow pipeline to nowhere. The next thing I knew, I was sitting upright in bed, reorienting to the fact that it apparently all had been nothing more than one of those inexplicably weird dreams.

I probably would have forgotten the whole thing, except for a little discovery I made later the same morning during my research time downtown at the Harris County Archives. I felt compelled to take a look at the files of the Houston Daily Post for the day following my somnolent trip to the ball park with the gamblers and the sleeping-it-off anonymous-to-this-day reporter.

That’s when I found the clipping I used at the top of this story. Draw your own conclusions.

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Joe E. Brown Was a Baseball Man

May 2, 2012

Elmer, The Great, 1933.

If you remember comedian Joe E. Brown at all, it’s probably for his role as the lecherous old Osgood Fielding III in the 1959 movie “Some Like It Hot,” starring Marilyn Monroe, Jack Lemmon, and Tony Curtis, bit the fact is – the rubber-faced widest mouthed comic in Hollywood was out there making comedy films as far back as 1927.

Joe E. Brown was also the consummate baseball fan and not a bad athlete. During the 1930s, he made two baseball movies that were essentially the same movie twice. In both “Elmer, the Great” (1933) and “Alibi Ike” (1935), Brown plays bumpkin “PHE-noms” that come out of the country wood work to star for the Chicago Cubs and lead the WIndy City Boys to world championships. Each movie carries with it a “best girl” to cheer him on to victory, gambler bad guys who get in the way of glory temporarily, and a fairy tale finish that the Cubs could actually win it all in the end.

William Frawley (right) managed Brown in "Alibi Ike" (1935).

In “Elmer, The Great,” Brown was manly a star pitcher. In “Alibi Ike,” the played a slugger whose ability to make excuses for failure almost always exceeded his ability to come through in a pinch – until the foul actions of criminals and threat of losing his girl friend straightened him out. – Is that ploy old, or what? Heck, it was ancient when Brown dug it up for his baseball movies.

Esteemed actress Olivia de Havilland played Brown’s lady-love in “Alibi Ike” (1935). Four years and seventeen movies later, de Havilland was cast as Melanie Hamilton in one of the greatest movies of all time, “Gone With The Wind” (1939). – Joe E. Brown didn’t make t into that one.

"Alibi Ike," (1935).

Back in the early 1950s,  the late Buddy Hancken took over as field manager of the minor league Waco Pirates at the same that Joe E. Brown’s son, Joe Brown, was taking over the same franchise as general manager. The younger Brown was already on his way to becoming the future general manager of the parent Pittsburgh Pirate and to his role as a major front office force in leading the big club to their dramatic 1960 win over the New York Yankees in the World Series.

During the Waco tenure, elder Brown Joe E. came to Waco at the start of the season, suiting up as a Pirate player and taking the field for a little pre-game and shadow ball entertainment play for free before the fans. Buddy says that Joe E. Brown was a delight to be around who just burst with pride over his son’s rising success as a baseball club operator. – It’s no wonder where the younger Brown’s passion for baseball began. How could anyone grow up with a father like Joe E. Brown and not like baseball?

Interesting too is the fact that actor William Frawley of the “Alibi Ike” film, who later played Fred Mertz on the “I Love Lucy” TV show, was also a first class baseball fan and one of the regulars with Joe E. Brown in the annual Hollywood Stars All Star Games that played out every season for several years in the Los Angeles area.

Buddy Hancken used to tell the story of his days in the Pacific Coast League back in the 1940s. His Seattle club was in Hollywood to play the team named the Stars on the day that the movie actor Stars Game was set to be played, but Buddy and Company was unaware of the fact.

“We were in the clubhouse shower,” Hancken said, “when I started up a chorus of “Just a Closer Walk With Thee” because, as a kid from Alabama, hymns were the only songs I knew. We no sooner got ‘Just a closer walk with Thee…’ out of our lungs when we all of a sudden heard this great voice pick up on the song just outside the shower.”

“Blessed Jesus – hear my plea!”

We walked outside the shower to take a look and, what do you know. It was Bing Crosby. He had got that early to play in the celebrity game and they had directed him to our dressing room as a place to change. They were going to play the game between the two sets of our doubleheader, as best I remember.

