Top Five Braves Centerfielders

Mark Bowman’s top five Braves centerfielders.

 

1 Andruw Jones 1996-2007 his 60.9 bWAR with the Braves ranked third in the majors behind ARod and Bonds (Chipper ranked fourth). During this span Andruw led all of baseball with a 26.7 defensice bWAR. HOF catcher Ivan Rodriquez ranked second at 16.5. Mike Cameron was third at 9.6. Andruw stands with Clemente, Mays, and Ichiro as the only outfielders to win ten straight Gold Glove Awards. Andruw sit the Braves single season HR record in 2005 with 51, and ranks fourth in career homers with 368.

 

2. Dale Murphy 1976-1990 only Brave to win two MVPs. Won five straight Gold Gloves. While the Braves centerfielder Murphy led all outfielders in HR and bWAR. Only Mike Schmidt hit more homers during this stretch.

  

3. Wally Berger 1930-1937 was the starting centerfielder in the first all star game. Set rookie record with 38 HR in 1930, which stood for 57 years until Mark McGuire hit 49 in 1987. Berger’s NL record stood until Cody Bellinger hit 39 in 2017. Still ranks third among Braves centerfielders with a 36.9 bWAR.

 

4. Ender Inciarte 2016-2019 has won three straight Gold Gloves from 2016-2018. Had a 200 hit season in 2017, the club’s first since 1996.

  

5. Bill Bruton 1953-1960 hit a 10th inning walk-off HR in Milwaukee’s first home game. Led majors in stolen bases during each of his first three seasons. His 18.0 bWAR ranks third among comparable Braves centerfielders.

 

HM: Billy Hamilton 1896-1901 is in the MLB HOF.

 

HM: Marquis Grissom

 

HM: Kenny Lofton hit .333 with a .409 OBP in 1997.  

 

https://www.mlb.com/news/braves-all-time-best-center-fielders

 

Not sure kids today appreciate the fact that we were able to see the people we did. One time I made a list. In college I saw Michael Jordan. Joe Montana. Artis Gilmore. Len Bias. Herschel Walker. William the Refrigerator Perry. Chris Collinsworth, Dwight Clark, David Robinson.

 

In the pros I’ve seen Larry Bird, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Magic Johnson, Jordan, Dominique, Moses Malone, Bill Walton, Tim Duncan, David Robinson, Julius Erving, Charles Barkley, Hank Aaron, Roberto Clemente, Willie Mays, Greg Maddux, Roger Clemens, Randy Johnson, Pete Rose, Johnny Bench, Cal Ripken, Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Phil Niekro, Fran Tarkenton, Johnny Unitas, Len Dawson, Joe Namath, Joe Kapp, Alan Page, Jim Marshall, Carl Eller, Deacon Jones, Merlin Olsen, Archie Manning, Gale Sayers, Dick Butkus, Tommy Nobis. 

 

While researching Whack Hyder, I stumbled across the following article, with an interesting story about Rupp. When I was at GT I used to play in that old gym, located behind the north stands of Grant Field. Used to hold our 24 hour marathon basketball games against the UGA BSU. Have I told you about those?

 

https://ramblinwreck.com/behind-the-banner-whack-hyder/

 

"If I have all powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge . . . but have not love, I am nothing" (1 Corinthians 13:2).

 Will was finally able to lay sod a couple days ago.

 Anna spent the weekend in Savannah and Tybee Island.

 Cool to watch Space X blast off.

 Rare photo of Tech's 1976 uniforms.

Last year UGA only had one real healthy QB. This year they'll have four of five to choose from. Next year they'll add at least two more, including former USC QB JT Daniels, who experts say is Jake Fromm with a stronger arm. 

More from yesterday: (A) those murders were wrong (B) racism is rampant in America (C) little wonder why blacks riot (4) more reports of rioters bussed / flown in from out of town - in Minneapolis, Atlanta, Charlotte, Dallas, etc. We're only hearing the tip of the iceberg of this story.

