OT/ Had a strange Baseball feat

[Shiloh 12]

I understand fully Creaghorn. You have your priorities straight and that is the important thing. At 40 and with bad knees and two young kids, my competitive sports days are over and I just look forward to living vicariously through them and their exploits on the field. I stopped playing competitvely at around 30 (football/hockey/lacrosse) and I'm glad I did as I want to save my body a bit to be able to play with my own kids.

[Creaghorn 10]

I understand fully Creaghorn. You have your priorities straight and that is the important thing. At 40 and with bad knees and two young kids, my competitive sports days are over and I just look forward to living vicariously through them and their exploits on the field. I stopped playing competitvely at around 30 (football/hockey/lacrosse) and I'm glad I did as I want to save my body a bit to be able to play with my own kids.

 

yes, there are things with more priorities in life than sports (e.G. over flanders fields ), although i'm still playing competitive and i would still play first or maybe second division if there would be a club near my home where i can have family and work and sports together, but since the nearest first division clubs are around munich i'm out of options.

[Herr Prop-Wasche 7]

Are these teams mostly made up of German nationals or are they a mixture of American and German players? Do any of your coaches have American major league experience?

 

I am distantly related to a former American major league baseball player named Rusty Staub. He played for Houston, New York, and Montreal. He now owns a restaurant in New York City.

 

If you can get me the airplane ticket, I would be more than happy to watch you play a few games for your team, Dan!

[Shiloh 12]

Rusty Staub was a fine player for many years, especially in the late 1970's with the Tigers. He finished 5th in the AL MVP voting one of those years. I remember having his baseball card as a kid. Good stuff.

[Herr Prop-Wasche 7]

In Montreal he was nicknamed, "Le Grande Orange," for his size and bright red hair. Always a favorite of the fans.

[Shiloh 12]

In Montreal he was nicknamed, "Le Grande Orange," for his size and bright red hair. Always a favorite of the fans.

 

I didn't know of his nickname Herr Prop-Wasche. Was Rusty his given name or was it because of his red hair?

 

Edited May 24, 2011 by Shiloh

[DukeIronHand 8]

Atta boy Creaghorn - catcher was my position back in high school and summer leagues.

 

Is baseball big in Europe?

 

Guess I never heard of it being big (or even small) in the old countries.

[Creaghorn 10]

in european leagues there are all nationals of countries of the EU allowed as mixed as they want. non-EU players, like japanese, americans, cubans (or ahem, croatians) etc. are only two for each game allowed.

there are countries where baseball is quite big, like italy or netherlands, but mostly it's a niche sport and mainly overshadowed by soccer. maybe comparable to volleyball.

 

there are indeed some former major league players involved as coaches, but mostly the nationalteams. e.G. robert eenhorn coaching the netherlands, mike piazza the italians. there is mike hartley coaching a german club.

i used to play e.G. with dan rohrmeyer, rob mattson (a big knuckleball pitcher in japan), manabu kuramochi, and some others. there are many minor league players who didn't have a shot in the bigs and instead went to europe to play.

currently there are some german players in the minors who will maybe get a shot in the majors. like kai gronauer or donald lutz for example. we will see.

 

@HPW

i would have invited you some years ago when i played first division. but in the 4th league you wouldn't be very impressed i'm afraid. you would see a young old catcher with a chip on his shoulder, often jumping into his mates faces because of their lollygagging style to play and unprofessional attitude because they don't know any different.

[Typhoon 5]

Great feat Creaghorn 5 RBI's with 0 AB. I played my last Senior "A" game when I was around 50. I was also a catcher, but played SS and 3B as well. That was underhand fastball and then as the old saying goes my eyesight went bad so I became an umpire. I was still umpiring at all levels (college, university) until last year when I had to have a knee replacement,due to the ravages of hockey, soccer, and baseball. I am going to give it a try this year if the rain ever stops. Oh yeah I'll be 69 this year so I don't have many seasons left at this level. My biggest thrills on the diamond were catching a no hitter in high school, and umpiring a perfect game in the provincial (Ontario) finals three yaers ago. 21 batters, 21 outs, and no got on base.

 

Tony

Edited May 26, 2011 by Typhoon

[Typhoon 5]

I didn't know of his nickname Herr Prop-Wasche. Was Rusty his given name or was it because of his red hair?

 

His given names were Daniel Joseph. He was called "Rusty" because of his hair colour.

 

Tony

[RAF_Louvert 101]

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Wow Creaghorn, that really is quite the rare trick. Well done Sir! And all these sports tales here remind me of the one from the Woody Allen movie, "Radio Days", (those of you who remember this film and/or the radio sportscaster's style being parodied will appreciate this).

 

"Hello, sports fans and welcome to today's edition of Bill Kern's 'Favorite Sports Legends'. Today's story is about a baseball player. His name was Kirby Kyle, a lean southpaw from Tennessee. He played for the old St. Louis Cardinals. He threw fast, and he had a good curve ball and all the hitters knew it. He was a kid with a great future. But one day, he went hunting. He loved to hunt, just like his father and his father's father. Chasing a rabbit, he stumbled, and his rifle went off. The bullet entered his leg. Two days later, it was amputated. They said he would never pitch again. But the next season, he was back. He had one leg but he had something more important. He had heart. The following winter, another accident cost Kirby Kyle an arm. Fortunately, not his pitching arm. He had one leg and one arm, but more than that, he had heart. The next winter, going after duck, his gun misfired. He was blind but he had instinct as to where to throw the baseball. Instinct...and heart. The following year, Kirby Kyle was run over by a truck and killed. The following season, he won 18 games in the Big League in the Sky. This has been Bill Kern with another 'Favorite Sports Legends'."

 

 

 

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