The above words were uttered by Joe Schultz who was the old school manager of the of the expansion Seattle Pilots in 1969, the team that moved and became the Milwaukee Brewers the next season. He would encourage his players to F**K em and Pound that Budweiser in various game scenarios. We would probably remember little about the Seattle Pilots if it wasnt for Jim Bouton who kept a diary of his 1969 season his book called “Ball Four” Bouton passed away yesterday at the age of 80. Ball Four was an inside look at major league baseball, warts and all. It was profane…it was messy…it was glorious. I read the book for the first time as a 13 year old and was fascinated. My heroes laid bare with all of the foibles of regular human beings. Bouton, who had been a flame throwing pitcher with the Yankees was trying to hang on as a knuckleballer when his arm gave out. Major league baseball hated the book. Commissioner Bowie Kuhn tried to ban it and called its stories lies. Players blackballed Bouton and called him a traitor for daring to give fans a look behind the curtain. I guarantee you will love this book if you are even a casual baseball fan. One of the things that stood out and was the casual use of drugs my major league players. Amphetamines (called “Greenies”) were used liberally to keep the players up during the long season. They were certainly PEDS but nobody seemed to care when that news came out at the time. I re-read the book on a regular basis. And it never fails to entertain.
This is the anniversery of Aaron Burr shooting and killing Alexander Hamilton in a duel in 1804
I'm heading out for some time off. Legion baseball this weekend in Anoka Minnesota and next week some vacation time as well. Taak to you again soon. For any of my Minnesota friends I will be at Joe Sensers Sports Bar in Roseville on Saturday night around 6 if you want to hoist a cold one and catch up.
Songs Of The Day (Happy Birthday to Suzanne Vega who turns 60 today)
And remember this one from the film Pretty In Pink?
Another Playing For Change song…good version of the tune featuring Tom Johnston, Pat Simmons and John McKee of the Doobies
