All-Time Baseball Team: Brainstorming II

This isn't a definitive list...yet.

I sat down to finish, at least, what would be Ted's All-Time North Coast Baseball Team -- then, realized, it's naive to believe that the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s didn't contribute a single all-timer I have affection for as a player and, I suppose, as a person.

Here's the list...a lineup...with some additional notes because, hey, it's my team and I should include guys I saw a lot or heard great things about from people I trust...you can't really cancel your subscription, right? You can offer comments, argue and all that, though.

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1b...Mark Lucich...no change from the team I picked in the 1990s for the newspaper. He was a classy, gifted, hard-working guy who seemed heroic to me in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Odds are nobody could talk me out of Lucich as my favorite all-time. But, I realized I played on more different teams with former Eureka High first baseman Tad Sundquist than I did, probably, with any other player. We even went to Cutten Elementary School together. I was on Tad's team in the Eureka Midget League (Belcher's Giants), then for two years at Winship Junior High School. (Back when junior high sports were a really big deal in Eureka.) Then, I played with Sundquist at Eureka High and, briefly, at CR. Tad hit with power and fielded the position well. He ran better than most first baseman. It seemed cool, commendable, to me that he got drafted a few times and never signed a pro contract. I don't know why he didn't sign, but I thought it was intriguing that he didn't just go along with the rest. He was just...a ball of fury, a total stud. Since it's my team, I'd put Tad Sundquist on it.

2b...Bob Bonomini...He was a star for the Crabs, started at second base, for a fair portion of my youth. I didn't even know he went to Fresno State, he could just rake and

Nobody can or will challenge Bons for this spot. I just need a middle infielder to pinch-run after he lines a single through the hole to start the 7th inning.

SS...Garth Iorg...at the time I played against them, I thought Roger Hawkins and Mike Dolf were far better players than Garth Iorg at Arcata High. And, really, everybody agreed with me about Mike Dolf...I happened to think Hawkins was better than either of them. But, heck, Iorg made it to the big leagues and that's rare for North Coast players.

I can't emphasize enough, to modern parents or players, that Garth Iorg worked hard, perservered and learned the game...and worked his way to the big league. Lots of guys who faced the same challenges he did came home with stories about how he got screwed by the organization, etc.

3B...Scott Eskra..It's my list

I don't guess that many people are reading this because Eskra's a no-brainer based on sheer ability, but maybe came up lacking in other areas. Perhaps, I should've tested the size of the readership by putting some choir buy who drank Pepsi at third base?

LF: Dane Iorg, Arcata...

I still tend to think that Dane was always considered better than his brother Lee, but that it was hip to say, "Ahh...Lee was the best player, he just wanted to do other things." Actually, Lee was the fastest of the Iorg brothers and could really play centerfield...but Dane Iorg ... maybe my favorite Humboldt Crabs player ever...and...

CF: Paul Ziegler, Fortuna...he was faster

Greg Lorenzetti, another Fortuna alum, starred at Stanford, for the Crabs and in the minor leagues. He'll be on the finished team...I think Lorenzetti and Ziegler were both Fortuna football quarterbacks and basketball players. Ziegler was point guard on a team with a tough forward named Bob Wilson -- that got into an oncourt brawl in 1975 or 1976 with a good Arcata team. Fans were on the court. It was great fun for a teen sports writer!


RF: ... Buster Pidgeon had all the tools and he starred at Eureka High and for that great 1968 Eureka American Legion team. I'm sure Harold "Buster" Pidgeon wasn't a rightfielder...but, I'm sure he gave it a shot in his time in the Phillies organization. He could run. Gary Lucich, another Eureka High guy, is actually my favorite rightfielder. I was saddened when he died way too soon. His brother Mark was the superior baseball player, but Gary used to beat everybody else off the field -- from right field -- between innings. I didn't hustle, but I thought his hustle was the greatest.

This could be a spot for one of the old-time, all-timers.

C: ...again...still thinking...John Jaso is a nice pick, and would give the Humboldt Dukes a representative (as if 3 months on the Dukes supercedes his high school. N. Humboldt Giants and college careers). But, you know Carl Del Grande was a power-hitting catcher in the 1940s. He had a nice minor league career with two organizations after he left Eureka...then, he owned and operated "The Shanty" for decades -- and, he knew my dad back when my dad was tearing up 2 Street on a pretty routine basis. Greg Kane remains difficult to overlook...because I saw him hit his home runs. And...didn't Eureka's David Stone do some catching at some point in his career? Maybe in the minor leagues?

SP: I'd start with Eureka legend Billy Olson, the lefty

St. Bernard's Greg Shanahan was the righty contemporary of Olson's. Like Olson, he starred for the Crabs and, it's noteworthy that Shanahan starred at Humboldt State College -- when the baseball field was where the Science building has been for years now. Shanahan's probably the only choice for a No. 2 starter...you go lefty-righty...different styles of pitcher.

There are going to be pitchers on this list who didn't make the Times-Standard list because very little separates guys who excel locally and then go on to bounce around the minors for a few years. Having a brief pro career doesn't mean as much to me as being a stud on the North Coast from start to finish.

