Reds in oddball uniforms

I came across a couple of photos recently that reminded me of some unusual uniforms Reds players have worn over the years. First is Pete Rose in a uniform with a number other than 14. As you may know, Pete wore 14 on his jersey his entire career with one 2 month exception; during the Spring Training of his rookie year (1963) he wore no. 27.

Another unusual uniform look for the reds was during Spring Training of 1983 when they wore white hats. They switched back to the traditional red caps for Opening Day. Below we see Gary Redus, Mario Soto, and Johnny Bench donning those white hats.

Lastly, when the Reds failed to sign Dave Concepcion to another contract after his 1988 season he decided to try out for the California Angels. Here is a photo of Davey with rookie Ken Griffey Jr. during the 1989 Spring Training. Concepcion didn't make the Angels and thus retired. Junior went on to quite a career.
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Flowers In The Dirt

I recently heard a song from Paul McCartney's album Flowers In The Dirt released back in the summer of 1989. The song I heard, "Distractions", took me back to the trip my dad and made to Florida that fall. Or maybe it was late summer. I am not sure. Anyway, we got in his van, just him and I, and we left town early in the morning. I got to drive the first leg of the trip in his dark blue Chrysler Voyager. Well, I proceeded to miss the first big exit (I-75 south) as I cruised along on I-275 towards the airport... Dad laughed it off and I soon had us turned around and on our way south to Grandma & Grandpa Jonas' place in St. Petersburg. I was taken back to that trip by the song I heard because I remember bringing along my portable CD-player and when I was not driving I was listening to Flowers In The Dirt on the way down. A pretty good album, but it was the trip that made it special for me. We got to our destination sometime after midnight where Grandma & Grandpa were both still up waiting for us. That trip was also special because Melinda and her parents were on the other side of the state in Melbourne visiting her aunt & uncle. I drove the van across the state to pick her up for a visit with us and then the next day Dad, Melinda, and I met up with her parents at Disneyworld for the day. Then she went back to Melborne with her folks. The soundtrack for the whole vacation was not "It's A Small World After All" but rather the tunes from Flowers In The Dirt and it will always be a special CD becaues of that.

Guns and WMDs

I was wondering the other day what Liberals would do in the following situation: Someone comes up to you and your family in a vacant parking garage and says he has a gun and is going to kill all of you. Would you pull the gun you have in your pocket out and shoot him first or would you play the passive and hope he's bluffing?

Now, apply the same principal to Saddam Hussein who claimed to have weapons of mass destruction and was threatening to use it on the US, Israel, and even Iran. Keep in mind, this occurred shortly after 9/11. The Left was so hateful towards Bush for sending troops in. I'm assuming they are the same people who would roll over for the criminal in the parking garage.

Now, insert North Korea and Iran. Both openly state that they intend to destroy the US. What do we do? Stand by and do nothing like FDR did in the late 30s and early 40s while Hitler ran roughshod through Europe? Well, at least until Pearl Harbor was attacked. This is why I'm glad I am not president. You will be attacked by the Left if you strike first; you will be attacked by the Right if you roll over and call their bluff. Be consistent with your views and beliefs or you're not being true to yourself.

New van

Well, the old '92 Grand Caravan finally became too costly to maintain. With the ever-increasing costs of repair, I made the decision to use the latest repair cost as a down payment on another van. This time, a 2001 Volkswagen Eurovan. I love it and hopefully it will last many many years. I've always loved vans from as far back as I can remember. My dad had a white 1962 Ford Falcon van that I thought was the coolest thing on earth. We would use it to go camping at Rocky Fork State Park in Hillsboro, Ohio. It was our little camper with a makeshift bed in the back. My grandma even made curtains for the back windows. Then, years later, Dad had a navy blue Plymouth Voyager that we would ride back and forth to work in together when I worked with him at United Air Specialists in Blue Ash, OH. That was when I was working my way through college. I would almost always fall asleep on the way back after another 10-hour day. We drove it to Florida a couple of times too. But that van had issues. I think he had to have the engine rebuilt 3 times! Next up was his '92 white Dodge Grand Caravan. He used it to shuttle around his parents when he was taking care of them. When they passed away the van started to sit more and more. The wear and tear of just sitting became its' downfall when I inherited it upon Dad's death in late 2006. It became an icon for John's baseball team who affectionately referred to it as the Bandit Van. We even drove it to Naples, FL last year with no issues at all. However, constantly fixing things that were "damaged" by neglect made it more costly than it should have been. Now the new "Bandit Van" is on the roads and hopefully will take us to Naples, FL again soon.

