I Am Finished With Baseball!

Trivia Question. Who Has Hit The Most Home Runs In Major League Baseball? Barry Bonds? Mark McGwire? Roger Maris? Ok, Consider This A Multiple Choice Question. That Being The Case I Choose Pee Wee Herman. Yet Again I'm Not Sure If That Is The Correct Answer. Maybe It's Because Major League Baseball Makes It Almost Impossible To Figure Out Who Is Cheating And Who Is Not.
Steroids, And Body Enhancement Drugs Are Prohibited In Major League Baseball.
Rewind To 1998. The Home Run Race Between Sammy Sosa And Mark McGwire. The World Was Watching. People Who Would Not Have Normally Been Giving Any Attention To This Slugging Contest Between These Men To Surpass The Title Held By The Great Roger Maris. The Record Had Been 61, Set By Maris In 1961 Playing For The New York Yankee's.
Mark McGwire In 1998 Broke That Record By Hitting 70 Home Runs In A Single Season. Sammy Sosa However Was The First Major League Batter To Hit 65 Home Runs In A Single Season. However In 2003 Sammy Sosa Was Caught Using Cork In His Bat. He Was Suspended From Playing For A Number Of Games And Fined. How Many Of Those Home Runs Had Cork In The Bat? In 2010, After Accepting The Position Of Cardinals Hitting Coach, McGwire Admitted To Using Steroids During His Playing Career.
In 2001 Barry Bonds Broke The Record Set By Mark Mcgwire By Hitting 73 Home Runs In A Single Season.
In 2007, He Was Indicted On Charges Of Perjury And Obstruction Of Justice For Allegedly Lying To The Grand Jury During The Government's Investigation Of BALCO, By Testifying That He Never Knowingly Took Any Illegal Steroids. The Trial Began March 21, 2011. He Was Convicted On April 13, 2011 On The Obstruction Of Justice Charge.
It Is My Opinion Major League Baseball Is Now Considered Entertainment. All Of These Years I Considered It A Sport. The Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig And Those Who Are In The Position Of Enforcing Rules Should All Be Removed. The Average Baseball Fan Does Not Know Who The True Home Run Champ Is. It Should Have Never Gotten This Far. When The Rules Are Broken, A Simple Process Of Punishment Should Be Determined.
As Of This Day I Will Not Be Considered A Baseball Fan Of The Major League Level.
I Have A Brother In Law Who Gave Up On Baseball When The Players Went On Strike. The Millions Of Dollars Spent On These Players Are Outrageous. That's Why It's So Costly To Watch A Game Of Major League. The Never Ending Rise In Price Of The Hotdog. It Will Continue Until You, The Fan, Are Fed Up And Say Enough Is Enough!
However, This Fan Ain't Hanging Around. It's Over For Me.
Baseball Has A Rich History. From This Point On That's The Only Part Of Baseball I Care About. Three Strikes, You're Out!!

Thanks To Mike & Dallas

In Times Like This Is When I Am Most Appreciative. Mike And Dallas Have Stepped Forward In A Father's Role To Four Of My Grandchildren. I Firmly Believe A Child Needs A Father Figure In Their Life.
Today Being Father's Day I Have Had The Entire Day To Reflect On What Father's Day Is All About. Father's In My Opinion Are A Dime A Dozen. Being A Dad Is Priceless!
I Love All My Grandkids. I Just Want Them To Have A Happy Upbringing. This Is The Perfect Day To Say To Mike And Dallas, Thank You For Being That Dad!
Your Influence On Them Will Be With Them For A Lifetime. Everything You Do Will Create A Memory For Tomorrow. I Thank You Both From The Bottom Of My Heart.