If we shouldn't be silent on what's going on, what should we be doing? Is posting on social media enough? I don't think so.

Say hello to my grass cutting shoes: my navy New Balance 993's.

So old they're starting to tear up.

The 2020 Race Riots

Not sure I am ready to comment on the tragic George Floyd murder, the Ahmaud Arbery slaying before that, or the subsequent riots and looting in Minneapolis, Atlanta, Buckhead, and other parts of the country. I enjoy writing because it helps me shape exactly how I feel and where I stand on what's going on in the world. Without getting too political, I try to use this blog to record what's going on with what's going on in the world, my family, and me. What I'm about to say probably won't be correct, but let me ramble for awhile.

First off: the killings were wrong. Terrible. In no way can they be justified. They are just two recent examples of tragedies that have been going on for decades, that should not be tolerated.

Racism is alive and well in this country. Though I grew up around black people, went to school and played football where as a white person I was the minority, and have counted blacks as friends all throughout my life, I really have no idea how blacks are treated in America, by police, by shopkeepers, and as they try to live life.

I constantly have to check my own thoughts, words, and actions to make sure they contain only love, and not racism, hate, and bitterness. While I hate to see selfishness and ignorance, I know how often I act selfishly and react out of ignorance. It is not for me to judge another's life and actions. I'm even talking about the protesters and rioters - not the thugs who killed these young men.

There is truth in the response to those asking why the protests can't remain peaceful. Previous peaceful protests have been ignored and shouted down. Police treat white protesters differently than black protesters.

Jesus wasn't always peaceful.

He overturned tables at the temple.

You can really tell a lot about a person by how they're reacting to this crisis. Some question. Some deflect. Guess we all can't be Tony Dungy. A friend posted a good article on how to respond to the riots.

These days its hard to know what to believe, or what's really going on in the world. Were these murders orchestrated in an effort to create the unrest, protests, and riots - to deflect attention away from Obamagate? Are these rioters being used - are they "hired guns" by some unseen evil power? With the country seeking to reopen after its long quarantine, are forces at work to continue to wreck the economy in an effort to effect the outcome of the November election.

Some purport these riots are orchestrated, that outsiders have been flown into cities to stir trouble. Some say a majority of the rioters in Charlotte were from out of state. That rioters didn't know where to go, and were led by inciters to areas of visibility. What's the deal with bricks conveniently stacked up on the sidewalks? Whatever happened with the caravans headed toward the US border? After election day they weren't heard from again. Is it the same with these riots?

Wearing my Air Jordan Eclipse sneakers while writing post.

Dang it this could be racist.

Top Braves Bench Players

Mark Bowman’s top bench players in Braves history.

 

David Ross produced a 1.0 bWAR or higher during each of his 4 seasons with the Braves, but never logged 200 plate appearances during any of those seasons. Ross hit a key HR in the 2012 NL wild card game against the Cardinals.

 

Julio Franco ranked third in pinch hit appearances in Braves history. Hit .272 over 194 career pinch hit appearances.

 

Keith Lockhart had the most pinch hit appearances 284 and pinch hits 59. Had more starts than Lemke, Boone, or Graffinino.

 

Martin Prado was a top utility player.

 

Eddie Perez was Greg Maddux’ personal catcher between 1996-2000. Won 1999 NLCS MVP.

 

Ty Cline 1963-1964 and Hank Gowdy 1917-1921 are the only other players in Braves history to produce a 1.0 bWAR or better in multiple seasons of fewer than 200 PA, but neither did so more than twice.

 

Tommy Gregg produces a .800 OPS as a pinch hitter from 1988-1997.

 

https://www.mlb.com/braves/news/braves-all-time-best-bench-players

Watching The Last Dance, it is interesting that back during their run I knew just about everyone on the Bulls, including bench players. MJ Pippen Luc Longley Cartwright Oakley BJ Armstrong Paxson Harper Horace Grant from Clemson, Kukoc Rodman Wennington Steve Kerr Scott Williams. Besides Williams, there was another UNC player that MJ lobbied Krause to add to the team. In episode 4 it showed MJ on the plane with this player. Can’t remember who it was. But those days I knew almost all the bench players on the Celtics and Lakers as well, like Greg Kite, ML Carr, Cornbread Maxwell, Maravich, and Walton.   

