D-League

[bertfan31]

A Roger Maris story for the baseball fans. BTW Roger, Mike Shannon and several other Cardinals used to come down to the Ballard County Ky area to hunt in the winter.

Hochman: Remembering Roger in red — when Maris rejuvenated his career with Cards in 1967

“He surprised everybody — he wasn't just a homerun hitter; he was a baseball player,” Tim McCarver said of Maris, who died in 1985 of cancer at the age of

www.stltoday.com

Could be my first sports related argument as a child. Team Ruth here. 6 more games and broke the record in the last game. Still, badass for both since their performance enhancing drug of choice was beer. McGwire and Bonds don't mean nothing to me.

 

[starchief5]

Then there's me, @HymanKaplan...

They allow me to post here and put up with me rather kindly, but I don't deserve it. Welcome to "the store front porch" as Sawnee Cat so well put it

We are very tolerant of those with early-stage dementia. Several of us here have graduated way past that and are in pretty deep now.

 

[AustinTXCat]

Watched a great show today, it was about Texas A&M, the 12th man, I think it was titled No Experience needed, didn't know what the back story was on it till today!!! Then watched a short story about The Museum of the weird in ATX, you been there ATX?

Not yet. Walked past the building many times when I worked downtown. I may check it out here pretty soon and give ya a report.

 

[UK_fan_41102]

 

[Girthang]

​

RC Cola is the best

 

[UK82]

I'm not much for mixers but this one got my attention.

 

[bertfan31]

While I was weed eating my wife called. I told her I wish a kid would come riding up on his bike and ask me if he could mow my yard every week for $5.00

I would give him $20.00

I worked in Chicago for a couple of years at the end of the aughts. We were in a neighborhood one time and I said it must be a retirement community because there were no kids. A guy that lived there said there were probably kids in every house on that streeet. They were all inside playing video games.

I hadn't thought about it or even knew to think about it at that time.

 

[UK_fan_41102]

While I was weed eating my wife called. I told her I wish a kid would come riding up on his bike and ask me if he could mow my yard every week for $5.00

I would give him $20.00

I worked in Chicago for a couple of years at the end of the aughts. We were in a neighborhood one time and I said it must be a retirement community because there were no kids. A guy that lived there said there were probably kids in every house on that streeet. They were all inside playing video games.

I hadn't thought about it or even knew to think about it at that time.

I would go out and mow the grass without being told as a kid. I wanted it as low as I could get it for when friends would come over to play wiffle ball. I don't think dad cared though, seeing as how he had bare spots in the yard.

 

[UK82]

 

[AustinTXCat]

My all-time favorite Don Knotts flick.

 

[bertfan31]

This is mine...

 

[_Rooster]

Good afternoon D, start reading Titus 1 in the morning.

Thank you!

My all-time favorite Don Knotts flick.

This is mine...

 

[UK82]

My all-time favorite Don Knotts flick.

Mine too! Close behind along with The Incredible Mr. Limpet is....

 

[_Rooster]

 

[Sawnee Cat]

Good morning D

It is nice and peaceful as I sit out here in the dark waiting for the world to wake up. Our beautiful weather will continue today with a current temperature of 64° and wind out of the ESE at 3 mph. Our high will reach 84° about 2 PM. The humidity is not bad and we have a slight cloud cover with a 2% chance of rain. That means I can get in a little yard work and maybe take some yard waste down to the recycle station.

I enjoy those music videos you folks post. It introduces me to some artists and song I am not familiar with. I like that. Music is important to me.

I trust all enjoy the weather and day as much as we are and your day is full of blessings.

 

[AustinTXCat]

Good morning from ATX. Currently 74ºF, cloudy and windy. Slight rain chance until 9 am. Today's high predicted around 94ºF.

Day 6 and we're feeling good so far. Yesterday, she ate 2 1/2 cans prescription dog food + 4 oz boiled chicken. Finally had a good bowel movement. Removed her harness. Gave her meds. Eating again in just a few. Slowly, but surely we're getting there.

Late congrats to Rhyne Howard, #1 pick in the WNBA draft. Phenomenal player. Go Cats!

Happy Hump Day.

Wishing happiness and health for all our fellow D-League members.

