Memorial Day and other memories

Dan P’s on the road today with his wife and youngest son in Fredericksburg. A bit of irony being here at the start of the Memorial Day weekend as Fredericksburg is the home to the very fine Nimitz Museum of the War in the Pacific. Admiral Nimitz was from here and was Commander in Chief of the Pacific Fleet during WWII.

This museum and what it documents means a lot to me as my great uncle Leroy Klug died as the rear gunner/navigator in an Avenger torpedo bomber in the Pacific. A friend saw the plane go down and neither Leroy nor his pilot was ever found. Back in Milwaukee, my grandmother, Evelyn saw her brother’s picture fall off the wall the day he died. My middle name is Lee, named after Leroy and I carry it proudly.

It is hard to fathom a 20-year-old dying and sacrificing 50 or 60 years of life, marriage, children, grandchildren and career so that someone like me can have a quiet safe breakfast at the Sunset Grill on a late May morning in the Texas Hill Country.

A quick internet search says more than 500 major leaguers served in WWII, including superstars, stars, grunts and men who only had a cup of coffee in the majors. Two of the latter, Harry O’Neill and Elmer Gedeon died in that conflict. Whether they would ever have gotten a second cup of coffee or a full career the world will never know.

Gedeon had survived a training plane crash where he suffered terrible injuries saving a crew member’s life. He lost his life in a bomber raid on the V-1 rocket sites in France. O’Neill was killed by a bullet out of nowhere as he was standing in a crater on Iwo Jima.

The word hero is thrown around in sports, but these were true sports heroes.

Have a great Memorial Day weekend and take a few moments to honor those who gave the ultimate gift to their nation.

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148 responses to “Memorial Day and other memories”

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  4. I look for:
    – Diaz to go to the 10 day IL
    – Fisher to be optioned back to AAA
    – Straw to be called up because he can cover both IF and OF
    – Altuve’s rehab assignment to be shorter than planned

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  6. Mayfield would have to be on the 40 man, and I don’t look for that to happen. Miles Straw has had “some” time at short, and maybe OP has his stats I don’t.
    From what I’ve heard about Jordan Alveraz he’s a total mess at 1st and left field.
    I think one of the voices said he was a “disaster”. Big Pappy occasionally played 1st base, but for all intents and purpose he was the only DH Boston had…like for 100 years! UGLY game today…..we need to get Altuve and Springer back ASAP!!
    I think Luhnow has seen enough of Tyler White…..I know WE have.💣

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  8. Luhnow talked about Alvarez the other night. He said Alvarez would most likely be up in the majors sometime this year. He said the Astros would consider him to be a DH first, a LFer second and a 1b last. I think that was frank talk from the Astros GM.
    I saw Alvarez play LF in the spring and he needed work, but he was not a disaster.
    If Straw were to be brought up now it would be for his RH bat and not for his ability to play infield. I think Straw would allow the Astros to play Brantley more at DH and give the Astros more flexibility in the OF, especially if they are going to play Kemp at 2B and move Gurriel back to first and have White on the bench. But I don’t have a clue who they will bring up tomorrow, except Straw was not in Round Rock’s lineup tonight.

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    • I just think Straw gives more flexibility, period. Infield, outfield and the ability to get on base and do some damage with his speed. I certainly think whoever gets the nod will already be on the 40- man roster.

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    • I’m thinking they are throwing a bone to a loyal Astros minor leaguer, who probably isn’t in the long term plans. Or maybe they keep him up and DFA Tubby the Tuna
      I’m never sure with this front office

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      • Dan, you might be right about throwing him a bone, but Mayfield has split equal time at 2B, 3B and SS this season. That does make him a qualified utility replacement for Diaz. It also adds the RH bat to replace Diaz in the lineup.
        More than that, his stats at the plate in 2019 indicate the best performance of his minor league career, including a conversion from a groundball out to more of a flyball hitter, and a very decent K rate.

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      • Yeah when a guy makes the majors at 28 I have to pull for them. They and their family have made big financial sacrifices over the years.
        It will be interesting to see what the next move is when Altuve returns this week.

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  10. Lorenzo Quintana was promoted to RR to replace Stubbs and Carlos Canelon was activated from the 7-day IL at Corpus to replace Quintana.

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  16. These days, seems like everyone is calling my nephew Tubby, Tubby. Was thinking earlier, as it appears if anything, he’s getting increasingly tubby, he might just clear waivers. Then we could send him off to a tubby farm.

