Wednesday, November 29, 2017

A Day in the Life of Reed Palmer

Reed Palmer:  a name that shall live in . . .
well, probably in a cardboard box in Dan Price's house.

Reed Palmer holds the Tucson Old Timers record for home runs in a year, at twenty, set today, with still a month to go.

The hard part is convincing Reed that he will not be allowed to pay for the balls lost over the fence, out to the road, on their way to Grandmother's house, somewhere out there in the woods (or for what counts as woods, in Tucson, where the most common trees have cactus spines).


 Reed pitched, too. 

He holds the record for . . .
well, for games pitched by Reed Palmer.





It is easy to be glad for Reed.
He makes it easy.  
There is no show-boating.  
When he comes out of the dugout,
he does not doff his cap, 
no matter how loud the fans in the stands cheer.

Most of the time, the fans are outnumbered
by the dogs on leashes, anyway.
It is about a 1:1.5 ratio.


That was not the whole game, of course.









Blue now shows up better 
against the fading grass 
than does white chalk.

The guy from the Park District
says he doesn't need no stinkin' string
just to go right down the line:
he lines up the yellow foul pole 
with a mountain peak down by Nogales:
saves a lot of time; makes for
a longer coffee break.


Living Breathing Tradition




Monday, November 27, 2017

Perplexing Moments









A LLOYD BARZELL SAMPLER: or Mammas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to be Cowboys

There may be Old Time baseball players as tough as Lloyd Barzell, but there are none tougher.  He is all hustle, grit, and gristle. 

He was pitching today, when he became tangled up with a baseball wound almost as tightly as he is.  

The photos below show, first, how it began, and then how Lloyd returned to the mound, and to the plate.  









Monday, November 20, 2017

Monday Morning in Arizona

This is how keen intellect cuts through all the variables of a triple play.









"Please, please, put something over the plate!"
--or--
Nineteen, and Counting.

Friday, November 17, 2017

Leg Repair, Fence Repair, Roster Repair

He caught a line drive,
with his leg,
while running from third to home.
Bad idea.

Better idea.
Note the leg.













Oops!
Speaking of legs. . . .
Still on the Injured Reserve List.
Quiz:  Which is the most recent?
A share of the record, at 19 HRs.
A month and a half to go.





















Life in the Balance












Still thinking about . . . 

















The Next Generation of TOTs