More of My Memories

Hi everybody!

Last week I wrote about some of my memories of getting autographs from guys who are in the Baseball Hall of Fame. This is just my opinion, Pete Rose should be in the hall of fame as well because his career stats are .303 batting average, the all time hits leader with 4,256, 160 home runs,1,314 runs batted in, three World Series rings, World Series MVP 1975, 1973 NL MVP, three time NL batting champion, played in 17 all-star games, won two gold glove awards, silver slugger award winner in 1981, National League rookie of the year in 1963, plus many other honors! I had the pleasure of meeting and getting the autographs of many ballplayers. One day I was at the San Francisco Hilton getting autographs from the Los Angeles Dodgers and an well- dressed older gentleman walked up to me and had a big smile on his face, put his hand on my shoulder and said, "hello son." I looked at him and my eyes widened because I recognized him. It was Jesse Owens who won four Gold Medals at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. I recognized him from his pictures and seeing him promoting his Junior Olympics for kids. He asked me did I know who he was, and I said "yes sir, you are Jesse Owens who won four Gold Medals at the '36 Olympics!" He was impressed because he looked at me and asked me how did I know that, I told him I was a huge fan of his and all kinds of sorts. I also told him I have tried out for his Junior Olympics. He sent his assistant upstairs to get something, I didn't know what is was, and we were talking, he asked me my name, how old I was, how I was doing in school, what did I want to be when I grew up and did I play sports. His assistant came back down and handed Mr. Owens a picture, Jesse signed it and gave it to me. I was shocked! Jesse Owens, who proved to Hitler at the '36 Olympics that Black athletes were just as good as white athletes  by winning four Gold Medals was talking to me and signing an autographed picture to me!. I went home that evening and told my mom and she was very excited about me meeting Jesse Owens and having that picture. She said I am going to put that in a frame for you. I have still have that picture to this day.

Thanks for reading!

My Memories

Hey what's up everybody?

Sorry for not posting in a while but I have been really busy. The season is over and the defending World Champs finished second to the Diamondbacks. Congrats to them the Dbacks had a great season! The Giants did have their chances to overtake them and win the west again but, Arizona played well. I am sitting here watching game five of the 2011 World Series and I was thinking about when I was a kid in San Francisco and getting autographs from the National League teams that would come to town and play the Giants. I remember the first team I got autographs from, it was the 1976 Cincinnati Reds. They were the defending World Champs by beating the Red Sox in my opinion, one of the best World Series games ever! I was excited and nervous because I was a very shy, insecure kid and even seeing major League ballplayers was intimidating. The first player that signed his autograph for me was Tony Perez. He was very nice about it as well. Others who signed were Pete Rose, Johnny Bench,George Foster, Dave Conception, Cesar Geronimo, Ken Griffey,Sparky Anderson, Rawly Eastwick, Will McEnaney who got the save in game 7. Ed Armbrister who was involved in a controversial play in game 3. I asked Ed for his autograph and I asked him did he interfere with Carlton Fisk, he smiled at me and said "no" and grinned and walked away. I was on cloud nine going home because I just met members of the '75 World series Champions Cincinnati Reds and I got every member of the team except Joe Morgan because he lived in Oakland to sign their autographs for me and all of them were very nice to me! ME! a kid from the projects that was located in the second worse neighborhood in San Francisco and they were nice to me!! When I got of the 31 Balboa that stopped right at the corner from the building, I stuck the paper with all of those signatures in my pocket so no one would try to take them. I still have those signatures today! Thanks for Reading!

The Season's Over But....

Hi everybody!,

I know I have not posted in a while. I am now getting over the season ending the way it did. I wish the Giants could have overcame all the injuries they had but I feel with a healthy team, the right pieces in place, the Giants will be back in the postseason again! I have checked out this cool online shopping site called Become. It is definitely "shopping your way." The website is  http://www.become.com This site has everything you are looking for in automotive, baby items, books, movies and music and much more! If you are looking for sporting goods, Become.com has them! Become has all types of sporting goods for all types of sports. You can save big on the deals at Become. If you play or coach baseball or softball, the Easton sv12 products are for you! Become.com great prices on all Easton sv12 products such as bats and batting gloves. For the basketball players and or coaches, Become.com has a huge line of Nike socks with stripe on back. Become.com has these crew basketball socks at great prices. If you are looking for wrestling shoes, Become.com is the place to go. Become.com has a huge wrestling shoes clearance sale. All name brand shoes at great prices! Whatever you are looking for, Become.com has it!