Well, under the circumstances, there wasn’t much else to do that made sense. We kept on singing the rest of the hymn in our birthday suits, but with the help of America’s best singer of his time, Mr. Bing Crosby.

Thanks, Buddy. Lore or fact, it’s still a great story. Things of substance that we love ooze with lore. Things that don’t matter – do not.

And thank you, Joe E. Brown, for loving the game of baseball. Let’s hope the people of Pittsburgh appreciate that little ripple of caring that you cast into the stream of love for the game and what it helped bring to them in such a very big way through his son and others back in 1960.

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Old People Stories

May 1, 2012

OLD FANS CRY: 'SOMEBODY NEEDS TO SAVE THE DOME!"

This is a mild departure from our usual “topiculture” of Houston/Baseball, but I cannot resist. A good friend named Miriam Edelman sent me some amusing stories yesterday that manage to spring humor from some of the most difficult adjustment changes we all face eventually in our senior years. I would love to give credit for each, but these are the kinds of stories that rarely leave an author in their wake, They just  get told.

Enjoy!

An elderly gentleman….

…. had serious hearing problems for a number of years. He went to the doctor and the doctor was able to have him fitted for a set of hearing aids that allowed the gentleman to hear 100%.

The elderly gentleman went back in a month to the doctor and the doctor said, ‘Your hearing is perfect… Your family must be really pleased that you can hear again.”

The gentleman replied, “Oh, I haven’t told my family yet. I just sit around and listen to the conversations. I’ve changed my will three times, so far!’

Two elderly gentlemen….

…. from a retirement center were sitting on a bench under a tree when Sam turns to his friend and says: “Slim, I’m 83 years old now and I’m just full of aches and pains. I know you’re about my age.. How do you feel?”

Slim says, “I feel just like a newborn baby.”

“Really?” Sam asks in disbelief. “Like a newborn baby?”

“Yep,” Slim confirms. “No hair. No teeth. …. And I think I just wet my pants!”

An elderly couple….

…. had dinner at another couple’s house, and after eating, the wives left the table and went into the kitchen.

The two gentlemen were talking, and Bob said, “Last night the wife and I went out to a new restaurant and it was really great. I would recommend it very highly.”

The other man, Mike, asked, “What is the name of this great new restaurant?”

The first man, Bob, thought and thought and finally asked a question of his own: “Mike, what is the name of that flower you give to someone you love?….You know…. The one that’s red and has a lot of thorns on the stem?”

“Do you mean a rose?” Mike responded.

“Yes, that’s the one,” Bob  replied. He then turned toward the kitchen and yelled loudly, “Hey, Rose! What’s the name of that restaurant we went to last night?”

Hospital regulations….

….require a wheel chair for patients at discharge. However, while working as a student nurse, I found one elderly gentleman already dressed and sitting on the bed with a suitcase at his feet. The elderly man insisted that he didn’t need my help to leave the hospital.

After a chat about rules being rules, he reluctantly let me wheel him to the elevator. On the way down, I asked him if his wife was meeting him.

“I don’t know,”  the man said. “She’s still upstairs in the bathroom changing out of her hospital gown.”

A couple in their nineties….

….are both having problems remembering things. During a checkup, the doctor tells them that they’re physically okay, but that they may want to start writing things down to help them remember ……

Later that night, while watching TV, the old man gets up from his chair. “Want anything while I’m in the kitchen?” he asks.

“Will you get me a bowl of ice cream?” she requests.

“Sure,” her husband answers, “be glad to.”

“Don’t you think you should write it down so you can remember it?’ she asks.

“No,” he quickly cautions. “I can remember it.”

“Well, I’d like some strawberries on top too, she adds. “Maybe you should write it down so as not to forget it?’

“I can remember that much,” he insists. “You want a bowl of ice cream with strawberries.”

“But I’d also like some whipped cream,” she adds with a sigh. “I’m certain you’ll forget that. Write it down, please.”

Now irritated, the man shoots back with: “I don’t need to write it down, I can remember it! Ice cream with strawberries and whipped cream – I got it all for goodness sake!’

Then he toddles into the kitchen. After about 20 minutes, The old man returns from the kitchen and hands his wife a plate of bacon and eggs..