Memorial Day Weekend Tournament

John and I spent Saturday and Sunday in Bloomington, Indiana for a baseball tournament that the Bandits were in. We won 3 of the 4 games and had a lot of fun. John had a big triple in game 1, made lots of nice plays at third base, and pitched three super innings in relief during game 3. He continues to make me proud on and off the field. I consider it such a blessing to be his coach and (more importantly) his dad. A memorable weekend indeed. Here are some pics of John in action:

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Urbane Planning

Old habits are hard to break. Take the automobile for instance. Planners across the nation are continually trying to be society... Read More’s Jaws-of-Life and extract people out of their cars. Problem is, they are not budging. It’s true that we planners desire to see people use their car less and instead opt for busses, bikes, Segways, or, heaven forbid, their own two feet to get from place to place. However, people don’t seem to want to vacate their comfy bucket seats in favor of alternate modes of transportation unless it begins to make sense financially to do so. While the idea alone makes perfect sense to us, we find more resistance from the public than if we were asking them to give up their internet connection. Don’t dare touch their car; it’s their status symbol in a lot of cases.

Our new cat...Hobbes

Our third (and last) addition to the family pet brood is a little beauty boy we got from the Wilson Animal Rescue organization named Hobbes. Right from the get-go he was a loving buddy. Riley, our other boy cat, who is only a few weeks older than Hobbes, really took to him quickly and they usually wrestle with each other several times a day. Bella, our female, on the other hand, wasn't so quick to warm up to him...but she's better now.
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Reds' batting stances/swings

Sadly, I can do all of these and more... I used to go through the entire Reds lineup from the mid-70s through the early 80s with stunning accuracy. All the while, my homework would go undone because of the hours I spent on this stuff.

Bandits open 2009 season

Presidential respect

This bumper sticker is probably what every Liberal fears will happen to President Obama. They dished out a vile heaping of hate on our last president (and anyone who identified themselves as a Republican for that matter). As for me, I am taking the high ground. None of the 3rd grade childish insults will come from me. Now if you want to talk about the merits (or lack thereof) of any particular policy or action, I'm in. But please don't expect me to run around telling people that Obama is an idiot or that people who support him are stupid. I've had enough of that over the past 8 years. Questions anyone?

Weekend of baseball

We had a blast this weekend with John's team scrimmaging the other Bandits team. The weather was just a bit nippy, but much more bearable than in weeks past. In fact, I think I got a bit of sun. Melinda took another memorable batch of photos. Below are some of her potential award-winning pics. John hitting and playing first. Colt getting hit by a pitch. And one of me with baseball(s) on the brain! Great job Mel! Click on the pictures to see bigger versions of them.

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Still deny that evil exists?

There are people in this world, mostly the very liberal, who refuse to acknowledge that evil exists. I'm talking about pure evil. The kind you can put an absolute value on in a world that tries to blur all absolutes. If you don't believe evil exists then you need to do some research on the two 13 year old girls who were savagely killed this past week. One, an honor student named Esme, from Cincinnati, was simply running her usual route. A jog that took her to a premeditating sex offender who was "rehabbed" and released into society. Memo to the far left: there are some people who can not be rehabilitated. They are evil. Jails were meant to protect us from violent people. Do we learn anything from the continual 'catch and release' of society's most deviant people? Imagine the anguish and torture this poor girl experienced and tell me that this killer could be rehabbed. And now there's more deaths he's being linked to. Rehab? Are you serious? Then there is the case of the evil sex offender in the State of Washington who was released and was being tracked by a GPS device. Brilliant! He went out with his little ankle bracelet on and brutally raped and strangled a 13 year old this week. Anybody listening? Evil will be evil even if tracked by a stupid ankle bracelet. It's about as effective as a restraining order. Thinking 'peace' and 'love' all day long won't get rid of evil in the world. Use the jails to protect us from the "lost causes" and put the Judeo-Christian values back into what we teach our children. Instead we are told that we need to understand the criminal and be sympathetic to why he has turned out so bad...then set him back free into society. In a world hat continues to devalue the absolutes of morality, we had better brace ourselves for more of this behavior. Peace and love everybody.

A paper John wrote.

