[I happily interrupt this Hot Stove post to celebrate two big stories from Kansas City baseball. Yesterday morning, the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum received a check for one million dollars from the Major League Players Association and Major League Baseball. Go NLBM! In the afternoon, Salvy Perez hit a grand slam to knock out Boston and lead the Royals to their fourth straight series win. Go Royals!]
I’ll start with last night. I had dinner with my Hot Stove editor. It was our 36th anniversary. Moose hit a walk-off homer. Scooter Gennett of the Reds hit 4 home runs. Scooter who? Tonight: Will the Warriors continue their perfect playoff run?
As a teenager, I devoured newspaper articles about sports and even read some books. But I was probably in my 20’s before I realized that sportswriting could also be literature, especially in the realm of storytelling. Frank Deford was a major part of that discovery.
Christian Colon was designated for assignment by the Royals and has been claimed on waivers by the Miami Marlins. But he will not be forgotten in Kansas City.
Christian Colon – Part 1: I will miss Christian Colon. He provided two of the most dramatic moments in Royals history and arguably has the most unique statistical record in post-season play. From Baseball Reference:
I feel I must say something about the Royals. Then I will move on to some good news, a statue for umpire Bob Motley.
How About Those Royals? Lost in the box scores and division standings are some records and potential milestones that you may not have noticed. As of this writing:
Events have again caused a break in my normal Hot Stove posting. There is a baseball twist, but this post is mostly about how sometimes you just get lucky.
Wild About Harry Dinner: When I got the “save the date” card in the mail, I knew I had to be there. The Truman Library Institute was having its annual “Wild About Harry” dinner on April 20, and the theme was the Truman civil rights legacy. One of the honorees was Congressman John Lewis and the keynote speaker was Calvin Trillin. I had personal reasons to see both of them.
As we enjoy the return of Veep and Fargo and patiently await the Royals batters…
The Wall Street Journal may seem like an unlikely source of baseball nostalgia and trivia, but here are some items that caught my eye and the eyes of some Hot Stove readers the past few months.
When I was in grade school, my hometown team was the Kansas City Blues, the top farm team of the Yankees. In high school, my loyalty switched to the Kansas City A’s who had moved from Philadelphia in 1955. I still remember two special players who were on both the Blues and the A’s. One was Vic Power, a great first baseman with a good bat. The other was Bob Cerv who died last week at the age of 91.
Spring Training 2017: Rita and I were in Phoenix recently and caught a Royals game in Scottsdale against Colorado. The Rockies share their spring training facilities with the Arizona Diamondbacks at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick. The stadium is on Native American land developed by the Pima and Maricopa tribes who also operate a casino and resort nearby. The stadium is very nice and for the last two years has been voted the top Cactus League ballpark by readers of website Spring Training Online. The Royals/Rangers ballpark in Surprise made the final four in the bracketed vote, barely missing the final round.
Rita and I were in Phoenix last week to visit friends of long standing, Larry and Diana Brewer. Di has been my friend since before high school and Larry was my Sigma Nu fraternity brother at college. I introduced them and most of the time they thank me. Di and I also had lunch with fellow 1959 Van Horn grad Jan Clemens, another Arizona transplant from KC. Long ago, I danced at teen-town with Di and Jan. To Chuck Berry. When those songs were originally released. This past weekend, Chuck Berry died at the age of 90. So I just have to take a break from baseball posting and talk about Chuck. I’ll be back soon to talk about the Royals free agents and TV money in baseball.