A word from "The Rocket" commentary by Rick Rodriguez

The Autobiography of Bob Gibson with Lonnie Wheeler commentary by Rick Rodriguez

 

Commentary By Rick Rodriguez

 

The Autobiography of Bob Gibson with Lonnie Wheeler "Stranger to the Game" is a great piece of work and for those interested in the intricacies of the era of the 1960's and baseball will find it well worth reading .I actually read the book twice! And, when I purchased the book, I was at a book signing in Berkeley, California with Bob Gibson. There, Mr. Gibson discussed many of the more poignant aspects of the book.  He described baseball, at one point, as smaller part of the trials and tribulations of a controversial time--the 1960's! 

 

Racism and the civil rights movement play a big role in the story, and Mr. Gibson, as a ballplayer was not immune to it. He details many incidents in the book that he as well as other players faced at the time, but also covers the unifying aspect of his team--the St. Louis Cardinals--that made it such a special team throughout that turbulent time!

 

I recently played golf with Les Cain, former hurler for the Detroit Tigers and a major-leaguer of the same era of Bob Gibson!  Mr. Cain, corroborated many of the stories of the players of the 1960's that I shared with him from my own knowledge of the era and he shared stories of teammates of his on the Detroit Tigers. Learn more on on Les Cain here.

I also told Mr. Cain that I was reading The Autobiography of Bob Gibson with Lonnie Wheeler and a smile came over his face. Yes, he was quite familiar with the legend of Bob Gibson and while I reeled off names of other players of the era it was obvious he had great respect for Bob Gibson.

 

Kevin Brotzman provided these  statistics on:  "Bob Gibson was an eight-time All-Star, and struck out 200 batters nine times. His win totals increased each year from 1960 to 1966, topping out at 21 (he missed significant time in 1967 with a broken leg). In 13 straight seasons, he completed 10 or more games. Bob dominated in every facet of the game, even winning nine straight Gold Gloves between 1965 and 1973. He was even used as a pinch hitter on occasion; his career average was .206 with 24 home runs and 144 RBI.

  

Any conversation about Bob Gibson's skills begins and ends with his ridiculous 1968 season. 22 wins, 9 losses. 28 complete games, 13 shutouts. 47 consecutive scoreless innings, and two runs allowed in a span of 92 innings. 198 hits and 62 walks in 304 2/3 innings for an absurd 0.85 WHIP. His 1.12 ERA is a live-ball era record. Toss in 268 strikeouts for good measure, and you have the National League Cy Young Award winner AND Most Valuable Player. 1968 is widely known as the Year of the Pitcher, but you could cut to the chase and call it the Year of Gibson. Major League Baseball lowered the height of the pitching mound the following year to increase offense, and #45 of the Cardinals was a big reason for that.

As fantastic as Gibson was in the regular season, he was on another plane in the World Series with the St. Louis Cardinals.  His first post season exposure came in 1964, and he was immediately up to the task. After faltering in the ninth inning of an 8-3 Game Two loss, he roared back to pick up complete-game wins in Games Five and Seven. For the Series he struck out 31 in 27 innings and took home MVP honors. But Bob's work in 1967 dwarfed the 1964 Fall Classic. Having just returned in early September from a broken leg, he allowed three total Red Sox runs in three complete game victories. 14 hits allowed vs. 26 strikeouts. Two-for-two, MVP-wise. Back for a third World Series in 1968, Gibson put an eye-popping capper on his monster season. In Game One, he struck out 17 Tigers to set a Series record. Game Four was a five-hit, ten-strikeout, 10-1 complete game victory. In Game Seven, Mickey Lolich out-dueled him in a 4-1 Tigers win. But Bob added eight more K's to set a World Series record of 35. For his post season career: 7-2, 8 CG, 1.89 ERA, 92 K/81 IP. Wow!"

