RMJ 119 June 14

SATURDAY, JUNE 14 ● Houston, vs Twins

Judy stayed up to commiserate with me last night, so I was a little bleary-eyed when I arose at 9 a.m. I had to be at Norton Ditto at 10 to pick up some clothing and to be fitted for another sports coat. There were quite a few customers, and I spent a lot of time talking baseball, though that was not my predilection.

Owner Dick Hite kidded me about the billboard of me and Rudy Tomjanovich that he put up along the Loop near the Galleria. In the photo, Rudy has his elbow resting on my shoulder. He makes me look like a pipsqueak. I know he is only a few inches taller than me, but I don’t mind.

Through some miracle of trick photography, I was made to look thin. I would much rather look short-and-thin than tall-and-fat. In the juxtaposition of photographs, Rudy came out looking like a giant, and I looked like the beanstalk.

“We had them do the proportions so it would look right,” Dick said with a smile.

“You got it just right,” I said.

Next Thursday, we are going to play golf and have dinner. Rudy and his wife Sophie might join us. It will be interesting to see what Dick thinks of the proportions when he sees them in living color.

 

I got back in time to pick up Ryan and head for the Dome with Cubby. Ryan’s team, the Stars, is going to a clinic that takes place before batting practice. We arrived half an hour before the clinic, so I could catch Ryan in the bullpen. His arm is finally feeling better; I guess his growth-plate problem is subsiding.

I thought he threw the ball pretty well, and he seemed to enjoy it. Probably felt like a big shot, as a lot of the kids who were there for the clinic saw him getting the special attention. Vern came out and checked his mechanics. Then we played some long-toss.

Ryan spotted his team as they came out into the outfield, and he ran to join them. “He’s blessed with a good arm,” Vern told me. I was proud to hear it, but I don’t think he has an arm like I had at that stage.

I could always throw harder than any other kid in my neighborhood – or, later, in high school. Ryan is definitely above-average, but there are several other kids around who throw harder. That’s all right, though. Darryl Kile didn’t even make his high-school team, and now he is our best pitcher. Each kid develops at his own pace.

The important thing for Ryan, or any other kid who wants to be a ballplayer, is perseverance. There is so much failure in baseball that a lot of good athletes quit in favor of another sport. I think he has a chance to be pretty good. I hope he stays with it, but I will not pressure him.

           

D.K. was our pitcher tonight. That made me feel pretty good about our chances.

The feeling didn’t last long.

Knoblauch singled for openers, then Matt Lawton followed with a homer. In effect, we were beaten after the second hitter of the game, but it didn’t seem that way.

Biggio hit a solo homer leading off the first. We had several chances to break through against four Twins pitchers, but we never got another run.

In the meantime, Kile settled down and pitched a fine ballgame. I took him out for a pinch-hitter, down 2-1 with one out in the bottom of the seventh. Bill Spiers delivered a pinch hit and raced to third on Biggio’s single. Thomas Howard ripped one up the middle, slightly on the third-base side. Pat Mears was playing up the middle, and he turned it into an easy 6-3 double play.

Twice earlier we had first-and-third with one out. Sean Berry ripped one off the pitcher’s glove, and it deflected to Knoblauch for a double play. The other time, James Mouton hit a line drive up the middle, and the pitcher stabbed it and then got Bagwell to end the inning.

We weren’t playing our best, but we were a lot better than last night. Unfortunately, Russ Springer and José Lima failed to hold the line. We lost 6-1. It was our third loss in a row, but it felt like ten.