 

There was a thing on the internet asking to rank your favorite Hawk, but they only showed nine Hawks, leaving off Willis, Eddie, Volkov, Moses, Koncak, Harry, even Lou Hudson. They had Maravich Mutombo Spud Dominique Trae Pettit Horford Jason Terry Steve Smith Millsaps Joe Johnson Josh Smith (that’s my order for those nine).

 

My nine would be (1) Maravich (2) Volkov (3) Scott Hastings (4) Tom McMillen (5) Willis (6) Dominique (7) Lou Hudson (8) Spud (9) Doc Rivers.

 

Another person said the Hawks all-time starting five was Hudson Pettit Dominique Cliff Hagan and Al Horford. No Mutombo or Maravich.

 

Last week someone predicted the standings for the NBA e-league standings. Grizz Gaming were ranked ahead of Hawks Talon. The Talon logo and gear looks nice, as does the Grizz stuff. With eleven different items to wear, I’m usually wearing something Grizzlies every day.

 

Last night I watched episode 4 of The Last Dance. Worked until six. Stopped by a thrift store and an ice cream place on the way home. Cooked two chicken quesadillas on the Panini press. Took out the trash. Did the dishes and straightened up. Also watched Being Erica and a couple more holes of The Match. Brady holed his approach shot on six, and immediately went from not saying anything to talking nonstop. Guess he thought since he had been playing so bad that he didn’t want to bring attention to himself. Trevor Immelman was the commentator who helped Brady determine where to drop after Brady’s shot went in the hazard.

Yesterday Ceil had to take Barney to the vet up in SC. Barney had a swollen eye, perhaps accidentally scratching it. So Barney was feeling poorly, but better after getting to ride in the car.

 

Last night while watching TV I saw something out of the corner of my eye. M’s cat scurried across the floor. M’s door was closed so the cat couldn’t get back to his habitat. He scampered under the couch and M couldn’t get him until after I went to bed. Shoot I had been going back and forth outside and had left the back door open. Good thing he didn’t escape.

 

Ephesians 4:15, "speaking the truth in love." Denison: in a postmodern culture that defines truth as subjective and love as tolerance, it is vital that I speak the transforming truth of Jesus in the unconditional love of Jesus.

 

Broke out the Stan Smiths to wear to work today. And for cap day Friday I wore Anna's green Masters cap.

Top Five Braves Right-Handed Starters

Mark Bowman’s top five Braves right-handed starting pitchers in Braves history. 

 

1. Greg Maddux 1993-2003 received 98 of the 108 first-place votes cast for the NL Cy Young Award from 1992-95. Maddux and Randy Johnson (1999-2002) are the only pitchers to ever win four straight Cy Young. Maddux produced a 1.90 ERA and a 219 ERA+ over the 89 starts he made over his first 3 seasons (1993-95) with Atlanta. His ERA was more than a run lower than those constructed by Jose Rijo (2.92) and Johnson (2.97), who ranked 2nd and 3rd, respectively, among all MLB pitchers during this span. During his final eight seasons spent with the Braves, Maddux’ 2.90 ERA produced from 1996-2003 ranked 4th among all MLB pitchers, trailing only Pedro Martinez (2.40), Kevin Brown (2.60) and Johnson (2.74).

 

Where should Maddux rank amongst the best right-handed starters in baseball history? His career 132 ERA+ ranks 7th, and of the 6 pitchers ranked ahead of him, Roger Clemens is the only one who pitched after 1930 (Maddux won more games than Clemens). Maddux’s 163 ERA+ with the Braves easily ranks as the best mark for a starter in franchise history. His 66.2 bWAR compiled over 2,526-2/3 innings ranks 3rd among Braves right-handed starters. His WAR is .07 less than that produced by John Smoltz, who logged 863-1/3 more innings than Maddux as a Brave. Phil Niekro ranks first among the franchise’s right-handed starters with the 89.6 WAR he amassed over 4,622-1/3 innings. Had Maddux maintained his same pace and equaled Niekro’s innings total, his WAR would have been approximately 121.