 

 

I knew who Les Cain was the day I met him.  He is the ballplayer in this baseball card.  And, like many of my friends at the time, I enjoyed the treasures of the era--baseball cards! These cards gave me the knowledge that allowed me to regurgitate countless names of the 1960's that amazingly impressed Les Cain.   Yes, I grew up in the era of the Bob Gibson's, Hank Aaron's, and Willie Mays'. And even though the name of Les Cain, will be recollected by few outside of the Motor City (Detroit) it is by me and those that appreciate the era that produced him and the great Bob Gibson! 

 

The Autobiography of Bob Gibson with Lonnie Wheeler is 286 pages. It is a joy to read!   The authors entwine the larger issues of the era into the basic fabric of Bob Gibson's life as well as tell a story about a time when teams were more like families; players made sacrifices for each other while others held onto the ways of the past but they played with common goals.  The book is detailed, relevant, pertinent, and an excellent investment of your reading time.  Read more about the Author Lonnie Wheeler here. I read this book in1994 and again in 2010!

 

 

Rick Rodriguez is a Real Estate Broker & Property Manager with 27+ years of experience in the real estate business. Rick, a Bay Area native and graduate of Saint Mary's College  Saint Mary's College, services the San Francisco Bay Area including the communities in the 680/580 freeway corridors, and Southern Alameda & Southern Contra Costa County. Contact Rick at rrodriguez@pacunion.com or (510) 326-4795.

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I had a Hammer by Hank Aaron with Lonnie Wheeler commentary by Rick Rodriguez

Commentary by Rick Rodriguez

It was with great pleasure that I read this story "I had a Hammer by Hank Aaron with Lonnie Wheeler, about Hank Aaron's life and upbringing in Mobile, Alabama! It is the familiar story about a typical upbringing of a kid, any kid, that someday would become a star in a sport. First, the kid comes to the game, learns it from others, or perhaps an older sibling or a parent, and then the game becomes part of life. It's played daily! Usually, the future star exhibits uncommon extraordinary skill or talent and this creates a name for the player. Like many others, this story is about a kid, Henry Louis Aaron!

The story plays out in the south (Mobile), and in the north (Milwaukee)and finally back in the south (Atlanta); in a segregated discriminatory era, and Aaron, like so many others, suffered the indignities, vile, and harsh treatment of the ubiquitous racism prevalent at the time (fifties and throughout most of the sixties). His story is a civil rights story. A story about the atrocities of racism. It's also a story of amazing success, by Hank Aaron, not only for his success on the baseball diamond but also for the remarkable human accomplishment of fighting disrimination throughout his baseball career!

At times, the writing is severely abrasive, but seems appropriately told by Aaron. Hank Aaron, admired Jackie Robinson, the man at the vanguard of desegregating baseball. Here, Aaron discusses what his hero, Jackie Robinson, faced playing baseball. I had a Hammer P. 116 Aaron & Wheeler "His enemies were cruel and ubiquitous. There was all but mutiny on the Dodgers before the 1947 season, a band of Southern players preparing to sign a petition declaring that they would never appear on the same field as a black man. The Cardinals threatened to strike if the Dodgers brought Robinson to St. Louis. Whenever Robinson ran onto the diamond in a Brooklyn uniform, he became the target of bean balls, spikes, tobacco juice and unconscionable verbal abuse" The abuse is so vividly described that I cringe at even paraphrasing it! But, Aaron and Wheeler, do not hold back and reading it today (2011), it almost seems like a horrible nightmare!

Moreover, it is a story about a man that was a driven baseball superstar that neither his critics nor Aaron ever really believed would achieve iconic status; however, as the story plays out the possibility becomes evident and then a reality.

The reader comes to know the pursuit of breaking Babe Ruth's all-time home run record. How assiduously Aaron pursued it and the obstacles he contended with just to do what his god given talent allowed him to do!

The story gave me a broader perspective of what many of the superstars in baseball and all black and minorities endured playing baseball in the south and in the major leagues in this era. It was a disturbing time in American and Baseball history!

So, where did the pleasure come from in reading this book?

