The other night Toronto Blue Jays pitcher J.A. Happ endured one of the most viscous hits I have ever witnessed a player take.
No, the hit was not from a batter charging the mound. This hit to the left ear came from a baseball hit with enough force as to still travel nearly the length of the field after impacting Happ’s skull. The impact of ball on skull was also so violent that the sound could be heard all the way up into the press box at Tropicana Field.
Former Astro turned Blue Jay J.A. Happ was hospitalized overnight after he was hit in the head with a baseball. Photo R Anderson
Granted one could argue that sound travels further in a dome but still picture the type of force required for the sound to be heard that far away.
During my years covering high school and college football I witnessed many violent hits. On a few occasions I even heard bones break and tendons snap so I know the sound of agony when a player goes down.
A few years back, or maybe even a decade or so back, there was an advertising slogan by the Memorex Company that asked consumers to decide whether it was live, or Memorex.
The implication being that the quality of recorded material using the company
No mater the level of competition, from Little League to Major League, the passion for the game of baseball remains the same for those players who truly love the game.
The other night I saw that passion displayed in an Atlantic League game between the Lancaster Barnstormers and the Sugar Land Skeeters at Constellation Field in Sugar Land, TX.
The Skeeters are in their second season of play and ever since it was announced that they were coming to town I have wanted to catch a game. Sadly, something always seemed to come up last year whenever I planned to head that direction so my goal of seeing a game during the inaugural season did not come to pass.
Ballparks just look better under the lights. Photo R. Anderson
All of the elements finally aligned this past weekend to allow me to make my first trip to the Ballpark. And even some tricky Google map directions, and poor ballpark signage that sent me to the unlabeled parking lot A instead of the equally unlabeled parking lot B, couldn’t dampen the spirits of adding another Ballpark to my list of places that I have seen games.
The night featured many firsts for me as it was my first Atlantic League game which meant it was my first time seeing both the Barnstormers and Skeeters as well as my first trip to Constellation Field.
Constellation Field in Sugar Land, TX is the home ballpark of the Sugar Land Skeeters. Photo R. Anderson
But of course every trip to the Ballpark, especially a first trip to the Ballpark involves a bit of a learning curve.
While I had a seat two rows from the field on the third base side I zigged when I should have zagged when it came to the food choices.
I ended up with a loaded hot dog which included chilli, cheese, onions, sauerkraut, and probably some other things that I missed under the cheese blanket. While the hot dog was good, and the Dr. Pepper was cold, it was not until I took another lap around the concourse that I saw the real food choices that the ballpark had to offer. There was a pizza booth which as I have mentioned before is one of my favorite ballpark staples. There were also booths selling barbecue, gourmet popcorn, Tex Mex, and Philly cheese steaks.
Lest one forget what state they are watching the game in there is a Texas shaped scoreboard to guide them. Photo R. Anderson
So, the lesson learned is no matter how hungry I am entering a Ballpark the trick is to walk the full concourse before selecting a food item.
The food remorse passed quickly and it was time to get immersed in the feel of the in game between inning entertainment which included dizzy bat, tricycle races and boxing.
The game itself was good as well as the home team remained undefeated at home for the season. Of course, the other professional baseball team in the Houston area cannot say the same thing but more on that later.
Despite the Ballpark I am in when I am watching a game, one constant always seems to find me. No matter where I sit it never fails that within earshot and visible range there will be at least one overly intoxicated fan who feels the need to make their presence known through, a) berating players or umpires or b) telling a story (or two, or three) that is way too loud to ignore and takes away from the ballpark experience. Another constant with these loud mouths is the presence of small children with them.
Former Boston Red Sox player Aaron Bates up to bat for the Sugar Land Skeeters. Photo R. Anderson
All of those factors came into play one section over from me with the extra loud drunk fan there with friends as well as small children providing a totally unnecessary running commentary.
The only break from his commentary was the two innings he spent in the concession line which of course he had to retell in great detail upon his return.
Now, before I get comments saying that I am trying to take away people’s right to drink at the ballpark let me say that is not the case.
Personally for me the hardest drink I need at the ballpark is an ice cold Dr. Pepper. But, for those who want something with alcohol in it I can totally support that desire and their right to do that.
