We at MfBJN Know The Rest of the Story

Pardon me for Paul-Harveying this, but Stuff Nobody Cares About posted a picture of 1937 St. Louis Cardinals catchers at spring training.

Including Mickey Owen:

Of the three catchers Mickey Owen had the most successful career. In 1937 the 21-year-old rookie played in 80 games for the Cardinals. Owen would become the Cardinals starting catcher in 1938 playing with the team until 1940.

Mickey Owen would eventually play five seasons with the Brooklyn Dodgers making the All-Star team four times. Owen played in the major leagues until 1954 and had a career .255 batting average. Owen died at age 89 in 2005.

As we here at MfBJN have mentioned, Owens moved to Greene County, Missouri, after his playing days. He opened a baseball school a little west of here that we passed taking my boy to a basketball game out in Avila (it’s still open), and he later ran for Greene County sheriff and served several terms. I know all this because I bought one of his re-election giveaways for a dime at a church garage sale a decade ago.

It’s just a little notepad. No telling what it’s worth, but given that he played almost a century ago, probably as much as a modern giveaway notepad. So less than the dime I paid for it likely.

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You Didn’t Have To Tell Me

From the story Five things you may learn from those who have actually seen the first Super Bowl broadcast:

Fred Williamson went on to a lengthy post-playing career in movies

Williamson, who was interviewed for the podcast, is still alive at age 85, and though he’s not a Hall of Famer like teammates Len Dawson, Bobby Bell, Johnny Robinson or Emmitt Thomas, he might have had the most notable career of any player on that Chiefs team.

The Hammer went on to a career in “blaxploitation” action cinema, following in some of the same footsteps as NFL legend Jim Brown. His numerous list of film credits include movies as recently the 2020s.

Ackshually, you wouldn’t have learned that by watching the first NFL/AFL championship game. But you would have learned it if you watched all fifteen movies in the Urban Action Cinema Collection, a full 1/3 of which are Fred Williamson movies.

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Not Depicted: Forrest Gregg

In an article entitled Aaron Rodgers has strong stance on coaching after retirement, the journalist says:

He is right, though, there haven’t been many coaches — at least in the NFL — who come from playing backgrounds.

Of the 32 current NFL coaches, Tennessee’s Mike Vrabel and Houston’s DeMeco Ryans are the only two who had extensive playing careers in the league.

The highest-profile coaches to fit into the category are probably Mike Ditka, Jim Harbaugh and Mike Singletary, though Singletary was not particularly successful as a head coach.

Too bad he is not a Packers fan, because otherwise he would have come up with another set of examples, including:

  • Forrest Gregg, whom we know was the first player to play in (and win) a Super Bowl as a player and then coach a team in the Super Bowl;
  • Bart Starr, who won the Super Bowl as a player but only got to the playoffs twice and had a 1-1 record as coach;
  • Doug Pederson, who won the Super Bowl as a Packer in the 1990s, coached the Philadelphia Eagles to a Super Bowl Championship in 2017 and is the current head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars.

And so on.

C’mon, man.

Packers fans: It’s not just that we’re nicer than other football fans, but also that we’re much more knowledgeable about the history of the game (at least in how it is related to the Packers) than other fans. And some veteran sports journalists.

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My Brain’s Conspiracy Lobe Says….

Major League Baseball has commanded teams to pitch to Ohtani just to keep the Babe Ruth comparisons coming and to excite people and perhaps the Japanese market about Major League Baseball.

I’m not sure if it’s the world we live in or me in it that is getting even more suspicious and cynical. I would have thought it impossible, but here we are.

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What, No Gussie Moran?

Wimbledon’s most controversial tennis outfits ever – from spandex bodysuit to Spurs shirt

No, of course not. Most of the controversies come from the last twenty or so years, or not deep in the archives so an intern didn’t have to work too hard. Or perhaps the archives were only, erm, scantily digitized so the AI didn’t know about life before the Internet.

It does, however, include Karol Fageros, who in 1950 caused controversy wearing gold shorts under her skirt.

It’s the only black-and-white representation.

