Finished the Rod Carew biography. He’s been a Christian all his life, and was later baptized at Saddleback Church by pastor Rick Warren. Carew hit over .300 for 15 straight seasons. Only Cobb and Rogers Hornsby led the league in hitting more times. Carew’s daughter died from cancer at the age of 18. The tragedy broke up Carew's family. Years earlier, the woman who would become Carew's second wife was pictured in the crowd behind the plate when Rod collected his 3000th hit.
After not wanting to learn golf for years, Carew finally started playing. He’s made like six holes in one. Later he had an early morning heart attack on the first tee of his golf course, after having attended an important event the night before. His heart issues exacerbated, leading to a heart transplant. The donor had been a 29 year-old tight end for the Baltimore Ravens who’d been a classmate and teammate of Carew’s step-children, who as an 11 year old had met Carew (the tight end’s organ and tissue donations benefitted 75 needy patients) . After spending his entire baseball career as a quiet introvert, Carew forced himself to come out of his shell to raise awareness for childhood cancer and heart health.
Just checked out Kostya Kennedy’s new book: True: The Four Seasons of Jackie Robinson”. I’d previously read Kennedy’s book on Joe Dimaggio. “True” is an e-book, so I actually have to read it.
Not sure I stumbled across my next book: “No Cure For Being Human (and Other Truths I need to Hear)”, by Kate Bowler, a Duke University professor of Christianity and cancer patient. As she faces her mortality, she wonders if bucket lists / high-achieving / “living your best life” / prosperity gospel that celebrities, TV pastors, and self-help gurus proport, might not be all they’re cracked up to be. Better to slow down and enjoy life, friends, and family. Seems like someone’s been trying to tell me that.
I wonder if my nephew Chase took a course from Bowler at Duke Divinity School. Bowler’s other books include: “Everything Happens for a Reason (and Other Lies I’ve Loved)”, and “Blessed, and A History of the American Prosperity Gospel”.
Winnie likes to go into our small walk-in closet. Last night when C was getting ready for bed the closet door got closed, and Winnie was stuck in there all night. She didn’t seem to mind.
After five days of “rest” my back is finally starting to feel a little better. Made it to the gym this morning to lift weights. Tried to take it easy. Will run tomorrow, if I don’t play golf. No weight gain (or loss) after subsisting on chicken salad and pimento cheese the past four days.
Glad I didn’t go to that Braves game last night. I’m sure the Red Sox fans were insufferable. Falcons kicker (and Georgia Southern alum) Younghoe Koo threw out the first pitch.
The Braves are like 4th in attendance, ahead of the Yankees, and behind only the Padres, Cardinals, and Dodgers. Saw a graph that LA County has more people than all but a handful of states. No wonder the Dodgers draw so well, and have so much money.
Tuesday: worked until 3:30. Between phone calls and emails and meetings I cleaned the house, did the dishes, took out the trash, did the laundry, packed the car, and walked Winnie. Left out at 4:45. Wanted to avoid rush hour in Charlotte and head out due west on smaller country roads, but C wanted Starbucks, which took us up toward the Charlotte beltway. The GPS kept wanting us to take gridlocked 85 south from Charlotte through Gastonia and Spartanburg to save 15 minutes. Instead I took 77 south to highway 72 through Clinton, a glorious, scenic two lane with no cars. Made the six hours worthwhile. Ceil slept through the whole thing.
Stopped in Anderson for Chickfila and gas. Skipped the last congested leg of 85 south, 285 west, and 400 north by exited in Suwanee, taking Medlock Bridge through Johns Creek to Alpharetta, then through Roswell home. This more leisurely route only added five minutes, but kept my blood pressure low. Got home at 10:53 pm.
DUSTY BAKER [SABR Bio] has the most playoff appearances for a manager without a World Series win. Bobby Cox, Tony La Russa & Joe Torre are the only ones with more postseason appearances than Baker’s eleven. Dusty is credited with co-inventing the high five. When Baker hit his 30th home run in 1977 for LAD, as he completed his HR circuit his on deck teammate Glenn Burke held his palm over his head and Baker spontaneously slapped Burke’s extended hand. Baker returned the favor almost immediately after Burke homered. The gesture caught on quickly. Baker was working as a stockbroker when Al Rosen (the unanimous 1953 AL MVP, then San Francisco’s GM) saw Dusty as a field manager. After some coaching assignments, the Giants gave Baker his first managing job.
Top reason for dementia: sedentary lifestyle.
Yesterday’s Denison column, another good one.
No comments:
Post a Comment