I Met Up With My Grandson Blake Tonight At The Danville Dan's Ball Stadium. I'm Glad He Decided To Go. My Brother Invited Him A Week Ago But Blake Backed Out At The Last Minute. I Was Going To Surprise Him By Me Going As Well. Blake Is At His Happiest When He Is In His Space Playing Video Games. I Certainly Don't Fault Him By Doing What Pleases Him.
It's Ok For What We Done Tonight. My Hat Is Off To Him. Even Though Baseball Is Not His Cup Of Tea He Did It For Me. I Invited Him And He Didn't Want To Disappoint Me By Declining. Life Is About Choices And Sacrifices. Yes He Could Have Stayed Home And Done What He Likes Best But Decided To Do Something Different, Plus Create A Memory For The Two Of Us. That's What It's All About! I Can Remember Special Moments When I Was Just A Kid And The Things I Did With My Grandparents. Now That I Am A Grandpa I Know The Memory We Created Tonight Will Be In His Memory When He Becomes A Grandpa.
I Don't Want To Lose The Connection Blake And I Have Had Over The Years. When He Was Younger It Was Simpler To Please Him. Now That His Interest Are Limited It Becomes Harder To Please Him. I Mentioned Bowling As We Were Parting Ways Tonight. His Eyes Lit Up, So I Knew That Was Right Down His Alley. No Pun Intended.
So I Guess If I Want To Maintain A One On One Relationship With Him It Will Most Likely Be At The Bowling Alley. That's Good Because That's Something We Can Participate And Compete. Blake Recently Turned 12 And He Doesn't Like To Hang With His Sister. I Have To Find Out What Her Interest Are So I Can Maintain A Close Relationship. I Have Friends Who Are Rather Active With Their Grandchildren. I Am Envious Of Them And I Hope To Someday Build What They Have.
In The Meantime I Am Glad We Had The Opportunity To Hang A Little Tonight. Even Though I Don't Think We Will Do Baseball Again I Think We Will Build Those Memories Right At The Bowling Alley.

Sounds Of Summer

This Day In June, Almost Dark, You Could Hear The Cricketts Chirping. I Was Sitting Here Watching Television And I Heard A Train Whistle. I'm Not A Person Who Would Want To Live Too Close To The Track. Just Close Enough To Hear Whistles Now And Then.
I Don't Recall Hearing It So Vividly In The Winter Months With All The Windows Closed.
Are There Any Sounds Of Summer That Stand Out More Than Others For You? I Believe It Is At 5:00pm That St James Methodist Church Plays Their Glorious Bells That So Many People Get To Enjoy.
One That Stands Out For Me Personally Are The Sounds From A Little League Baseball Game. All The Familiar 'Hey Batter', Run Johnny, Go, Slide. He's Safe! The Cheering Of The Parents.
How About Carnival Music And Children Laughing While Enjoying The Amusement Rides?
The Auctioneer Chants As He Sells A Household And It's Furnishings. The Woo's And Wows In The Night On The 4th Of July. Sitting On A Park Bench Listening To The Municipal Band Perform Their Best Of The Best.
High School Band Playing Their Fight Song As They March Down Main Street In The Labor Day Parade.
Let's Not Forget The 'Tree Cricket' The Cicade's. Those Beasty Looking Creatures That I Declare To Be King Bug In My Book. Even Though They Are Not Known For Agression, They Are Most Known For The Noise They Make. This Event With The Cicada Happens Every 13 Years. Wanna Guess What Year We Are Experiencing?
I Could Have Titled This, Sounds And Sites Of Summer. I Like The Idea Of Closing Your Eyes And Just Listen. Rather It Be Night Or Day, The Sounds Or Sites Will Trigger A Memory.
Not Poking Fun At A Soccer Game But The Most Used Phrase is; Kick The Ball!
Your County Fair, With All Its Activity.
Mind If I Put Smell In The Title As Well? How About The Smell Of Fresh Baked Bread?
Hot Apple Pie. Elephant Ear Or A Funnle Cake. Hoopston's Famous Sweet Corn Festival.
Children Running Around With Their Cotton Candy Or Half Melted Ice Cream.
Water Melon Is Considered A Staple For Your Summer Holiday. Everybody Is Cooking Out And Taking A Dip In The Pool.
In Spite Of Above Normal Temperatures For This Time Of Year, Summer Is My Next Best Season. It's Not Summer Just Yet. I Have A Feeling It's Going To Be A Long One.

Yes We Have No Banana's Today

Wednesday's Is Banana Split Day At Our Local Dairy Queen. Last Week We Walked In Ready To Consume Our Weekly Sweet Treat. After We Placed Our Order We Were Told They Ran Out Of Banana's. After Making A Few Cracks About Running Out Of Banana's On Banana Split Day I Turned My Attention To Other Ice Cream Treats.
I Was Approached By One Of The Staff Workers And Given A Token For Some Free Ice Cream For Our Disappointment Of Not Having Our Banana Split.
Actually, I Gave That Sale A Good Thought. The Banana Split Was On Sale For $2.29. A Banana Split Consist Of Three Sundae's And One Banana. A Sundae Sells For $1.99. If You Were To Order Three Sundae's It Would Cost You Almost $6.00. So If I Had To Do It Over Again I Would Have Just Ordered My Banana Split Minus The Banana.
Thanks Dairy Queen Bob!