 

[Sawnee Cat]

 

[berniecarbo]

Another baseball story. One of the oddest ever from the early days of MLB. Had a far western Ky connection at the end of his life.

Rube Waddell Was The Strangest Man In Baseball - Factinate

When it comes to athletes, there’s no shortage of bizarre behavior—but none of them ever got as weird as baseball player Rube Waddell.

www.factinate.com

 

[warrior-cat]

Another baseball story. One of the oddest ever from the early days of MLB. Had a far western Ky connection at the end of his life.

Rube Waddell Was The Strangest Man In Baseball - Factinate

When it comes to athletes, there’s no shortage of bizarre behavior—but none of them ever got as weird as baseball player Rube Waddell.

www.factinate.com

He lived his life his way. Threw caution to the wind and rode it.

 

[Sawnee Cat]

We are experiencing a huge supply and services shortage down this way.

My wife's car has been disabled for 5 weeks due to the inability to get a fuel line.
I need some work on my irrigation system and that will take 8 weeks
I want to replace one of the field lines from my septic tank. How about 5 months!
We are remodeling two bathrooms and I signed a contract 6 weeks ago with the understanding they can not do the work for another 5 months. It is taking 90 days to get tile for the flooring so I made an advance payment so they could get that ordered now.

Meanwhile all of these trades are increasing in price so I locked in the cost by signing a contract. No other way to handle it, this gets my name on the list. There are several reasons for this and most important are getting supplies. When America shut down this created a huge backlog. We are experiencing unbelievable growth and that adds to the issue.

HELP

 

[AustinTXCat]

 

[HymanKaplan]

Loved that story about Rube Waddel

Reminds me of another oddball - The Bird, Mark Fidrych

 

[vhcat70]

Since we've been talking baseball, I thought this Quora article on the best outfielder arms was cool.

"In Major League Baseball history, which outfielder is generally regarded as having the best throwing arm from deep to home plate?
https://www.quora.com/In-Major-Leag...the-best-throwing-arm-from-deep-to-home-plate


In the history of Major League Baseball, outfielders with the best throwing arms include the following players. If I forgot anyone really good, please let me know in the comments and I’ll credit you.

• (#1a) Roberto Clemente aka "El Howitzer" is the modern era leader in outfield assists. Clemente, who won 12 consecutive Gold Gloves, finished his storied career with a staggering 266 assists, including 27 in 1961. And it wasn’t just that Clemente had a powerful, accurate arm. He played right field and threw with rare grace, poise and élan. Clemente would have had even more assists because he averaged 14 per 162 games his last three seasons, before dying prematurely on an overloaded plane while trying to fly material aid to Nicaraguan earthquake victims. Many baseball players are said to have done heroic things on the field, but Clemente was a hero in real life. Also, as with other players on this list, he had limited opportunities because many runners chose not to test his howitzer. You don’t tug on Superman’s cape, you don’t spit into the wind, and you don’t run on the great Roberto Clemente, if you know what’s good for you!
  
  As the immortal Vin Scully once observed: "Clemente could field the ball in New York and throw out a guy in Pennsylvania."

• (#1b) However, according to the late, great Roberto Clemente, Reggie Smith had the best outfield throwing arm. David Halbertram wrote that players on the other team would gather in their dugout to watch Smith practice throws during pre-game drills! “Spaceman” Bill Lee said in his book that Boston outfielders had a throwing competition in the early 70's to how far up the Green Monster they could reach from the first base line with a running start. Lee said Reggie Smith went last, took just one step from the dugout and threw a ball over the wall and screen!

