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 Replies: 1,082 / Views: 202,830 |
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Pillar Of The Community
3147 Posts |
Yes we could put Old Dan right beside GARY BURKE's photo? Make sure we get some beautiful Rocky Mountain scenery in the background!
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Valued Member
United States
159 Posts |
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Rest in Peace
United States
2684 Posts |
Summing up all that has come before in this thread, we have some mighty individualistic people on this forum. Maybe the uniqueness of the individuals is what makes this forum so unique.
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Valued Member
United States
103 Posts |
I could'nt agree more Fred.........Coin collecting is one of those extremely rare things that cross all barriers to bring people together like no other........no matter what your budget or where your lot in life is made......or race,creed or religion, we all can relate to coins and their histories as well as there worth and eccentricities......even time and space seem to bend towards the collecting hobby as hoards of long past are uncovered ever so often even today........pretty strange huh? Somehow,I can visualize some kid digging around in Old Dans backyard ahundred years from now and making the "find" of the century!!!........LOL
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Forum Kid
Kuwait
1523 Posts |
We still waiting for Old Dan, His turn is comming up!
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Valued Member
United States
218 Posts |
Here I am:  My wife is gonna kill me, but here we are having some fun!  quote:
Originally posted by bobby131313
From my semi-pro ball playing days. Taken by an ameteur photographer at Jack Russell stadium in Clearwater, Florida.
I'm the catcher. I'll answer the questions up front...
- Yes, He's a big boy barrelling in. (About 6' 3" 250lbs)
- Yes, he knocked me about 6 feet.
- Yes, I was woozy afterwards.
- Yes, I hung on to the ball.
- Yes, he was out.
When commenting, remember this is a family friendly forum. 
hmmm, Bobby you date yourself with that photo. As an umpire, I know I (and my colegues) haven't worn those nasty button-down powder blue shirts for some time. Also, it appears that he (the umpire) is on the firstbase line extended (instead of the thirdbase line extended) and that too has been out of vogue for some time, although it is a more recent change than that uniform. lol, here is a memory of a catcher that I am not so fond of...  That is my left bicep 2 days after I caught a 95 mph fastball that the catcher missed! I was seriously displeased with him. I was working a summer wood bat college league and the catcher was a just-graduated HS senior and he was completely unfit to catch the college senior who was on the mound that night (a few weeks later he was drafted into the pros) and he thought the up and in fastball was a curve that would break into the strike zone and he completely missed the ball, but it didn't miss me. |
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Forum Dad
 United States
24150 Posts |
quote:
hmmm, Bobby you date yourself with that photo
I believe that was 1996. quote:
lol, here is a memory of a catcher that I am not so fond of...
I know how you feel. I caught a fellow by the name of Matt Blundin for several years. He was drafted in baseball and football and chose football. Wrong choice. He ended up a backup for Joe Montana. http://www.pro-football-reference.c...BlunMa00.htmThis guy had jugs guns on him at almost every game, hit 101 MPH many times. I can't tell you how many bruises I had like that from 100 MPH foul tips off the arms and shoulders.  He crossed me up once. Threw a fastball when I called a slider. Keep in mind his slider cruised about 88 and would start in the middle of the plate and end up 2 feet outside to a right-handed hitter. We're both righties, so I shifted my weight right to backhand it a couple feet off the plate and this fastball nailed me right on the left shoulder blade. The pain didn't totally go away for 2 months. I put a couple shots of Tabasco in his beer that night when he wasn't looking.  The biggest thrill of my career was throwing out Mickey Rivers attempting to steal second at Jack Russell stadium in front of about 3,000 people. |
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Valued Member
United States
218 Posts |
quote:
Originally posted by bobby131313
quote:
hmmm, Bobby you date yourself with that photo
I believe that was 1996.
I would have guessed 5 years or more older than that. I worked my first game in 1992 and I've never worn one of that style shirt, nor do I remember ever seeing one in my partner's shirt rack when we've dressed for a game. Must be a regional thing. quote:
Originally posted by bobby131313
quote:
lol, here is a memory of a catcher that I am not so fond of...
I know how you feel. I caught a fellow by the name of Matt Blundin for several years. This guy had jugs guns on him at almost every game, hit 101 MPH many times. I can't tell you how many bruises I had like that from 100 MPH foul tips off the arms and shoulders.
