I-70 Series II?

If it happens, there will be instant replay, and there won't be D.D.! Here is my Game 6 memory from 1985: It was October 26, 1985, and for a belated birthday present, my friend Robbie got me into Royals Stadium for Game 6 of the World Series … and I do mean IN the stadium. He had a part-time assignment to develop film for the Associated Press, and he got me a job getting the film rolls from the photographers in the extended dugout and taking them to him at the elevator in between innings. During play, I stood in a tunnel with two of Governor John Ashcroft’s bodyguards and watched the game while they watched the Gov. We got there early, and with working press passes, we pretty much had the run of the place. I got to go down to a celebrity room where there were snacks. I remember recognizing McLean Stevenson of M*A*S*H and Sparky Anderson, manager of the Detroit Tigers. We were even on the field for awhile! With the game about to start, we were ushered off the field and down through the dugout tunnel to our jobs. It was there we passed Glen Campbell, who was going to sing the national anthem. He smiled and said, “Hi,” and I distinctly remember replying, “Have a good game!” He gave me a puzzled look. I don’t know why I said that.  The rest of the night is, of course, history. The Cardinals led the Series three games to two and were leading 1-0 going into the bottom of the ninth inning. The first batter, Jorge Orta, hit a slow roller to Jack Clark at first, who tossed it to pitcher Todd Worrell for the easy out. But umpire Don Denkinger called him safe. Here was the call by Jack Buck: “Orta, leading off, swings and hits it to the right side, and the pitcher has to cover he is...SAFE! SAFE! SAFE! And we'll have an argument! Sparky, I think he was out!” A few moments later, Buck added in surprise, “He had the base and he had the ball, man, what else is there? That's the rule isn't it?” Despite the protest, the call stood, and the Royals rallied for a 2-1 victory to tie the seven-game series at three games apiece. Game 7 was a disaster. With the surprise loss fresh in their minds, the man who made the bad call, Denkinger, was behind the plate. The Birds had a meltdown and lost, 11-0. Let's do it again. This time will be different. GO CARDS!

Junk in the Trunk

Grandparents arrested for putting child in trunk JEFFERSON CITY, MO (5/7/2013) — A Fulton couple was arrested this weekend in Jefferson City for putting their grandchild in the trunk of their car. Police reports show at about 12:15 p.m. Saturday, officers were dispatched to Menards, 805 Stone Creek Drive, for a child endangerment call. According to the caller, she heard a voice from within the trunk of a car that had pulled into the lot and what sounded like a child's voice frantically yelling, “Let me out!” The caller observed a couple exit the vehicle then open the trunk, at which point a 5-year-old girl climbed out. Officers responded and made contact with the suspects, Marc and Mary Vaucher of Fulton who admitted purchasing two tables at another location and not having enough room to place the tables in the trunk so they opted to place their granddaughter in the trunk to allow for transport. The Vauchers were arrested for endangering the welfare of a child and the child, who was unharmed, was released to another family member's custody. As of Monday afternoon, formal charges against the Vauchers had not been filed. I feel for that girl, but at least it wasn’t AUGUST! Back in my younger days, as the “one with the car,” I would transport other guys into the drive-in movie in the trunk of my car. If you didn’t have the cash, you rode in the trunk to get in. But my favorite trunk story came at an auto body shop. I was rear-ended, so I took my car out to Eddie Gray’s, a respected Jefferson City shop. I was an all too frequent customer of Eddie, who always did an acceptable job — except once. After a rain, I noticed my trunk was wet, so I took the car back to Eddie’s. “Jimmy, come here,” shouted a man who had just grabbed a water hose from the wall of the garage. A small man approached, saw the hose and the open trunk lid, and began to scowl. He looked right at the man with the hose and said, “This better not be like last time. Or I’ll kick out the taillights and it will come out of your pay!” Apparently being the smallest guy in the body shop automatically makes you the trunk-leak-checker. Jimmy got in my trunk, the lid was closed, water applied, he knocked, the lid was open and he said, “New seal.” All in about five seconds. A very fast diagnosis!

MY Missouri State Fair 2013

Back in August, the Missouri State Fair made national news — for probably the first time in a long time — when Tuffy the rodeo clown put on a mask of the President during his entertainment. As folk who have gone to rodeos know, the clowns are there to entertain. And, more importantly, they are on-dirt guards for the safety of the riders of bulls, horses, etc. And from what I know of them, they’d even help you find the keys you lost in the field/parking lot afterwards if they were lucky enough not to have been carted off in an ambulance that night. Well, in poor Tuffy’s case, somebody put his performance on You Tube and it got blown way out of proportion. Go figure. I’m pro-Tuffy. Dick Dorkey of Florissant is not. He wrote the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, after not being at the rodeo, and after not being at the state fair at all, with these words of wisdom: “The rodeo clown incident simply points out that the time for having a state fair has come to an end. “Annually, the state of Missouri spends millions producing this event, that while pleasant, is an anachronism whose time has come and gone. The state also spends millions in upkeep for a fairgrounds used for a few weeks in the summer.” Wrong, Dorkey. The State of Missouri officially paid $400,000 to support the 2013 state fair. That’s about one dollar for everybody who attended, and that’s less than HALF of ONE million. As far as the “millions” for upkeep, you’ll have to prove it. And the fairgrounds is used year round; I know, because I’ve been there. Dorkey also stated: “Historically, the state fair was a place where farmers could enter their crops and livestock in a competition and be entertained with carnival acts, races and musical performers that they otherwise wouldn’t be able to see. “These days, no farm family is more than a couple of hours away from the entertainment in St. Louis, Kansas City or Branson.” Well, that’s just big-city bias, Mr. Florissant. This state is built on agriculture. And the farmers, young and old, who enter their crops and livestock in competition, are not going to find such opportunities in Mr. Dorkey’s entertainment capitals. The state fair gives some of these folk a chance to show off what they’ve dedicated their lives to, to learn how others do it, to maybe learn some tips and make some business contacts. And even us city folk can learn while being entertained. Unlike Dorkey, I go to the rodeo every year. I’ve even volunteered there. I enjoy the fact that Missourians from across the state can come to Sedalia, see a free show or a paid concert, enjoy carnival food, maybe shake hands with a politician or a fair queen, learn how a pig becomes bacon or where ice cream comes from … and if they are offended by a rodeo clown in a mask, they do what regular folk do: don’t clap, maybe boo, and maybe Pop will yell something while Mama covers Junior’s ears. They don’t You Tube it, and they for sure don’t claim to know all about it when they’ve never even been. I read “Tuffy” was “banned for life” from the Missouri State Fair. That sounds like a Dorkey-like decision. Good, honest fair folk know better. He’ll be back, maybe as “Scruffy” the clown, or he might be the barker for the pig races, or he might be helping to show off the outstanding Charolais his kids raised. That’s the way we do things in Missouri, Dorkey.