The pleasure won't be found in the book, it will be found in perspective and in contemplation. It will
come in appreciation of the human will and might of a man and men that integrated baseball and sport and our society. It will come from reading about the growth of a kid into a man that seemed to play the game with a chip on his shoulder but perhaps was always battling a cause that an entire generation of players, and a race(s) were fighting at the time in this country, and perhaps still fight today!

Hank Aaron is to be admired for his accomplishments on the diamond. On a grander scale, Aaron, and others of his generation were much more than Superstar Baseball players; they were humanitarian heroes! Hank Aaron, baseball's home run king hammered 3,771 hits including 755 home runs.

Pictured here is Hank Aaron's 1971Topps Baseball card. It is my favorite Hank Aaron baseball card!

I had a Hammer by Hank Aaron & Lonnie Wheeler is 457 pages. I read it in April/May 2011.

Rick Rodriguez is a Real Estate Broker & Property Manager with 27+ years of experience in the real estate business. Rick, a Bay Area native and graduate of Saint Mary's College, services the San Francisco East Bay Area including the communities in the 680/580 freeway corridors, and Southern Alameda & Southern Contra Costa County. Contact Rick at rrodriguez@pacunion.com or (510) 326-4795.

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A Well-Paid Slave "Curt Flood's Fight for Free Agency in Professional Sports" by Brad Synder commentary by Rick Rodriguez

Commentary By Rick RODRIGUEZ

A Well-Paid Slave "Curt Flood's Fight for Free Agency in Professional Sports" by Brad Snyder is the story of Curt Flood, a baseball player, who in the 1969 forfeited a $90,000 salary when he refused to be traded to the Philadelphia Phillies. Flood, subsequently sued Major League Baseball and contrary to what I believed lost that lawsuit. Flood, however, is widely recognized as the player at the vanguard of the fight for free agency, and as a result of Flood's efforts, others prevailed in the abolishment of the reserve clause. The end result is that players were able to negotiate for better contracts and make a ton of money!

Having read excellent biographies of baseball stars Bob Gibson, Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Sandy Koufax and Roberto Clemente. We can now add Curt Flood's name to that list with author Brad Snyder's effort entitled A Well-Paid Slave. As Flood stated, "A well-paid slave is nonetheless a slave."

Flood's contention was that he was not property nor was he owned and therefore could not be traded without his consent! Thus, he challenged the anti-trust exemption; inter/intra state commerce; and what was widely recognized as the baseball's reserve clause.

The book is very detailed and the reader comes to know the man Curt Flood; the history of baseball's reserve clause; idiosyncrasies of baseball in the 1960's, and many more tidbits of baseball history. Some of that history is not a feel good story and undoubtedly Flood played a big part in changing the game forever.

The question is did Flood et al change Baseball for the better? Certainly, from the player's viewpoint and from a societal vantage point an employee should have the right to control whether he/she works here or there. Imagining life any other way is not practical, fair, and the system works best this way. At the time, Bowie Kuhn, the commissioner of baseball said (Synder P. 179) "Without the reserve clause, Kuhn predicted, the rich teams would sign all the star players, the poor teams would go out of business, and the operation of a league would be impossible. Major League Baseball would devolve into an "exhibition business."

Was Kuhn right? While I sure enjoyed baseball of the 1960's and 1970's where you knew the players of your local team would be there year in and year out! Eventually, sky-rocketing salaries were inevitable and have come to fruition in all sport. Has this been for the better? And, how has this impacted society and aspects of it including youth, affordability of games, cheating, gambling, and all other sectors that are influenced by our national pastime?

I took this photo at Curt Flood Field on Outlook Avenue near Freeway 580 in Oakland, California. Somewhat strangely the field sign is so close to the chain link fence that this is the best photo I could take; a strange anomaly in the life of Curt Flood.

A Well-Paid Slave "Curt Flood's Fight for Free Agency in Professional Sports" by Brad Synder is 352 pages. It is very detailed and describes among other things the process of taking a case as far as the Supreme Court; landmark decisions (Baseball vs. Toolson), and concepts such as Stare Decisis. I read it December 2010.

