Bobby Shantz, 97

On “What’s Your Point” yesterday, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo was called out for not showing up to debate Alex Meaner. That’s fair. Judge Hidalgo should debate Meaner. These same far right winger panelists on the program failed to call out County Commissioner Jack Cagle for not showing up to the Commissioners Court meeting.  You have to be consistent, chickensh_ts.

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We lost actress Louise Fletcher a few days ago. She had one of the most memorable roles in cinematic history as Nurse Ratched in “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” in 1975. I saw this online:

After putting her career on hold for years to raise her children, (Louise) Fletcher was in her early 40s and little known when chosen for the role opposite Jack Nicholson in the 1975 film by director Milos Forman, who had admired her work the year before in director Robert Altman’s “Thieves Like Us.” At the time, she didn’t know that many other prominent stars, including Anne Bancroft, Ellen Burstyn and Angela Lansbury, had turned it down.

“I was the last person cast,” she recalled in a 2004 interview. “It wasn’t until we were halfway through shooting that I realized the part had been offered to other actresses who didn’t want to appear so horrible on the screen.”

“One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” went on to become the first film since 1934s “It Happened One Night” to win best picture, best director, best actor, best actress and best screenplay.

I know. I know. You want to know. It was Mildred Ratched. 

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Albert Pujols now has 700 career regular season dingers. The Astros lead all teams as 62 of Albert Pujols’s regular season dingers have been off Astros pitchers to top all pitching staffs.  33 of the 62 have been hit at The Yard.  That ranks The Yard fifth behind Busch II, Angel Stadium, Busch, and PNC. 380 have been solo dingers, 16 have been grand slams, and 12 walk-offs.  He has had 65 multi-dinger games including 4 3-dinger games. He has 2 dingers off Justin Verlander. Once when Justin was a Tiger and the other when Justin was an Astro. That is all for now.

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The Cleveland Guardians are in the MLB playoffs. That is six teams now in the playoffs. 4 AL teams are vying for the 3 remaining playoff spots and 4 NL teams are vying for 3 playoff spots. Got it?

From Thickie Don @AstrosCounty yesterday:

Today’s win is the Astros’ 101st of the season, tying them for 4th in franchise history with the 2017 Astros. Going 1-7 ties them with the 1998 team, 2-6 with 2018, and 5-3 with 2019. 6-2 sets the franchise record.

Setting the franchise record is going to be difficult.  6 of the 8 remaining games are with contending teams – the Rays and Phillies.

Saturday and yesterday’s games were doozies for sure. We won them both in the last inning. 

101-53.  8 games remain, all at The Yard. We have today off.

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Bobby Shantz is 97 today. Who is Bobby Shantz, you ask? How about he was our starting pitcher on Opening Day in 1962 when the Colt 45s hosted the Cubbies at Colt Stadium in H-Town’s first ever MLB game.  Shantz pitched a complete game and got the win as the Colt 45s won 11-2.  Happy Birthday, Bobby Shantz!

Just so you know, Shantz was also the 1952 AL MVP with the A’s and he also won a World Series ring with the Yankees in 1958.

Just so you also know, the Cubbie line-up that day featured 4 future Hall of Fame greats in Ernie Banks, Lou Brock, Ron Santo, and Billy Williams.