 

2. John Smoltz 2988-2008 ranks 2nd in MLB history with 15 postseason wins and his .789 postseason winning percentage. After the 1991 all star break Smoltz produced MLB’s fifth best ERA over the rest of the decade (Maddux ranked first). Smoltz won the 1996 NL Cy Young. Set the franchise record with 55 saves in 2002 and the career record with 154 saves. The only pitcher in MLB history with over 200 wins and 150 saves. Finished in the top 7 in Cy Young balloting at the age of 39 and 40.      

 

3. Kid Nichols 1890-1901 became the youngest pitcher to record 300 wins, at the age of 30 years 9 months 23 days. His 107.4 WAR was trumped only by Cy Young’s 107.7. Ranking third during this time was Amos Rusie with 65.7.

4. Phil Niekro 1964-1983 & 1987 recorded more wins (121) than any other pitcher over 40 years old in MLB history. Went 17-4 with a 3.61 ERA for the 1982 NL West champions. The 119 ERA+ shows Niekro remained an above average pitcher over two decades.  

 

5. Tim Hudson 2005-2013 one of only 21 pitchers in MLB history with more than 200 wins, 2000 strikeouts, and a .600+ career winning percentage. Went 113-72 in 9 seasons in Atlanta with a 3.56 ERA. Only Maddux (.688) and Glavine (.624) are the only pitchers in Atlanta history with a higher percentage than Hudson (.611).

Note: where I've borrowed tidbits from Bowman for most all these lists, for Maddux I pretty much reproduced his entire writeup. 

 

https://www.mlb.com/news/braves-all-time-best-right-handed-starters

 

After work yesterday I drove over to CVS to pick up a prescription for C. Went to the wrong CVS, so I double back to the correct one. Ate M’s leftover French fries for breakfast, two ham & cheese quesadillas for lunch, and popcorn for supper. Watched episode 3 of The Last Dance (Dennis Rodman) and Being Erica – which shows that even when you can travel back in time you can’t make everything work out the way you want. Erica deals with bullies, family matters, friends, etc. Interesting show.

Also watched the first five holes of The Match. The teams halved the first two holes. Tiger/Peyton won holes 3 and 4. Manning hit a nice long putt for birdie on four. Tiger beat Phil for the long drive on the third hole. On hole four Tiger hit closest to the pin – 8-1/2 feet. Peyton hit the green but Phil and Tom missed the green. Peyton and Charles Barkley are hilarious. Manning would get to talking about a topic, and occasionally look back at the camera. After a couple of hole Peyton switched from a white golf cap to a grey NOLA cap – “to change his luck” he said. Phil explained a chip shot before he hit it. Barkley said Phil was that friend “who always has to give the brain surgery answer.”

 

On hole five the players had to play the entire hole with one club. Tiger hit a four iron. Tom and Phil used a six. Brady hit into water. Up to that point he hadn’t been talking much, as his microphone wasn’t working well. He kept saying all he could hear was static. When he approached where his ball had gone out of bounds he asked the announcers where he should drop. There weren’t official rules officials on the course (Justin Thomas was serving as an on course roving reporter, but wasn’t with Brady at the time). One of the pro golfers in the studio piped up and told Brady what to do rules wise – at the same time a guy next to Brady was saying “Just drop it anywhere.” Brady did the right thing and dropped two club lengths from where the ball entered the hazard – on the gravel path, not the grass. Still he hit one of his first decent shots of the day.

 

Today's brown fashion sneakers. With black pants. And Batman socks. This one may be Instagram-worthy. You think?

