Category: Sports

The Baseball Hall of Fame opened on 6/12/39

I have been to the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown twice – in 1965 and in 1988. If you take children, I recommend waiting until they are old enough that the Hall has memorabilia and plaques for players they remember. In 1965, Ted Williams wasn’t even in the Hall. I had never seen any of these guys play. I enjoyed it much more in 1988.

Is this one colorized?

Cal Ripken, Jr. in high school (from Ghosts of Baltimore tweet)

I admit I just assumed that Ripken was drafted high because he was the coach’s son. I didn’t take his prospects seriously until I was on an Amtrak train and found a discarded Boston newspaper sports section. It had an article raving about Ripken who was then at AA.

The second Ali – Liston fight 5/25/64

Forbes Field photos on Twitter

I never saw a game at Forbes Field. It was located near my University of Pittsburgh dormitory and we watched it being torn down when I was a freshman. It’s the site of the Pitt Law School now. They kept part of the outfield wall where Bill Mazeroski’s home run went out to win game 7 in the 1960 World Series.

More on the towers

When I was a freshman in 1971, Forbes Field was no longer used but hadn’t been torn down yet.

Bartolo Colon’s only home run

Bartolo Colon is a big guy. MLB lists his weight at 285 pounds.

They’re the Orioles, not the O’s

I am an Orioles fan and don’t (well, almost never) call the Orioles the O’s. First, the apostrophe doesn’t make sense. If anything, it should be the Os (plural instead of possessive). Hardly any other teams do this. The only one I can think of is the A’s. We don’t call the Phillies the P’s. We don’t call the Yankees the Y’s.

That’s enough of an old man rant for today.