• Dave Winfield, a hall-of-fame outfielder playing for the Yankees in 1983, was arrested for killing a seagull with a thrown ball. The cop who arrested him and fans who witnessed the event claimed that Winfield hit the bird deliberately. But Yankees manager Billy Martin questioned whether Winfield possessed the necessary accuracy: "Cruelty to animals? That's the first time he hit the cut-off man all year!"
• How’s this for American ingenuity? During WWII the US military created a grenade the size and weight of a baseball because "any young American man should be able to properly throw it."
• (#2) Ellis Valentine had a cannon. Pete Rose once equated Valentine with two other baseball phenoms: "They say that I can't throw like Ellis Valentine, or run like Tim Raines, or hit with power like Mike Schmidt. Who can?" Rose was speaking rhetorically: no one ran like Tim Raines or hit with power like Mike Schmidt or threw like Ellis Valentine. Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said: “Ellis? Oh, goodness! When I was with the Mets, no one ran on him. They just stopped because he had such a cannon. We always said, ‘Just get on the mound and pitch, Ellis.’ Ellis was awesome.”
• (#3) Louis Sockalexis was the first prominent Native American to play in the majors. He played for the Cleveland Spiders from 1897-1899 and his notoriety allegedly accounted for the naming of the Cleveland Indians: “Columns of silly poetry are written about him, [and] hideous looking cartoons adorn the sporting pages of nearly every paper,” commented Elmer Bates in Sporting Life. “He is hooted and bawled at by the thimble-brained brigade on the bleachers. Despite this handicap the red man has played good, steady ball, and has been a factor in nearly every victory thus far won by [Cleveland manager Patsy] Tebeau’s team.”
  
  
• Bill James rated another Indian as having one of the two best outfield arms of the 1940s. This one was “Indian” Bob Johnson. The other great outfield arm of the 1940s was Vince DiMaggio, according to James.
• (#4) Jesse Barfield had 20 or more assists in a season three times. He may have had the most powerful arm in MLB history. Many fans and some experts think so. But I believe Clemente and Valentine were a bit more accurate.
• Raul Mondesi was called "El Cañon" and had 112 assists in just 13 years.
• Bo Jackson knew how to throw from the warning track to home plate on a line. Jackson was a very rare athlete: able to throw a football 60 years, run 4.2 in the 40-yard dash, and bench press over 400 pounds. Was he the greatest dual-sport athlete ever?
• Rick Ankiel, a converted pitcher, had a cannon for an arm. Ankiel was an "uber-prospect" with "amazing movement on his pitches." But after a decent rookie year, he started to uncork wild pitch after wild pitch. Eventually, he had to give up pitching. However, he made a comeback as an outfielder with one of the strongest, most accurate arms in the majors. Ironically, the player who lost his accuracy as a pitcher from 60 feet 6 inches away was able to throw strikes from the outfield!
• Goose Goslin was a converted pitcher with “accuracy issues.” One might say Goose’s arm was “for the birds.” He made playing left field an adventure. When Clark Griffith scouted Goslin, one fly ball hit him in the head and another barely missed his noggin. Shades of Jose Canseco, who once headed a fly ball into the stands for the world's most unusual homer! But Goslin hit three homers that day and Griffith decided to take a chance on the young slugger. Goslin was called "Goose" due to the ungainly way he flapped his arms around while pursuing fly balls (that is, when not dodging them). His throwing arm was powerful but similarly erratic. After bringing up Goose from the minors, the Washington Senators were forced to trade for a young Joe Cronin because their starting shortstop was "exhausted" and had "begun to lose weight rapidly in the summer heat" from running around retrieving Goslin's wayward throws!
• Bob Lemon got converted “the other way.” Lemon was the opening day center fielder for the Cleveland Indians in 1946. On April 30th of that year Lemon's "daring catch" and strong throw "doubling a man off second base" helped preserve a Bob Feller no-hitter. But two future hall-of-famers, catcher Bill Dickey and shortstop/manager Lou Boudreau, took note of that strong arm and persuaded Lemon to become a pitcher. It proved to be a wise decision, since Lemon hit just .232 for his career. Two years later, in 1948, it was Lemon throwing the no-hitter. He went on to win 207 games and join Dickey and Boudreau in the Hall of Fame!
• (#5) Shoeless Joe Jackson was another converted pitcher. It was said that in his youth Jackson threw a pitch so hard it broke his catcher’s arm and he was forced to become an outfielder because no one would catch with him on the mound! Jackson averaged 30 assists for three years from 1911 to 1913. Smoky Joe Wood said Shoeless Joe could “throw from deep outfield farther than anybody I ever saw” although he said Tris Speaker was more accurate. Jackson threw a baseball 396' 9" on September 27, 1917, at Fenway Park, defeating Ty Cobb, Tris Speaker and Babe Ruth in a contest.
• Babe Ruth was also a converted pitcher. He threw out 204 runners, but didn’t even have the best arm in his own outfield …
• (#6) “Long” Bob Meusel, who played in the same outfield with Babe Ruth for the New York Yankees, had a powerful, accurate throwing arm. He averaged 23 assists per year from 1921 to 1923. That was a very odd Yankees outfield, with two of the best arms of all time flanking Earle Combs in center. Baseball historian Bill James cited Combs as having the weakest outfield arm in MLB history. Talk about feast or famine for base-runners!
• (#7) Tris Speaker is the all-time leader in outfield assists with 449. He had 35 assists in 1909, then to prove it wasn’t a fluke, he did it again in 1912.
• (#8) Carl Furillo was called the "Reading Rifle" because of his powerful, accurate throwing arm. He had 24 assists in 1951.
• (#9) Willie Mays followed up “The Catch” with “The Throw.” Mays had 195 outfield assists and would have had more but most runners chose not to test his arm.
• (#10) Ichiro Suzuki (a bit more accurate) and Vladimir Guerrero Sr. (a bit stronger arm) in a tie.
• Bill James cited three Negro Leagues players as having exceptional outfield arms: Jelly Gardner, Martin DiHigo and Cristobal Torriente. But I don’t know how to rank them against my top ten, so I’ll let readers decide for themselves.
• Conversely, some of the worst outfield arms included “Glass Arm” Eddie Brown, Earle Combs, Johnny Damon (“Looks Like Jesus, Acts Like Judas, Throws Like Mary”), Khris Davis, Sliding Billy Hamilton, John Jay, Juan Pierre, Riggs Stephenson (due to an elbow injury) and Bernie Williams. Merv Rettenmund called Don Baylor "our triple threat: hit, run, and lob." Cliff Keane said: "Don Baylor has a parachute arm. Every time he throws a ball it arcs so high it comes down with frost on it."

