Two Old Ball Players

When it was clear that Bill was dying, Bob visited him every day.

One day Bob said, 'Bill, we both loved playing baseball all our lives, and we played all through High School. Please do me one favor: when you get to Heaven, somehow you must let me know if there's baseball there.'

Bill looked up at Bob from his deathbed and said, 'Bob, you've been my best friend for many years. If it's at all possible, I'll do this favor for you.'

Shortly after that, Bill passed on.

A few nights later, Bob was awakened from a sound sleep by a blinding flash of white light and a voice calling out to him, 'Bob, Bob.'

'Who is it', asked Bob, sitting up suddenly. 'Who is it?'

'Bob -- it's me, Bill.'

'You're not Bill. Bill just died.'

'I'm telling you, it's me, Bill,' insisted the voice.

'Bill! Where are you?'

'In Heaven,' replied Bill. 'I have some really good news and a little bad news.'

'Tell me the good news first,' said Bob.

'The good news,' Bill said, 'is that there's baseball in Heaven. Better yet all of our old buddies who died before us are here, too. Better than that, we're all young again. Better still, it's always springtime, and it never rains or snows. And best of all, we can play baseball all day long, and we never get tired.'

'That's fantastic,' said Bob. 'It's beyond my wildest dreams!
So what's the bad news?'

'You're pitching Tuesday.'

42 Years of Excellence

Leaders are born and not made. Two such leaders are former Dodger managers Walt Alston and Tommy Lasorda. Both were longtime minor league players whose dreams fell just a little short of their big league aspirations. Walt striking out in his only at bat as a first baseman for the St Louis Cardinals in 1936 and Tommy wrapped two short seasons, for the Brooklyn Dodgers and one for the Kansas City A's, between 15 years of a successful minor league career. In fact, Tommy was the International Leagues MVP in 1958 with the Dodgers Montreal Royals.

Both men realized that baseball was in their blood and that to remain in the game they would have to do so in another capacity. Walt went into coaching, first as a minor league player-coach and then as a minor league manager. Tommy took a position as a scout for the Dodgers in 1961 and remained in that capacity for 4 seasons when he became the manager of the Pocatello Chiefs the Dodgers Rookie League club.

Alston was named manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers, replacing Charlie Dressen, and Tommy followed Walt in 1976 after serving as his third base coach for three years. Both men took to managing the Dodgers like they were born to it. For those 42 consecutive years they blazed a path of winning baseball that will long be remembered by fans, of both the Dodgers and baseball, for generations to come.

Walter Emmons Alston managed the Dodgers to seven National League Pennants and four World Series Championships, (including the only World Championship the borough of Brooklyn was to ever savour). He won 2,040 National League games and had a remarkable 23 post season victories in an era when almost all of those wins were garnered in the World Series. Another legendary feat was his winning 7 All Star games for the National League in all seven of his All Star appearances. Walt had his number 24 retired by the Dodgers and was then inducted to Baseballs Hall of Fame in 1983 the year before his death.

Thomas Charles Lasorda managed the Los Angeles Dodgers to eight Western Division titles, four National League Pennants and two World Series Championships. He won 1,599 National League games and managed an astounding 61 post season games. His managing career was sadly cut short after he suffered a heart attack in June of 1996. Tommy did, however, come out of retirement to manage the United States Olympic team to a Gold Medal over the heavily favored Cuban team in 2000. Tommy had his number 2 retired by the Dodgers before his induction into Cooperstown.

Which was better? It really is anyone's call. Walt and Tommy were both incredible in their own way. Alston with his quiet tactical approach and Lasorda with his brash outspoken cheerleader persona. I'll just withhold my opinion for now with the knowledge that the Dodgers, as an organization, where so incredibly lucky to to have had them both.

Are You an Apple or a Grape

Health Care

I have been sitting at my computer this morning reading comments from regular Americans regarding the healthcare bill signed into law by our President. It is almost laughable how many people make decisions based soley on sound bites, (and it is obvious that most of the negative views came directly from Fox News), instead of actually reading the bill. I've read it. It may have taken me almost as long to get through it as Congress took to hagle over it but I did get through it.

I stopped reading the comments when it became painfully clear that the vast majority for the bill and against it have the strongest of opinions but seriously don't have a clue regarding what the bill really will do.

