Hooters Karli Swims With The Bahamas Pigs, The A's Pick Their Stadium Design & Clay Receives Literal Hate Mail
It's Memorial Day Weekend Saturday morning which means I need to get moving so let's get after it
• Mike W. in ABQ wants to talk travel ball and the art of building a program and the players finding next-level success:
I wanted to tell you that I am enjoying the baseball stories you are sharing in your screencaps. They bring back some great memories for me coaching my son on a variety of travel teams starting at that age.
It was 22 years ago that we got tired of Little League rules and limited season length and tried to put a 10U team together for Max and some other turned on baseball kids but there weren’t enough teams for a league that year at the one private facility with a league in Albuquerque.
We settled for putting a 12U team together the following year, taking some lumps against the older kids but really getting better as ball players, playing the game the way it should be played. The facility was a 4 field complex set up for adult softball Monday thru Saturday and then they put in dirt mounds on Sunday and the age group teams played two time-limited games, sometimes back to back or spread out through the day.
We took the kids to AABC, and Triple Crown tournaments out of town, played teams from Texas, Arizona, Colorado and all over New Mexico and became great friends with the families of most of the players on our teams.
Once the boys got to High School age most of the players joined teams affiliated with a local baseball academy and I was relegated to an off-weekend BP pitcher but the travel baseball experience continued thru HS. It was kind of cutting edge back then – especially for New Mexico.
The experience was invaluable as most all of the kids who stuck with it ended up playing college ball or in my son’s case, being a 2nd round draft pick out of high school and playing pro ball for 6 years. A couple of his teammates were drafted out of college and one made the show and is the Rangers catcher, Mitch Garver.
Mitch is the son of fellow TNMLer Jerry Garver. The Astros’ Alex Bregman was a few years younger and came out of the same Albuquerque club ball program. Keep it fun out there and you will have stories to tell forever.
Kinsey:
Mike's not lying. I have an email from Jerry and there are two guys wearing TNML shirts.
I'll say this, I really enjoy a travel ball email that's just cool, calm and collected without going into full defense mode. Mike W. had a great time, his son found success on the field and now they have stories to tell while mowing on Thursdays. I love it.
• Brandon C. in Pinckney, MI writes:
1) House ball tales-- our game on Thursday night (9U boys + coach pitch) had one of those events that is better than any Travel Ball Ultimate Select Tournament knock-out game mercy rule win.. one of the first year players on our team, who still has a hard time remembering he can't stand on top of home plate when he goes up to bat, and spends most of his time on defense swatting at gnats with his hat was up to bat yesterday.
Year-long stats up that point, 0-7, 7 strikeouts, 21 pitches seen. Swing is like a lumberjack trying to decapitate midget zombies. He goes to 0 & 2 in the count after striking out on three pitches in his first at bat. Then he gets a foul ball. Still 0-2 count, but he made contact finally. Then on the next pitch, HE HITS A HARD GROUNDBALL TO THIRD BASE. Legit hard hit. He realized he hit the ball, stands there to watch it for a minute, then realizes he has to run to first base. Not the most graceful runner, but he starts motoring down the line with a look of absolute terror on his face (I was the 1st base coach last night- perfect view of this unfolding).
Don't mind the fact the 3B who tried to field the ball was a 7-year-old and was NEVER going to throw him out from across the diamond. My hitter gets to first base, turns around to see where the ball is, realizes he got his first hit EVER (maybe his first athletic success in his life), and goes from absolute terror to the happiest a kid has ever been in his life.
Now I have to coach him to run the bases and all he wants to do is look at me and tell me this is the greatest thing he's ever done. Inning ends and he lumbers back into the dugout. Two innings pass and he comes up again. I figure we're in for another 0-7 streak, but NO! Third pitch he hits another log-chopping bouncing grounder that gets past the SS and he now has his second hit of the season. Ultimate glee and his teammates are going NUTS.
Even better we get two more hits and he gets to cross home plate for the first time. He touches home and starts walking to the dugout, looks at me and says "Wait, coach. COACH! Did I just get a point? Does that count?" I'm like yessir. He JUMPS IN THE AIR DOUBLE FIST PUMP AND YELLS "YEEAAAHHH" like a Democrat Presidential candidate at an early primary after party. This is what I keep coaching for-- moments like that.
Side Dad Ball note-- my son is one of the older kids in the league this year, and after having a rough year last year (probably a .120 average or lower) and almost deciding not to play this season, he's off to a great start.
Veteran leader on the team (keeps those 8 yr olds in line in the dugout and on the field), our #1 catcher (he loves putting on the tools of ignorance, like his old man), and last night was 3-3 with a 2-run RBI double in the first to break open the scoring and two runs scored later on. He's not the athlete in the family (that's my oldest daughter the hockey and softball player), but he wants to try so hard to do good in the sports he plays, probably because he senses it's a connection he and I can have.