• Carl Yastrzemski led the league in assists seven times and finished his career with 195 assists, in a tie with Willie Mays."

 

[Bert Higginbotha]

It is a cloudy, windy 67.5°F on our way to 78° with threats of tornados. Yuk.

Hopefully it will dry out by Friday so I can mow before the grass grows much more.

You all have a good day.

 

[MdWIldcat55]

Good morning D-League.

Quite a day on the Metro (Subway) today. Running to catch a train about to close its doors, I note one car looks empty - what luck!. I jump on board and am staggered by the smell. Some hobo with a giant pile of bags and junk piled onto a large cart was sleeping, sprawled across two seats. The whole car was so rank people couldn't breathe and were giving him a wide berth.

Moving on to the next car, a guy about 30, close cropped hair and a suit, sits next to me. He's wearing a weird rubber mask instead of a paper or cloth one, that has a prominent nose bump. Watch this weirdo, I say to myself. But all is well for about ten minues. Then he starts hooting and barking. And loud. Obviously some extreme form of Tourettes or worse. Soon he is making ominous declarations: "Get Him! Get Him!. Let's Start Again! Start Again! Abort! Abort! Abort!." By now everyone in the car is looking straight ahead, trying to ignore the guy or not provoke him, but also very aware that this nut could do anything. I'm sure everyone was aware of the subway shooting in NYC yesterday.

I'm next to him, and I'm a big guy - much bigger than him. I was ready to do whatever I needed to. But he just kept barking and hooting until we got to my station.

Lots of sad and weird stuff out there.

 

[Bert Higginbotha]

A funny:

 

[berniecarbo]

Good morning D-League.

Quite a day on the Metro (Subway) today. Running to catch a train about to close its doors, I note one car looks empty - what luck!. I jump on board and am staggered by the smell. Some hobo with a giant pile of bags and junk piled onto a large cart was sleeping, sprawled across two seats. The whole car was so rank people couldn't breathe and were giving him a wide berth.