PT@GT

Taking PE at Tech. Back in the old days they called it PT, but that was before my time. My first quarter at Tech, in the fall of 1977 I took aerobics. My instructor was Whack Hyder (above, with an odd colored Tech jersey). Early on I told him that he knew my grandmother, who had worked in the GT registrars office. Hyder would visit there to make sure his players and recruits remained eligible. In the years after that I would occasionally see Hyder at a GT basketball game. We’d say hello, and he would ask about my grandmother. In the class we’d run around the old track at Grant Field for 30 minutes, looping around underneath the old north stands. Then play football or soccer on the astroturf. To get an A you had to run a certain distance in a certain time. I made the A.

 

In the winter of 1978 I took gymnastics. Guess it was the only PE class available. Class was at the new Student Athletic Complex (SAC), where 20 years later they build the Olympic Swimming and Diving facility. The instructor was Gerald Polhemus, the strength and conditioning coach for GT football. He didn’t teach much gymnastics, thank goodness. A lot of the grade stemmed from doing the pushups and situps and mile run and other conditioning exercises. For some reason the coach took a liking to me. While we did the exercises he would tell stories, and I guess I would respond to his stories. We’ do pushups and sit-ups and for the test we’d have to tell him how many we did. Everyone did the exercises at the same time, as the coach counted them off. The goal was to do 100, and most everyone did. Then he’d call the roll, and we’d have to respond with the number we did. Adams? 100. Butler? 90. Custer? 100. Murphy? 101. The coach loved it.

 

Then it was time for the mile run, to be ran inside the SAC around the four indoor basketball courts. For some reason the coach said I was the favorite, perhaps because I had taken aerobics the quarter before. I had never run a long race like that, so I hadn’t thought about strategy. I took off and led the entire race – until the last turn. That’s when a classmate passed me to win. One of the fastest miles I ever ran – around 6:30. I got an A in the class.

 

In the winter of 1980 I took the famous GT downproofing class., which at the time was required for graduation. Many dread it. I could swim but was far from a fish. Everything we did in the class we first were showed how to do it. Most things weren’t that hard even though they sound tough: treading water for 30-45 minutes, then treading water (1) with our feet tied together (2) hands tied together and (3) both hands and feet tied together. The secret was to float, occasionally kicking up for a breath. With hands and feet tied you could slowly sink down to the bottom of the pool and bounce back up to take a breath. At some point you had to “swim” down to the deeper end, and then swim back to the middle of the pool. Another “test” was to jump in wearing long pants and a shirt over my swimsuit. Once in the water you took off your pants and shirt, tied the sleeves and legs then blew air into the clothes to use as a flotation device, then float for 30 minutes.

Another “test” was to jump in the deep end of the pool (not dive), then swim UNDER WATER the length of the Olympic sized pool. To pass the test you had to touch the far end of the pool and turn around, still under water. That was my goal. To get an A you had to swim all the way back to the other end. I jumped in and swam. Made it to the other end and turned around. I figured I would keep swimming until I just couldn’t any more. I swam and swam. Made it all the way and touched the other side. My classmates all cheered. For the entire class I made a B.   

 

Have I told these stories before?

 

My dad remembered when Pepper Rodgers played for Brown High. He may have played against him – Grady vs Brown. You and my dad may have been at the same games.

 

Steadman Sheeley was young Charles marsh’s best friend in high school, who went on to quarterback a few games at Alabama. When Bob marsh came to SPdL to hold plenty of Steadman stories. Charles Marsh recently made a Steadman comment on social media.    

 

Finished up Kristen Hannah’s Home Front. Also almost finished a book that several of my Goodreads friends had read: An American Marriage, by Tayari Jones. Set in Atlanta, Morehouse guy marries Spelman girl. Plenty of Atlanta references, but Jones gets some of them wrong. No true Atlantan calls the shops at the intersection of “busy” Virginia Avenue and North Highland as “The Highlands.” A typical white Cobb County resident may live in Marietta, but it’s doubtful to get to his house you go to the Big Chicken and turn left (probably turn right). Author did grow up in Atlanta, but has been gone so long she may have forgotten some of these details.

