Author: Lonnie Shalton

Hot Stove #79 – Umpires in the Postseason – Don Denkinger and Randy Marsh – Tim Sear’s Rant

cid:image019.jpg@01D42A48.43852C40
~ Lonnie Shalton ~ 2 Comments

I am bringing in a guest writer for part of this post – my long-time law partner Tim Sear. Tim was raised in Dubuque, Iowa, and the town once had a Pittsburgh Pirates minor league team. Tim’s family made annual trips to see the Pirates play the Cubs in Chicago. Tim’s hero, to this day, is Roberto Clemente. Tim often calls me to complain if he thinks I have missed some opportunity to inject Roberto into a Hot Stove post. “Obsessive” is as kind as I know how to say it.

Continue reading →

Hot Stove #78 – Back in the U.S.S.R. – Seeking My Roots

cid:image059.jpg@01D4233E.0C049B40
~ Lonnie Shalton

Rita and I have just returned from Eastern Europe. The primary purpose of our journey was to visit the homeland of my grandparents – to breathe the air of my ancestors. My fraternal grandparents (Shalton, as Americanized) were from a village near Vilnius, Lithuania, and my maternal grandparents (Lukomski) were from a village near Lviv, Ukraine. They came to the states in 1907 and 1911. They didn’t speak English and had no money or special skills. Just dreamers with a willingness to work hard and become patriotic Americans. They are my heroes.

Continue reading →

Hot Stove #77 – The Great Midwest Atlanta Baseball Stadium Tour

cid:image010.jpg@01D40C9C.6252EBE0
~ Lonnie Shalton

[Hot Stove Sabbatical Note – Rita and I will be in Eastern Europe for the first half of July (Riga, Vilnius, Warsaw, Krakow and Lviv). So it may be August before a new Hot Stove hits your inbox.]

 

For the third season in a row, Rita and I signed on for a week-long bus tour of major league baseball stadiums. In 2016, we saw five stadiums on the East Coast and last year another five in California. This year, we added four in the Midwest and Atlanta. All three trips have been with Triple Crown Travel – they take care of the hotels, tickets, bus, etc. All you have to do is show up with your suitcase, and trip leader Darren Zinser takes care of the rest.

Continue reading →

Hot Stove #75 – Bill Shapiro and Cyprus Avenue – 40 Years of Rock ‘n’ Roll

http://mediad.publicbroadcasting.net/p/kcur/files/styles/large/public/201309/billshapiro.jpg
~ Lonnie Shalton ~ 1 Comment

My thanks to those Hot Stove readers who got through my three (long) installments on baseball collusion. Despite the best efforts of my editor/wife Rita, I still often drift to posts that fit the dreaded TLDR designation. I had not heard of that term until last week when Hollis Hanover filled me in. It is internet shorthand for “Too Long. Didn’t Read.”

 

So I’m going to make a change. This long post will be about rock ‘n’ roll.

Continue reading →

Hot Stove #74 – Collusion (Baseball not Russia) – Part Three

Image result for steve fehr david cone
~ Lonnie Shalton

I thought my collusion topic would be good for one post. But I kept getting intrigued by side stories. Oliver Wendell Holmes. Curt Flood. Catfish Hunter. Kirk Gibson. Andre Dawson. All those commissioners. Marvin Miller. The Brothers Fehr. Others who you will see below. So it has taken three posts. I don’t know what the next post will be about, but it won’t be this. Perhaps the Royals will surge.

Continue reading →

Hot Stove #73 – Collusion (Baseball not Russia) – Part Two

Picture of Kirk Gibson of The Tigers
~ Lonnie Shalton

As we left Part One, the players had won free agency status in the Messersmith case, leading to the owners and players entering into a collective bargaining agreement (CBA). One of the key CBA provisions required that free agency be an individual right so that players could not band together for leverage (as Don Drysdale and Sandy Koufax had done in their joint holdout in 1966). The owners were likewise to act independently – that is, they were prohibited from colluding to hold down salaries.

Continue reading →