I Was Recording That

I dreamed of marrying a beautiful actress or playing centerfield for the New York Yankees.
Most dreams don't come. Well, the A-level dreams rarely come true. Dreams of the kid at Baskin-Robbins tossing an extra scoop of ice cream in the chocolate sundae come true. Getting a job in a profession that interests you is an achievable dream.

The big dreams, though, they usually remain dreams through your entire life.
I've been living an A-level, top-of-the-heap dream for the last 3, 4 weeks. Call me, Mr. Lucky.
I have two Comcast cable digital video recorders connected to two separate televisions. One set is a hi-defintion TV with amazing sound quality. The other is a standard 32-inch color TV.

Watching a hi-def TV is an experience. But, I've positioned the 32-inch set in the living room so that, if I lay on the futon, the afternoon sun hits me just right.

Since I had what I'm starting to feel is the good fortune of losing my job, my Saturdays have changed. I'm not working late 5 nights a week. I'm not spending time dreading going back to the salt mine. No column to write after the game. My Saturdays, with the exception of the hour devoted to my daughter's soccer matches, are my Saturdays. And, control of my Saturdays is connected to the twin DVRs, the two bitchin' TVs and sports on cable.

There was surely a time, although I don't specificially remember it, when I sat home eating a bag of potato chips wishing I could watch more than one college football game on a Saturday. I know that there were many Saturdays in my youth when I dreamed of being able to watch the baseball playoff game without missing the big college football game -- or vice versa.

The twin DVRS, the TVs and my mastery of the menu of Comcast cable sports offerings allows one of my A-level dreams to come true. Remember, I really like sports and I really dig watching games on TV. Oh, wait ... one other magical thing of the DVRs. I've got two and each allows me to record two programs at one time. Got it?

Good.

So, the other day ... like any old Saturday in October ... I recorded Arizona-USC and Oregon State-Cal on the 32-inch TV in the living room. That's two pretty interesting Pac-10 football games I got to see without missing Kentucky-LSU ... which was on CBS directly opposite Arizona-USC on ABC. And, I didn't have to miss the Notre Dame loss to Boston College...which aired on NBC opposite Arizona-USC and Kentucky-LSU.

Wait. It becomes even more like what, I imagine, multiple orgasms one after the other after the other would feel like.

I'm trying not to miss any of the baseball playoffs. So, I recorded the Indians-Red Sox game on the hi-def set. I'm watching it right now -- it's about time for the first pitch. Well, it's 9:07 p.m. PDT and I've cranked up the recording on the hi-def TV. The game's probably over. I'm just now starting to watch, though.

God. It's a dream! Four football ... wait, I'm recording TCU-Stanford on Fox Sports Net channel. So, make it five football games and a big league baseball game. Gawdamit! It doesn't get better. I watched Hawaii rally to beat San Jose State in person, with my sons, on Friday night in San Jose. And, today, I'm catching all this stuff on TV without leaving my house!

Except ... I get to leave the house. I went shopping. I fixed the Super Nintendo game system that was marketed two years before my youngest son was born. The kids and I went to the gym. Short of that attractive blonde on the treadmill offering to follow me home and pleasure me any way I liked, I can't imagine a better Saturday.

There's an art to living a big-time dream. You know how people win the lottery, then squander it? They can't handle the embarrassment of riches. I'm not going to wreck what are becoming magical Saturdays for lack of a plan.

I watched the first half of Notre Dame live. That's hard because I couldn't fast forward through commercials. My youngest son likes Notre Dame, so enjoying it with him offset the bitch that is watching commercials.

After a trip to Circuit City, I watched the first half of the recording of Kentucky-LSU. I fast-forwarded through commercials and, here's the key, through the dead time between plays. You don't need to hear what announcers say when the teams are huddling. You only need to see the action. I will stop and watch key replays.

OK. It took about a half-hour to watch LSU's first half. Then, I watched Notre Dame rally, then let the game get away against B.C. Boom! Boom! If I fall into a blowout or a game I deem over, I'll watch it at the slowest fast-forward speed. You can see a lot.

I got up and made dinner for the boy and myself -- as I was watching Arizona-USC. The game started at 12:30 p.m. I watched the whole thing, sans ads and the halftime show, in the 90 minutes between 5 p.m. and 6:30. USC wins! (They're wildly overrated.)

Boom! I'm back in front of the hi-def TV to watch LSU. It's key to prioritize. I know I made a mistake, but I chose to make Cal my low priority. I didn't think Oregon State could win, but I wanted to see what happened still. I took a break from Kentucky-LSU to hit the health club. As I was on the glyder with my daughter, some bonehead shouted, "Cal lost! Hey, Charlie! Cal just lost!"

Dammit! My elaborate plan and this jackass ruined what would've been my favorite game by telling Charlie that Oregon State upset Cal. That would've been the cherry on top of my football-on-TV sundae. Seeing the upset of the No. 2 that almost nobody else would've watched! And, then you have the accompanying story about how I was up until 2:30 a.m. in front of the TV watching a Pac-10 game and everything. What story's Charlie telling?