Moving on to the next car, a guy about 30, close cropped hair and a suit, sits next to me. He's wearing a weird rubber mask instead of a paper or cloth one, that has a prominent nose bump. Watch this weirdo, I say to myself. But all is well for about ten minues. Then he starts hooting and barking. And loud. Obviously some extreme form of Tourettes or worse. Soon he is making ominous declarations: "Get Him! Get Him!. Let's Start Again! Start Again! Abort! Abort! Abort!." By now everyone in the car is looking straight ahead, trying to ignore the guy or not provoke him, but also very aware that this nut could do anything. I'm sure everyone was aware of the subway shooting in NYC yesterday.

I'm next to him, and I'm a big guy - much bigger than him. I was ready to do whatever I needed to. But he just kept barking and hooting until we got to my station.

Lots of sad and weird stuff out there.

My business is basically next door to a nursing home. Most of the folks there have some mental issues (some worse than others). Until the county greatly enlarged the drainage ditch by the road between us, occasionally one of them would just wander in like they owned the place. They don't seem to watch them closely. One was found 20 miles away a couple of years ago and pulled a knife on law enforcement when they tried to bring him back. Another froze to death one winter in a field nearby. Another one offered me 20 bucks to drive him to Paducah one time (I said no).

 

[bertfan31]

Good morning! Listening to the Jones show and drinking my first pint of coffee. Looked out the kitchen window while I was making coffee to admire my mowing job and the Sun was shining bright. That didn't last long.

I'm under a wind advisory at the moment but the wind is calm. They must have been advising the wind wasn't going to blow. I can handle surprises like that without warning.

 

[MdWIldcat55]

My business is basically next door to a nursing home. Most of the folks there have some mental issues (some worse than others). Until the county greatly enlarged the drainage ditch by the road between us, occasionally one of them would just wander in like they owned the place. They don't seem to watch them closely. One was found 20 miles away a couple of years ago and pulled a knife on law enforcement when they tried to bring him back. Another froze to death one winter in a field nearby. Another one offered me 20 bucks to drive him to Paducah one time (I said no).

There are definitely significant numbers of people who don't fit in, and are never going to.

The part of downtown DC where I work is really nice - just off Pennsylvania Avenue about halfway between the White House and the Capitol. Lots of decent restaurants, museums, galleries, etc.

But a few blocks up is the massive homeless shelter the city opened about 35 years ago after a long battle with homeless advocate Mitch Snyder (his battle became a Martin Sheen movie, etc.) So now, lots of homeless folks, many with mental issues and, or deep substance abuse problems, wander down our way because there is enough tourist traffic that well-meaning people keep them supplied with money for booze or pills.

I certainly have sympathy for the situation some people find themselves in, and help some of the regulars who I've seen actually using the money to buy food. And I don't have any solution.

 

[_Rooster]

Lots of sad and weird stuff out there.

The stuff is exacerbated by an inability to discern fact from fantasy, creating mental confusion. So as most mammals, frightened apes will follow the leader. If leaders don't know, they are conditioned to fake it. In a chaotic stampede of ignorance, many innocent are being swept off the cliff.
I see folks walking down the street waving their arms wildly and talking to voices in their head. Saw it as a kid. Sometimes intoxicated but not always. Like the gentleman on the subway, people haven't changed. When seeing this disfunction my Mammaw would murmur. "He (or she) ain't right". Both compassion and caution required for society to heal seems to be in short supply these days.​

 

[awf]

I was at a Roses store when the fire broke out a Family Fair.......before the fire dept got there people were riding bicycles out the front door and carrying everything that could be carried.....every place I lived as a kid was along or near to Cane Run Rd..........I put a lot of miles walking that road........I worked at a Kentucky Fried Chicken just a couple of blocks north of this picture..........prior to the KFC opening there was a Probus Liqour/Restruant that had the best fried chicken in town right up the street on the left.

 

[awf]

Slot cars are pretty damn fun, with upgraded equipment (tuned cars, variable power supply, track wired for braking, digital lap timing system, beefed up controllers with 90 ohm resistors etc. )

It's nothing like the toys we had as kids. (cars flying off everywhere, two speeds: dead stop and full out etc.)

Beautiful routed track with a tuned car from Viper Scale

View embedded media

When Bass Pro opened they had a black Friday promo for a racing set with two cars and 128 ft of track.......having six young grandsons at the time it was easier to have multiple tracks.....when they come to Camp Paw they spend hours with the racing set......since the twins are going to be 10 this year they are going to take it home.......by the time the great grand children get oldget old enough to play with it I will not be able to bend over to help them put it together.............

