Road Trip: Wrapping it up

     The final day of the final leg of the road trip season was here and it started at Buc-Ees, the legendary gas station (don't call them a truck stop, no trucks are allowed) directly off I-40.

I'm not sure words can describe the activity all around when you enter a Buc-ees and that's before considering the mass of items, all of which seem to have the face of a very pleased beaver!

I had a list of things to bring home for Cherie, Rachel, and Posey, including their famous beaver nuggets, which are bigger versions with extra sugar of Kellogg's Sugar Corn Pops cereal.

I found all of their requested items but one and I used the rest of the time to check out the available food options since we would be stopping back for lunch.

The next drive was to Knoxville, home of the Tennessee Volunteers, to stop by Bargain Antiques.

Bargain Antiques is yet another former department store that has found new life with antiques.

I found a few things, a Kroger cloth grocery bag for Cherie, who always likes to pick up bags from grocery stores away from home, a small Green Lantern key chain ( from a booth with ninety percent off that cost me only fifty cents), and a Tennessee basketball program.

What I found most interesting was the parking lot which was so slanted that parking at the bottom of the lot must have felt like hiking up a mountain!

We hopped back on I-40 for lunch at Buc-ees, and because we had stopped by twice, we had some ideas about the food offerings.

Buc-ees has an amazing number of different sandwiches among other made-to-order items and I decided to try two different sandwiches in the smaller size.

I ordered a fried chicken sandwich (similar to Chick-fil-A) and a turkey sandwich.

The chicken was very good and the turkey was good but a bit chewy.

Driving home on a sunny day allowed us to take our time and make a few stops along the way with the best stop at Snoopers Antique Mall in Wytheville, Virginia.

I found two items there, two Topps posters from 1970's releases.

In the 60s and early 70s, Topps usually had an insert of some type in each pack of that season's baseball cards and in 1970, it was posters.

The 9x10 posters were printed on very thin paper and needed to be folded into eighths in order to fit the posters into a standard pack of baseball cards.

As a result, there are few in outstanding shape today as even if you haven't touched them since 1970, the materials are still vulnerable, which is the main reason that I never tried to collect the posters (or the other years that Topps used posters as the bonus prize).

However, for the price (four dollars each), and the condition (the seller had them flat and in plastic), I could not resist adding a Hawk Harrelson ( with the Indians and their red wishbone C caps) and Don Mincher (in the Seattle Pilots uniform that would not see the field in 1970) to my collection.

There were a few other shops in the area but I found nothing that I purchased, so the trip was over other than rolling the final miles out for the trip home. 

2024 was a good season for me.

I saw seven new ballparks in Portland, Maine, Worcester Massachusetts, Somerset New Jersey, Dayton and Cincinnati, Ohio, Florence Kentucky, and Omaha, Nebraska to raise my total to eighty-nine.

It's starting to become harder to add stadiums with few close enough now for a day trip.

The closest stadium to the north (Non-MLB) is the New Hampshire Fisher Cats (in Manchester) with the exception of Brooklyn and Staten Island as there is no way I'm fighting that type of traffic for a minor league ballpark!

There are preliminary plans to add New Hampshire early next year along with a stop in Boston at Fenway Park, so that would move me to ninety-one but unless a longer trip comes into the picture (unlikely at this writing), New Hampshire and Boston may be the only new additions for 2025.

The closest stadium to the south that I need would be in South Carolina (Myrtle Beach, Columbia, Charleston, or a new stadium opening in Spartanburg for 2025). the nearest to the northwest would be any of the Indiana fields (Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, or South Bend), and the adjacent southwest stadium is even farther away in Memphis!

I've also added quite a few to the visited states list in 2024 with stops in Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Iowa, Nebraska, and Kansas for the first time.

However, the states that could be feasible to see for the first time are becoming fewer in number.

I suppose if I ever made the drive to Omaha again and if I wanted to drive somewhat out of the way, I could add Minnesota and/or Wisconsin.

