New Year's Eve, A crazy Inning, The pit

First of all, I want to wish all of my loyal 7 readers a Happy New Year! I last posted in October...and I love that term...to post...a term that harkens back to the mail system established by the Egyptians in 2400 B,C,  Anyway we still use the term today in our digital world. I just retired from my day job. I am excited about the future. I am not going to sit at home and watch TV all day. I have plans, one being a return to teaching violin. Cheryl and I are setting up a studio here at our house. I will also be teaching guitar and bass as well. I will continue to run, ride my bike, lift weights and be active. And, I promise to write more consistently.

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Another interest of mine is baseball. While I do love many sports, baseball is my favorite. I was born in Kansas City and started following the Royals in the early 1970's. Before the Royals were born, the Kansas City Athletics were here and they sucked. They were here from 1955-1967 and never had a winning season. Charlie Finley was a maverick owner...he didn't fit in...and he took promotions and marketing to new heights. In 1964, the A's gave a pony away to a lucky fan. As it turns out, that fan was my mom's brother Woody:

The journalist in me has to say that I have not verified this beyond family lore. I will work on that. But what a great story none-the-less.

In 1959, the A's gave up 11 runs to the White Sox in one inning...on only one hit. It seems impossible, but here is the story. The inning went; E6, E5, single, walk, walk, walk, walk, ground out, walk, walk, walk, hit-by-pitch, walk, strike out, walk, walk, ground out. Yes, this was professional baseball.

https://sabr.org/gamesproj/game/miracle-on-brooklyn-avenue-white-sox-score-11-runs-in-seventh-inning-on-one-hit-april-22-1959-white-sox-20-athletics-6-at-kansas-city-municipal-stadium/

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I spent a lot of time in the pit... pit orchestras. From junior high to today, I have played in many pit orchestras. Oklahoma, Annie Get Your Gun, A Chorus Line, Cats... to name a but a few productions. The grind of a pit orchestra sharpens you. You are never seen. You work hard night after night. It is not glamorous by any means. But it makes you a better musician and yields tremendous benefits. I have fond memories of my time in the pits,