 

Oprah and Obama may have liked “An American Marriage” but it wasn’t my favorite. Both Anna and MC had heard of the book. Saturday night I chatted with Anna about various books, and showed her my reading list. We have some books in common. Next up for me: “Cilka’s Journey” by Heather Morris, the sequel to The Tattooist of Auschwitz.     

 

Once while I was in high school in the mid-1970’s, Illie Nastase played in a tennis exhibition in the Macon Coliseum, and I went. Forgot who his opponent was.  

 

On October 6, 1987 I attended the AT&T Tennis Challenge in the Omni. Don’t remember who played. Laver vs McEnroe?

 

On April 6, 1999 I went to the Masters for the first time. Pretty sure it was former JM Tull employee Gene Lorenz who gave me the tickets. Took Will, who was 5-1/2 years old. When we got there we walked up to the 18th green. The golfers on the green putted out, then walked up the aisle to the clubhouse. They passed several kids in the front. A few of the kids were given golf balls. I didn’t say anything. Will weaved his way through the crowd until he was in the front. Then he turned around to look at the bigger kid that Will had just stepped in front of, and smiled at him. The next three golfers approached the green. Guys named Nicklaus, Palmer, and Player. When they left, Gary Player handed a ball to Will. We hadn’t been there five minutes!

 

In August 2001 the PGA Championship was played at the Atlanta Athletic Club in Duluth. I went to work that day as usual, wearing a dress shirt, slacks, and dress shoes. That morning someone asked if I wanted a ticket to that day’s round. I left immediately. Roasted in the heat. Walked most of the course, trying to stay in the shade. Saw Tiger Woods and eventual winner David Toms.

 

Other golf tournaments I’ve attended: the Bellsouth Classic at the Atlanta Country Club here in East Cobb, the Heritage down at Hilton Head Island (both twice), and last year’s Tour Championship at East Lake.  

 

The Masters has been moved to November. That same weekend is when we go to Virginia for the rescheduled wedding celebration for Myron & Dawn’s daughter Rachel. Our whole family is invited, so we’ll see how many can go.

Wore my old red Puma Suedes today.

 

Listened to Cellini and Dimino interview sportswriter Rick Telander about The Last Dance. Would like to read his book Like a Rose about training camp with the Kansas City Chiefs.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Telander

 

Helen Keller: "True happiness is not attained through self-gratification, but through fidelity to a worthy purpose."

Tuesday: at lunch I went to get my haircut. Spent the entire time catching up with my stylist Denise. Stopped by Taco Bell and Dollar Tree while I was out.

 

Yesterday M said he was bringing over a friend after work, and I was to be on my best behavior. So at 5 pm I clocked out of work and straightened up. The house wasn’t too messy but I pretty much worked from five to 7:45 – did the dishes, folded some clothes, took out the trash. Watched several episodes of Being Erica, as well as part two of The Last Dance.

More photos of the custom EZGo golf cars from Sunday’s match. They were auctioned off for charity after the match. 

 

https://golf.com/news/tiger-phil-match-amazing-golf-carts/

 

TROY TULOWITZKI  [BR Wiki] broke Ernie Banks’s record for home runs in a season by a National League rookie shortstop. Hit 24 HR in 2007 all while playing SS; Banks had 19 in 1954 (Neither was ROY). Tulo’s teammate Trevor Story set the new mark at 27 in 2016. He is the only player in history to perform an unassisted triple play and hit for the cycle in a National League career - UTP = 29-Apr-2007; Cycle = 10-Aug-2009. In four of his first six major league seasons, his individual WAR exceeded 6.0, averaging the best among all MLB shortstops over that period.

 

2007 = 6.8;

2008 = 0.8;

2009 = 6.5;

2010 = 6.7; and

2011 = 6.2

 

Saw this plate tonight at the drug store. Get it? Hint: Seinfeld. The plate was given to Kramer by mistake. He loved it. By the end of the episode it was returned to its rightful owner.

