New (to me) Baseball Books

On Saturday I took my daughter Caroline on a Daddy Date Day. We went to the Beck Cultural Exchange Center where I was able to get a nice photo of 'Steel Arm' Dickey. I've already passed the image over to Gary Ashwill at agate type.

'Steel Arm' Dickey

Then we went to Central Street Books, a nice used bookstore in Knoxville. They are closing and the proprietor has slashed prices. Unfortunately the baseball books are gone.

A quick bite to eat at Burger King, Caroline's favorite fast food joint, and then to another used bookstore in town, McKay Used Books.  Success.  I was able to snag both of these fine specimens for just $1.50 each.

Voices From Cooperstown

Banana Bats and Ding-Dong Balls

Caroline surveying thousands of books.

Contents of the bag?  One chocolate iced glazed donut.

We lazily drove home, winding our way through some of the more upscale parts of Knoxville.  It was a good day.

Guest Blogger - My Dad

David, of TribeCards.net, broke open a bunch of wax this summer. I lost count after about 50 packs. I think that he made it to 182. Not only was it fun to see the cards from sets I've never heard of, he was giving them away. I asked for the Diamondbacks, the Expos and some Hershiser. I don't collect the Diamondbacks or the Expos, but my father does.

I begged David to send our 'winnings' this week so that my dad and I could open them. He's in from Arizona, hence the D-backs. The Expos? He was raised just south of Montreal, on the US side of the border. Hometown team and all that.

I asked my Dad to select his three favorite cards from the stack that David sent. Then he had to write about them. He doesn't listen and picked four.

So, in alphabetical order, I present you my Dad's Top Four Cards from the Arkansas pack buster.


Moises Alou 
Tradition (father, two uncles and a cousin) kept the game going for this family. That, plus having your father as your team manager would keep you sharp. The picture is one of confidence and that was borne out with commendable numbers for BA, HR, and RBI areas.

1996 Leaf
Moises Alou (card # 182)

Miguel Montero
This relatively casual photo is a deception. He's ready for whatever the day brings. He'll call a no-hitter as quickly as he'll snuff out your hopes for getting to second base. His .286 BA this year should go up by at least a few points this next season.

2006 Topps
Miguel Montero (card # 273)

Tim Raines
The picture captures the idea of energy, and Tim used his energy on offense and defense. He was high in assists and double-plays while on the field, and a thief of high regard while a runner.

1986 Donruss All-Stars
Tim Raines (card # 20)

Brandon Webb 
In the middle of things, as this picture notes, he held a 3.54 ERA in a season (2004) when the team won only 51 games, and then won the Cy Young award two years later. Shoulder injuries have kept the spotlight off him, though there seemed great potential.

2008 Topps - Own The Game
Brandon Webb (card # OTG23)

There you go.  A bit of insight from my old man.  Thanks, David, for the cards.  Thanks, Dad, for the commentary.

Football Night in Tennessee

Last Friday night was the home opener for The King's Academy High School football team.

My boy? #51. Edison plays center and defensive line.

A bit of holding, perhaps?

They lost to Cosby, 41-14.  Tonight they play Tri-Cities.  Local sports guys are split on who will win.  Edison thinks that TKA will.  I'll go with my boy.

He's one of the captains of the team this year.  He says, "Dad, I'm one of four seniors.  We're all captains and I'll be a captain all year long."  I'm still proud of him.  His play is tough and his encouragement, both on and off the field, is one of kindness and help.  He's at every practice when he's in town and would be in on every play if the coaches would let him.  He's out there most of the time, except when he needs a breather.

This is what I'll be doing on Friday nights this semester.  And I wouldn't want it any other way.

images courtesy of my sister-in-law, Lori Higgins

Pat McGlothin at Smokies Park

Tuesday evening the Tennessee Smokies hosted the Pensacola Blue Wahoos.  The Smokies also honored Pat McGlothin.  Pat pitched for the Dodgers in 1949 and 1950.  His only catcher was Roy Campanella.  He was a team mate of  Pee Wee Reese, Duke Snider, and Jackie Robinson.  He faced Ted Williams seven times in one wartime military game, striking him out five times.  Ted never got got a hit.  Pat threw three no-hitters in his professional career.  He also managed the Smokies in 1954.  And he's a nice guy.