He'll probably never play high school ball, but if he has fun playing for his dad on the local house team, I'll keep coaching him as long as I can.
2) Urinals-- reminded me the item with the fourth most bids in the old Tiger Stadium item auction from back in the 90's when Detroit replaced Navin Field/Briggs Stadium/Tiger Stadium with Comerica Park was the Home Team Dugout Trough. Yep, if you were the lucky winner, you too could take a leak in the same porcelain tub that Cecil Fielder, Alan Trammell, Kirk Gibson, Willie Hernandez, Sparky Anderson, Al Kaline, Hal Newhouser, Charlie Gehringer, Ty Cobb (probably an exaggeration on the last two) and countless other legends of Michigan and Trumbull used in between at-bats.
My wife expressly prohibited me from even thinking about bidding on that (even though I had it all planned out where and how I would put it in the house). Now 15 years later or so, I did put a bid on an old peeing trough from Joe Louis Arena, but it wasn't a locker room variety, and it wasn't even close in cost to the Tiger Stadium one.
3) Stroopwaffles-- let it rest over the top of your coffee mug for about 2-3 minutes in the morning. The crust gets warm and the goo inside starts to melt just a little bit. But not too long! The waffles will eventually get too soggy from all the steam and lose structural integrity. You'll have a Stroop-Edmund Fitzgerald incident in no time.
Memorial Day
• Bo in Michigan writes:
Joe, thanks for herding the unstoppable force that is the Caps Community. It’s remained a beacon in a sea of BS, and it’s great to see so many like-minded Americans getting after it.
Memorial Day weekend is the most awesome holiday in America. Not only do we get to kick off summer, but we get to honor those that gave their lives for this great country. It’s not for all Vets (see 11 Nov), but for those that have given the ultimate sacrifice.
It’s a time fraught with memories for some of us, and I choose to honor some good friends by celebrating and reflecting on their sacrifice. It’s not a time to mourn but a time to celebrate great lives lived.
So for those of you inclined, raise a toast with that cold PBR or Yuengling this weekend to the true heroes of this nation. I know Brad C., Kelly H., and Steve G. will be looking down expecting my best effort on the grill and garage fridge. They will get nothing less. All three were exceptional Green Berets. RIP and DOL brothers.
God Bless America.
• Mild Bill in Va. writes:
I just wanted to remind everyone to take a minute to reflect on this Memorial Day. Be thankful for all of the men and women who gave their lives to ensure our freedom in this still great country.
I am including a few pictures from the National Museum of the Marine Corps at Quantico Va.
This is an incredible museum that anyone interested in American or Military history would really appreciate.
It covers the founding of the Corps up to present day. Lots of interactive exhibits and thousands of displays. There is no admission fee and is only closed on Christmas Day.
Anyways, my favorite display is the second Mt. Suribachi flag. The one made famous by the Joe Rosenthal photo. It is a testament to the men who fought on Iwo Jima and all the other islands in the Pacific. They and the flag took a beating, but prevailed in the end.
I wish that flag could talk. Imagine the stories of heroism it could tell.
If you are on I 95 in Va and pass exit 150 you can see the museum. Stop and check it out.
'Gotta represent the league'
Friday, I sent Candler a message about his shirt choice at Thursday night's Braves game. I mean, it's awesome to see a league member wearing the most comfortable shirt on the t-shirt market, but it's also a Braves game.
• Candler writes:
Both my kids asked me “why don’t you just wear a Braves shirt?” Gotta represent the league!
Baseball purity
• Patrick C. from here in Perrysburg, OH writes:
I call myself a baseball purist, but open-minded just the same. I think the pitch clock has made watching the baseball much more enjoyable and reminiscent of how the pace of the game used to be played. I’m opposed to instant replay but can understand the importance of getting the call right.
However, when you tamper with one of the most iconic uniforms in all of sports, that’s where I draw the line. It was bad enough when baseball got in bed with Nike and the “swoosh” is now on the front of every major league baseball uniform. But when corporate logos like “Meijer” appear on the Detroit Tigers uniform you’re basically looking like a jersey give-away day at the ballpark.
Please make it stop!!
That's it this morning. The kids are ready for breakfast and I want to get out and check on the plants to see how they're doing this morning. It's time to stop looking at a computer for the weekend. Golf is on the schedule tomorrow along with some more plants and probably another rock purchase.
It never stops around here. We just keep moving.
Have a great weekend from coast-to-coast. Enjoy those campfires -- I built a rager last night -- and those BBQs while we never forget those who made the ultimate sacrifice for this country we call home.
Take care.
Email: joekinsey@gmail.com