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  19. Osuna is not dominant when he throws it right down the middle – fortunately he recovered to close it out
    Good game for Super Jack – who just got ice water dumped on him by Kemp

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    • I am concerned about Osuna. He has been hit the last three games. I think a certain pitching coach needs to watch some film of his last three games and compare the previous games to it. I was fussing about Hinch not coming out after Osuna gave up the base hit after the second homerun and just settling him down.

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  20. Gotta give credit where its due….. Tyler played EXCELLENT defense today at 1B! Multiple run saving plays. Now if he could get on Jenny Craig, saddle up on a stationary bike and get the bat going.

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    • Tyler White is an investment. But the club can’t follow him around 24/7. Maybe he’s got a thyroid issue we don’t know about. Maybe he eats bad food and way too much of it. Seems though that the club would get a nutritionist and have him on a special diet. Seems they would also have him working with a trainer everyday. Who knows, maybe it’s all been tried already. Years ago, when we still had real sportswriters, those questions would be asked. I would just like to see the same man 20 pounds lighter and in real shape. I still think there is a good baseball player in there. The Astros must too because he’s still on the roster.

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  21. Three of your best players are not playing.
    Your starting pitcher gives up a 2-run bomb in the first inning and the other team hits 3 homers to your 0 homers.
    Your bullpen gives up 3 runs and their bullpen gives up none.
    You commit 1 error and they commit none.
    And your team wins anyway.
    Ahhh, Baseball.

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  22. All the odds seem to favor the Cubs tonight. Corbin has been a mess his last two times out, his catcher has never caught in the major league’s, and that battery is facing the likes of Jon Lester. Moreover, we don’t have Springer, Altuve, or Diaz, and our bullpen has suddenly gotten 10 shades of flaky.

    Let’s beat the odds. Somebody please tell Corbin to visualize the guys on the other side wearing burnt orange unis and sporting horns on their caps.

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    • And now we find out that Carlos Correa will be out of the line-up again tonight as well. Winning tonight would now officially constitute a miracle, and qualify our young pitcher for sainthood. Saint Corbin . . . sounds good to me!

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      • Saint Martin in the Fields?
        Don’t tell me that baseball is all I know. I know stuff.

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  23. Tonights game may very well a loss Hinch is willing to absorb. The bullpen is SPENT. I had visions of Brad Lidge while Asuna was trying to blow that save yesterday. Gave me a bad headache!

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  24. I guess catchers are a rare commodity but it seems that end of our battery needs charging too. Any prospects?

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    • That’s the $64 thousand dollar question Diane. I have NO idea who they are.
      I worry about Chirinos a LOT….he has been hit HARD this year! If he goes down and Stassi is still on Il…..it’s the kid who will start everyday. JEEZE!!!

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    • Thanks OP!! I still worry about Chirinos. He had a bad concussion in 2012 that took him a year to recover from.

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  27. I’m not ready to write this game off and I’m sure Hinch is not either. Lester has gotten beaten up his last two times out….17 hits and 12 runs (9 earned) in 8.1 innings. Corbin needs to go out pitch like he did during his first start. We might get our butts kicked, but this would also be a fun one to win.

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  28. well, no sooner do I ask than the Astros site says “Rookie Battery Takes on Cubs.” Stubbs for the Cubs?

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  29. Altuve came back to Houston…..his leg is not has not healed .
    Correa is seeing a doctor as well.
    I’m a very bummed out Astros fan tonight…. (((sigh)))😣

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  30. On the radio they said sore ribs fot Correa and that Springer might miss a month and that Altuve has soreness in the leg with the knee injury…

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  31. If you think the Astros have it rough tonight, the starting pitcher for the Hooks tonight is Brett Adcock – who is 0-5 with an ERA of 8.18, a WHIP of 1.70, and who has issued 23 BBs in 33 IP.

    Okay, all you fans of ‘The Rookie’ – who, again, is the patron saint of lost causes?

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  32. Astros are on ESPN tomorrow night. I gotta tell ya, I’m pretty low right now. All these inguries may make Yordon Alverez’s call up sooner rather than later.

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  33. The only real concern I have is Jose Altuve. Reading today that Dustin Pedroia might well be done at 35 is a reminder that even with the best of medical care, a bum knee might not ever be fully functional again. I’d hate that to be the case. Jose is a beautiful guy.

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