South Dakota is only two hours away from Omaha, so I guess that could happen, and if I ever decided to add a Georgia park (or the new stadium coming to Chattanooga Tennessee), it wouldn't take much to add Alabama but as you can see, the low-hanging fruit has been picked!

It's been a surprisingly good road season with many memories made, and some cannot be repeated.

2025 has a high standard to meet. 

Cleaning out the Inbox

   The inbox cleaning starts with an interesting article from the Baltimore Banner, which discusses how working from home (when employers use it) can do more than save morning commutes, they can help revitalize cities and areas that haven't recovered from earlier tough times.

Decades ago, Cumberland, located between Pittsburgh and Baltimore, was the second largest city in Maryland, second only to Baltimore, and was an area with abundant industrial companies for their workforce.

Starting in the 1970s (similar to Western Pennsylvania and Eastern Ohio), those industries began to move elsewhere and eliminate themselves altogether, which led to the decline of Cumberland and its population dropping to its current 19.000.

The article discusses the good parts (increased spending etc) and the bad ones (a rapid increase in housing costs and the inevitable issues between newcomers and longtime residents) and it's an interesting article on whether can growth happen too quickly in even the areas that need it the most.

The Retroist solves a mystery many older folks may have wondered about for decades- why do some quarters have red paint on them?

It turns out to have something to do with arcade games and while I won't spoil the ending, it more than makes sense to me and I should have figured it out long before now!

More from The Retroist as they write about the 1970s cycle, The Green Machine,.

Envisioned as the alternative to the Big Wheel or an upgrade for the next level in age group, The Green Machine never hit the sales number or popularity of its cousin, Big Wheel (I had a Big Wheel) but it looked cooler and must have been more fun to "drive".

What was especially interesting to learn was that apparently a version was made based on Batman called the "Bat Machine", which I never knew existed!.

Now that would have been cool to have!

BBC.com writes of the recent discovery that a portion of the bow railing of the sunken Titanic has been discovered to have fallen off and deposited on the ocean floor nearby.

The ocean liner is an interesting case of how things deteriorate in seawater with the ship now residing in those conditions for 112 years and counting.

What I found interesting was the re-discovery of a just under two feet tall statue of Diana of Versailles
in a debris field.

The statue had been found on one of the first trips after the ship was found in 1986 but its location was unable to be documented and it had been lost until this summer's explorations.

The statue had been in the center of a first-class lounge and there are plans to bring the statue to the surface in the future. 

Interesting note from Cleveland Heights, Ohio, where for the first time in thirty years, according to Cleveland's Fox 8, a new Arthur Treacher's restaurant will open AND it will be at the same site that once operated a Treacher's.

The eatery will now bring the total of Arthur Treacher's to three- all in the Cleveland area.

The ownership stated that Treacher's is expected to open in December and that they have plans to open three more stores in 2025, which is good news for fans of the iconic fast-food fish establishment!

The Athletic catches up with former White Sox broadcaster Hawk Harrelson a few years after retiring from broadcasting.

Harrelson worked on Chicago White Sox games for over three decades, earning either kudos or complaints for his "homer" stance for the ChiSox and his use of catchphrases.

The White Sox are on their way to the most losses in baseball history and Harrelson has thoughts on that along with another surprising take in the article.

Cleaning out the inbox

Time for another cleaning of the inbox, as we'll begin with a goodbye of a good type, as Ken "Hawk" Harrelson stepped away from the Chicago White Sox broadcast booth at the end of the season a few weeks back.

As an announcer, he was certainly a polarizing figure, and his blatant homerism certainly was a throwback to radio days long in the scrapbooks.
ESPN looks at Harrelson, the difference between Ken and "Hawk", the routine at the ballpark and at home, and more.
I've always liked Hawk, but I can easily understand why other fans would not!
Still listening to Hawk's calls, I always thought he added fun to a game that needs more and more of just that.