She stares at the plate for a moment.

“Where’s my toast?” She then demands.

A senior citizen….

…. said to his eighty-year old buddy: “So, I hear you’re getting married?’

“Yep!”

“Do I know her?”

“Nope!”

“This woman, your fiancee, is she good looking?”

“Not really”

“Is she a good cook?’

“Nope, she can’t cook worth a flip.”

“Does she have lots of money?”

“No way! She’s poor as a church mouse.”

“Well, then, is she good in bed?’

“I have no idea. She doesn’t believe in sex.”

“Then, c’mon! – Why in the world would you want to marry her?”

“Simple. – She can still drive a car.”

Three old guys….

…. are out walking.

First one says, “Windy, isn’t it?”

Second one says, “No, it’s Thursday!”

Third one says, “So am I. Let’s go grab a beer.”

An old  man was telling his neighbor…,

… “I just bought a new hearing aid. It cost me four thousand dollars, but it’s state of the art.. It’s perfect.”

“Really?” answered the neighbor. “What kind is it?”

“Twelve thirty..”

82 year-old Morris…

…. went to the doctor to get a physical. A few days later, the doctor saw Morris walking down the street with a gorgeous young woman on his arm. A couple of days later, the doctor spoke to Morris and said, “You’re really doing great, aren’t you?”

Morris replied, “Just doing what you said, Doc: “Get a hot mamma and be cheerful.”

The doctor said, ‘I didn’t say that, Morris. – I said, “You’ve got a heart murmur; be careful.”

A little old man….

….shuffled slowly into an ice cream parlor and pulled himself slowly, painfully, up onto a stool. – After catching his breath, he ordered a banana split.

The waitress asked kindly, “Crushed nuts?”

“No,” he replied, “Arthritis.”

                                                                  

                                                        

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What’s Wrong with Prince Albert?

April 30, 2012

Once Upon a Time, in a Deep Purple Blue Funk, There Lived a Young Prince Named Albert. ...

There once was a prince – named Albert Skidoo,

Who took the big money – to the west coast he flew,

Higher than a Cardinal – with new Angel wings,

He soared toward the sunset – and beautiful things

– that, so far – have not come even close to his grasp.

 

What has happened to Albert Pujols?

No, check that question. There is no past tense to it. What IS happening to Albert Pujols?

The 12-season veteran from the National League took the money over the winter in preference to a most certain future ordination as one of the two greatest Career Cardinals of All Time. He even rolled out the “nothing personal, but baseball is a business” explanation in a no chance attempt to quell the disappointment of adoring St. Cardinal fans in his decision to leave and join the Los Angeles Angels at Anaheim by Way of Pismo Beach (or whatever).

Nothing worked on the understanding for Albert side. Cardinal fans discarded their Pujols #5 jerseys. St. Louis retailers gave away or trashed their unsold stock of Pujols memorabilia. Everything the St. Louis people did, they did  in extreme negative reaction to Pujols’ abandonment of them.

Yes, that’s how it felt in St. Louis, and it was expected.

What wasn’t expected was the 2012 MLS season starting gate performance of Albert Pujols in the American League. The man went over there with a career batting average of .327, a slugging percentage of .612, and a total of 445 career home runs.

And what has Prince Albert done in his first 94 plate appearances? Well. he’s walked 6 times and then hammered out 88 times at bat that have counted heavily against his batting average. Everyday, he floats closer and closer to a waltz with Senor Mendoza of the metaphorically famous .200 line land of lost, never were, and no longer are – hitters and sluggers of the baseball.

As an Angel in 2012, through games of Sunday, April 29th, Albert Pujols has 19 hits 88 official times at bat and a batting average of .216. Only 7 of his 19 hits were for extra bases and these were all doubles. That’s right. – Pujols has no triples and NO HOME RUNS. – NADA! His .295 slugging average isn’t even half the size of his .612 lifetime mark and his 7 runs scored and 4 runs batted in are hardly anything either to write home about.

Yeah, I know. Baseball’s a long season and things can change for a talent like Pujols on a dime, but the question remains: What’s wrong with Prince Albert? I have no idea, but I’m dispassionately overwhelmed by a range of possibilities.

