Misc. Bull$h!t

Quick trip to the states next Saturday (May 12) for 9 days. Will get 3 days at home in Lauderdale, have tickets to Dodgers/Marlins on 17th, 1250 start. Leave on 20th, back in Singapore 21st at night, leave for Manila 22nd with my wife in tow till 25th for work ( she picked a hell of a time to follow me, but she needs a break from her work), then finally back home to Singapore. Is this any way for a guy in his 50s to live?😱

I had two balls signed by Larsen. The other one had him and Gooden. I can't find them though

Well, this is what happens when you check your calendar and you don't include checking the baseball schedule. A friend of mine from back east that I've known for over thirty years called a while back and wanted to come out to visit for a week. We've scheduled for him, along with Ruth and I, to head for the mountains to Durango, CO to ride a narrow gauge railroad from there to Silverton. It winds along a long incline into the mountains and along the edge of a canyon. I'm sure it's going to be a great experience. The next day, we'll be going to Mesa Verde National Park. Ancient Indian ruins. Cliff Dwellings from a couple of thousand or more years ago. It'll be interesting.

But, the Red Sox are in town. I'm going to be lucky if I see an inning or two...Always check the baseball schedule before planning summer activities...shoot!!! (now I have to hope Aroldis Chapman doesn't read this, he might shoot...)

We leave in the morning, and we'll get home sometime late on Thursday. Great road trip, 5.5 hours in each direction. Wolf Creek Pass near Pagosa Springs is a great place to view wildlife from the highway...The trip itself is diverse, with desert, canyon, and mountain driving...tons of great scenery...

Weird facts about Don Larsen's perfect game in the 1956 World Series.

I was thinking about this because I just dug my signed photo of Larsen out of a drawer and hung it on my spare bedroom wall. A friend of mine at the time happened to be out somewhere and spotted Larsen signing the photos. Knowing I was a Yankee fan, he got in line and got one signed for me. So, I didn't witness the signing, but I'm sure it's a legit artifact. Well, I might have also been thinking about this earlier today when there was something special afoot in the Yankee game.

The weirdest fact, in my opinion, is that Vivian, Larsen's wife filed for divorce the morning of the game.

Joe Torre was a 16-year old fan in the upper deck at Yankee Stadium, and witnessed the game.

Since he was also the Yankee manager when Wells and Cone tossed their perfect games, Torre has been present for all three perfect games thrown at Yankee Stadium.

When David Wells threw a perfect game in 1998, it was noted that, coincidentally, Larsen and Wells had both attended San Diego’s Point Loma High School. Larsen phoned Wells to congratulate him, and later told a reporter, “He won’t forget it. He’ll think about it every day, like I do.”

Don Larsen didn’t even know what a “Perfect Game” was. He thought it was just a great no-hitter. He was ready to walk into the dugout until Yogi jumped into his arms.

In 1954, Larsen had one of the most futile seasons to ever go on record for a pitcher. In 29 games with the Orioles, he was a ghastly 3-21 with a 4.37 ERA. Naturally, two of his three victories were against the Yankees.

Only one Dodgers batter (Reese in the first inning) was able to get as many as three balls in any one count during the game.

The final out of the game came when Larsen caught pinch-hitter Dale Mitchell looking for his seventh punch out of the day. He was an unusual hitter for such an ending, as the left-handed swinger had one of the most discerning eyes in baseball history, resulting in just 119 strikeouts* in 4,358 regular season major league plate appearances. It was also the only time he struck out in 32 career postseason trips to the dish.

* Geez, think about how much baseball has changed since then. Only 119 K's in 4358 PA. Now, sometimes we see hitters approaching that number in a half season, and if you only strike out 119 times in a season, you're noted as a contact hitter.

The game was the final time home plate umpire Babe Pinelli called a game. Although he umpired in the field during the remainder of the Series, he retired after Game 7, following 22 years as an arbiter and another 16 spent as a professional player.

Larsen’s next appearance on a mound came on April 20, 1957, against the Boston Red Sox. His start lasted just 1.1 innings, as five hits, a walk and four runs knocked him out (which was won by the Yankees, 10-7)...

I am pretty sure the called third strike on Mitchell was a terrible call from an accuracy standpoint........it certainly looks that way from the camera angle, but as always, baseball has mostly just shrugged off those kind of bad calls..........Pinelli was a bad umpire, if you cared about getting the call right....he was the home plate umpire in another World Series who called Robinson safe on a steal of home, when he was clearly out....

I'll be looking for anyone that could be your child while I'm there... (:

It's always nice to think back about some of those days when we were young and fancy free. Strange, but I never got over one particular girl from my early teens. I found that she got married briefly when she was 19 and later "discovered" that she was bi-sexual, which in her case was the motivating factor that split her and her husband up. I always wondered how that would have turned out...Could I have accepted her ways? Partaken? Now, I think, yes...that would have been okay. There are various scenarios to consider. One thing I couldn't have accepted would be "swapping" or "swinging" with another male in the room. But then, with all the taboos I wonder how it would have struck me emotionally...

Funny, I joked when I was separated from marriage #1 that I wanted to find two 27-year old bisexual girls to hook up with...When I dated Ruthie, she was 54 ( I was 55), so I at least got the 2 x 27 = 54. No bi-sexuality, though... Which is fine with me. Less complicated... (: