I managed to bag the relentless coverage of the DNC and get down to Victory Field for an Indians game. Thanks to the good folks at Sheil Sexton who spotted us in line at the box office and shared some tickets. They were celebrating Gretchen Appreciation Night with hand held Gretchen masks. I don’t personally know Gretchen, but her masks seemed quite popular. Especially with the kids in my row.

Gretchen wasn’t the only entertainment, however. Oh sure, there was a game going on, but the Tribe gave up 4 runs early and were down 7-0 mid way through the 5th. They made a game of it scoring 5 runs, but it’s been a long year for Indians. (more…)

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Christian Bale was arrested today for allegedly assaulting his mom and sister. Released later on bail, he denied the charges. Warner Brothers seized the opportunity to announce a double sequel movie with Adam Sandler reprising his role as Dave Buznic and teaming up with Batman in Anger Management: the Dark Knight Sessions. Hilary Swank is in line for the role of Batman’s mom or sister since, as one Warner Brother’s exec put it, “no chick in Hollywood takes a punch like Swank!”

Carry on, Citizens!

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The Flamingos site is undergoing changes over the next 2 weeks. I will be posting some College World Series pictures and updates. We will also unveil the book cover very soon. 

Carry on, Citizens!

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Yep, I lost the blog war. Monday night I went to the Indians game (double header vs. Scranton) and didn’t get home until after midnight. For the loss to Elizabeth, the Tribe rewarded me with 2 losses on the same evening. As for yesterday, I just took the day off to nurse my wounds.

So, today I’m back with a vengeance –ready to large damage in the blogosphere.  Tonight, I’ll forgo the usual nonsense and ask you to remember that it’s National Salvation Army Week. Stop by the Wal-Mart in Fishers between 3pm and 6pm tomorrow for Ramp to Camp. 107.9 the Track will be there with 2 Men & a Truck raising money to send kids to camp. I’ll be there with at least one other member of the Red Shield Radio team.  On Friday, (not sure if it will be the morning or afternoon show yet) I’ll be at the Emmis Building on Monument Circle passing out candy bars courtesy of Target and the Salvation Army.

Also, if you’re into racing, sign up for the Red Shield Rally (July 12).  Go-cart racing for adults and RC cars for the kids. Lots of other surprises in the works for that event too.

Oh, yeah that book thing… Kansaska is available for Kindle! If you own the popular ebook reader from Amazon, download a copy of Kansaska.  Trolley Dodgers will be available for Kindle in the next few weeks.

Finally, I’ll be signing books on May 31st in Greenwood. Details to follow.

Carry on, Citizens!

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It started 26 years ago. Julio was called up by the Phillies and saw action in 16 games. The year before, Reggie Jackson was the highest paid player in baseball and the average ticket price to a game was $4.50. EA sports was years away from being formed, so if you wanted to play a baseball video game, Atari was your only option.

And now, a quarter century plus 1 later, Julio Franco has retired. Consider that twelve of the current managers in baseball are younger than Julio. In 1982, the youngest player in the league was Edwin Nunez (19 yo). Nunez retired 14 years ago. Also making his debut that year was Tony Gwynn. Tony’s been retired for 7 years.

Julio became the oldest active position player in MLB history. At 49, some of us thought he would keep playing forever. Consider that the Tampa Bay Rays, celebrating their 10th anniversary, came into the league 16 years after Julio. Along the way, he has played for 8 MLB teams, 2 Japanese League teams, 1 Korean League team, 2 Mexican League teams, and one Dominican Winter league team.

During his 26 year odyssey, he was a 3 time All Star, won a batting title, and compiled over 4,200 hits combined over his career. Incidentally, only Ty Cobb and Pete Rose have accomplished that feat. So, hats off to Julio and to an amazing career that started the summer before I entered high school. Yikes! I’ve changed careers at least 3 or 4 times during that span. You just finished your first. Well played.

Carry on, Citizens!

For more on Julio’s career, check out this article on ESPN’s page 2.

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Brian Groce is my guest Blogger today. He has some breaking news related to the Kelvin Sampson recruiting scandal at Indiana University. Let me know your thoughts on the subject! Without further ado…

Kelvin Sampson lied to Jeff Stanger about enjoying Trolley Dodgers and looking forward to the release Kansaska.

In a statement released today, Sampson said that he does not “give a (expletive) about Trolley Dodgers, Kansaska, Jeff Stanger, baseball or even all of the (expletive) ‘freaks’ in Bloomington, Indiana.”

Sampson went on to say, “And you people wonder why Coach Knight acted the way he did? If I had to put up with reading this sort of (expletive) put out by Indiana University graduates, not to mention what I’ve seen on Kirkwood Avenue at night, for close to thirty years, you can be guaranteed that I’d do more than throw chairs and occasionally slap or choke someone. Jeff Stanger, Trolley Dodgers and the mere thought of Kansaska being released makes me want to down a fifth of Jack while making some important recruiting calls.”

Jeff Stanger could not be reached for comment, but his publicist stated that “Sampson wouldn’t know a good book if he saw it” and went on to state that she wasn’t “even sure if the man can read”.

You can read the full transcript of Kelvin Sampson’s statement on The Onion.

Carry on, Citizens!

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