It Ain't Over Till It's Over

What's up Giants fans!! I'm sorry I have not posted the last couple of weeks.  It has been a year of injuries for the orange and black. I think Lou Seal is one of the few Giants who has NOT been on the D L! The giants are on a roll right now, Pablo Sandoval hit for the cycle against the Rockies Thursday night!. What was funny, was when I checked the score of the game and saw Panda at the plate and saw he was three for three with a home run, double and single, I thought "wouldn't be cool if he hit a triple right now" and as soon as I completed my thought," Pablo did it!". That was awesome, I along with other Giants fans tweeted about it! Currently the Giants are six games behind the Diamondbacks for first place in the west and five games behind the Braves for the wild card. The defending world champs still have a chance to make the postseason. The team is playing well and with a little help, they could be in the playoffs!  Let's hope so, Giants faithful!! As Journey sang, "Don't Stop Believing".

Thanks for reading!

This week's Cause is Personal - Help Save the YuckMouths

This Special Needs Family needs your help today--Can you Help?

"A family with seven kids is a whole other dynamic" - Lisa Gallegos

Here's the thing, when you have a family with special needs children in it, life is challenging; when you have seven kids and some of them have special needs - life becomes so much more complex. Just ask Lisa Gallegos, mom blogger at Seven YuckMouths & Autism and the recipient of this week's special needs "Cause of the Week."

Why?

Well, like most things in life it's a long story. One I'm not going to bore you with, but will address. Because the Gallegos' could be any of us, and could be any special needs family caught between the cruddy reality of losing a job, a home, and the life you've made for your family --and the needs of that family.

This very unique special needs family needs help

Desperate financial situation, including the loss of the YuckMouth Daddy ... er, Roy's job, has meant that this family of amazing kids is being forced to move, to find a new home for the dog adored by their young Racer, who has autism and formed a close bond with the dog.

While things are slowly starting to move into place, this family is still lacking the funds needed to move, and for basic little things, like, oh, toilet paper. As Lisa says in a chat message "Heck, if it (any help) buys toilet paper for a month I will be a happy camper."

If there is one thing I have learned by trying to offer Cause of the Week causes that you and I can relate to, it's that when one of our own needs help, this community of extraordinary special families ... unique in diagnoses and circumstances but alike in a common bond forged in desperate prayers and too many doctor's visits ... this community explodes into action to try and help one of their own.

Why should you help the YuckMouths?

These are the kids you'll be helping, in the words of their mom, Lisa:

• "...From the top there is Nate....he actually has gone to live with his Biological dad. He couldn't take it anymore, his sort of rebellious stage.
• Faith is 14 and just entered HS --trying to find her way.....emotional train wreck, making my hair gray by the minute.
• Lexie is 9 and my momma hen, takes care of Racer when she gets it and pushes his buttons when she forgets. She's kind of a bully but loves her sibs.
• Logan is my ticking time bomb, destroyer of classrooms and being evaluated for ADHD. He's my sweetheart with a hard shell.
• Then there is Racer, the one thing I don't think you know about him is that he loves his sisters, the two younger ones....those are his buddies in crime .
• Then we have Justice, she's 3 almost 4 and crazy, she's the princess of the bunch. But she has speech issues and possible autism, but definately SPD (sensory processing disorder).
• Then my Monkey of the family is Kiera. She's 1 and a feisty lil girl. She loves trying to kiss Racer cause she knows he hates it. Loves to dance and play and shout MOM over and over again."

As you can see, this is one of *those* kinds of families ... the ones you can relate to, the ones you can adore, the ones who could be you. And they are hurting right now.

One other bit of love from special needs and more blogger Caryn Haluska from Living with Logan: 

"Lisa is a marvel.. she never lets 'them' see her sweat... until she gets home to the facebook and the twitter. Which is kind of entertaining, actually. We get to see what she WANTED to say!! The woman is fierce, and proves to her family and the world that she is willing to do anything.. ANYTHING... for her yuckmouths. She is an inspiration, indeed the very definition of dedicated momma committed to doing her everything for her family."