Rick Rodriguez is a Real Estate Broker & Property Manager with 27+ years of experience in the real estate business. Rick, a Bay Area native and graduate of Saint Mary's College, services the San Francisco East Bay Area including the communities in the 680/580 freeway corridors, and Southern Alameda & Southern Contra Costa County. Contact Rick at rrodriguez@pacunion.com or (510) 326-4795.

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Hiking Mexico's Highest Peaks commentary by Rick Rodriguez

Commentary by Rick Rodriguez

My granderfather, Manuel Prado Rodriguez, routinely led expeditions hiking Mexico's highest peaks: Pico de Orizaba, Mt. Iztaccihuatl and Mt. Popocatepetl!   All these peaks are in excess of 17,000 feet with Orizaba the tallest at 18,490 feet.  He climbed Pico de Orizaba near Vera Cruz, Mexico three times; and Mt. Iztaccihuatl and Mt. Popocatepetl, 65 and 85 times, respectively.  He once slept inside the Volcanic Mount Popocatepetl in sub-zero temperatures!   

Pico de Orizaba: "A regionally dominant peak, and in fact the highest peak between Columbia and the Yukon, the Pico de Orizaba is ranked 7th in the world in topographic prominence. It is the second most prominent volcanic peak in the world after Africa's Mount Kilimanjaro. Although it is about 110 km (75 miles) inland, to the west of the port of Veracruz, its peak is visible to ships approaching the port in the Gulf of Mexico, and at dawn rays of sunlight strike the Pico while Veracruz still lies in shadow. The Pico is ranked 16th in the world for topographic isolation.  The peak is one of three volcanoes that contain permanent snow and glaciers in Mexico. The others are Popocatepetl and Iztaccihuatl."  Learn more about mountaineering in Mexico.

So, to me, it's was fascinating to learn of my Grandfather's alpinist adventures through the memorabilia he saved over the years.  Unfortunately, I was never able to ask him personally about his exploits (he is deceased) so I often wonder about his motivation and his physical attributes. How could he pull off that many climbs unless it was over a twenty year period or longer and extremely consistent?

I can only imagine what it would be like to strike the same footsteps as my Grandfather.  Gazing before me the prodigious Pico de Orizaba, imagining for a moment what route and how he climbed and with whom and why he did it?  Or even the chance to observe "La Mujer Dormida," the sleeping lady (Mt. Iztaccihuatl) so named for it's likeness to a sleeping woman. Trekking through the unknown, and the challenge of finding myself on a trail somewhere on that peak knowing my predecessor had been here before.  Wondering where he might have set camp; his conversations, and his trail companions.  

And finally arriving at Mt. Popocatepetl (Mt. Popo), perhaps his most familiar trek and the one nearest his home in Mexico City. And, the one I would most likely visit first. 'Popocatepetl also known as "Popochowa" by the local population is an active volcano and, at 5,426 m (17,802 ft), the second highest peak in Mexico.  Popocatepetl is linked to the Iztaccihatl volcano to the north by the high saddle known as the Paso de Cortes, and lies in the eastern half of the Trans-Mexican volcanic belt.

Popocatepetl is 70 km (43 mi) southeast of Mexico City from where it can be seen regularly, depending on atmospheric conditions. The residents of Puebla, a mere 40 km (25 mi) east of the volcano, enjoy the views of the snowy and glacier-clad mountain almost all year long."

Perhaps, someday I will have the opportunity to gaze the same sight of these peaks that my grandfather once did.  It's another one for the bucket list!

Rick Rodriguez is a Real Estate Broker & Property Manager with 27+ years of experience in the real estate business. Rick, a Bay Area native and graduate of Saint Mary's College, services the San Francisco East Bay Area including the communities in the 680/580 freeway corridors, and Southern Alameda & Southern Contra Costa County. Contact Rick at rrodriguez@pacunion.com or (510) 326-4795.

Follow Rick at:

http://www.rickrodriguez.net/

www.RickRodriguez.typepad.com/The_Rocket

www.RickRodriguez.typepad.com/The_Rodriguez_Report