Gonzai Gallery

Former Orioles outfielder, coach and scout Curt Motton died today. http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/orioles/bal-curt-motton-dies-0122,0,3563360.story

Curt scouted for the Orioles for most of the 90s and 00s, but I hadn't seen him the last 3 years or so. But I saw him often at the games and he regularly invited me to sit with him and talk baseball. And whatever else we got to talking about. The man knew his baseball and I learned a lot from him. He was also a great person and I feel privileged to have known him.

I used to draw portraits at the ballpark; Curt loved watching me draw them and commissioned me to do a couple portraits of him in uniform for his wife. This is the one he liked better (his wife liked the circa 1968 one better):

The weather sucks. That's my simple opinion.

( The Story of a Show )( Read more... )
Now, very tired.

From last night's Angels/Yankees game. And you know what? I've seen it before. ( In fact, I posted about it a couple months ago. ) The only difference being my game was a fly ball and this one was a grounder. But here's the thing: the double A umps called the play right. The major league umps? Blew it. Great.

I hate the Yankees.

The other day, ( I went on about seeing a triple play at the Baysox game. ) . Well, a friend has since pointed out to me that I saw one other triple play. And I can't imagine how I forgot that one, because it was bizarre.

How bizarre? Well, I'll give you the official scoring on this triple play, and let you all theorize as to how the heck this went down. I'll give the answer in a couple days.

This game happened in the late 90s, in Bowie, between the Baysox and the New Britain Rock Cats (they may have been the Hardware City Rock Cats at the time, but based in New Britain regardless.) Bowie turned an 8-2 triple play against the Rock Cats. That is, centerfield to catcher. That's it. That's all. Ponder as you wish.

Just home from the Keys game - 79 at gametime and gloriously sunny. Waiting until today - right decision. Didn't pick up enough sun get myself back in sorts, but it was a good start. Also managed to get both CJ AND Roxie bathed, and finished another round with the '1000 Recordings' book. Almost done with acquiring the recordings, now I have to listen to them. That...will take a while.

Went to Bowie Saturday night not so much for the game (although that was enjoyable as well) but to see several of the surviving members of the All American Girls Professional Baseball League. Five of them, all in their 80s, came to the game and managed to throw first pitches to the plate. Then they signed autographs and took photos on the concourse the rest of the game.

( Some photos from the game )

For one day, at least, it was all about the baseball. It wasn't opening day, but it was Day Two for Frederick and Bowie and the schedule and the weather made a 'do it yourself' doubleheader possible. So I took a bath in SPF 30 sunblock and headed to Frederick.

( The Frederick half )
( The Bowie half )
I left in the 8th again; this time, it was getting cold, plus I had to get up early. When I got home, I summoned up the nerve to look in the mirror, expecting to see a lobster. Nope. No burn at all. A very light tan and that's it. Escaped one disaster!

I haven't been posting much, so I figured I'd best pile it all into two posts, one of RL and one of fandom.

My nephews' great-grandmother (or my sister-in-law's grandmother, if you prefer) died last week at age 96. Went to the viewing Monday night, where there were around 8-9 great-grandkids scampering about and another one due in 3 weeks. Packed house, too. She had quite a life.

Seems I had a dentist appointment yesterday. I found out when they called Tuesday to remind me. The day before reminders are an awfully good idea, I must say.

Finally got off my duff and onto Ebay, where I went a little crazy on baseball cards but did all of my shopping for the whole season. I'm strictly Orioles prospects now, so I'll pick up the team sets as they come out and otherwise I'm set. Now to actually drag myself out the door to a game come April...

Finally got the computer room cleaned up. Next up: the bedroom, which I did start with some dusting. It needs more than that. Meanwhile, Mom is threatening to throw out everything in the basement, without asking me. That could be the end of my art business as most of my inventory is down there. I gotta hope she has no followthrough.

Speaking of the end of my business, Michael's turned up on a list of endangered businesses today. And if they go down, so does most of my business; they're the only distributor of the wood planks I use, and not only the distributor but the manufacturer of the Christmas tree ornaments. If Michael's disappears, so does about 2/3ds of Gonzai Gallery. Eep.

It hasn't been a good week for dogs. That evil man in Alabama started his spree by killing his mother's dogs. And then there's this pair. ( Dog Killing )
Geez, I sure hope they never reproduce. Sick, sick, sick.

Not all is lost in local sports - for the first time in their 17 seasons (all of which I've attended, often as a season ticket holder) the AA Eastern League's Bowie Baysox have won their division! They clinched first place last night, and will go to the playoffs for the first time since '97 on Wednesday.

More cool beans - Baysox personnel were named the EL's Pitcher of the Year, MVP, and Manager of the Year, and three of them were named to the year-end All-Star Team.

The only negative is that I only attended 7 games this year, when in the past I've been to as many as 60, and none on the road, when I've seen the Baysox play in every EL stadium. Maybe me staying away was the key to their success?

Having plenty of trepidation about crossing the Bay Bridge, esp now that there's a big hole in the retaining wall, I decided to go to the Delmarva Shorebirds game by going north, then taking back roads through the Eastern Shore and Delaware to Salisbury. This led to adventures, including a bridge almost as scary as the Nice Bridge, directional challenges, etc. but mostly it was a rare venture through a part of the world that's still very rural. Some thoughts (and if you live in a rural area, you may take offense, read at your own risk):