This week, I have a challenge for you and a way to help Lisa and her family no matter what your own situation is like right now. You should know by now, if you've read up on Kat's Cafe for any length of time, that my Cause of the Week announcements are usually more of a way to raise awareness about real causes about real people, real special needs families and causes. When we care about something, we don't let lack of money stop us from helping.

Now, of course I'm including a Chip In widget for The YuckMouths ----and whether you can give $1 or $100 you should know that this family is worthy of your saved dimes and nickels. I wouldn't list them if they weren't. But even if you can't give a dime, or if you want to do something more ... I've compiled an action list of several additional things you can do without spending a dime (okay, I lied ... a couple options might require spending money ... so sue me! Um ... not really--I'm counting my dimes and nickels too!)

Your checklist to help Save the YuckMouths:

1. Go visit Seven YuckMouths & Autism and read, comment, explore Lisa's site!
2. While you're there, Follow her blog! (We like to see the pretty numbers rise!)
3. Check out Lisa's side venture, Jars by Lisa, on her site, or on Facebook (Or you could buy one! Neat trivia fact: The puzzle pieces used on the regular jar designs are donated by families who have a loved one with autism!)
4. Check out the amazing new children's book put out by Roy, called The Adventures of One Sock
   You can buy it direct from the publisher (& the YuckMouths will receive a greater portion of the profits)
5. Visit Roy's site for his book, The Adventures of One Sock, and show him some support.
6. Tweet (This post or one linked above), RT, or Follow: @lovelylicious (Lisa) @YuckMouthDaddy (Roy)
7. Share to Facebook - to your wall or a Page or a Group ... spread the word!
8. Share to Google+ by giving the post a +1 (and typing in a comment to share it!)
9. Comment!!!! I like to hear about your reaction to the Cause of the Week - what were you able to do to help?

If you want to help out go to http://katscafe.org/2011/09/12/causes-kats-cafe-helping-one-of-us/#.Tm4eydTkHpU and click on the the "Chip In" box at the bottom of the page.

Embracing the stage version of Mary Poppins

Guest post written by Emily Long
As soon as I heard that they were coming out with a Broadway version of Mary Poppins, I knew that I would have to go and see it. I always loved the movie and would demand that I watch it any time that I had a babysitter. I don't think that they seemed to mind anyway because that always kept me occupied and well-beahved. Well, except when I should have been doing homework, then it was a little difficult to get to me to do what I was supposed to do.
Well, I'm in the midst of planning a trip to New York to go and see the play. While I was online lookign up some information on how to get discount tickets, I ran across some information about Miracle Ear. After I looked through it a little bit I decided to sign up for a hearing test for next week.
I knwo that Mary Poppins is going to be so great! Although I want to make the trip even more worthwhile and go and see a few other plays while I'm there

It Finally Happened Mama!!

Hi everybody!

