Hi,
What is the busiest airport in the country this week? Lakeland, FL, we have our air show. Right now the thunderbirds are flying around the neighborhood.
Kinda noisy but fun to watch them from the porch.
regards,5412
Hi, Dennis...
Just got home a few minutes ago and saw that the Cubs had a very nice 6th inning, scoring 5 runs and are now leading 7-3 in the top of the 8th; looks like the sweep is gonna happen!
And with that little bit of good news, I hereby bump this thread back onto the 1st page, where it belongs!
Hi Jim,
This is the Cubs you are talking about here..... It aint over till it's over...but boy do I hope you are right.
Tonight we went with some locals to have dinner at "Cherry pocket fish camp". Let's just say it was quite earthy but very good food. Put about 85 miles on the truck going back and forth and it was really in the boonies which adds to the ambiance.
9th inning, comeon Kerry,
5412
PS: John Maine is on my fantasy team and was all set for the win until the bullpen blew it. Now I want the mets and phillies to play about 25 innings so their relievers arms fall off.
Nice to see Wood get back in the saddle and get it done.
Hey Dennis
I just got through watching the game that I had to record. I have been harping on Soto ever since they brought him up the first time last year and sent him back. ALRIGHT !!!
Hopefully something greater than Jody Davis is here......I'm not going to say that the Cubs finally got their catcher just yet......Durable??....haha...most durable.
When a catcher takes the lead in offensive production like that, doesn't that remind you of the dominate "Big Red Machine"?......I hated them.
Morning one and all,
Yesterday Soto was the man. If I saw ESPN byline correctly, Paul Bako was the man for Cincinnati yesterday. Every dog has his day......now if you have enough days it shows up as some pretty nice numbers at season end....and a nice payday. Let's hope Mr. Soto can cash in because he has earned it.
Mid 80's and beautiful here yesterday.
Let's continue on in Philadelphia and win tonight.
Bako yesterday, and Kendall is off to a career season. I'll stick with Soto.
We are off to Tombstone and Boot Hill for a day trip. Should be a nice time. Tomorrow we are going to the DBacks - Rockies game. Looking forward to that, and getting to see the 120 foot wide HD video screen in action, as well as Justin Upton going 4 for 4 ;o)
Have a great day.
HOW wide is that TV again?
Enjoy the trip. I'm hoping the weather holds around here until tonight when I know it's going to go to pot. The weekend looks poor, but next week the blissful 60s and hopefully 70s return. Man, did I miss the sunshine!
<chirp, chirp>
I have to root for the Mets tonight? Meh...
PSA for the Party folks. It looks like my chamber orchestra will be part of Looptopia this May 2nd. If you'd like to see lots of exciting musical performances, including ours of course, we'll be at the NE corner of Wacker and Wabash. I'll give the final details later this month, but it appears that we'll be playing an outdoor performance on the shores of the Chicago River!
More details to come.
Hi Stew,
Went shooting this morning and had lunch with Miss Jo. Came home and cleaned the rifles and then walked out side again.
The temperature is around 85, the sky is blue with small puffy clouds like the Paul Brent wallpaper, and we are being serenaded by the Air Force Thunderbirds a bit earlier today.
You ever taken your family out to lunch at the top of Mt. Lemmon?
Have fun in the desert,
Hey A, Seriously, it is the biggest screen in MLB, maybe all sports in the USA. Until the Cowboys new stadium opens. It costs 18 million with all the electronics hooked up to it. It is massive, and I have watched it from center field, before the season started.
I hope you guys can get some weather that makes you happy. Chicago deserves some good weather.
Congrats to you and your young musicians. That is great to hear.
Hey D, Haven't been to Mt. Lemmon yet. Got everybody out of the house by 8:30 am and got back at 7PM. Long day for the folks and Addison. We did have fun, although Tombstone is a little shabby.
Got a call from my friend who got me tickets for tomorrow night's game. We are guests of his in a suite. He is throwing out the first pitch, and we will hang with him and his family for the game. Can you say, "connected?" WOOOOOHOOOO !
That is very cool, AD!!! Glad you are having fun with your parents, too. We are home... and happy. I have never seen the desert as beautiful as I did on this trip. You must be in heaven with how green it is for the desert!! We took the long way home today... driving through the San Jacinto and Santa Rosa Mountains. The blooms were just amazing.
Enjoy this time and have fun at the game!
Hey Sandee,
Glad to hear you had a good time in the desert. And I know that ride home. Very nice. We'll be in your neighborhood a week from tomorrow. We're staying at the same hotel, but have a couple of days to goof off at the beach. I'll keep you guys posted.
Early game tomorrow. Should be a lot of fun. Charlie is my good friend who is throwing out the first pitch. He is the guy who hires me to work at Chase Field and the All Star games.
He wants me to work this year at Yankee Stadium. I will find it hard to say no. I'll get a week in NYC with my girls and no matter how one feels about the Yankees, it would be hard not to realize how this will be a special event.