A few months ago several members of the East Tennessee SABR Chapter had lunch with Pat and interviewed him.  We wanted to support Pat so we met up at the ball park.

Ed and his son Will joined Diamond and Slugger, the Smokies' mascots.  Ed is a world class magician, focusing on close-up magic.  He recently won second place in the International Brotherhood of Magician's Gold Cups Close-up Contest.  He also has a fantastic collection of Negro League memorabilia.

Will Ripley, Diamond, Slugger, Ed Ripley

Joe Gallagher, sporting the Manhattan cap, was involved in the Mets broadcasting for many years.  George Aubrey, sporting the Moxie cap, is my father.  He is a SABR member, but resides in Arizona.

Joe Gallagher, Diamond, Slugger, George Aubrey

George watching Pat sign

Pat signed for about an hour and a half.  He was very gracious with his time, posing for photos, listening to people tell their stories, laughing along with them.

Ezra "Pat" McGlothin

Before the game started Adam Kline, the Smokies Director of Media Relations, gave us a tour of the press box where we met Mick Gillispie, Director of Broadcasting.  Both great baseball guys.  Thanks.
I'm not a fan of the Blue Wahoo's uniform numbers.

In the fourth inning, the sky started to turn dark and the temperature dropped about 10 degrees.  My dad and I decided it was best to leave.  They pulled the tarp out not long after we hit the concourse.

We actually made it out to the parking lot when I decided to call my dad back inside for a "put your head in the hole" photo.

I made arrangements to get another interview with Pat.  All in all a good night.

Heart 2 Heart

Monday evening I went to Smokies Park to watch them play the Jackson Generals. It was an event for the Heart 2 Heart group, sponsored by Knoxville Pediatric Cardiology.  KPC is where Caroline goes to see Dr. Jennings, who hosted the event.

The game on Sunday got rained out, so they had a double header on Monday.  Seven inning games.  The event wasn't until 6:30pm so Caroline and I listened to the first game.  The Smokies exploded for a 15-4 win.

We made the scoreboard

View from Pinetree Porch

Slugger, Caroline, and Diamond

Caroline and GM Brian Cox

Since it was a school night we left before the second game was over.  The Smokies dropped that game by a score of 3-1.  I did get to see Eric Campbell of the Generals smack a Home Run.  I got to meet Eric last year.  I always want to see the Smokies win, but when a good friend of a good friend smacks a dinger, "Happy, happy, happy" as Phil from Duck Dynasty says.

Again this season I was able to meet with newly married Adam Kline, Media Director for the Smokies. He hooked me up with a media pass.  In about a month, the Smokies are hosting the 2012 Southern League All-Star Game.  I'm planning on being there.

Another good night at the ball park.  Thanks, Jeff, Marianne, Brian, and Adam.  And to Caroline who said that the best thing that night was "baseball."

Better than cards

Yesterday was my daughter's eighth birthday. It was a full weekend. My brother and sister-in-law came down from Ohio to help celebrate.

One of the things that Caroline said that she wanted for her birthday was a bat and ball. We get to see Grandma pitching to her.

On Saturday the Down Syndrome Awareness Group of East Tennessee had their annual Day at the Zoo.   The Knoxville Zoo is nice.  Of the many critters that they host, this one caught my eye.

Which ties in very nicely to Night Owl's "The Best Glasses On Baseball Cards. Period" countdown.

The only thing card related I did this weekend was to show my brother some of my card binders.  It was nice to actually look at the cards.

But Caroline's birthday was much better than cards.

For The Good Of All, Do Not Destroy The Birds

I took the day off of work on Wednesday. My dad and I went to downtown Knoxville to the Calvin M. McClung Historical Collection to do some research. He was interested in family history and I tore into a microfilm from the summer of 1921, doing some research on the local black team, the Knoxville Giants. We were both successful.

After a few hours of research we left to visit a new old bookstore. Central Street Books was formerly The Book Eddy. They have a nice selection of sports books, but I didn't buy any. I did find a book in the humor section for my dad. the lives and time of archy & mehitabel by Don Marquis.  It wasn't the title that caught my eye, but the dust jacket.  Below is the scan of the front of it.  Was it a German commentary on the Psalms?  Don't really know.  I don't read German.