My all-time favorite basketball coach (as far as the NBA anyway) Larry Brown is still coaching at the age of 78- this time in Italy.
Brown, who always seemed to be looking for Camelot and, as a result, lost many opportunities through the years to build dynasties, although he almost always delivered winners at his various stops, has run out of teams in the states between his vagabond ways and his age.
The Athletic checks in on Brown and offers a few notes that I didn't know about, including why he didn't pick Paul Pierce when he was with Philadelphia, even though he knew he was making a mistake.

The SWC Roundup writes of a rivalry between two teams that usually are at or near the bottom of Division I, but usually play very close games that offer memorable endings.
New Mexico State and UTEP play in the "Battle of I-10" and two rivalry trophies are on the line in the Silver Spade and Brass Spittoon.
Often the most torrid rivalries are from teams on the same level and both of these teams that usually (New Mexico State did win six games and a bowl last year) struggle to win more than two or three games look at each other as not only rivals, players from the same high schools that have played against each other before, but as a good opportunity for a victory.
This article looks at three games between 1989-91 where UTEP won all three games by a combined six points.
Their game this season was reasonably close, with the Aggies defeating the Miners 27-20.


Another rivalry from schools of similar quality seems to be fierce despite the teams only playing each other twice as of now, as Texas State (Sun Belt) and UTSA (Texas-San Antonio, Conference USA) have developed some hate with each school drawing over 30,000 for their home game in the series thus far.
There is a nice ( but pretty generic-looking) trophy given to the winner, but it looks more like a larger and shinier version of a fantasy football league trophy.
A regional supermarket (HEB) sponsors the game and trophy, but a fan has come up with an idea that favors neither school but plays to the sponsor with a golden shopping cart.
Weird? Yes, but that's college football!

18 Birdies covers the evolution of the golf ball over the years, going way back to the first golf ball in 1550, which was an all-wooden ball!
Imagine hitting a ball made of wood with the limited clubs of the time and think about just how far that ball "flew"!
The article moves through several other phases that the ball went through in how they were made during each change of the ball, and it was quite interesting to read about what the balls were made of and contained on the inside.

We leave with the passing of former Philadelphia Eagles safety Wes Hopkins at the age of 57.
Hopkins was a second-round pick of the Eagles in 1983, was a first-team all-pro in 1985, a devastating thumper in the Ronnie Lott mold, and seemed to be on his way to an outstanding career.
A devastating 1986 knee injury ruined all of that, and even though Hopkins would return from the injury to be a starter and a fine player, he was never able to reach his previous form, which, had he been able to maintain that level of play, might have placed him in Hall of Fame consideration. 

Minor League Fantasy Draft: Round One-Luis Robert

My fantasy baseball league has been quite hectic this year in the cold days of winter.
After many years of existence, we finally made the decision to expand to 12 teams from ten teams, so
as commissioner, I had expansion drafts to run.

Each team would lose two players from their minor league system and then in a week, the minor league draft would begin.
I lost Jose DeLeon, a once highly touted pitcher from the Tampa system that has been riddled with injuries and Sean Reid-Foley, a pitcher that I still like that had his struggles last year for Toronto's AA affiliate in New Hampshire.
Once, I knew what I had lost, I have five picks for my system in the draft and I thought I'd write a small piece on each player that I select.

Picking eighth in round one, I felt I had some good fortune as I was able to select Luis Robert, a 20-year-old outfielder from Cuba with my first pick.
Robert has yet to play a professional game, but I happened to be watching the Indians play the White Sox last year on the day Robert signed with Chicago.
I've noted before that when the Indians play the Chi-Sox and Hawk Harrelson (retiring this year sadly) announces the game, I watch the Chicago network.
The talk during that game was all about Robert and his accolades.
I immediately looked for a video of Robert, found his workout very impressive and filed his name away for later.


Having the chance to add Robert was possible, but unlikely in my opinion,
Joe Werner's Prospect Digest (my go-to book and look for Joe to be doing a podcast with me in the next week or so) has Robert as a future star and compares him more favorably than Yasiel Puig at the same age against the same level of Cuban competition.
Joe's final quote on Robert- "Can someone say star"?.

