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That's the way baseball go!

It doesn't get any better than this if the subject is baseball! 

Go Rangers!

A Gold Glove at CDM!

No matter how long I am involved here, the linkages and experiences occurring in a community like ours continue to amaze me.


Not long ago, we discovered that Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers All-Star infielder, Charlie Neal was Brenda Powers' father!

Brenda serves as the Community Liaison at the J. W. Ray Learning Center, the Dallas public elementary school located just across the street from the Roseland Homes housing development where we've been working since 1996.

For over a decade we've enjoyed a close working relationship with the school, thanks largely to Brenda's efforts.

Charlie Neal won the National League's Gold Glove Award for his play with the Dodgers as their second baseman in 1959, the team's second season on the west coast. The Dodgers defeated the Chicago White Sox in the World Series that year. Neal hit two home runs in Game Two!

Neal played with Jackie Robinson.

A few weeks ago, Brenda brought her father's trophy by the office for us to see.

What a thrill!


Keith Ackerman, our resident baseball aficionado took a look at the unique award and offered to "spiff" it up a bit. Brenda readily agreed and Keith set off to restore the 50-year-old treasure to its pristine condition.

He had the ball re-glazed. He repaired the leather stringing system on the glove. He restored the finish on the trophy's base.

When Brenda came to pick up the fully restored trophy, she was overcome with joy and memory about her father, one of the most influential people in her life.

The entire experience was beyond great!

Hey, I touched Charlie Neal's Gold Glove!

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Always team, always

It's one of the main reasons that I love baseball.

Baseball is about community.

Baseball has its stars, and they make the game incredibly interesting.

But, the journeymen and the rookies and the guys "called up" who play their part--they make it interesting, as well.

I know it's true in all team sports. But, well, baseball is just special and very different.

Take the game on Thursday, July 30 between the Chicago White Sox and visiting Tampa Bay at U. S. Cellular Field.

White Sox pitcher Mark Buehrle entered the ninth inning with a perfect game--24 batters up, 24 batters down.

Entering the game in center field for the first time at the beginning of the ninth was unheralded Dewayne Wise, a player who had been around the major leagues for several years, but with not much success. The .200 hitter was accustomed to entering games in the late innings.

The first Tampa Bay batter in that last inning was former Texas Ranger Gabe Kapler.

Kapler hit a long, long drive to deep center field over the head of Wise. At the crack of the bat, Wise turned and ran toward the center field fence where he judged the ball would come down, if it didn't clear the fence.

Wise made a spectacular, leaping catch at the top of the wall. . .the first time he caught it. The ball game out of the top of his glove as both ball and player fell toward the ground. During the fall, Wise snagged the ball with his free hand, securing the first out of the last inning and helping preserve the no-hit, perfect game for his pitcher, Buehrle.

What a moment! What an effort!

Sports Illustrated reported that Buehrle's time on the mound during the game was just a little over 30 minutes. I suppose that's what happens when there are no base runners.

Dewayne Wise was in the game for a much shorter time. But his contribution made all the difference.

Baseball.

Great moments.

Team.

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Just for fun and to remember. . .

I'm a confessed and incurable New York Yankee fan.

Grew up on the team in the 1950s and 60s when they aired every weekend on CBS-TV here in Dallas, back before we had a team of our own.

Mantle was my favorite.

Nothing much better than a Yankees-Dodgers World Series.

Just remembering those good days for baseball and for a kid growing up dreaming of swinging for the fence!

Biggio

Last Tuesday, after twenty years in the game, Houston Astros second baseman, Craig Biggio announced his retirement at the end of this season.

His speech was filled with uncharacteristic emotion, even tears. He thanked everyone on his long list, but the heart of his statement was all about his family and about getting to be more involved with them.

The articles that filled the Houston Chronicle last Wednesday morning are all worth reading (http://www.chron.com/), actually whether you love the game or not.

"B-G-O," as the Houston fans shout to him during home games, has been a special player--a cornerstone talent with a giant work ethic and a heart to more than match. In a day when the NBA is in turmoil thanks to a basketball official shaves points to cover bets, a professional football star gets caught up in a cruel dog fighting enterprise, and lots of other baseball stars "jack up" their game with the help of steroids, Biggio represents the best of professional sports--a very different sort of player. No wonder the fans love him.

Tuesday night was incredible--that's how it turned out--just incredible.

Coming to back in the bottom of the sixth inning, with two outs, the bases loaded and tied with the Los Angeles Dodgers 3-3, Biggio ripped the first pitch from right-hander Rudy Seanez six rows up into the left field seats, known as Crawford Boxes.

Grand slam!

Talk about a magic moment.

From now on when people ask why I love baseball so much, I will tell them this story. It's what the game is all about--moments like last Tuesday evening. . .and the twenty years leading up to it.