There was a note that the dust jacket was from 1733.   We asked the clerk at the counter.  He said that they had received a three volume set that had very poor binding.  It wasn't worth it for them to have the books rebound, so they removed the pages and used them for various things around the shop.  This page ended up as a dust jacket.  They were selling the prints from the book individually.

There was a wooden bowl near the register that had some small (approx. 1-1/2" x 2-1/4") advertising cards of some sort.  I picked up three that caught my eye.  Normally I scan cards at 300 dpi and reduce them down to 150 dpi to show on this blog.  It keeps the images big enough not to strain the eyeball, but small enough in size that the page loads efficiently.

150 dpi

I liked these so much that I kept them at 300 dpi.  After getting home and looking at them I did a quick search on the web.

Jefferson Burdick designated them as "J7".  John Hodge designated them as "AH2211".   T.K. Treadwell designated them as "G".   The were issued in in several series, with a cornucopia of variations.  (See what I did there?  Happy Thanksgiving.)  I found most of my information on these cards at Joe Lill's Soda Cards page.

After Dad paid for his books (and my cards) I noticed a stack of loose sheets on the counter.  The clerk described them as pages from a 1716 edition of The Book of Common Prayer.  We looked through the stack and found the corresponding Psalm, 68, verse 24.  He bought that one, too.

The price on all these? $7.50 for the archy & mehitabel.  25 cents each for the bird cards.  A dollar for the Book of Common Prayer page.

We then went to Five Guys Burgers and on to another used bookstore.  I didn't buy any sports books there, either.

The German language dust jacket has that glassine cover over the dust jacket.  I didn't remove it to scan the jacket.  It is presented at 150 dpi.  Click on it for a larger image.  The Book of Common Prayer image is presented at 150 dpi.  Click on it for a larger image.

October is Down Syndrome Awareness Month

Since October of 1981, the Down syndrome community has been celebrating Down Syndrome Awareness Month.

The National Down Syndrome Society has issued a press release.  I share a part of it here:

This October, the National Down Syndrome Society (NDSS) invites the country to celebrate Down Syndrome Awareness Month in recognition of the many achievements and abilities of people with Down syndrome. 

Down syndrome is the most commonly occurring genetic condition, one in every 733 live births is a baby born with Down syndrome, and it is the most commonly occurring chromosomal condition. Advancements in education, research and advocacy have had a tremendous impact on the opportunities that individuals with Down syndrome have to live healthy and fulfilling lives. People with Down syndrome attend school, work, participate in decisions that affect them, and contribute to society in many wonderful ways.

I wrote a post last year about this time.  Similar post this time, with updated photos.

First day of school

Caroline is my daughter. She has Down syndrome. She's seven years old. She's in first grade and loves to read.  Last week she got a 111 on her written spelling test.  She knew all the words.  She got bonus points for using capitalization and punctuation correctly.

She's got a great sense of humor and loves to play pranks.  She's involved in the children's choir at church.  They're getting ready for their Christmas program.

She wants to play in the annual Hoops for Hope fundraiser for DSAG, but she's still too young.  This year, Pat Summit was able to attend part of the festivities, along with the Vols and Lady Vols basketball teams.

2011 Hoops for Hope

Yes, Greg, I included this shot for you.

Caroline as the Night Owl at the Knoxville Zoo

Caroline at a Smokies game

Caroline's best buddy, Grandma.  This was on the Fourth of July holiday.

Grandma and Caroline on Lake Loudon

Caroline at Emily's wedding

She's a normal kid.  Except that she has three copies of the 21st chromosome. On Sunday my family will be walking on her behalf at the Buddy Walk sponsored by the Down Syndrome Awareness Group of East Tennessee.

This is where I go all selfish dad-like. If you'd like to be a part of Caroline's team, please visit her pledge page.

I haven't had to climb up on my respect soapbox lately.  For that, I deeply thank you.

21

Because today is my wedding anniversary, I'm making this very short.  Thank you, Angie, for 21 wonderful years.

image lifted from this ebay auction

We're going to try to get out today for a bit of shopping, a nice dinner and get back home in time to watch the Vols play the Tar Heels in the Music City Bowl.

Yeah, that's how we celebrate.

Spanhie says, "Happy Anniversary" as well.