"Yeah...I was cleaning the staircase at work and Bruce told me Cal lost! I didn't see it or anything."

Doesn't Bruce know that there are machines that record games and that there are people in the club exercising literally in breathless anticipation of watching a game they've recorded?

I didn't shout, "I was recording that!" I should have. I cursed the dumb shit under my breath and, sadly, my daughter's vocabularly's just a little more blue as a result.

I'll have to watch the Oregon State win, but no rush now.

That pushed the baseball game up on the docket. It's on right now. See, you have to avoid learning the outcome, or even partial scores, from games you're recording. Watch half of one 12:30 p.m. game, then watch half of another ... and you probably won't see a score from either that ruins the experience. I've trained myself not to watch that running line of scores across the bottom of the TV. My family members are trained not to blurt out scores...sort of...my son Trent called with a "Happy birthday" phone message that included, "I just watched LSU-Kentucky and..." I deleted the message. I hope he didn't say, "...and my house burned down can you come and get me in San Jose?"

I like to turn on the TV, turn down the sound so I can turn to whichever game without catching even a hint of what's going on in the game that's actually on TV. God, you just turn the damn TV on with no plan and things are FUBAR in a hurry. It makes sense. Really.

At any rate, I've watched 2 1/2 football games that all started at exactly the same time. I saw two -- start to finish. I still don't know who won the LSU game and won't until I I finish watching. Fox isn't going to give college football scores on the baseball game. They just don't. Honest.

Gosh. I'm in heaven. I remember when it was a treat to see O.J. Simpson's USC football team play UCLA on an old black-and-white TV. Now? Every weekend's a spectatorgasm. The games just come in waves. It's exhausting and exhilarating. (Did I mention you don't have to watch the commericals?) It feels so good...you take a little break, catch your breath and you just want to do it all over again.

Big dreams come true, too, sometimes.
TS

A Hopeful Smile

My daughter and I spent the afternoon at an indoor rock-climbing facility. She's quite the climber and I'm a willing participant in anything she does and I love, in the process, to people-watch.
There was a couple there, college-aged kids...in their 20s. They were climbers. The guy was showing off a little, but the girl was really trying to improve her climbing skills. If I could climb 12 feet up and 25 feet sideways, like a spider, I guess I'd show off, too. I'll credit him for being discrete. Pnly a tested people-watcher would've noticed.
It wasn't what the guy did that struck me, that was telling. It was how the young woman listened so intently. She was, literally, wide-eyed and hanging on every word he said. She took his advice in the most positive possible way and tested it in earnest on the wall.
You can tell a lot about a relationship by how one person reacts to advice, or constructive criticism, from the other. She really likes that guy and he cares for her.
Two really good climbers, in a rocknasium filled with little kids and relative beginners, would tend to try to attract attention. People are going to naturally look around. I was trying to make sure I was doing my part as rope monitor correctly, so I checked out everybody else. My daughter was watching other people climb to see what they did that she could copy. That attention that comes merely with being in public often leads to people wanting to attract attention. Heaven knows the young couple could've attracted attention with just a little loud conversation, maybe some laughter...and their spider-like ability to climb. She is a dancer, I'm almost sure. Just the way she carried herself, you know?
The young guy and woman didn't do anything or make a sound intended to attract attention. They almost whispered, really. Moreover, they didn't look around at anyone else or pay the least attention to anyone looking at them. They were totally into each other and the process of climbing. Don't you hate people who look around to make sure people are paying them attention?
It struck me as really nice to see two quiet, happy young people enjoying each other as well as an interest they share. You don't see that very often. People of that age group tend to walk through life, through relationships, making all sorts of noise. They don't know what to say, so...they make noise. I can spend a few minutes around a couple and tell you their speech habits. ("Yo...dude...and then...this chick says...") If you're talking so loud I can hear you, you really aren't talking to the person you're with.
Cool young couple.
My daughter climbed and climbed and I figured the couple had left. Then, I noticed they were in a "cave" area where, duh, people who climb inside caves can do some climbing. This is the point where I really came to understand the two kids.
The young woman was laying on her back on a mat. The guy was sitting next to her. And, no, it wasn't one of those awkward deals where two people are uncomfortably physically affectionate in public. Not like the other night at an amusement center where some skanky girl was sitting on her boyfriend's back giving him a massage. Nothing like that.
The climber dude was talking, quietly, and the climber girl was listening...literally, wide-eyed with a smile that I struck me in the heart. It was the hopeful smile that comes with new love...love unfettered by problems and compromise...love that comes with hanging on the meaning of every word the other person says because you love how they listen so closely to everything you say.
I don't know that I've ever felt that love and, now, I'm 50 years old and the notion of love uncluttered by the mess that life can bring is long gone. But, for young people starting out...anything remains possible.
I don't think the young couple every even really touched each other in the gym. But, they are clearly very much in love. They didn't talk loudly. They didn't touch and grope. They didn't do any of the things I've seen couples in their 20s do to so they have a relationship of worth. But, I'm sure, they really care about each other.
Her hopeful smile gave it away.
ts