Both teams kept the base paths busy but it was a couple of long balls that proved to be the deciding factor. Photo R. Anderson
What I refuse to support is the fan who downs a six pack or more during the pregame and then proceeds to get drunk and annoying during the course of the game. And this goes across all sports not just baseball. Every sporting event I have ever attended where I was not covering it from the press box has included at least one fan who is way too loud and way too drunk.
I am not sure how Ballparks and stadiums can address this but it is also one of the reasons that I rarely stay for an entire game. I like to have a two inning head start before the drunks hit the road.
So, drunk annoying fan aside there was a lot to enjoy at the Skeeters game. The food is reasonably priced. The sight lines from the seats are good.
For years, Minor League Baseball teams have looked to wacky promotions and giveaways to help attract crowds and give the fans a little something extra besides a seat at a ballgame.
There are the Ballpark standards of hat and seat cushion giveaways.
However, what I am talking about are the really outside the box promotions that make you both say, “I can’t believe no one ever thought of that before,” while also saying, “I can’t believe someone thought of that.”
In terms of the memorable crazy promotions, there have been promotions of every shape and size.
Teams have had Harry Potter themed nights. Teams have had speed dating nights. There was even a team that thought the biblical figure Noah, of the Ark building fame, needed his own bobble head figure. The list goes on and on regarding both good and bad promotions in the Ballpark.
One of the more predictable baseball promotions is the timeless tradition of teams giving fans a foam finger. Photo R. Anderson
With all of that past pedigree of promotions, and with tomorrow marking a holiday of sorts for fans of a certain science fiction franchise, it marks a perfect opportunity for yet another creative ballpark promotion.
For those who may not be aware, May 4th is known as Star Wars Day due to a pun surrounding a popular phrase found in the films.
That phrase of course is “May the force be with you,” which can easily translate to “May the fourth be with you.”
For years, teams have celebrated May 4th in the ballpark. Realistically though, how many times can you really dust off that storm trooper costume to throw out the first pitch before it gets a feeling of been there done that?
With teams looking for creative and new ways to celebrate Star Wars Day, it was only a matter of time then until May the fourth was celebrated on a Minor League Baseball diamond in the form of players wearing Wookie jerseys.
That’s right boys and girls I said Wookie Jerseys.
The Detroit Tigers’ Triple-A Affiliate the Toledo Mud Hens are going to celebrate both May the fourth and May the fifth wearing jerseys that look like a Wookie complete with utility belt.
Thankfully, the team opted away from the faux hair version of the jersey and will instead go with a more diamond appropriate version where the fur is implied.
Across this galaxy as well as in a galaxy far, far away May the fourth is Star Wars Day. Photo R. Anderson
This is probably a very wise decision. No player wants to have an error assigned to them because they lost a ball in their Wookie hair.
I am also thinking it would be hard for the pitcher to read the signs from the catcher with all of that hair getting in the way.
So far, there has been no word on whether the special Wookie jerseys will be available for sale to the general public. But as Darrell Hammond impersonating Sean Connery said to Will Ferrell who was impersonating Alex Trebek on Saturday Night Live’s parody of Celebrity Jeopardy, “You’re sitting on a gold mine, Trebek.”
I expect in the coming days that Wookie jerseys will be available in the Mud Hens team store. After all, who wouldn’t want a Wookie jersey?
Yadier Molina of the St. Louis Cardinals becomes the evil emperor during Star Wars Night at Minute Maid Park. Photo R. Anderson
While this is most likely the first-time players have dressed up as a Wookie, it is not the first time that a Wookie, or at least an actor who played a Wookie, has been at a Minor League Ballpark.
During a May 1, 2010 game between the Oklahoma City Red Hawks and the New Orleans Zephers, Peter Mayhew, the actor who played Wookie extraordinaire Chewbacca, threw out the first pitch as part of the 30th Anniversary celebration of the original Star Wars film.
As mentioned before, there have been numerous other teams who have honored Star Wars in various ways on both the Major and Minor League levels by encouraging fans to wear their favorite Star Wars Cosplay outfits.
While I have never dressed up as Boba Fett, I have attended games where ushers were dressed like Princess Leia. I have also been at games where the opposing players were made to look like Darth Vader and other villains on the Jumbo Tron.