This country isn't going down any river... Just like it didn't when Civil Rights was passed... Just like when Equal Rights was passed.... Just like when Roe v Wade was passed... All those doomsday laws that were passed.... Yet we are still here.... Furthermore, I cannot see how any one can claim themselves to be an American, when you wish ill will of your neighbor...People say healthcare is a privilage and not a right??.... Have you spoken to your neighbor, who works full time, yet cannot get health insurance, because the owner of the business cannot afford it??... Or how about your other neighbor, who is self-employed, and has a child or spouse with pre-existing conditions... No you haven't.. Because if you had, you would never call it a privilage... You have never had to succumb to what many have had to deal with in this lifetime... With this bill, it guarantees you will never have to... I have health issues, and I have a right for preventive care. I have worked and paid taxes for some 37 years and was diagnosed with an incurable form of cancer and I was insured and working 70 hours a week at the time. Now I can not buy insurance at any price...I have parents on medicare, and I am fully aware of the donut hole. If my father were to die today my mother would be left with nothing but Medicare and there would be no carrier willing to sell her any supplemental insurance because of pre-existing conditions.... We all have the right to the same freedoms... Freedom from fear of losing our homes due to medical costs... Freedom from fear of bankruptcy... Equality in having the same leverage as any Americans do to negotiate our costs... I have the right to the same "privilages" as anyone does, we all do... We aren't talking about cell phones, tv's and other luxuries.. We are talking about necessities of life...Many talk about the government interferring with our lives... Yet not a single citezen has a problem with them trying to get the insurance companies to lower costs... That is more infringement than requiring everyone to have health care... Passing laws stating I have to wear a seatbelt when I drive, is more infringement than guaranting parents that they won't be burdened with the costs of their children's diseases.. or risk losing their lives... ... People are yelling about socialism, yet they demand this country to provide them with jobs... How many of you plan on passing on medicare when you turn 65?? How many will insist on paying for your own health insurance plan when you are 70??... Not a single one of you will.. So learn the language people... Some people putting this bill down and claiming it is socialism, yet they demand different types of services, which is still socialism... So you can yell all you want from the balcony, but once onstage, it's a whole different ballgame....

And last, the folks screaming the loudest are worried that they will be "forced" to pay for insurance and in so doing will be paying for freeloaders. Let's be serious. Who doesn't want coverage? If your job already supplies it there will be no change for you at all. If your child has an illness you can buy them coverage anyway. Is this bad? People in this country are amusing. They will give and give and give to Haiti or Columbia or any other nations people but they want to complain when they "have to" pay a $350 fine on their IRS return that will help offset the high cost of coverage for needy Americans.

Please, if you are against this bill I am sure you either have not read it or are just an unfeeling and uncaring sociopathic individual simply unable to to see the forrest for the trees.

Take the time to read this bill here in a PDF format: http://docs.house.gov/rules/health/111_ahcaa.pdf

Ramon Spelled Backward By Any Other Name 8-31-1996/ 3-10-2010

Yep, even before he was born he was one of a kind. I would have loved to be there when his parents combined each of their last names to give him his. Then Ramon wasn't exactly what they wanted for their son so they decided on spelling it backward. That was how Nomar Garciapara entered this life. I doubt anyone back then had the slightest idea just how great that life would become.
The first time I knew anything about Nomar was back in the early 1990's when I was treated to watching a young phenom at shortstop playing in the College World Series for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. They lost that World Series Championship game to the Miami Hurricanes but no one made a bigger impression. Soon after he was drafted #1 in baseballs 1994 draft by the Boston Red Sox and blossomed quickly in their minor leagues until the Sox realized he was too talented to not be on the Major League scene. They brought him up in the summer of 1996 but the Boston starting shortstop was John Valentin who's play the previous year was so good he was in the MVP conversation. Still, playing sparingly, as a defensive replacement he saw enough time to force the Sox to move Valentine to 2'nd base and begin his tenure as Boston's starting shortstop. It proved to be a smart move as Garciapara won the 1997 American League Rookie of the Year award by a unanimous vote and was selected to his first of 5 American League All Star teams.
I became a huge Nomar fan during those years and loved to watch him redefine the Shortstop position. The horrible wrist injury he suffered in 2001 was only the first of many aches and pains that would plague him for the rest of his career but watching him was still a delight. His intensity and fire was so evident with every quirky adjustment to those batting gloves or kick of the dirt on the infield.
After being traded from the Red Sox to the Cubs in 2004 Garciapara's former teamates went on to win the World Series in a 4 game sweep of the Cardinals. Anyone who wonders what kind of a teamate Nomar was need not wonder anymore. Those former Red Sox teamates voted Nomar Garciapara a full winners share of the World Series bonus!
It was a big thrill for me when Garciapara was traded from the Cubs to the Dodgers in 2006 so I could see one of my favorite players playing on my favorite team. It was a miraculous year! Nomar made his first National League All Star team and was a league leader in hitting. He won the National Leagues Comeback Player of the Year and provided the Dodgers with a proven player to lead them in the pennant chase all summer. The day I will never forget, that season, was a home game against the Padres in late September. San Diego got off to a fast start and led the Dodgers by 4 runs in the 9'th inning of the game. The Dodgers set a team record with 4 solo home runs hit by 4 different players consecutively to tie the game. Seems like everyone remembers that but few, it seems, remember the Padres taking a 1 run lead right back in the 10'th. The Dodgers appeared to have blown the chance to win a comeback game for the ages when with one man on in the bottom of the 10'th Nomar slugged a two run walk off home run to win that game in grand style. If that wasn't enough less than a week later Gaciapara broke a 1-1 tie against Arizona with a Grand Slam walk of HR. His clutch performances continued the last two weeks of the season and he led Los Angeles to the Playoffs.
In 2007 injuries jumped up and bit him again and plagued him for the rest of his career.
Last year my sister and I went to Arizona for Spring Training to see the Dodgers but took a day to drive over to Phoenix Municipal Stadium to watch Nomar play 3'rd base for the Oakland A's in a game against the Cubs. He did not disappoint us as he smacked two base knocks and a pair of RBI's while playing a perfect defensive game. I also took my son to Oakland to see him a few times because I knew the end was near.
Well, yesterday Nomar Garciapara signed a 1 day contract with the Boston Red Sox and announced his retirement back with the team it all started with. It was a sad day for baseball and a sad day for me and millions of other fans.
Good luck at ESPN Nomar and thanks for the memories!