Do the American League pitchers have a better book on Albert than their NL brothers – one that’s that much better?

Did Albert develop a mechanical hitch that someone in St. Louis could have helped him correct when that person was available?

Is it mental? Is Pujols hurting his own recovery by putting pressure on himself that takes away his ability to “get well.”

Is Albert suffering from, or covering up, an injury or personal issue that affects his daily performance?

Does Albert regret leaving the Cardinals?

Did Pujols suddenly fall off the age clock cliff and lose his ability to play the game at his old level?

I don’t know. – What do you think? – And please leave a comment as a response to this column.

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Skeeters Sting York Again; Go 2-1 in W-L Column!

April 29, 2012

After dropping their Opening Night date with the York (PA) Revolution, 3-2, the Sugar Land Skeeters rallied to take a crushing, 10-1, win on Friday night, followed by a 3-1 second straight victory at Constellation Field on Saturday evening. The two Atlantic League clubs wrap up their four-game series and this Skeeters home stand this afternoon, Sunday, April 29th, at 4:05 PM. Come on put, if you can get a ticket, and have some good old-fashioned baseball fun.

Check our the Skeeters website for the up-to-date information on the new Houston area professional baseball club:

http://sugarlandskeeters.com/index.cfm

Constellation Field, Sugar Land, Texas, April 26, 2012.

Now here are the Atlantic League standings through all games of Saturday, April 28, 2012

Liberty Division W L PCT GB STREAK LAST 10
Long Island Ducks 2 1 0.667 – 1L 2-1
Bridgeport Bluefish 2 1 0.667 – 1W 2-1
Southern Maryland Blue Crabs 1 2 0.333 1 2L 1-2
Camden Riversharks 1 2 0.333 1 1L 1-2
Freedom Division W L PCT GB STREAK LAST 10
Lancaster Barnstormers 2 1 0.667 – 2W 2-1
Sugar Land Skeeters 2 1 0.667 – 2W 2-1
York Revolution 1 2 0.333 1 2L 1-2
Somerset Patriots 1 2 0.333 1 1W 1-2

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This Weak/Day in Baseball

April 28, 2012

TODAY'S WEAK DAY IS SATURDAY, APRIL 28, 2012.

Getting Right Down To It. I’ve only got one issue on my mind this morning …

SKEETERS WIN FIRST TIME IN SECOND GAME, 10-1, BUT DRAW CLOSED EYES FROM THE HOUSTON CHRONICLE.

Yesterday I complained that the Houston Chronicle gave the new Sugar Land Skeeters the short stick by not including a box score with their report on the club’s first Opening Day of all time. Excuse me for once again underestimating the passive aggressive guile of this city’s only major daily “news” rag.

Today the Chronicle far exceeded their first slight of the Skeeters by not even reporting on the club’s second game and first win, a 10-1 victory over the same York (PA) Revolution on Friday that had used Thursday to defeat Sugar Land, 3-2.

For those who missed the game and did not watch the 10 o’clock Friday night news on Channels 2, 11, or 13, here’s a link to the game report on Atlantic League Game 2 for the (1-1) Skeeters:

http://sugarlandskeeters.com/news.cfm?newsID=145

"You can't hit what you can't see You can't write about a game you don't watch. And you can't read about or get interested in a game that nobody reports."
- Old Baseball Proverb

If I somehow missed the story in spite of three slow searches of every page in the Saturday Sports Section, if the story in my copy of the Saturday Chronicle was somehow preempted at the last minute in favor of a few more used car ads, if the Chronicle somehow included the Friday night Skeeters game report in a special dedication section that never made it into my copy of the Saturday paper, – if any of these things or others beyond my ability to conceive of them did occur to negate the validity of my current charge that the Chronicle simply ignored the Skeeters in their second game, I do sincerely apologize.

Otherwise, Houston Chronicle, please step forward and either amend or explain your apparent lack of a consistent active plan to cover the games of the Sugar Land Skeeters. This is baseball, people.- You must either cover the professional every day, or else, ignore it altogether and let the readers know that you don’t really follow the games the fans really care about.

