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Monday, June 14, 2021

Flag Day

Flag Day. What I used to call it when I got my report card. Macon GA erected an avenue of flags and dubbed themselves Flag City USA. Another term for my report card. I'll be here all week.

A good chance to re-post the picture of the time we helped unfurl the really big US flag at Fort McHenry.

Braves: we should call Anderson and Davidson "My Two Sons."

Would be fun to have Freeman wear a microphone more often. Broadcasters love him. One time he wore a live mic in the all star game while batting. He struck out because of the distraction. Braves aren't doing too well, but there's plenty of time to right the ship. No reason to panic. I'm going to the game tomorrow night against the Red Sox, and I'm sure the stadium will be filled with Boston fans. Should I ever go to another game in another MLB ballpark I'll be sure to wear my Braves gear, to return the favor.

Some think the infield fly rule needs to be changed. I still say it didn't get out of control until Skip Carey wasn't around any more to explain how it worked.

https://deadspin.com/hear-me-out-the-infield-fly-rule-is-dumb-and-needs-to-1847081184

I am old school when compared to many of my coworkers, and fans on social media.

Friday I used a coupon at Burger King for lunch. The Whopper Junior was good, and the French fries were good and also hot. A pleasant surprise.

Left work Friday afternoon around 6:15. Too worn out to work any longer. Stopped by two thrift store but passed on two bobbleheads. Ceil made homemade pizza for supper, and tossed a salad.

Slept in on Saturday morning. Woke up with a headache, which didn't go away until I drank a diet Mtn Dew for the caffeine. Grits for breakfast. Helped Ceil declutter upstairs. Made some headway. Went to the post office. Watched some golf and later a Hallmark movie. Finished my Vince Dooley book. Started a book by Garrison Keillor.

Sunday school out in the field at a member's house. A pediatrician from the African country of Togo spoke. Later Ceil had to go down to her women's ministry, so Winnie and I took a nap. She also bit a hole in the nice Merrell shirt I was wearing. Not happy. Watched more golf and more Hallmark movies, but that didn't help.

Yesterday afternoon I took Winnie outside, on her leash as usual. She laid down in the grass to relax, and didn't want to budge. For fun I acted like I was going inside, so I dropped the leach and walked toward the garage. That didn't work. I walked back to her to pick her up. Just then a hawk flew low, right over us, screeching. The hawk flew across the street. If I hadn't been standing right over Winnie, the hawk might've tried to snatch her up.

My hand has started itching, where Winnie had bitten it. I've resorted to calamine lotion, which works so well for me. I should've brought the bottle to work.

Work has been so burdensome that by the end of the week I'm ready to crash. Took naps both Saturday and Sunday. Last night I was working on a project and decided to keep working from 10 pm to 11 pm. Ceil was working on her own project and watching a Hallmark movie. I figured the movie would go off at 11 pm, which would be my signal to go to bed. When I looked at the clock it was 11:30.

Last night I also did a little work work. Had to do some on Saturday as well. Decided I'd better get in to the office a little early this morning. Stopped for gas and a soft drink, and still made it before 7:30 am. Busy at work today. Tonight another focus group.

R.I.PMUDCAT GRANT  [SABR Bio] was the first black pitcher to homer in a World Series game, off LAD's Howie Reed in G 6 of the 1965 WS. It was the first HR by an AL P since Jim Bagby's in G 5 of the 1920 WS. Grant threw the first pitch in Montreal Expos history, starting the inaugural game for Les Expos on 08-Apr-1969. He sang at memorial services for Kirby Puckett & Harmon Killebrew. Grant sang "What a Wonderful World", shown here at Killebrew's on-field memorial service at Target Field. Mudcat said he made much more money in music than he did while playing baseball. Behind his fine singing talent, Grant created "Mudcat and the Kittens", a song and dance act featuring himself as the lead singer backed up by some provocatively-clad young women dancers.  They played at nightclubs and hotels during the off-seasons and did quite well.  His combined MLB salaries for his 14-year career came to approximately $350,000.

Mudcat was one of the "Black Aces", an elite group of pitchers of African descent who have won at least 20 games in a season.  The term comes from the book "The Black Aces, Baseball's Only African-American Twenty-Game Winners, which was authored by Grant himself.  The original 12 pitchers were profiled in the book were: Don Newcombe, Toothpick Sam Jones, Bob Gibson, Ferguson Jenkins, Earl Wilson, Vida Blue, Al Downing, J.R. Richard, Mike Norris, Dwight Gooden, Dave Stewart & Grant. After the book's publication, three more 20-G winners have been added to the "club": Dontrelle Willis, CC Sabathia & David Price. He is one of only a handful pf pitchers with a twenty-win season somewhere in their careers in additional to a twenty-save season. The 20W/20SV pitchers are John Smoltz, Wilbur Wood, Dennis Eckersley, Derek Lowe, Ian Kennedy & Grant. Grant was once denied a no-hitter by a batter who also spoiled no-hitters for three other pitchers. Don Blasingame had the lone hit in Gs by Cal Koonce, Stan Williams, Moe Drabowsky & Grant.

NEWS: I received an email from Channel 11 sports anchor Alex Glaze, who wants to do a story about my memories of my 33 years of Peachtree Road Races. I'll keep you posted.

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