 

[_Rooster]

I was at a Roses store when the fire broke out a Family Fair.......before the fire dept got there people were riding bicycles out the front door and carrying everything that could be carried.....every place I lived as a kid was along or near to Cane Run Rd..........I put a lot of miles walking that road........I worked at a Kentucky Fried Chicken just a couple of blocks north of this picture..........prior to the KFC opening there was a Probus Liqour/Restruant that had the best fried chicken in town right up the street on the left.

Probus sold draft by the quart to go. It was on the right traveling south from Wilson across Algonquin. Closer than 18th/Dixie Highway. I remember other catastrophes too. Mike Linnig's burning down, DuPont in Rubbertown blowing up.​

 

[UK_fan_41102]

Speaking of baseball, the Reds team president and the son of the owner made some comments yesterday that didn't go over so we'll.

Castellini apologizes to fans: 'I understand how our fans feel and I'm sorry'

In an interview Tuesday, Reds president Phil Castellini told fans to 'be careful what you ask for' when calling for ownership changes.

www.wcpo.com

 

[UK_fan_41102]

Mine too! Close behind along with The Incredible Mr. Limpet is....

Another Don Knott's movie that I enjoyed...

 

[bertfan31]

DuPont in Rubbertown blowing up.​

I remember that well. We lived next to Iroquois golf course and I felt the ground shake prior to hearing the first explosion. I had time to ask my friends if they felt that. There were several more that followed, each just as loud as the last.

If environmentalists of today were old enough to remember how dirty Louisville was in those days, they might say "hey, this is pretty good".

Speaking of baseball, the Reds team president and the son of the owner made some comments yesterday that didn't go over so we'll.

Castellini apologizes to fans: 'I understand how our fans feel and I'm sorry'

In an interview Tuesday, Reds president Phil Castellini told fans to 'be careful what you ask for' when calling for ownership changes.

www.wcpo.com

He should know better than to tell the truth in todays social environment. Lies are much more palatable to the masses.

 

[AustinTXCat]

Insert evil laugh. Go Cats!

 

[_Rooster]

Speaking of baseball, the Reds team president and the son of the owner made some comments yesterday that didn't go over so we'll.

Castellini apologizes to fans: 'I understand how our fans feel and I'm sorry'

In an interview Tuesday, Reds president Phil Castellini told fans to 'be careful what you ask for' when calling for ownership changes.

www.wcpo.com

I remember that well. We lived next to Iroquois golf course and I felt the ground shake prior to hearing the first explosion. I had time to ask my friends if they felt that. There were several more that followed, each just as loud as the last.

If environmentalists of today were old enough to remember how dirty Louisville was in those days, they might say "hey, this is pretty good".

He should know better than to tell the truth in todays social environment. Lies are much more palatable to the masses.

1. We ran outside and could see the smoke plumes.
2. The river is cleaner and not by accident. The streets not safer or cleaner because of denial. The cost for the neglect will be some 20-40 years.
3. With economy and ecology being essentially the same word, mono-culture simplicity creates conditions susceptible to plagues and loss of adaptability needed for developement/maintenance of sustainable systems. The incompetency just boggles my mind and for me incomprehensible. It really is like the "Acid Heads" of 1970 San Francisco have been put in charge. I write that because it's the last time I can even recall hearing such insanity.

 

[warrior-cat]

Speaking of baseball, the Reds team president and the son of the owner made some comments yesterday that didn't go over so we'll.

Castellini apologizes to fans: 'I understand how our fans feel and I'm sorry'

In an interview Tuesday, Reds president Phil Castellini told fans to 'be careful what you ask for' when calling for ownership changes.

www.wcpo.com

Speaking of the Reds, I am watching right now and they are behind Cleveland 6-0 in the 5th. Lost to Cleveland yesterday 10-5.

Edited: Meant to comment also on the amount of fans there today. It looked so sparce that there was probably about 10% or less in the seats.

 

[berniecarbo]

I posted a couple of weeks ago about a friend and former employee who the docs recently gave 5 to 6 months. He barely made it two weeks. He was a good man.