Traffic was angry Wednesday night. Left work at 5:30 and made one stop on the way to north of Cumming. Arrived about 6:50 for the hot stove meeting. Last night kicked off the 27th year of the group meeting together.
Johnny had talked a new guy into coming: Jack, a retiree from Philadelphia. He had attended the last game at old Connie Mack Stadium, and the first game the next year at Veterans Stadium. Jack had been a season ticket holder of the Phillies, Eagles, Flyers, and 76ers for years and years. He didn't get married until he was 48 years old. Now he and his wife winter in Cumming near his step daughter, and summer in New York. When he got married and moved to New York he couldn't root for the Mets so he adopted the Yankees, becoming a season ticket holder.
When Jack was introduced Johnny mentioned he would need a ride home since he couldn't drive at night due to the diabetic condition of his eyes. At the end of the meeting Johnny nominated me to take Jack home. Made sense since I was headed south anyway, plus most all the others were Johnny and Hugh's age. I was concerned because the mist and rain was fogging up my windshield and running the defroster overheats the car, but we made it safely. The short drive allowed us to continue our talk about sports.
As I had suspected, Jack had attended the 1960 NFL Championship Game at Franklin Field between the Eagles and Packers. I shared how as the head coach of the Falcons Norm Van Brocklin had taken a liking to my little blond-haired brother. We'd go down to field level to watch the Falcons warm up before games, and Van Brocklin would always stop by to say hello to "his little buddy." Then when we attended training camp up at Furman University, Van Brocklin saw my little brother and took him out on the field with him.
Next month Johnny’s trying to get former Brave Mark DeRosa to come to the meeting. A hot stove regular’s grandkids play sports with DeRosa’s kids. My new friend Jack did not know that DeRosa had played quarterback for Penn before pursuing a baseball career. If DeRo comes, I'll have to ask him about living in catcher Matt Sinatro's Cross Creek condo off Moore's Mill Road - next door to David Hurt. The December hot stove meeting also features the famous Cap Swap, so don’t forget to bring a cap to trade.
Johnny had talked a new guy into coming: Jack, a retiree from Philadelphia. He had attended the last game at old Connie Mack Stadium, and the first game the next year at Veterans Stadium. Jack had been a season ticket holder of the Phillies, Eagles, Flyers, and 76ers for years and years. He didn't get married until he was 48 years old. Now he and his wife winter in Cumming near his step daughter, and summer in New York. When he got married and moved to New York he couldn't root for the Mets so he adopted the Yankees, becoming a season ticket holder.
When Jack was introduced Johnny mentioned he would need a ride home since he couldn't drive at night due to the diabetic condition of his eyes. At the end of the meeting Johnny nominated me to take Jack home. Made sense since I was headed south anyway, plus most all the others were Johnny and Hugh's age. I was concerned because the mist and rain was fogging up my windshield and running the defroster overheats the car, but we made it safely. The short drive allowed us to continue our talk about sports.
As I had suspected, Jack had attended the 1960 NFL Championship Game at Franklin Field between the Eagles and Packers. I shared how as the head coach of the Falcons Norm Van Brocklin had taken a liking to my little blond-haired brother. We'd go down to field level to watch the Falcons warm up before games, and Van Brocklin would always stop by to say hello to "his little buddy." Then when we attended training camp up at Furman University, Van Brocklin saw my little brother and took him out on the field with him.
Next month Johnny’s trying to get former Brave Mark DeRosa to come to the meeting. A hot stove regular’s grandkids play sports with DeRosa’s kids. My new friend Jack did not know that DeRosa had played quarterback for Penn before pursuing a baseball career. If DeRo comes, I'll have to ask him about living in catcher Matt Sinatro's Cross Creek condo off Moore's Mill Road - next door to David Hurt. The December hot stove meeting also features the famous Cap Swap, so don’t forget to bring a cap to trade.
Johnny had been wanting to trade some of his extra Braves bobbles for bobbles from other teams, so I had packed up six bobbles to take to trade. I knew he had four that I wanted, but when he saw my six he went back and got two more, to make it a six for six trade. He got a Brewers Ben Sheets (in a team USA uni), Pirates pitcher Oliver Perez, Dodgers catcher Russell Martin, DBacks pitcher JJ Putz, and Augusta Greenjackets pitcher Jon Lester, and one more I must've forgot. He gave me a Blooper, Folty, Babe Ruth, Rome rookie pitcher Mike Soroka, Rome manager Randy Ingle, and Rome pitcher Kolby Allard.
I was tired when I got home, so I didn't crank up my laptop. Went to bed. This morning I was later than usual to work. Had to take out the trash, and take out Barney. Matthew had to work this morning as well, and he beat me out the door.
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