More Baseball Lore

Earlier this year I found a piece of major league baseball history which had just been made available to the public. It was newly digitized home movies taken by Helen (Mrs. Jimmie) Foxx during a trip to Japan in 1934.  She accompanied her husband and other major leaguers on a 10-day goodwill tour.  It's an interesting story, even if you aren't a big baseball fan.  Click here to access the video.

I sent the link to several friends who are big baseball fans, and Johnny Harris (DHS '64) sent me this comment about his father, Luman Harris, who many may remember as a coach and manager of the Colt .45s and Houston Astros.  Here's what Johnny said:

Those are great ... Foxx hit a home run off my dad when he pitched for Connie Mack and the old Philadelphia A's.  The way my dad told me the story was Mr. Mack told him not to throw him a high inside fastball ... Well, my dad, being a control-type pitcher, got the fast ball sign from his catcher and thought "Hmm, I can keep it down on him" ... Well, of course the ball flew high and inside and Foxx hit it so far you would need two bus tokens to go get it ... The worst part came as he went back to the dugout to face Mr. Mack ... No one ever called him 'Connie.'

 

Sugar Land resident Luman Harris was the newly appointed manager of the Colt .45s (September 1964)

Sports Ephemera

I found a Web site recently with 'ephemeral' from Houston's history. These were common-place things that are rarely saved, like cocktail napkins, business cards, advertising fliers, movie tickets, etc.

Rick Kirkpatrick had a couple of interesting (to me) items in his family archive. The first was an unused ticket to the first regular season game in the Astrodome. The 'Stros played Philadelphia & lost 2-0. Chris Short beat Bob Bruce.



The second item is a ticket to the Ali - Williams fight in the Astrodome in 1966. My father went to the fight, too. I remember him saying the most impressive thing that night was the 'Ali Shuffle.' He said Ali's feet were so fast, they were a blur -- like a ballet dancer's.

Here's a 10-minute video of the whole fight.

Cheap Eats & Drinks at The Dome Back in 1965

I showed this image several years ago on another Web site, but I like it so much I thought I'd bring it back. Anyone who follows the Astros and reads related bulletin boards and blogs knows that fans are unhappy that beer costs $7.50 a cup at Minute Maid Park. (That may be a good or a bad thing - but we'll leave that question aside.)

The concession prices shown below come from a program for a game played against the Mets on August 15, 1965. The Mets won 3-0. The prices are pretty amazing, but you have to remember wages and salaries weren't what they are today. I had a summer job at that time that paid $1.00 per hour, and I was very happy.

One thing I really like about the list is that Anacin is listed at the bottom. Was it for over-indulging or dispair about the team? I'll bet they don't sell any OTC medicines at Minute Maid Park. Nowadays you have to bring your own if you need it.