Lance Berkman gets the visiting villian treatment during a past Star Wars Night at Minute Maid Park. Photo R. Anderson
It is all done in good fun and is kind of cool to see the worlds of film and baseball combine in such an entertaining way.
How will I be spending Star Wars Day this year? At a ballpark of course.
And while there will not be any Wookie jerseys on the field, rumor has it that there will be a Star Wars themed fireworks show to fill the night sky.
Baseball, hot dogs, and pyrotechnics, it doesn’t get much better than that.
And in the spirit of full disclosure, I am a much bigger fan of Star Trek than Star Wars but “Beam me up” Day and “Make it So Number One” Day just don’t seem to roll off the tongue as easily when it comes to a ballpark promotion.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go see if I can still make the Kessel Run in less than twelve parsecs. And May the fourth be with you.
There are few professions where one can be consistently wrong and still keep their jobs.
An accountant who messes up the numbers time and time again will soon find that their employer is none too pleased.
A chef that consistently under cooks food and makes his diners sick will soon find that no one wants to eat his food offerings.
The list goes on and on regarding professions where failure really is not an option for keeping their jobs.
Of course, as is the case with every rule, there are exceptions.
Two examples of professions where routine failures and miscalculations do not usually lead to job loss are weather forecasting professionals and sports prognosticators.
History is full of examples where both meteorologists and
The other night this part of Texas dealt with some serious rain as a line of thunder storms made their way east.
Of course anyone who is familiar with the Houston area knows that many of the roads tend to be built at or below sea level and simple rain can quickly turn said streets into rivers leaving cars afloat and drivers stranded.
Water rescues such as this one are a common sight when it rains in Houston due to low roads. Photo R. Anderson
So knowing that the storms were coming, and with them the increased likelihood of flooded roads, I made sure that I was tucked safely inside when the first rain drops arrived.
With the knowledge that I was going to be riding the storm out in the comfort of the Triple B Gigaplex I decided to pass the time flipping between a NASCAR race in Richmond, VA and the new episode of Doctor Who.
Let me start off by saying that I like pizza a lot.
I like round pizza and I like square pizza.
I like pizza where the crust is thick and I like pizza where the crust is thin.
I like pizza when it comes in a pan and I like pizza when it is made by a guy named Stan.
I also like sports, and for some reason sports just taste better when paired with pizza.
I am not sure what it is that makes pizza taste even better when sports are on. I am sure that there are graduate students seeking grants somewhere in the world to solve that very mystery.
The simple answer very well might be that it just does taste better and there is no other deeper meaning than that.
A local New York style pizzeria’s famous Legend before it is consumed. Photo R. Anderson
Most historians peg the arrival of the first pizza around 1000 A.D.
The other night at Minute Maid Park I witnessed a milestone take place as Seattle Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez, also known as King Felix, recorded his 100th career victory en route to a 7-1 victory over the Houston Astros.
Of course there will be those who say that any milestone that occurs against the Astros for the foreseeable future should carry an asterisk by it based on the level of competition being put on the field by the Astros in relation to the skill level of other teams. I do not share that view however as the game of baseball has shown time and time again that anything can happen once the cute little kid stares into the camera and screams
For those who may have missed it, the Presidential budget was released a few weeks back.
This is a mostly symbolic gesture as the initial budget release is rarely the same as the budget that is agreed to and approved by Congress.
While I did not have the time to read the budget in its entirety, one particular item caught my attention, and not in a good way.
Under the budget portion for NASA a plan to “lasso” an asteroid and bring it closer to earth was presented as a goal to be completed by 2025.
The justification for the asteroid lassoing mission being that it will provide a good opportunity to study asteroids up close and help guide future manned missions beyond low earth orbit.
Now, let me stop for a minute and point out that I am a huge fan of the space program and believe that exploration of space is good.
I have also had many family members who have worked on various space programs, so the issue of space exploration is near and dear to my heart.
Mission Control in Houston could some day talk to astronauts walking on an asteroid under the current budget. Photo R. Anderson
Still, with all that said, I really cannot get behind the goal to bring an asteroid closer to Earth for study.