At 6'3 and being graded as having plus power and plus speed by both Werner and Baseball America and profiling as being able to stay as a centerfielder defensively, Luis Robert seems to me to be a gamble worth taking with massive upside.
Robert will start with either Low A Kannapolis or High A Winston-Salem and in either case, I'll be able to scout Robert for myself and see what I've drafted.
The White Sox think he'll eventually be a middle of the order hitter, in front of another mega-prospect that is winding his way through the minors now - Eloy Jimenez.
What team owns Jimenez's rights in our league?
That would be mine..

Back later tonight from the road office..

Cleaning out the inbox

My intent was for tonight was to do the latest road trip stop with the Carolina Mudcats,but I forgot to transfer the pictures to the computer from that stop,so look for that soon,maybe Tuesday after game five of Cavaliers-Warriors...
SO,since I dropped the ball on that,I can get the lysol out and start cleaning the inbox a bit instead.

Let's get started with a SABR baseball cards blog entry on a long time favorite of mine and maybe the most polarizing figure in baseball broadcasting-Ken "The Hawk" Harrelson.
Hawk,who whether you like him or not, is definitely the
biggest homer in the booth anywhere and certainly is a memorable person from the first time that you hear a game that he does.
The SABR article though looks at Hawk's playing career through his various Topps cards and it's neat to see the evolution through a career and hear some stories about why and how some cards look the way they do.
The 1970 Topps set isn't my favorite set,but it is my favorite Hawk card-it is one of two cards of him as an Indian,he wears a hat that I own (one of my two favorite non-Wahoo Indians hats) and I love the stadium (Yankee Stadium in this case) shots in the background!

More Hawk as the White Sox saluted Harrelson with a stadium giveaway that I want in the Hawk talking alarm clock!
The clock can wake you with one of various Hawk sayings and stuff like that are home runs to me!
Kudos to the White Sox for the clock,which was based on the Milwaukee Brewers doing a Bob Uecker clock of the same style last year...

The Hardball Times writes of a seven day offensive run by Frank Howard of the Washington Senators in 1968.
The article discusses Howard's career as a Dodger,but mainly looks at his time in Washington with the Senators,in which with the exception a surprising 1969,Howard was about the only thing to get excited about for a bad franchise that was nearing the end of its time in Washington.
It also writes of the powerful long balls that Howard hit and the three white seats that remain in RFK stadium to this day that were commemorated for Howard's blasts into the upper deck.

I've written before about my fondness for mid-major basketball and with Xavier moving up to the Big East a few years and arguably passing metro rival Cincinnati on the food chain,my main mid-major school was gone.
Wichita State under Gregg Marshall was their replacement,but with the Shockers move to the American Athletic Conference,which in basketball is not quite top notch,but above the mid-major level and leaving the Missouri Valley conference,the MVC needed a replacement and found it in Valparaiso.
Valpo had been the best program in the Horizon League (especially since Butler had left) for years and like Wichita State climbing the conference ladder up a notch with the AAC,Valpo is doing the same with its move to the MVC.
It's part of the business of college sports today-understandable.but sometimes at the cost of some of what makes college sports so great.
Mid-Major Madness writes about the Crusaders move here and the Wichita Eagle discusses it here in what will likely be one of the final articles for that paper on the MVC with the Wichita State departure of the league effective in the fall.

Meanwhile,the AAC is beginning to tout itself as the conference attempting to push its way into prominence and turn the "Power 5"conferences into the "Power 6" and this ESPN article talks about the AAC churning out coaches for the higher level in football.
The point is made when you look at Tom Herman (leaving Houston for Texas),Justin Fuente (Memphis for Virginia Tech) and Willie Taggart (South Florida for Oregon) that the AAC truly is a
a league that prepares coaches for the power five jobs and even if I'm not sure that the AAC should make the five a six,the league has some really good programs and makes for many fun fall evenings watching their teams go at it...