Sorry it has taken me so long to post a new blog, but I have been very busy. We who are long-time Giants fans know post-season frustrations. 1962- when Willie McCovey hit a line drive to the Yankees' Bobby Richardson that, if it was just hit a few inches higher, the Giants would have won the '62 series. 1971- when the Giants won game one over the Pittsburgh Pirates, then the Pirates win three straight to win the NLCS and go on to win the '71 World Series. 1978- The Giants were leading the National League West almost all season long until they were overtaken by the L.A. Dodgers. 1987- The Giants lose to the St. Louis Cardinals in the NLCS. 1989- The Giants get swept by the Oakland A's in the Earthquake Series. 1997- The Orange and Black lose to the eventual World Champs, the Florida Marlins. 2002- The Giants were just eight outs away from winning their first World Series since moving to San Francisco. The last time the Giants won a World Series was 1954 when they were in New York. I was in the Weather Center working on my Weather graphics for the newscast that night. For some reason to this day I don't know why, Manager Dusty Baker takes starter Russ Ortiz out of the game after giving up two consecutive singles  with a 5-0 lead! Baker gives Ortiz the game ball for some reason that nobody knows and brings in reliever Felix Rodriguez who gives up a three-run home run and a solo home run. The Giants go on to lose game six, 6-5 and go on to lose the series the next night. I went home and was talking to my mom about it and I looked at her and asked "Will the Giants ever win the World Series?". She looked at me and said, "They will someday.". The Giants go back to the post-season the following year to take on the Marlins in the NLDS and the Giants lose that series 3-1. Then the 2010 season starts and my wife who is a Dodgers fan looks at me and said "Your team is going all the way.". I looked at her and said, "You're jinxing it for us.". The  season for the Giants was going pretty well, I personally was doing fine until I received a phone call on the afternoon of June 25th that my mother had passed away in her sleep. I was devastated. I was numb for a long time and I just focused on my family, work and Giants baseball. The Giants won the Western Division on the last day of the season by beating the Padres. The Giants go on to defeat Atlanta and Philadelphia. I told my wife that when the Phillies Ryan Howard took strike three to end the game and the series that my mom was whispering in his ear, "Don't you swing at that!".The Giants were getting ready to face the Rangers in the World Series, my wife  put my mom's picture, the same one we used at her funeral by the television. My said she did that  so mom  and I could watch the games together. The Giants defeated the Texas Rangers in the World Series and I saw the final out at work that night and I ran out of the room crying. I went outside and looked up to the night sky and said "It finally happened, Mama!". They finally did it and I wished that she was alive to see it. I went home and hugged my wife and started to cry. She told me that she was so happy for me she cried. I always will feel that the Giants won that series for not only all of us fans, but for Sue Burns, my mom, Queen E. Hamilton and all of the Giants fans who were not alive to see it.  Thanks again for reading!

Staying Strong With The Orange And Black

Hi faithful readers!

 Last week, I told you about how I remained a fan of my hometown baseball team, the San Francisco Giants. I remember the lean years from 1979-1982 when the Giants were not playing very good baseball. I remember the 1982 season when the Atlanta Braves, Los Angeles Dodgers and Giants were battling it out for the National League West title. The Giants were eliminated during the last weekend of the season and the Braves and Dodgers were tied. That Sunday, future Hall of Famer Joe Morgan made Braves fans and myself very happy by hitting a three run home run off of Dodger reliever Terry Forester to eliminate the Dodgers and give the National League West title to the Atlanta Braves who were waiting in the visiting clubhouse in San Diego to see if they had to go to L.A. for a playoff or win the west even though they had lost to the Padres. As the years went by and the giants began stockpiling talent such as Will Clark, Robby Thompson, Matt Williams and Kevin Mitchell who the Giants acquired in a trade from San Diego in 1987 under the field leadership of Roger Craig became west champions and National League Champions in 1987. I was attending the University of Southern Mississippi (the Alma mater of Giants great Jim Davenport) when the Giants and St. Louis Cardinals were in a battle for the National League championship. The series was tied and I was watching the game in my room and earlier that day, bought a bottle of cheap champagne (I was a college student, I could not afford the real stuff!) to watch what I thought would be the clincher. I instructed my roommate that if the Giants won, to pour the champagne over my head. Atlee Hammaker got rocked in the second inning for four runs and the Cardinals won game seven by the score of 6-0. Giants outfielder Jeff Leonard with four home runs was voted series MVP even though the Giants lost the series. Instead of having the champagne poured over my head, I drank the whole bottle while I cried. In 1989, I finally saw my childhood dream World Series, the Oakland A's taking on the Giants. I thought that the Orange and Black had a real good chance of winning the series but, mother nature had other ideas. I was standing in the DJ booth of the sports bar and dance club I was a DJ for and I saw the pre-game show and saw Joe Morgan interviewing Willie Mays and I saw the shaking and suddenly the ABC slate came up. I found out it was an earthquake. Being from San Francisco and living through small earthquakes I thought it was nothing. I found out later that it was a massive earthquake that  hit the city hard, a section of the Bay Bridge was gone and many people lost their lives. After the delay, the A's go on to sweep the Giants in four games. Years later I became Public Address Announcer and Fill-In Play-By-Play announcer for the Greenville Bluesmen who were members of the old Texas-Louisiana League. While I worked for the team,I met some former Giant greats such as Bob Lacy who managed the Greenville Bluesmen baseball team in the old Texas-Louisiana League Orlando Cepeda's son Malcom played first base for the Bluesmen. He and I were friends while he was here, Mark Carreon, who I met when he played for the Jackson Ms. Diamondkats in the same  league. One of my biggest thrills as a Giants fan was meeting Vida Blue! He and Bob Lacy were teammates and friends and Bob asked Vida to make a public appearance for the team. Bob introduced me to Vida and I was very excited to meet him. Vida and Bob came by the Radio station I worked at and interviewed him and Bob on the morning show I did. I asked Vida if he could autograph a old Giants cap I had. He looked at and asked me "where did you get this from?" I told him I got it from cap day in 1978. He looked at me with a surprised look on his face and said "you still have this after all of these years?" I told him yes and he signed the bill of the old stretched out black and orange cap. Vida also signed a Texas-Louisiana league baseball and all of the baseball cards I have of him. I think he was amazed on how much of a fan I was of him. I went home and told my mother that I met Vida Blue and she got excited because she too was a fan of his. Next week, I will write about how my dream of the orange and black winning a World Series finally came true.
Thanks for reading!     

