Need a Good Laugh?

Laughter has an important place in my life. I am prone to intensity, so over the years I have made conscious efforts to break the intensity with a laugh. I am constantly on the hunt for ideas, jokes and pictures that will make me laugh and that I can share with others. That is why I am happy to have found a website with lots of funny videos, jokeroo. The site has several categories of videos from which to choose, and you can even post comments, which adds to the fun.

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The Astros Caravan Was in Town Today

Is that the smell of grapefruit and cactus in the air? Today the Astros annual caravan to promote the team came to our town. At a local restaurant about lunch time, there was an opportunity to hear and get autographs from Roy Oswalt, Lance Berkman, Chris Sampson and some of the Astros brass. That means it is only a bout three weeks till spring training opens and the Grapefruit League exhibition season gets under way.

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Another Honor For Nolan Ryan

Nolan Ryan has been honored in many ways over the years. I thought of several ways he has been rewarded for his excellence as a pitcher and as a man. He received a big cash bonus. He has gotten many gifts especially appropriate to him or his family. He has been awarded plaques & trophies, had proclamations or news releases to honor him. There have bee several who have written a book about him. Ryan has had videos made about him, had schools establish a scholarship in his name, had children named after him, and streets named for him. This week, in the town where he grew up, the district announced they have named a school after him.

A Chris Sampson Fan!

I am now officially pulling for Chris Sampson to succeed as a pitcher for the Astros. He is a local boy who would have a lot of fans at Minute Maid. The Astros need a solid, dependable arm in the rotation. I saw Sampson’s Major League Debut, 7 innings of shut out ball. He has his priorities in order; he chose to step away from his career to try to make his marriage work.

He was coaching at a juco in Dallas when he discovered he could still play. After a try out in Houston, he worked his way through the minor leagues. Sampson is hungry to succeed. It would be his dream come true and fill a big need for the Astros.

What a great human interest story!

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Who Do The Voters Think They Are?

Not only does the exclusion of Mark McGwire from the Hall of Fame seem wrong to me, there is more I do not understand about the voting practices of the baseball writers. The negative reaction to McGwire’s alleged steroid use has some grain of sense to it. But how in the world can a writer not include Tony Gwynn or Cal Ripken Jr. on their ballots. Neither was unanimously elected. No player ever has been. It is the height of smugness to withhold a vote from a first player eligible for election if they are without a doubt going to be elected. It does not preserve anything of value; it only shows that the writer thinks he is superior, maybe even a god!

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All Star Game in Houston--2004

I also got to see the 2004 MLB All Star Game held at Minute Maid Park in Houston. We do not know yet how many players will go on to the Hall of Fame. Several seem certain to achieve baseball immortality. One of the most certain to attain that lofty status is Roger Clemens. He was the starter for the National League. But he was shelled of three homers and was the losing pitcher. But I would not have missed it. I have been blessed to see all 3 MLB All Star games held in Houston.

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Willie Mays Stole the Win for The National League in 1968

By today’s standards, the 1968 Major League Baseball All Star Game would be considered boring. It was a one to nothing contest. But I grew up loving to watch pitchers and defense. I have rarely seen a game that was more fun than that one. The pitching was exquisite. Carl Yastrzemski struck out three times! But that was okay with me, I am a fan of the National League. In the first inning Willie Mays, the best ball player I have ever seen, on first, stole second, stole third and scored on a ground ball by his Giants teammate, Willie McCovey. And I had gotten my program signed by the “Say Hey Kid”, Mays, before the game started. It is one of my treasures to this day.

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Fifteen Eventual Hall Of Fame Players Were On the 1968 All Star Rosters

I was privileged to see the first MLB All Star Game in Houston, in 1968. Legendary players were on the rosters that year. Mickey Mantle, Harmon Killebrew, Carl Yastrzemski, Brooks Robinson, and Rod Carew were the ones from the AL roster to go on to the Hall of Fame. On the NL side, there were Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, Don Drysdale, Steve Carlton, Hank Aaron, Johnny Bench, Bob Gibson, Tom Seaver, Billy Williams, & Tony Perez who later made it to the Hall. And Pete Rose was there as well.

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The Second TIme I Saw Cal Ripken Jr. Play In Person

I was able to see Ripken again in the All Star Game in 1986, played in the Astrodome. Again, the Baltimore shortstop was not the story of the game. That belonged to the pitchers and Lou Whitaker of the Tigers. Hometown Boy Roger Clemens was the starter and winner for the AL. Fernando Valenzuela stuck out five batters in a row to match the feat accomplished by Carl Hubbell many years earlier. And Whitaker hit a homer of Astro hurler Mike Scott, who went on to win the NL Cy Young award that year.

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The First Time I Saw Cal Ripken Jr. Play.

I had the privilege of seeing Cal Ripken Jr. play base ball in person on a couple of occasions. Our family was on a week long vacation to the nation’s capitol. We were camping in campground outside Silver Springs, Maryland. One night we went to see a game at the old Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Ripken did not have an outstanding part in the victory that night, Eddie Murray was the star of that game.

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Rickey Got On, But He Did Not Steal!

In the year Rickey Henderson set the record for most stolen bases in a single season, I visited the old stadium in Baltimore. Jim Palmer walked Henderson to open the game, but picked him off at first. He never got on again, so I did not see Rickey steal a base that year.

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