March 10, 2010 Number 3 is Gone

I took this photograph of Willie Davis at Fan Appreciation day at Dodger Stadium in 1970. Just to be there was thrilling but to be so near my favorite Dodger was almost more than I could stand. At that time I had my bedroom decor in what I will call Early Dodger Colonial with the centerpiece being a full color poster of Dodger Centerfielder Willie Davis. Before that September day in 1970 the closest I had been to him was either when the Dodgers visited the Giants at Candelstick Park or listening to descriptions of his exploits over the airwaves as described by Vin Scully. To this day I think Willie was as exciting a player I have ever seen. His 1'st to third speed was second to none and had he played in another era with the mound lowered and pitching talent diluted his numbers would have been astronomical. With all of that said, it was the way I felt when I rooted Willie and the Dodgers on that endeared me to him so strongly. It is the saddness I feel today, with his passing, that reminds me of all he gave to me and others all those years ago. Willie Davis will be missed, this I am sure of, because if no one else remembers I know I do.
Take care Willie.

LA Marathon Raises Funds for Think Cure

The NPN LA 5K Run/Walk starts at Dodger Stadium on Saturday, March 20 in conjunction with the 25th Honda LA Marathon

ThinkCure!, a partnership formed by the Dodgers and the McCourt Family with City of Hope and Childrens Hospital LA, will take part in the NPN LA 5K Run/Walk that begins at Dodger Stadium at 8 a.m. on Saturday, March 20. ThinkCure! invites Dodger fans to join its collaborative effort in raising money for cancer research by signing up for or sponsoring a participant in the 5K run or LA Marathon. Employees will join fans on the ThinkCure! team in memory of Desiree Sanchez, the Dodgers' longtime manager of ticket operations who recently lost her battle to cancer.
"You can walk or run the 5k at your leisure as a member of the ThinkCure! team," said President of ThinkCure! Janet Clayton. "This can be a great family outing that encourages fitness, helps a great cause and raises funding for institutions that serve the people of greater Los Angeles and for some, can serve as an act of remembrance and support of a loved one."
To date, ThinkCure! supporters who are walking the 5k or running the LA marathon have raised $20,000 to advance cancer treatment. Fans interested in participating in the NPN LA 5K Run/Walk or the LA Marathon can visit www.thinkcure.org/5K for more information. Participants who walk or run for ThinkCure! receive ThinkCure! t-shirts and access to the on site ThinkCure! tent for healthy snacks. The NPN LA 5k's course map and parking information can be found at http://www.lamarathon.com/event/5k-run

This is a very personal issue for me and I want to thank and commend the folks at Think Cure for all they have done in founding this organization and for their continued support.

What's In a Name

Ok I hope you are ready because I am about to go off on a political tangent of sorts. I was reminded today of a pet peeve of mine with regard to sports nicknames. Before I go there, however, I want to talk a little about the history behind some of those nicknames.