Hello Dolly

 Friday: didn’t leave the office until almost 6 pm. Not much happened that night. Checked out Grizz Gaming. Didn’t sleep well Friday night. Tossed and turned.

 

Saturday morning I zoomed with two members of my small group. Joe’s son goes to Clemson and Buddy went to Clemson and knew Ceil there. Both were wearing Clemson caps, so I ran upstairs and got my Clemson cap to put on. Later I went out for pine straw, then cleaned off the leaves from the little-used southwest corner of the house, the spread straw there. Ceil was planting flowers and plants in the front. Then I mowed the backyard.

 

That night we picked up Thai food in Sandy Springs, then drove down to celebrate MC’s birthday (which is actually today). Sat out on their back deck. They say that passersby on the Atlanta Beltline compliment them on the progress they’re making on the house, and ask questions. Will has tilled all the soil and is ready to lay down sod. I need to quit wearing nice shoes down there because I always get them dirty.

 

Everyone had wine except me. Sushi and chicken kabob appetizers. I was starving so I sampled some of every dish, including the curry chicken. Nothing was very spicy. Chocolate cheesecake for dessert, back out on the deck. On their trip Will had played the Tobacco Road golf course on Saturday, then Pinehurst number 3 on Sunday (or was it number 5?). He and MC both played the small par three course there at Pinehurst. Anna gave me her red Dale Murphy jersey, but I wanted to make sure Will didn’t want it first – since I has the same jersey though its not quite as nice. MC said she wanted it. Not sure Anna was happy about me giving away the jersey she had just given me. Later Will slid the jersey onto his dog Okie.

 

Got up at 6 am Sunday to drive to Macon to move my mom’s things. Earlier Sunday morning my sister had asked me to rent a heavy duty appliance dolly to help with the move. I knew the UHaul store would be closed, so I stopped by Home Depot. Parked my car and walked to the door. They were closed as well. Spent half my drive to Macon on the phone with Home Depot and UHaul trying to rent that damned dolly for my sister. The only one was way over in West Macon, all the way across town from where I was picking up the truck. Turned out we didn’t need a dolly after all. Then when I picked up the truck it already had a dolly in it. All that fuss over nothing. What we supposedly needed the dolly to move – the heavy marble-topped chest of drawers my sister had to the list to move (that doesn’t have handles my mom can open) – that we moved over there anyway – later that night my mom said “Well I hope you didn’t move that heavy marble top thing over there.” Great.

 

Arrived at the house with the truck about 10:25. Had it pretty much loaded before noon. But we couldn’t leave early. We had to stick around worrying about every last detail. Important stuff like the number of 7-Ups and V8 bottles we’d packed. My mom won’t be able to handle those big bottles anyway. Probably won’t fit in her refrigerator. Important things like newspapers and pillows and bricks. Fun. I spent the spare time deleting out junk emails on my phone. Then as it turned out we didn’t get to the place until almost 1:30.

 

Unloaded and set everything up. The TV my brother brought doesn’t sit flat on the slick marble top, but he didn’t want to secure it with the brick I’d brought. Hope the TV doesn’t slide off onto my mother when she tries to open those drawers that don’t have handles. Then when we are finished, everyone was just sitting around. I suggested we leave, but was reprimanded for doing so. I went back to deleting emails.

 

To calm down I took the scenic – yet direct route back to return the truck, since I didn’t want to drive on the interstate. Made a left onto Thomaston Road, driving past old Macon Mall. Thomaston turned into Montpelier, which took me past the old bread bakery and my old junior high school – a stately building recently converted into apartments. Then around past my old high school, which has also been completely renovated. Past the old practice fields, then up to Vineville where my parents first lived when they moved to Macon in 1959. Then cut over to drive through Ingleside Village, where my old Baskin Robbins used to be (it’s gone now). Then right on Corbin Avenue down to Riverside to get gas and drop off the truck. Was still so worked up that I didn’t return the truck correctly.