You covered the Dynamo soccer team play their way into the public coffers for a new downtown stadium – and they started out as a sport that hardly any of us older Americans ever played or watched – and now you can’t spare the used-car-ad space to even print the score of last night’s Skeeters baseball game?

C’mon Chronicle Management. Hire a baseball beat writer and put him or her on the Sugar Land coverage on an everyday basis. If you can’t find anyone else, hire me and I’ll do it for you. – You could do a lot worse. I’ve been around the block with Houston baseball so may times the corners are round.

Have a nice weekend, everybody. And save this Skeeters website link so you can get the Saturday night game score on Sunday morning.

http://sugarlandskeeters.com/index.cfm

EXTRA PHOTOS FROM THE SKEETERS’ OPENING DAY, 4/26/12 ….

Constellation Field, Sugar Land Texas, April 26, 2012.

The Deacon, The Eagle, & Friends.

Deacon, Challenger, & More Friends.

The Eagle Has Landed and He's in No Hurry to Leave.

More Friends of The Challenger.

Few times are more colorful than Opening Day USA.

Former Baltimore Orioles catcher Andy Etchebarren was on hand as Manager of the York (PA) Revolution.

Outfielder Michael Hernandez (#9) of York takes his first time at bat against Matt Wright of the Skeeters.

Challenger the American Eagle was totally within his element on the field under the late afternoon glow of a blue Texas spring day sky.

The Skeeters club brought out the seat cards to add larger touch of red, white, and blue during the singing of Our National Anthem.

At the end of the day, a trip to watch a Skeeters game at Constellation Field was like a trip back in time for me and catching a game of the Houston Buffs at old Buff Stadium on the Gulf Freeway at Cullen Boulevard.

The great hope of catching a foul ball lives again as it once did in a park in Sugar Land that sounds and feels a whole lot like old Buff Stadium. All a young or old kid needs is a little luck, a little opportunity, and the individual desire and courage to go for it.

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Pictures of a Great Start in Sugar Land

April 27, 2012

Constellation Field in Sugar Land, Texas opened its brand new independent Atlantic League baseball season as the Home of the Skeeters yesterday, April 26, 2012. Other than the fact the team lost its first game, 3-2, to the defending twice champion York (PA) Revolution, most of everything else went well.

Good friend and local SABR Chapter Leader Bob "The Prez" Dorrill stops to snap a shot of the beautiful venue that rests in front of fans as they cross the footbridge from the parking lot to the new ball yard down the road.

Fans were greeted at the Opening Day Gate by a living bronze statue of an ancient ballplayer. The performance was great. The guy sometimes changed his frozen-still positions, but he never smiled, sneezed, nor spoke with any of us onlookers. I think I heard one young lady whispering, "if he only had a heart!"

Constellation Field takes your breath away with its old school charm and reminder of the times that baseball truly was our American national pastime. The outfield is deep and green. All of the outfield distances were not posted, but the sign down the right field line says 348. (It's 327 down the RF line at Minute Maid Park.) - and the Sugar Land Field is laid out facing the SE - meaning the same strong Gulf winds come rolling over that right field wall as they once did at the same forces they once were at work in both Colt and Buff Stadiums.

The eight-stories high message board in deep left center field is a beauty, but do hope the Skeeters have a way of laying it down in advance of a direct hit hurricane.

Luv Dem Skeeters!

I don't think Oyster Creek flows its way to the Atlantic Ocean, but a freak of nature on that level wasn't necessary. The City of Sugar Land still found their way into the Atlantic League. Good thing we now have planes. It's a long bus ride from here to places like York, PA.

Deacon Jones' little brother John Jones came down from New York with wife and family for the Skeeters opening. For a man who says he prefers football to baseball, you ought to hear this man talk the details of baseball strategy. For a man who doesn't care much, he sure knows a lot. When I brought this fact to John's attention, he said, "that comes from having Deacon for a big brother. I had to learn baseball in self-defense. That man, my brother, loves the game. He had me playing catch in the snow on Christmas Day when we were kids, he loved the game so much. He's still that way today. - and I love him for it. - How are you not going to love a brother who loves something in life as much as Deacon loves the game of baseball?"

Opening Day was even celebrated in crystal.

There was also a merry-go-round beyond the left field wall - and somewhere, back there, a swimming pool. I didn't travel far enough to see the pool.