He crossed me up once. Threw a fastball when I called a slider. Keep in mind his slider cruised about 88 and would start in the middle of the plate and end up 2 feet outside to a right-handed hitter. We're both righties, so I shifted my weight right to backhand it a couple feet off the plate and this fastball nailed me right on the left shoulder blade. The pain didn't totally go away for 2 months.
I put a couple shots of Tabasco in his beer that night when he wasn't looking.
Nice, I'd say he earned it! I couldn't have ever caught, that is downright hard work. Plus every year I have about 10 pitches that really hurt when they hit me/are fouled into me, but a catcher can have a bad week where he gets hit that many times in just a few days. That just doesn't sound fun to me. Plus I can hide my fingers, and a catcher is bound to end up breaking some fingers during his career. quote:
Originally posted by bobby131313
The biggest thrill of my career was throwing out Mickey Rivers attempting to steal second at Jack Russell stadium in front of about 3,000 people.
Very nice! Good work! Edited by The_Cave_Troll
03/21/2006 9:56 pm
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Rest in Peace
United States
2684 Posts |
Since we've hit a line drive way into the off-topic zone, I'll add my baseball story. Back in the 80s when I still had some ambulatory capability, I was drafted to be our Town's Little League coach to replace a guy who demeaned the game with over-age players (at the time, our league was limited to 11 TO 14), shouting obscenities, and belittling kids who didn't hit 500' home runs. Guess I was picked due to my Scouting background. I instituted a few policy changes including making it open to ALL including girls, no "try-outs" (all who wanted to play were on the team) and automatic rotation so every player played in every game. My intent was not to win games, but to introduce the kids to team play and to let them have participatory fun.
I had to adjust my policies a little: of about 35 or so kids on the team (this was a hamlet of about 800 people), only three could pitch well enough to get the ball over the plate, so I rotated them every two innings (Little League plays only six innings). But, my biggest problem was with the catcher position. There was only one kid who even wanted the job, but he was good at it and being the only catcher, he played every inning of every game. However, this grated me since it didn't seem fair; also, I had no backup catcher, so I kept asking the team if anyone else wanted to try it. After the third or so game and a dozen practices, this tiny little 11-year-old girl, Michelle who weighed maybe 60 pounds asked if she could try it. Not wanting to discourage her, I got her fitted out with the gear and put her behind the plate with my slowest (but most accurate) pitcher tossing even slower to her, working up to a little speed. She did fine in practice. Came her first game, different pitcher and a batter in front of her, after the first inning, she came up to me and said she didn't want to be a catcher anymore. Gutsy little girl, but she knew her limits.
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Rest in Peace
United States
3730 Posts |
Love the baseball back-and-forth. Wish I had personal stories to add, but rhuematic fever stopped short whatever career I might have had.
As a high school sophomore I did hit against a guy (Jim Brenneman) who went on to be a starting pitcher for the Yankees. I managed a foul ball against him in two plate appearances.
I once received baseball instruction from Wally Schang, who roomed with Babe Ruth. Also, there was an old gentleman who lived in our county who played ML baseball, and also roomed with the Babe. They had interesting stories to tell.
I was a carded high school unpore for 10 years, mainly in the 1980's. Worked the plate when a few top prospects were pitching. Some made it to AA and AAA baseball.
Getting hit when the catcher missed the ball was tough, So was getting a foul top off the mask. But, I loved umpiring, and miss it.
Positioning is so important, and I suppose if you know what you're doing one could still umpire at my age, which is 63. I have a friend, one year older, and he still is a respected umpire. My former baseball coach in high school continued officiating into his older years, and I actually watched him work a high school varsity football game at age 70!
Edited by Gary Burke
03/21/2006 11:14 pm
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Pillar Of The Community
Turkey
1205 Posts |
All I know about baseball is that one guy throws the ball, another one tries to hit it with a stick  that you call a bat.  |
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Rest in Peace
United States
3730 Posts |
Renal, It's more than a game.
It is to us what soccer is to much of the world.
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Valued Member
United States
171 Posts |
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Forum Mom
United States
5877 Posts |
Love the pic, Daniel! Maybe you should make one for each of our almost 800 members. Just kidding.  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1541 Posts |
WOW Daniel, its so great. You should enter the pin design contest |
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Replies: 1,082 / Views: 202,830 |
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Posted 03/20/2006 12:25 pm
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