 

Drove back home to give my sister something from my car, stopping by Cook Out for a chocolate shake along the way. Sister was looking for a few last minute items. Finally we all left. I stopped for gas before getting on the interstate, then remembered I hadn’t taken something of my dad’s out of my trunk. Drove back to the house, and talked to dad for a while longer. Then remembered I hadn’t returned the truck correctly, so I drove into town to do that. Thought about stopping by to visit my mom, but already I wouldn’t be getting home until late – and a huge thunderstorm had just hit. Was so worn out that I didn’t care about spending 20 minutes in the tediously slow Locust Grove Taco Bell drive thru line. I haven’t eaten inside a restaurant since March.

 

Got home but knew I couldn’t sleep. Watched the first episode of The Last Dance as well as an old time-travel BBC show called Being Erica. the actress looks like a young Dana Delany. I’ll see how long it’ll take me to watch all 49 episodes, considering Ceil won’t want to watch it.

The Tiger Phil Peyton Tom golf match - I missed it because I was in Macon. Got home and wanted to watch it, but it wasn’t there to watch on delay. I set my TV to record any replay, and magically it was there last night to watch. But by then it was late so I only watched a little. Ceil is in SC until late Sunday afternoon, so many I’ll watch three holes of golf plus one episode of Last Dance each night. Plus two episodes of Being Erica. And Holy Moly.

On Monday my goal was to rest. Didn't work out that way. Didn’t really sleep as late as I wanted. Took a shower but stayed upstairs going through emails. Cleaned up a little upstairs then went downstairs. M had left some chopped up broccoli, so I ate that with ranch dressing. Washed M’s Jeep and my Corolla. The Jeep really needed attention. Came inside and cooked ham and cheese quesadillas for a late lunch. Later I waxed and detailed the Jeep. Started raining so I moved it inside the garage to finish. Wore me out. As I was finishing a bug bit me on the top of my foot. I knew not to scratch it. Put aloe on it, and later calamine lotion.  Watched Who Wants to be a Millionaire, The Neighborhood, Comedians in Cars Drinking Coffee, and more episodes of Being Erica.

 

Went outside this morning for our regular 9 am conference call. Saw the towel I’d used to wax the Jeep, so I picked it up and waxed my little Corolla while I was on the call. When it was my turn to talk, I was out of breath. At lunchtime I drove over to and got my haircut, my first in over two months. Spent the entire time catching up with Denise, my regular stylist. While I was out I picked up a few items at Dollar Tree, and drove thru Taco Bell for lunch. Wearing my Crocs flip-flops to keep that bug bite from being covered up.

DeWAYNE WISE the speedy outfielder once fooled an umpiring crew that he had caught a foul pop-up by pounding his fist into his glove and immediately high-fiving his teammate. On 26-Jun-2012 playing for Yankees, he tumbled into the LF stands at New Yankee Stadium to catch a pop-up off the bat of the Cleveland’s Jack Hannahan. He was helped out of the stands and immediately ran to the dugout, as if he had just made the 3rg out, fooling umpire Mike DiMuro.  Replays showed that Wise had dropped and not even recovered the ball. He just pumped his fist into his empty glove as if he had made the catch and then high-fived teammate Derek Jeter. He played for the Toronto Blue Jays on three separate occasions, none memorable. He signed with the White Sox as a free agent on three separate occasions. He pitched for both the White Sox and the Yankees and retired with a perfect 0.00 ERA. Threw 2/3 inning for NYY 29-Jun-2012 and full inning for CHW 04-Sep-2012.

 

12.13.99 Drafted by TOR from CIN in the 1999 rule 5 draft

04.06.11 Signed as a Free Agent with TOR

08.26.11 Selected off waivers by TOR from FLA

03.05.08 Signed as a Free Agent with CHW

08.03.12 Signed as a Free Agent with CHW

11.21.12 Signed as a Free Agent with CHW

RIP Biff Pocoroba, who passed away at 66.