... an Ice House for fans who prefer to imbibe their baseball in the steady flowing company of a few cool ones up through the 7th inning. ....

.... and, finally, over in right field, there's a grass knoll beyond the wall for families and kids who want to picnic and slide in to their feelings for the game.

Skeeters President Matt O'Brien receives the Key to the City of Sugar Land from His Honor, Sugar Land Mayor James Thompson.

Club manager Gary Gaetti leads the 2012 Sugar Land Skeeters onto the field for the first time in their history, April 26, 2012.

The Skeeters are introduced to a sellout home crowd through a fiery gate of hope and, as we baseball fans always carry with us near our hearts, our great expectation about winning.

On the wings of "God Bless America," a majestic American Eagle named Challenger flew from center field to the pitcher's mound to the silence of our collective awes for both his handsome self and our united love of all he represents to our American commitment to freedom.

Three of the Four antique fighter planes that flew over the park during "Our National Anthem" got us started in both style and the right spirit.

Skeeters President Matt O'Brien and Special Advisor Tal Smith confer as they patrol the team dugout area prior to the first pitch of the first season. It was a grand day for one and all.

Skeeters starter Matt Wright prepares to deliver one of the first pitches in Skeeters history. Unfortunately for history, neither the actual first pitch in the first nor the first Skeeters hit in the third were pulled as baseballs to be kept for any future display. In each case, the game simply continued with these rare balls still in play until both were lost in the bag of sameness that falls upon all baseballs that have no special meaning. This is one detail I wish the Skeeters had taken into account prior to the first game - a plan for saving first special balls. There's also a first Skeeters home run ball floating around out there. Maybe the Skeeters got after getting that one. If not, it is my hope that the fan who caught it will work out some reasonable return of this special ball to the club.

Deacon Jones, Reverend Craig Taylor, and Challenger the Eagle with his female trainer were among the many suite guests who had their pictures made together when the great avian king came to call.

John Jones and his special Mrs. Jones also had their picture taken with Challenger & Company.

Challenger was irresistible to me too. Deacon Jones joined me (Bill McCurdy) for our own photo with the great bird and his male trainer. I'll never forget looking into Challenger's left eye at one point and thinking, "Thank God you think of us as friends and allies, Challenger! You do think of us as friends and allies, do you not?"

"Rest assured, my friend. - Rest assured."

The Skeeters may have lost their first game to York, 3-2, but they are off to a great start as the new place to be for Houston areas baseball fans. With ticket prices set at $8 and $12, plus free admission for kids under 3 and those in youth league uniforms, Constellation Field is a great place to go for nearby family entertainment for folks in the broader Sugar Land area, especially. People who want big league ball will still go downtown, but the Skeeters are a great taste of how baseball used to be when families could afford the game on a frequent basis. The parking is free to. - Take in a Skeeters game sometime soon and find out for yourself, but keep going to see the Astros too. The big club also needs our support, but we are big enough to support more than one professional baseball operation in thus area.

God Bless Baseball.
God Bless the Astros.
God Bless the Skeeters.
God Bless Our Greater Houston Area.
And, Of Course, God Bless America.

Postscript to the Houston Chronicle –

Dear Chronicle:

You gave the Sugar Land Skeeters a nice long two-column piece by Steve Campbell on Page 10 of todays 5/27/12 Sports Section and I thought that the article was well done and the placement just about right in view of the fact Houston is first of all a major league baseball and other sports town and the big fact Opening Day also happened on the first day of the NFL draft. There was more than a little local first page interest in those outcomes among the many football fans in our area.

The three things I didn’t like were each items I hope you will be able to correct, or at least, improve upon in the near future. There was no box score. No results cap stories from other league games. And no Atlantic League standings. You left out the main items that are vital to all serious baseball fans who follow the game on a daily basis.

Look. We understand that the Skeeters are an independent level professional operation, but they deserve some help cultivating fans beyond the superficial casual ones. To do that, people need to see the box scores to get involved with knowing the players and charting progress. Even if you cannot justify the standings everyday, or the other game results any day, at least, give us the daily box scores and the standings weekly. That would help those of who want to follow the Skeeters closely a big help.

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