After all, if movies with Bruce Willis as an oil-drilling roughneck, and Morgan Freeman as the President, have taught me anything, it is that asteroids being close to earth is almost always a bad thing.
In both Deep Impact and Armageddon, the Earth was threatened by an asteroid and actions had to be taken as a result. In some way, I am sure that the mission to the asteroid would be made to show options to divert the Earth killing rocks from attacking but still why would you bring a potentially earth damaging rock closer?
While some want asteroids to be the future the past included talking to men on the moon from this room. Photo R. Anderson
Okay, so the “baby asteroid” that they want to study would not be big enough to destroy the earth but it could certainly cause havoc in other ways that would need to be fully understood before such a mission could occur.
Also, in the words of the late George Hamilton, “it’s going to take a whole lot of spending money to do it right.”
Of course, if history of funding the space program is any indication, the asteroid mission and related vision could very well be changed or scrapped altogether by the next President’s administration.
At the height of the Apollo Program, and with three rockets left to launch, President Nixon decided funds would be better spent on the Space Shuttle Program. So, we had Skylab circling waiting for a boost from the Space Shuttle that never came and the three Saturn V moon rockets left on Earth became museum pieces.
A head on view of the Saturn V engines that helped the Apollo astronauts reach the moon. Photo R. Anderson
Of course, having the full-size rockets on the ground for people to see is not entirely bad.
If you have never had the chance to stand next to the Saturn V rocket, I highly recommend it as something like it will likely never be built again.
When one considers that the amount of computing strength to complete the moon missions was less than the equivalent of what is in most dollar store calculators today it makes the feat even more impressive.
And to you conspiracy theorists who still believe that we never went to the moon and it was all just an elaborate hoax on a Hollywood sound stage, I say that it is time to remove the foil hat and face reality.
The Moon Landing locations. Photo R. Anderson
So, the moon program beget the Space Shuttle Program which did many things while circling the earth. Satellites were launched, experiments were conducted and the International Space Station was built.
While the Space Shuttle accomplished many wonderful achievements, there was also a dark side to the Program with the loss of 14 astronauts. Seven died during launch on Challenger and seven more were killed upon reentry of Columbia.
It was after the loss of Columbia that President George W. Bush decided to cancel the Shuttle Program in favor of the Orion Project which would return to an Apollo like capsule design and return man to the moon by 2017.
In an odd coincidence, much like with the retirement of Apollo there were three remaining launch vehicles that became museum pieces. While technically there would be four if one counts Enterprise, I am merely counting the flown vehicles for the purpose of the analogy.
I have had the opportunity to stand under the Space Shuttle and will also suggest that anyone who has the chance do the same in order to fully grasp the scale of the vehicles that flew so many missions over their 30 years in service.
Unfortunately, a funny thing happened on the way to the moon and the Shuttle’s trip to museum life. President Obama decided to cancel the lunar program and set sites on commercial delivery of crew and cargo to the space station and the recently unveiled asteroid mission.
In the meantime, with the Shuttle retired, the once great United States Space Program has to depend on rides that it purchases from Russia to get their crew up to the International Space Station.
I get that some people think we have already gone to the moon so why go back when there is more to discover elsewhere in space. However, for me I don’t think we even scratched the surface of what the moon can teach us.
Space Shuttle Endeavour en route to retirement in California. Photo R. Anderson
Of course, I am also of the generation that thought we would have flying cars, moon bases and kelp farms under the oceans by now.
And where is my personnel jet pack?
So, maybe the asteroid mission is supposed to inspire another generation of scientists to explore new worlds and new areas in space. I just think there are better ways to do that.
Instead of looking at ways to bring asteroids closer to earth, why don’t we invest in technologies that can do move the asteroids while they are still far away?
Of course, as with nay long-term NASA project the problem is often not in the formation of the ideas, it is in ensuring that the federal budget includes enough funding each year to allow these multi-year programs to come to fruition.
And if the asteroids do come this way and someone that looks like Bruce Willis is having to stay behind to save us all, I will definitely not watch as he says goodbye to his daughter.
I still cannot watch that scene in Armageddon without getting a little watery eyed. It is amazing how the dust bunnies know to attack my eyes at just that moment.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to call and see if the place that I got my robot attack insurance carries asteroid insurance as well.