It is going to feel pretty cool walking my parents into a luxury suite at a ballpark, and hanging with the guy who throws the first pitch. Especially when the DBacks are celebrating their tenth anniversary.
Watched tonights DBacks game. And how they celebrated the original team. What a class act from a ballclub. In retrospect, you look at the Cubs and how it took them until this year to have a statue for Ernie, How the ballclub shunned Billy Williams and Randy Hundley from managing, to name just a couple of injustices. Karma or whatever you call it. Seems like you really get what you give.
Wow! Sounds like that is quite a friend. Have a great time.
Hi again Stew,
I never knew that Williams or Hundley wanted to manage. My guess is had they gone down to the minors and managed, like Sandberg is doing, and got some experience, they would have sure had some serious consideration.
Cubs have done a lot of thoughtless things, one notably to Brickhouse, Harry Caray was nothing but a mercenary, but I never even thought about Williams or Hundley being slighted.
Perhaps I just learned something,
Hey D,
I've been reading this book I got for my birthday last Sunday, called The Cubs of '69 by Rick Talley, and the author tracks each Cubs player down 20 years after that fateful season. You find out a lot about each players path. It is a fantastic book, and captures most of the team, right at my age today. Some prospered, and some didn't. Some of these guys never made good money, even in '69 standards. Did you know that Kenny Holtzman was payed $7000 for the 1969 season?
Randy Hundley was doing some assisting management, but was booted out by Dallas Green to clean house and start fresh. Randy was upset at first, but quickly rebounded when his fantasy camp was not only greatly successful, but brought most of the team back together each year. Beckert, Williams, Fergie, Gene Oliver, and others were regulars at his camp for years.
I haven't read Billy Williams chapter, but I breezed through it, and he had tried to manage in the Cubs system for a long time. I see him in uniform every spring down here, so maybe things have changed since the writing of this book.
The Jim Hickman chapter breaks your heart, but his misfortunes had nothing to do with the Cubs. But Randy Hundley comes to his rescue, and picks him up at a time when he needed it most.
Don Youngs story is not a happy one either. He wound up down here in Scottsdale working at a country club.
Leo is portayed by most with respect, but in reality was a really sleazy guy, even by today's standards.
I have a birthday coming up, perhaps that book will fall into my lap also.
We ran into Randy Hundly at a Culvers a couple years ago. Talked with him for about 15 minutes, about Todd mostly. His hands were knurled up and he was kind of hunched over. Still has the great smile and southern drawl. He lost his wife a few years ago, about the same time Todd was having serious problems. I understand Todd is straightened out, and remarried so hopefully Randy's life is more content also.
It is another beautiful day in the neighborhood this morning. Another Paul Brent wallpaper day, sky is blue, puffy clouds and (ironically), he has another painting full of hot air balloons.....well around 7:30 AM there was over a dozen flying over the house, with vivid colors, etc. Wind moving them north very slowly so got to watch them for awhile.
Don't know if you have ever seen them take off all at once but the vivid colors and shapes of the balloons would make Addison jump up and down for an hour. Like a giant Macy's parade flying over the house.
Have a great day,
PS: Just went on Amazon. Was that book published in 1989?
Yes, that is the book. Definitely worth picking up.
I met Randy at a charity event a couple years back, and we talked for a while. He signed a paper for me, and was kind, generous, and very friendly.
We have had nothing but solid blue skies for some time. I have to say, that I do miss the clouds that you are describing, but I'll take the blue and smile. We have been experiencing some extremely beautiful weather for quite a while now. The Jan-Feb rains created a beautiful and colorful backdrop this spring, and the mountains are still blooming, as they have been since February.
We have a lot of balloon races down here, and Addison gets to see the sky filled with them quite a bit. It has been windy here, so I picked her up a kite that we will go fly next week. We also have Luke Air Force base nearby, so we don't get the Blue Angels, but we do have fighter jets performing manoevers (sp) over our heads from time to time.
She has been having a great time with my folks.
I have the MLB package on the computer and just opened up the mosaic. That is where you can get up to six games at once. Kinda fun.
Anyway, the one that had the sound on was the sox/Tigers game and I was really shocked when I saw it. Not only was it raining and cold, there were huge puddles of water in the infield. Those umpires are really taking a risk. Last night Willis slipped in the mud on the mound and had to come out of the game. With the infield as it is, someone could get easily injured. If that happens you know which team I am pulling for.......
Listened to the sox announcers for a minute or two. That is my fill of those clowns for the year..Ugh!
Glad Addison is getting to spend time with the grandparents. I know the feelings and it is special for all concerned.
Through the first two innings I think that 80 was tops for Lilly's fast ball....if that is what you want to call it. Last night Z was about 5 mph slower than normal also. Either the gun is wrong or there is something about Philadelphia.
Geesh,