Steve Kim at UCNLive writes about the lack of buzz over Andre Ward-Sergey Kovalev II and the frustrations by Main Events (promoter of Kovalev) with the promotion of Roc Nation (promoter of Ward) and their questionable promoting of the rematch.
Ward's questionable decision win in November meant the contracted rematch would be promoted by Roc Nation-a "promotion" that has been a disaster in their time in the boxing business.
Roc Nation hasn't pushing the fight,there is next to no excitement for a fight that should have it amid rumors that this will be the final event before Roc Nation boxing folds its tent and goes away as the latest "money mark" to think that promoting boxing is easy and leaves after losing lots of money to come to the realization that boxing isn't like any other business venture.

We wrap with the Cleveland Plain Dealer looking at two players with plenty in common-Robert Griffin and Johnny Manziel.
Two stars at Texas colleges,Heisman winners,first round draft picks,spread offense runners and disappointments with the Cleveland Browns,both players say they want to play in the NFL again,but no one has come calling as of this writing.
Should either of the two decide to try Canada and the CFL-their home would be in Hamilton as a Tiger-Cat as Hamilton holds the rights to both Griffin and Manziel.
I'd be interested to see how they would play in the CFL,which does require some mobility from their QB's,but needs a bigger arm than most American fans would think as the throws to the sideline are longer with the wider field.
When you look at Vince Young,who has much in common with the above two ( minus the Heisman,but adding a national title) and his attempt to come back to football with the CFL (Young is with the Saskatchewan Roughriders),it's not so far fetched to some day see either or even both of those players giving Canadian Football a shot...

Cleaning out the inbox

Time to clean the inbox and we'll start with Bruce Markusen's Card Corner that he does for the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Bruce picked the 1969 Topps to discuss former Indians outfielder Ken "the Hawk" Harrelson,but I've always preferred the 1970 (shown) or his 1971 with Hawk seemingly cracking up over the duller 1969 version.
Markusen's article explains why the 1969 cards are so dull and has a comprehensive look at Hawk's career and his announcing career.
I'm a huge fan of Hawk's,but I can certainly understand why some fans cannot stand him-he certainly is a homer and loves the White Sox definitively!


The Comeback writes of the possible end of a torrid rivalry between New Mexico and New Mexico State due to the issues of conferences.
New Mexico State looks headed to 1-AA as the Sun Belt booted them and Idaho,no other conferences appear to want the Aggies (small market) and as an independent,New Mexico State appears unlikely to be able to schedule five home games a year,which is an NCAA D-1 requirement.
The question then becomes,if NMSU goes down to 1-AA,will the Lobos continue to schedule them?
It's too bad and a sad ending to a big rivalry...

Battlin' Bob sends this note from SI.com on the many people that the Rams move from St.Louis affected on game day and otherwise.
It goes to show just how leaving a town can sour a market and this market might be poisoned for good when you consider the Cardinals left as did the Rams and the passing over of St.Louis for expansion for Carolina and Jacksonville.
People never look at the stain on Paul Tagliabue's resume for insisting on Jacksonville as an expansion club.
Picking them over Baltimore likely cost Cleveland the Browns and over St.Louis,might have meant football never left Southern California.....

Joe Plum adds a page on the demise of the Shawshank Redemption tree in Ohio.
I went and saw the tree a few years back with the lovely Cherie,but had been split after being hit by lightning.
Now the tree is down as it succumbed to high winds and is on its side.
No word on the eventual home or use for the wood from the tree...

One of my all time favorite Cavaliers talks with Sam Amico of Amico Hoops as Mark Price chats about his career in Cleveland and a little about the Cavalies NBA title.
Price is currently the head coach at Charlotte,who plays in Conference USA.....

Comstock's writes about the business of minor league baseball and their major league affiliations as the article focuses on the Sacramento RiverCats and their move from the Oakland Athletics to the San Francisco Giants in 2014.
The interesting article talks about the ins and outs of Sacramento's move and how it was done along with how it worked out.

We wrap up with a ESPN short film on Peter Norman.
Norman was the Australian sprinter that was on the medal stand with Tommie Smith and John Carlos during their famous protest in the 1968 Mexico City Olympics.
It's a take on the incident that I haven't seen before...