Hubbard's Favorite Pastime

Hubbard has an ongoing love affair with the game of baseball. It all started with a centerfielder known as the Grey Eagle. Tris Speaker started his professional baseball career at the age of 18 fresh off the dusty diamond in Hubbard as he signed with Cleburne in he Texas League. In 1920 he took the Boston Red Sox (Correction from Tris's nephew: the Cleveland Indians) to the World Championship as a player and manager at the young age of 32.

Tris, playing with Boston and Cleveland, had a lifetime batting average of .345 over a 22 year career and is generally recognized as the best fielding centerfielder of all time. Many of his playing years resulted in his batting average finishing second only to Ty Cobb. Tris beat Cobb one year. He was the first person elected to the Texas Sports Hall of Fame and was the seventh person voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

After baseball, Tris was one of the few friends of a very difficult Ty Cobb. They thoroughly enjoyed suckering oil men in Dallas and Ft. Worth into big money golf games. Tris also served in retirement as a part owner and executive of the Cleveland Indians baseball team and lived on his ranch in Hubbard until his death.

When Hubbard folks talk baseball they generally argue about their favorites. One of those frequently mentioned is a pitcher who played many years in the Black Leagues before going to the Majors. His name was Satchel Paige, and he was known as much for his wisdom as for his phenomenal record and longevity. His famous quotes included the following:

Work like you don't need the money. Love like you've never been hurt. Dance like nobody's watching.

Pick a spot and throw it there because the home plate don't move.

Don't look back. Something might be gaining on you.

Don't pray when it rains if you don't pray when the sun shines.

Nothin helps the body like a few no hitters.

Win some,
Lose some,
Some get rained out,
But you got to dress for all of em.

Age is a question of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it don't matter.

Sound advice even if you don't play baseball,

Jim

P. S. As this blog went to press we received the tragic news of the Great University of Texas baseball team losing the final game of the College World Series in Omaha, Neb.

The University of Texas was plagued by injuries, poor health care, global warming, illegal immigration across the Louisana border, high winds, umpires with cajun accents, bad hops as wild as a drunken coonass in the French Quarter on a Saturday night, and a rawdy pack of fans expelling CO2 after serious episodes of really bad cajun cooking.

Final score: THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS 4, lsu 11.

The Cafe Reacts to A Fraternity Brothers Trip to Costco

One of my college fraternity brothers sent me this letter which I shared with my Hubbard City Cafe coffee team:

A TRIP TO Costco

Yesterday I was at my local COSTCO buying a large bag of Purina dog chow for my loyal pet, Biscuit, the Wonder Dog and was in the checkout line when a woman behind me asked if I had a dog.

What did she think - I had an elephant? So since I'm retired and have
little to do, on impulse I told her that no, I didn't have a dog, I was
starting the Purina Diet again. I added that I probably shouldn't,
because I ended up in the hospital last time, but that I'd lost 50
pounds before I awakened in an intensive care ward with tubes coming out
of most of my orifices and IVs in both arms.

I told her that it was essentially a perfect diet and that the way that
it works is to load your pants pockets with Purina nuggets and simply
eat one or two every time you feel hungry. The food is nutritionally
complete so it works well and I was going to try it again.. (I have to
mention here that practically everyone in line was now enthralled with
my story.) Horrified, she asked if I ended up in intensive care because
the dog food poisoned me. I told her no, I stepped off a curb to sniff
an Irish Setter's ass and a car hit us both.

Costco won't let me shop there anymore.

Sincerely Yours,

RRR

The folks at the cafe had the following questions and comments:

1. Just what do people do in one of those fraternities?
2. Were you in the same one as George Bush?
3. Which do you think is the best: Costco or Wall Mart?
4. The way these young people drive today with those cell phones in their ears, you got to be real careful stepping off curbs.
5. Boy, that Purina company has done really well, haven't they.

Think about eating healthy,

Jim

I'm OK, You're OK, America Sucks

Sound familiar? This appears to be our new leader's battle cry around the world. And then he votes PRESENT and moves to the next TV screen. That is what came out of the Hubbard City Cafe talks this past week. It is reported to have gone something like this.

There appears to be a pattern when trouble breaks out anyplace in the world between bad guys and good guys. The pattern is that we can not get involved, nor even criticize the bad guys, because we are so flawed ourselves. And secondly, if we take sides, we will only help the bad guys. Now isn't that convenient for the leader of a party that never saw a world conflict where they would not run and hide (Iraq, Viet Nam, South America, Cuba, North Korea, and watch out Afghanistan, Iran, Mexico, and Israel).

Maybe Obama is one of these new "I've got your back guys". Butch Jackson, local fact finder and philosopher, was holding court from table 3 at the Cafe about this back stuff. He said that he thought folks said that because you couldn't see back there on whether they were helping or not. He also sorta wants his real friends to help "up front" as well. He says he has more things exposed up there than in the back anyway.

They got me thinking about it,

Jim