Introduce Yourself II!

[alfuso]

d o harris

Dunedin has a pretty good micro-brewery that puts out a decent dark and a good red.

alfuso

[elisabeth]

One of the finest drinks in the world, and a magical hangover cure, is Black Velvet -- Guinness and champagne.

Trouble is, it's so delicious that you can soon work your way up to another hangover ...!

[stevewilk]

Nolan Ryan was a career 324-292, 3.19 ERA, 61 career shutouts and 5714 strikeouts. He won twenty games twice, 21-16 and 22-16 in 1973 and 1974. He played mostly for under .500 teams with California, Houston and Texas. He appeared in one World Series with the 1969 Mets.

Since a starting pitcher, if healthy all year, plays in only some 32 games on a five man rotation, winning twenty is quite a feat. If that pitcher plays on mediocre teams, like Ryan did in California for much of his career, that feat becomes quite difficult.

Phil Niekro and Gaylord Perry (now there was a cheater!) are a couple other pitchers in the Hall who are not associated with championship teams.

[fred]

Frank, Steve--

I'm not saying Ryan does not belong in the Hall, & those ERA numbers alone put him in, especially considering the teams he played for. A World Series title or even playing in one, is also no criterion. Ralph Kiner never played in a WS & look at him. People don't understand just how awesome a hitter Kiner was. So, you are correct. Ryan belongs there, without a doubt. Perry, Niekro, & Sutton are my big buggaboos; and there are some others whose names escape me. I just feel that the baseball writers are way too prejudiced against certain names, i.e, Jim Rice, because he gave them all a hard time; Gil Hodges, probably because that Dodger team already has, what, 4 or 5 guys in the Hall: Reese, Robinson, Snider, Campanella; Koufax for '55. There are plenty of guys in the Hall who don't have Hodges' stats + his ability to field.

Best wishes,
Fred.

[markland]

"...Gaylord Perry (now there was a cheater!) are a couple other pitchers in the Hall who are not associated with championship teams."

Steve, I love you like a brother, but lay off the hometown boy (seriously, both of us are from Williamston, NC)! Gaylord just managed to bend the rules and was incidentally clever enough not to get caught that often. Sheesh, I wish I knew to whom I had lent my copy of his biography, Me and the Spitter, too to!

Be good,

Billy

P.S. It ain't cheating if you aren't caught!

[El Crab]

fred said:

C'mon, Crab! Jack & Coke? We used to call that the high school drink. It's like rum & Coke. At least if you are going to drink JD, dump it over some ice-- by itself.

Actually, if you're going to drink Jack straight, you shouldn't even use ice.

But I'm not going to apologize for drinking Jack and Cokes. They taste good.

[d o harris]

Cubs Win! Cubs Win! We are 5-21 for May, now. Woods may be back, Prior and Derek Lee will be home in two weeks. Is it too early to talk pennant?

I have a granddaughter 28 months old that prior to the start of the '05 season I taught her to shout two things. At the end of the Iowa fight song she will yell "Let's Go Hawks." The other expression was "Cubs Win! Cubs Win!." She can still yell "Let's Go Hawks," but I learned today she has forgotten how to say "Cubs Win!."

Fred, Jack and Coke has got to be a generational thing. I still think he's putting us on. Rum and Coke, however, has a noble tradition, recalling the pre-Castro days when American ships called at Havana, and sailors from the ships, and sailors and marines from Guantanamo enjoyed liberty in Cuba. I think the drink was invented by bar girls. Remember the old Andrews Sisters' song---"Drinking Rum and Coca-Cola, working for the Yankee dollah."

Elisabeth, Guinness and champagne I do not put in the same category as Jack and Coke. Happily, you did not recommend India Pale Ale. I have it every Friday, but only 1/2 litre.

[El Crab]

doharris said:

Fred, Jack and Coke has got to be a generational thing. I still think he's putting us on.

Maybe its because I'm in a bad mood today, but I don't take kindly to this anymore.

I told you I wasn't kidding. Twice. I don't know you, and I don't pretend to think its ok to ridicule your choices. I like it, I merely mentioned that its what I prefer. That's all there is to it and that's all I'll say from this point forward.

Besides, why would I continue to get worked up over comments made by someone who is trying to raise a defenseless toddler as a Cubs fan?

[alfuso]

Elisabeth

I loathe champagne and I would never taint a good Guinness with it!

(although I find it tolerable in a Buck's Fizz...)

alfuso

[fred]

alfuso said:

Elisabeth

I loathe champagne...

Tsk, tsk.

Fizz... fizz...

[crzhrs]

Ouzo for me . . . if you are all men/women give it a try . . . straight, with cold water as a chaser, make sure it's the 92 proof stuff, not that Metaxa crap!

One or two shots and you will all be Greek dancing and giving each other hugs and kisses!

[Tricia]

With such great Greek music, who needs liquor to dance to it? I mean, a few shots of Ouzo might make it more fun ...

[crzhrs]

Ouzo makes the music better and music makes the Ouzo better. Throw in a bunch of Greeks drinking and doing the circle dance and look out!

I'm fortunate that two local Greek churchs each throw big Greek Picnics at the end of Aug./early Sept. Greek food, music, dancing, and lots of non-Greeks also add to a wild party . . . and if you can believe it . . . no hard liquor is allowed . . . not even Ouzo!

In the "old" days, I remember when hard liquor was allowed, not only Ouzo but others . . . talk about a blow-out! There is nothing like barbequed lamb-ka-bobs and a couple shots of Ouzo. Ah, for the good old days

[alfuso]

crzhrs

the good old days are still in Tarpon Springs, 10 miles nawth of me.

alfuso

[crzhrs]

alfuso:

I was in Tarpon Springs back in the 70s . . . went to a sponge diving show (the diver had the old types of suit with the enclosed helmet and went underwater and "brought up" sponges)

We went to a Greek restaurant (forget the name) whose intereior decor was like the Acropolis and had beautiful murals on the walls. Great food and Greek music in the back ground.