Or perhaps the world lacks photos of Gussie Moran and her visible lacy panties from 1949. Although I did include a photo of Moran and panties when I told her story in 2019.

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They Want Me To Ackshully

For some reason, Facebook thinks I’m a real hockey fan. I assume I clicked on hockey-related news somewhere along the line. I probably cross-posted the Jordan Binnington print. And my cousin’s husband is a big hockey fan, and Facebook thinks we’re great friends.

So I get a lot of posts about hockey and hockey memes. Like this one.

Brent Gretzky did play in the NHL. For the Tampa Bay Lightning. This picture depicts Brett Hull (#16) and Wayne Gretzky during his very brief time (one spring) with the St. Louis Blues between his stints with the Los Angeles Kings and New York Rangers.

Hall of Famer Brett Hull, it should be noted, had more than 4 points.

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I Knew Who Held The Mark

Unbeaten Rays one win away from tying MLB record for best start ever

I remember my freshman year of high school when the Milwaukee Brewers started 13-0. That was back when they were in the American League. They were pretty good in the 1980s and then fell into the doldrums for a while. They’re doing all right this year so far, in first and a game ahead of the…. Pittsburgh Pirates?

Clearly, I do not follow baseball that closely these days.

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In Trash Pandas News

MINOR LEAGUE TEAM SCORES 7 RUNS, WINS DESPITE BEING ON THE RECEIVING END OF A NO-HITTER

The Trash Pandas, unfortunately, were the team that threw the no-hitter.

(Remember, gentle reader, the Rocket City Trash Pandas have been my favorite minor league baseball team for five years, which means mostly I wear that sweatshirt in heavy rotation in the winter and I post about them when I see them in the news–not that I follow them closely.)

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News From My Favorite Minor League Baseball Team

COLLEGE FOOTBALL GAME AT BASEBALL STADIUM TO BE PLAYED IN ONLY ONE DIRECTION ON SATURDAY:

Saturday’s college football game between North Alabama and Jacksonville State will be played in only one direction. Both schools, when on offense, will be trying to score on the same end zone.

The game will be held in Madison, Alabama, just west of Huntsville at a minor league baseball stadium. Toyota Field, which is home to Los Angeles Angels Double-A affiliate, the Rocket City Trash Pandas, will host the FCS matchup on Saturday.

Yes, I still have and wear on occasion my sweatshirt. Funny, though, it’s a sweatshirt, which means I wear it the opposite of baseball season, like now.

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I Don’t Understand The Metaphor

In this column about the Bears doing what the Bears do, we get this simile:

A 27-10 loss to the Green Bay Packers landed like a cement pillar to the gut.

I am not entirely sure in what circumstances one takes a cement pillar to the gut. While skateboarding, and you hit one of those “don’t drive here” pillars?

Because nobody, not even in Chicago, is going to pick up a freaking pillar and hit you with it. And if you’re on foot, other parts of you are likely to impact any pillar you run into.

Metaphors: Leave them to the professionals, children. Not that many remain who are qualified to handle them, and probably none in the papers.

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Betrayal

Amongst the music-themed sponsored posts I see on Facebook, I have learned that David Gilmour, of Pink Floyd and solo projects, is apparently a Dallas Cowboys fan:

Well, he’s British, so maybe he thinks Dallas is really America’s Team.

Here’s the last song on his 1984 album About Face–my favorite of his solo albums. I got it on cassette, about wore it out, and now have it on CD. The song is entitled “Near the End”:

I quote it a lot. Well, relative to other songs.

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Comparison

ALBERT PUJOLS MADE HIS PITCHING DEBUT ON SUNDAY:

Albert Pujols did something Sunday that he hadn’t done in his previous 2,987 regular season career games – he took the mound.

With the Cardinals safely ahead of San Francisco 15-2 and looking to save the arms of the pitching staff, Pujols was called on to toe the rubber in the top of the ninth. It marked the first time in his 22-year MLB career that he’d pitched in a game.

His stats were memed as follows:

As I like to point out, and did on Facebook, he’s worse than José Oquendo, whose ERA was 12.00 with six innings pitched in three games.

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A Horror Story for Brian J.