How And Why Am I Still A Fan Of The S.F. Giants

Hi everybody, In my last post, I said I was going to explain how I continued to be a fan of the San Francisco Giants while living in Greenville Mississippi. Well, I tell you it has not been easy especially when your hometown team is not doing that well and teams like the Atlanta Braves, St. Louis Cardinals and the Cincinnati Reds are doing well.  I admit, I rooted for the Braves in the early eighties when they had guys like Bob Horner, Chris Chambliss, Dale Murphy and Phil Niekro. My late maternal Grandfather was a huge baseball fan. He and I would watch the Atlanta Braves on television so I rooted for them except when they played the Giants. I remember the 1983 All Star game that Atlee Hammaker pitched in when he gave up a grand slam to Fred Lynn. I did not see it but I read about it while I was in Navy basic training at Great Lakes Illinois. I remember reading the paper, crumbling it up and cursing for a few minutes.  As the years went by and technology improved, I was able to keep up with my beloved Giants. I did a television commercial for a local sporting goods store and I got to wear a Giants Starter jacket in the commercial. I was going to buy the jacket and the woman who co-owned the store told me I only had to pay half for it because I was in the commercial. I still have that jacket. I wanted to name my daughter Cheyenne if she was a boy, Clark Mitchell William. the three-four-and five hitters for the Giants in 1989. My first wife said no to that idea if she would have been a boy. In my next post, I will tell you how I was able to meet and talk to one of my boyhood favorite Giants while living here in Greenville Mississippi. Thanks for reading!   

How I Became A Fan Of The San Francisco Giants

I was born and raised in San Francisco. My late Aunt came to San Francisco in 1958, the same time the Giants arrived in San Francisco. She told me stories about seeing the parade and Willie Mays. My late mother took me to games when I was a baby at the old Seals Stadium. As I got older, she would take me to Candlestick Park and I saw my heroes such as Mays, McCovey,Marichal, Fuentes, Perry, Speier and many others. I was in the stands at Candlestick that August day when Ed Halicki threw his no-hitter in the second game of a doubleheader against the New York Mets. I used to tell my classmates the stats from that game with a huge smile on my face! My Mom was a big fan of Willie McCovey and Vida Blue as I was. I remember the 1978 season when the Giants were in first place in the old National League West. I remember the night the Giants were in L.A. Playing the hated Dodgers(sorry babe! My wife is a Dodgers fan!) and Randy Mofifitt supposedly hit Dodgers Shortstop Bill Russell. Umpire Joe West was behind the plate and gave Russell first base which allowed the runner to score from third and the Dodgers won that night. I was so mad, I wrote the Commissioner Of Baseball at the time Bowie Kuhn and got an answer from Monte Irvin who said the call was a judgment call. I still have that letter! My Mom moved me in 1978 to Greenville Mississippi and I had to follow my hometown team from afar. At the time there was no internet and the only way I was able to watch the Orange and Black was when they were playing the Atlanta Braves or listen to them on radio playing against the Cardinals or Reds. In this blog, I will tell you how I kept the faith of being a Giants fan from so far away! Thanks for reading.