The New York Yankees began life as the Baltimore Orioles in 1901.
On January 09, 1903 the defunct Orioles were bought by Frank Farrell and Bill Devery for $18,000 and moved to Manhattan where they played as the New York Highlanders.
In April 1913, after moving to the Polo Grounds, the Highlanders are finally renamed the Yankees. From their origins as an original doormat of the old American League the Yankees went on to dominate the baseball landscape for decades as the far and away leaders in World Championships.
The first openly professional team was the famous Cincinnati Red Stockings of 1869-1870. They began as an amateur organization in the National Association of Baseball Players in 1866, as interest in baseball grew substantially after the Civil War. Interest in the Red Stockings themselves grew as they compiled an impressive winning streak while mostly on a road tour or "barnstorming". The new version of the Cincinnati Red Stockings, (later shortened to Cincinnati Reds), became prosperous. The team won the first American Association pennant, and survived the first eight of the Association's ten-year existence. In 1890, the Reds were readmitted to the National League, and continue to play in Cincinnati to this day.
With the Cincinnati Red Stockings dissolved, four of its players regrouped in Boston to join the new National Association and formed the Boston Red Stockings, which eventually evolved into the Boston Braves. Those Braves kept their nickname as they moved to Milwaukee for the 1958 season and kept it yet again upon their move to Atlanta as today's Atalanta Braves.
I know many people think that the Red Stockings were the origin of todays Boston Red Sox. NOT TRUE!
In 1901, the American Leaguee declared itself equal to the National League, (Not true then and not true now), and established a competing club in Boston. For seven seasons, the AL team wore dark blue stockings and had no official nickname. They were simply "Boston" or "the Bostons"; or the "Americans" or "Boston Americans" as in "American Leaguers", Boston being a two-team city. Their 1901-1907 shirts, both home and road, simply read "Boston".
The temporary decision by the Boston National Leaguers to drop the color red from their uniforms led to a history-making decision:
"Red Stockings had been part of all Boston National League teams up to 1907, but the manager that year, told a Boston Journal baseball writer, he would abandon the red stockings tradition in favor of white stockings, because of the danger that colored stockings might cause leg injuries to become infected. The very next day the Boston club president announced he was grabbing the name Red Sox and that his American League team would begin wearing red stockings the very next season.
Todays Pittsburgh franchise was originally known as the "Alleghenys" named for the city of Allegheny across the river from Pittsburgh. It wasn't until the Philadelphia Athletics committed a clerical error and did not reserve the services of two players and Pittsburgh signed the two stars. After an official ruling upheld the signings the Athletics, (yes they are the A's of Oakland now) called Pittsburgh "a bunch of pirates" in the press. The name stuck.
My favorite team, the Dodgers, have had a pretty remarkable anthology with there nickname as well. Going all the way back to the original Brooklyn team in 1883 they were the Brooklyn Bridegrooms. Only a few years later they changed it to the Superbas. However it was the famous Ebbets Field that gave this franchise its current name. During their years at Ebbetts, players often dodged trolley cars to reach the ballpark leading to the nickname "Trolly Dodgers" later shortened to "Dodgers" which has remained the name to this day and I think it travelled well on it's journey west from Brooklyn. Another interesting note was a temporary name change that lasted from 1914 until 1931. Brooklyn was known as the Robins. It was an honor not to the bird but to their beloved manager Wilbert Robinson. Upon his retirement the team reverted back to the Dodgers.
Ok, with all of that said, I believe that nicknames are a source of pride. Would the Kansas City Royals have the same image if they were the Kansas City Slugs? Should all Kings and Queens feel insulted by the name Royals being used in this way? Do people of Norweigien decent have a legitimate gripe because Minnesota has a franchise called the Vikings? Again, no! These names are more of a way to pay homage. To hold that image in a higher place to be admired not at all to be looked down on. In the old Negro Leagues names like the Black Yankees and Birmingham Black Barons existed as a badge of honor and history reflects that.
When Stanford University changed their name to the Cardinal instead of Indians they didn't do Native Americans a service. They took away an honor and a sign of respect. I hope that other names in sports don't go in that same direction and that the likes of Cleveland's Indians, Atlanta's Braves and Washington's Redskins continue to cast honor on those people for years to come. After all, if a nickname really is adverse I want to get together to take action against the Chicago White Sox in a class action suit on behalf of all of us that wear white socks. Trust me, my feet are sensitive in this matter.