Not by me, mind you. Something that fills me with dread: Justin Fields Must Recruit Former Teammate To Chicago:

Still, it doesn’t mean Fields can’t find a way to bring in at least one of his former teammates. He’ll do some extra legwork to lure Chris Booker to Chicago if he is smart. Don’t feel bad if you’re unfamiliar with the name. The senior spent two years for the Buckeyes as a backup. He made only two catches during that time—both of them in the year after Fields left.

So why in the world should the QB even bother?

Namely, because Booker has untapped potential. He’s 6’3 with understated speed and surprisingly polished as a route-runner. After dropping out of football at Dayton in 2018, he transferred to Ohio State with no intention of playing again. However, he was convinced to join the school’s club football team. In his first game, he scored touchdowns on a reception, an interception, and a kick return. His head coach knew he had way too much talent for that level right away. So he pestered the school’s varsity program to give Booker a shot.

They finally did after a year. He became a regular on their scout team and would catch passes from Fields in practice.

So the two know each other well. Teammates and coaches alike grew surprised by his progress. That included receivers coach Brian Hartline, a former NFL standout. While he never cracked the offensive starting lineup, Booker became arguably the best special teams player in the entire program and one of the best in college football. Every time somebody was making a play on kick coverage or blocking units, #86 was in the frame. Sadly the ascent came too late in his career to drum up draft interest.

My beautiful wife, who shared this story with me as she’s friends with the lad’s mother, said, “It would be the one way to get a Bears jersey in our house.”

“The hell it would,” I countered thoughtfully. “However, if he were to sign with the Green Bay Packers, everyone in the house would have a Chris Booker jersey. Even the cats.”

What followed was an attempt to edit a listing from the Packer Pro Shop for pet jerseys to include the name and number of the young man in question. An effort abandoned when I determined it would require a couple hours of work for a couple of chuckles at best.

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They’re No Rocket City Trash Pandas

The Beloit Snappers minor-league baseball team finally unveils its new nickname:

A long-gestating rebrand is finally complete for the Beloit Snappers, who announced Monday that their new mascot would be the “Sky Carp.”

Before you ask, a sky carp is a slang term for a goose that doesn’t migrate for the winter.

So why did they change the name? (He asked innocently, but since the article does not say why, he assumes it is because Snapper is also slang for something.)

(As you might remember, gentle reader, the Rocket City Trash Pandas are my favorite minor league baseball team, and it looks like they actually finally got to play this year.)

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Wherein I Impressed My Son With My Knowledge of Sports Trivia

This morning, whilst I was driving him to school, the sports guy mentioned that the Atlanta Braves in 1995 became the first team to win the World Series in three different cities, and he asked the morning D.J. if he knew what they were.

“Boston, Milwaukee, and Atlanta,” I said. And I hoped we’d be in the car long enough to hear the answer.

After a bit more chit-chat, Ned Reynolds said, “Boston, Milwaukee, and Atlanta.”

My oldest in the back seat snorted. “God, Dad,” he said, not equating me with the almighty but instead impressed.

“They’re a Milwaukee team,” I explained. Which is true: Once a Milwaukee team, always a Milwaukee team. Strangely enough, the oldest baseball card is a 1952 or 1953 Del Crandall that I picked up on the ground when I lived in the housing projects. It had rounded corners then and a crease that eventually became a tear, so it’s held together with thirty-year-old Scotch tape, so it’s practically worthless. But I remember where the Braves have been.

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I Know His Name Is Jaromir

Jaromir Jagr has ‘no choice’ but to keep playing as he nears 50.

It’s mostly to honor his father:

“As long as my father breathes, I take the club as my responsibility,” he said. “He held it for 20 years. As a son, I would be embarrassed if I left.”

Which is better than having to work for a living because he spent his athlete millions on hookers and coke.

It kind of mirrors, in a way, his former teammate Mario Lemiuex, who took an ownership stake in the Pittsburgh Penguins when they went bankrupt and then un-retired to play six more seasons for his own hockey club.

(Jaromir Jagr, as you might recall, is the source of that one thing Daddy always says.)

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