I was blessed a week or so ago to have been given a copy of one of John's papers he had to do for school. It was a profile of a person and he chose me. I immediately printed a copy of it out and safely tucked it into my work bag to lug with me every where I go...forever! I am the one who is blessed. Here's John's paper:

My Dad
(Feb. 25, 2009)

Throughout my life I learn more and more about how incredibly fortunate I am to have a dad like mine. Since the very moment I was born he has always been there for me.

When it comes to sports my dad is always the first one to root me on and help me get better. Ever since I can remember Dad has been involved in my sports including being a coach for my baseball team. My dad, being so good at sports, is always helping me improve my skills whether it’s shooting a basketball or throwing a curve ball. I can’t think of anyone I would rather have teach me than Dad. No matter how lousy I may do he always keeps encouraging me to try again and never give up. I’m so glad he never tried out for the big leagues because I know that he would have made it and I wouldn’t have gotten to enjoy playing sports with him and having him coach me not only in sports but in life.

Outside of sports Dad always makes sure we get to spend special time together and have fun doing things with just the two of us. When I was younger we would always go to watch trains after we dropped my mom off to work. We always called this special spot our “favorite place”. We would spend hours playing ball with each other indoors with soft, squishy balls and eventually end up wrestling. I loved playing with my electric train set and Dad did too, for he would set up all kinds of cool things for my trains. He has also taught me how to play guitar a little bit and with some practice, some day, I want to be as good as him. We go out to breakfast once a week since Dad knows it’s my favorite meal of the day and we get to talk about sports and other things. Me and my dad both love collecting baseball cards and He so generously buys me the TOPPS baseball card set every year.

My dad has also taught me many valuable life skills to use now and later in life. I cherish these and always keep them close by when life throws a curve ball at me. One of these life skills include God’s word of which my dad always uses as a base for what ever he teaches me. His spiritual guidance has always been a key factor in my life and I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world. He has helped me in some of my school as well. He is phenomenal at English and grammar and I am always trying to write good enough to make him proud of me, even if I’m not the best at it.

To sum it all up, I really don’t think that I could ask for a better dad than the one I have right now. I don’t know what I would do without him.

John Jonas

Does this image offend you?

I saw this image of Michelle Obama and a chimp on the news last week and heard about the uproar it caused and immediately I wondered why? After all, how many times have we seen those images of President Bush being compared to a chimp? The media didn't seem to be too upset about that. If the image of Bush didn't offend you then the image of Michelle Obama shouldn't either, right?. After all, they are only making fun of an uncanny resemblance aren't they? If you ARE offended by the Michelle Obama comparison and not by the Bush comparison then I argue that you should be just as offended by the theory of evolution. After all, isn't that what you're upset about? The comparison is saying that Michelle looks more like a chimp; that she's not quite as evolved. I know most people wouldn't know this (because the media today has been in a love affair with the theory of evolution) but Charles Darwin was a renowned racist and his theory is a product of it. He is essentially saying that people of darker skin (like Michelle Obama) are not as evolved as those with lighter skin (like Bush). Instead of getting upset with the image of Michelle and the chimp, you should be absolutely livid about the fact that such a racist theory is being taught in our public schools uncontested. Darwin and his racist theory is being force-fed to our society because it explains away God. If you don't believe me go rent Ben Stein's documentary "Expelled". The next time you see Darwin on another magazine cover just think about how aghast he would be today at the fact that we have a black president! Fair and balanced? I think not.

John's finest basketball game

Went to see John play basketball on Friday evening and he had the absolute best game he's ever had in all his years playing! At the beginning of the game he scored the first 8 points as the Spurs jumped out to an 8-0 lead. He showed a new aggressiveness around the hoop and took advantage of his rebounding ability by putting back several of his teammates' missed shots. He also took the ball to the hoop strong as well as sinking 3 of his 4 free-throw attempts. The Spurs ended up losing the game but John was clearly the star of the evening. He's come a long long way since making his first 2 baskets in the wrong hoop back when he was 6 years old!

Practice

February is not too early to get a head start on the 2009 baseball season. We've secured a secret empty warehouse and have set up a batting cage so that the Boone County Bandits can practice no matter the weather. The cage is very nice and comes with an L-screen so that I won't get pegged by line drives from these boys. They are getting a bit to big to be throwing batting practice unprotected! While Spring may not be in the air outside, it certainly is inside...just don't tell anyone about our secret Bandits training facility!!!
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It was 40 years ago today...

I don't feel a day over 39...