Life Is a Song Worth Singing

Teddy Pendergrass is dead at the age of 59 years old. To many this is just another passing of a member of our popular culture. To me it is a tragic loss that I feel very deeply.
I think all of us have a songbook that we carry with us throughout our lives adding new songs all along the way. In my songbook Teddy holds a very special place partly because he was so prolific a hitmaker and partly because those very hits took place at a time I recall with such fondness. As a young man in my 20's it was almost as if he were singing my songs instead of me singing my own.
From his start as a member of Harold Melvin and the Bluenotes to his solo career he was a major force in what is now known as "The Philadelphia Sound". From the time I first heard "Wake Up Everybody" and his lead for the Bluenotes I was sold. Not only did that voice become so recognizeable it brought me to a place that felt like home wherever I was.
For the time in my life I lived and worked in Lake Tahoe I saw Teddy live on several occasions everytime he appeared in a local showroom. I own to this day every vinyl album he ever produced as well as a few CD's that are still among my favorites to give a listen. As a recording artist and a performer he has few challengers from his contemporaries. A career, that was side tracked by an auto accident that left him paralyzed in 1982, was one that we probably have no idea how incredible it was destined to be otherwise.
We lost a great performer and man today and I lost a part of myself. My songbook will never be the same and my subconscience feelings whenever I hear Teddy singing will not be bringing me home anymore. Rest in peace Teddy Pendergrass and thank you.

Whose Fault is it Anyway?

With all of society's ills we have some of the best minds constantly involved toward coming up with the solutions to make it all better. The human condition is to look for the ones to blame. Famine, war, economic depression, disease, bigotry, religious persecution and all of the problems that plague humanity are only problems caused by someone else right? If we could eliminate those at fault all would be healed and the world would be right again.
Well, I know who it is. It is "THEM". Also known as "THEY". "THEY" are easy to find. "THOSE" people should be weeded out and made to pay for all the bad things "THEY" cause.
But wait...... "THEY" do all the good in the world as well, don't "THEY".
The truth of the matter is that we can all look in the mirror to find the real culprit. Yep, "THEM" and "THEY" are "US". Each and every one of us is responsible for all of it. All of the bad and all of the good. When we, as human beings, begin to cherish what is different about one another and stop the hatred of everyone different from "US" all of these problems will soon cease to exist entirely and they will become laughable as we can hardly imagine being so rediculous in the first place.
Imagine for a moment how bland this existance would be if everyone was the same. I, for one, would rather not exist at all under that awful set of circumstances.
Catholics shouldn't hate protestants. Whites shouldn't fear blacks. Jews shouldn't look at muslims as an enemy. Every group should wonder at the spice that every other group brings to our worldwide party. Soon the only group of "THEM" left would be "US". Human beings, happy to stand side by side reveling in all of "OUR" wonderous varieties.
Ok this has been a message from my conscience and this blog will return with the frivolities of pastimes and games next time you come back to see it.
Take care and thanks for reading!

Baseball in January?

There is a strange feeling that comes over you after the New Year. Christmas has come and gone, the college and NFL football seasons have all but come to a close and the parties have all gone quiet as we ring in another year. I hope everyone is healthy and safe and that your baseball souls are not in too much pain as we wait now for spring.
For now, it is Hot Stove trade talk, MLB Network giving us our fix of classic baseball and the memories we have of the season just past. All the while we can't help but daydream about the Spring just ahead. The sunny skies over Florida and Arizona. Grapefruit and Cactus are in our thoughts whether we even realize what our subconscious is longing for.
I was excited a couple of weeks ago as I signed my son up for his second season in Little League. Driving home from the sign-up session melancholy took over as I realized just how long we will have to wait for the tryouts to arrive.
Yes it will be awhile but at least we can console ourselves with MLB.com, Classic games on television, ESPN mutterings telling us where our favorite players will be suiting up in 2010 and reading baseball blogs like this one. Yes, it will be awhile but we have one another. Anyone want to take a trip to Mexico to see some winter baseball south of the border? It might just get us by until we here those magical words, "Pitchers and Catchers reported to camp today".

My Photography

It's Just a Joke

Former President George W. Bush and his VP Dick Cheney are sitting in a bar. A guy walks in and asks the bartender, 'Isn't that Bush and Cheney sitting over there?'
The bartender says, 'Yep, that's them.'
Excited, the guy walks over and says, 'Wow, this is a real honor! What are you guys doing in here?'
Bush says, 'We're planning WW III.'
The guy says, 'Really? What's going to happen?'
Cheney says, 'Well, we're going to kill 140 million Muslims and one blonde with big breasts.'
Confused, the guy exclaimed, 'A blonde with big breasts? Why kill a blonde with big tits?'
Cheney turns to Bush and says, 'See, I told you, no one gives a shit about the 140 million Muslims.