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I’m back from vacation and rarin’ to go.  Thanks to the guys for keeping the flame going while I was gone.

I went to a family reunion in beautiful Wisconsin.  After that, we hit Wisconsin Dells.  I asked a friend who had been there what he thought of the place.  He hesistated and said “Well, it’s a bit developed”.  That’s an understatement!  But we knew that going there.

On our drive to the Dells, the kids were doing the “Are we there yet?” bit the whole way.  On I-94, my 8 year-old son saw a billboard for a mini-golf place and said, “Daddy, are we close now?”.  Nothing gets by him.

No, I never made it to a wireless cafe due to lack of time and dearth of wireless hotspots.  Maybe I just didn’t know where to look.

I managed to avoid baseball while I was gone too.  Probably a good thing since the Cubs lost every game while I was gone until the day before I got back.  Sheesh!  They’re kickin’ the Cards now but by now they’re 17 back.

Back to combing the boxscores…

 

 

 

Former Negro League star Ted “Double Duty” Radcliffe died yesterday in his Chicago home at 103 years of age. In the 1932 Negro World Series he caught Satchel Paige in the first game of a doubleheader, then pitched a shutout in the second game. This performance prompted sportswriter Damon Runyon to provide the nickname “Double Duty”. Radcliffe pitched & caught multiple no-hitters in his career, won more than 400 games on the mound, batted over .300 lifetime with more than 400 homeruns. He belongs in the Baseball Hall of Hame. It’s just a shame that Double Duty didn’t live long enough to see himself enshrined into the Hall.

Bernie Brewer used to slide into a stein of frosty beer whenever a Brewer hit a home run. It’s nice to see Bernie is till sliding down his slide after every homer even if it’s not into a beer.

Bernie getting ready to do his thing.

 

It was nice to see these plaques dedicated to MLB in Milwaukee even though it wasn’t the Brewers.

Note: the first MLB game in Milwaukee was on my birthday, three years before I was born.

 

It’s hard to believe the Cleveland Indians scoring 11 runs off the KC Royals in the 9th inning might only be the 5th strangest thing to happen tonite.

An 18 year old fan plunged out of the upper deck at Yankee Stadium in the bottom of the 8th inning in a game against the White Sox. Scott Harper told his friends he wanted to see if the netting could hold his weight, before leaping onto it.

In Los Angeles Oscar Robles got a 1st inning hit & run single off the Phillies Robinson Tejeda on a pitch that bounced before it reached the plate. Cesar Izturis and Robles later scored to give the Dodgers a 2-0 lead in a game in which they lost 8-4.

Jeff Kent didn’t help the Los Angeles Dodgers cause any. Kent became the 41st player to strike out four times in a nine inning game. Jeff had a chance to break the record, but was spared when Billy Wagner walked Kent on a 3-2 pitch in the 9th.

New York Mets thirdbaseman David Wright got a standing ovation for a catch he made against Padre Brian Giles in San Diego. Wright raced back and twisted in the air to snag the flair off Giles’ bat. David was in such a position that the only way he could grab it was with his bare hand, which he did. Later Wright came in on an easy bouncer and threw it away for an error. The Mets lost to the Padres 8-3.

Gene Mauch died of Monday August 8th after a long battle with cancer. Mauch won 1,901 games as a manager and was named NL Manager of the Year three times, but is more noted for his losses. He was the manager of the Philadelphia Phillies in 1964 when they had a 6 1/2 game lead with 12 games remaining, but lost ten in a row and the pennant to the St. Louis Cardinals. In 1982 he managed the California Angels to a 2-0 lead in the ALCS versus the Milwaukee Brewers before losing the final three games in the best of five series. Then in 1986 his California Angels were one out away from advancing to the World Series, when Dave Henderson’s home run off Donnie Moore put the Boston Red Sox into the Fall Classic. Moore never recovered, committing suicide in 1989. In 2002 during the Angels’ playoff series against the Minnesota Twins Gene Mauch said, “All I did for 50 years was study the game day and night. And I will forever, for however long ‘forever’ is.” Gene Mauch will be missed. He may be gone, but he will not be forgotten. A Big Salute to the Little General!

There is a very nice little league ballpark in the parking lot outside of Miller Park in Milwaukee. The home plate from old County Stadium is on exhibit by Helfaer Field for all the little leaguers to see.

Two little league teams from Kenosha wrap things up.

Here is a nice view from the outfield.

 

Miller Park features the Sausage Race at the bottom of the 6th inning of every ballgame. We even observed a sausage in the parking lot. The Italian Sausage has a four link lead over its nearest competition in the season long standings 16-12-11-11. The Sausage Race gained nation wide fame when Randall Simon whacked a wiener that was racing by the dugout a while back

There was even a Sausage tailgating in the parking lot.

 

And they’re off.  

Here are the Sausages are approaching the finish line.

 

While tailgating before my first ever game at Miller Park in Milwaukee we met Katie Simon. Ms. Katie is an arm artist who also paints faces. She charges whatever you’d like to pay, which makes it all legal. She once painted over 400 mostly shamrocks on St. Patrick’s Day. Ms. Katie has been a fixture at Milwaukee ballgames for years.

Here’s a nice picture of Arm Artist Ms. Katie.  

Ms. Katie in action.