Say It Ain't So Joe

(My father in law, George Hartford, was the most rabid sports fan I have ever known. I have written about him before, but have forgotten what I wrote. You, no doubt, have forgotten too. Old age ain't all bad.  -Ed)


I've often suspected that the little kid who was standing outside the courthouse when Shoeless Joe Jackson (of the Blacksox World Series Fame) emerged from the trial that convicted him (probably wrongly) of being involved in the worst scandal in Baseball history, and confronted him...with the words that would live forever in Baseball

history....was my father in law. 

Those famous words were, "Say it ain't so, Joe."

George Hartford was the most fanatic sports enthusiast I have ever known. His natural charm and salesman's personality brought him from his home town of Chicago to the highest rungs of the TV executive ladder in Washington, DC.  Here, he pursued his first love, sports, in a big way; negotioning TV contracts with the major league Washington Senators, Redskins, and Bullets (now known as the Wizzards).

I first met him during that time in 1961, so wasn't aware of his young years growing up in Chicago,

until a few years later when Linda and I had George and one of his oldest friends over to the house for dinner.

The friend confirmed that George's tenacious personality was evident at a very young age. He mentioned that he still has a mental picture of the 11 year old George hanging around Comisky Park with baseball glove and bat in hand.

Now, about that bat. George said that the reason he carried that bat around, was so he could get autographs.  His goal, for 2 seasons, was to get every one of the Chicago players to autograph it. 

They did.

You may have read about the price that one old picture of Shoeless Joe Jackson recently went for: 
$179,000.

You can guess what George's bat would sell for.

It might even be worth more than George's Honus Wagner card, which last time I checked sold for  2.8 million dollars.

Then, there was the day young George graduated and returned home from college and was greeted warmly by his long widowed Mom and his newly painted and neat old room.

And his massive collection of Baseball memorabilia?

You guessed it, his Mom had thrown it away.

"Say it ain't so, Mom."

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As Dr. King Once Told Me...

Of all the famous people that I met during my long career in broadcasting, I suppose the most famous was Dr. Martin Luther King.

As you've no doubt noticed by now, I like to brag about all the celebrities I've met over the years, even though I'm fully aware that you and I both know that had nothing to do with my importance, but only a perk of the particular business (TV) I was in. Heck, if Lee Harvey Oswald had gotten the job that I had in Washington instead of me, he would be the one bragging.

Nevertheless, that's not going to stop me.


The most famous one was Dr. Martin Luther King.  That was in May of 1964.  I was the announcer
for the CBS program FACE THE NATION with Paul Niven and Dr. King was the guest for that show. As usual, after the broadcast the staff and the guest gathered for a short social, usually coffee or a couple of shooters, and doughnuts.

That's when I had the opportunity to meet the man.

And this is where the story gets real interesting.......

Or should.

However, I just shook his hand, and said, "honored to meet you"....and he kinda mumbled something back....like "you too."

It was a simple gentlemanly reaction.

I wish this story had a more dramatic ending...something I could tell my grandchildren about...or write a story about, like "I remember the time that the great Dr. Martin Luther King told me ".....wear your golosshes if it looks like rain..."  or something like that.

But, "you too" just doesn't cut it.

I did notice one thing though.  He was a lot shorter than his pictures showed.
5'6"......5' 7" at most.

-Ed

Mystery Solved

Thanks to an article in  a magazine I read, strangely enough in a Doctor's waiting room, the age old mystery of "Why are there no good and current magazines in doctor's waiting rooms?"

Of course there are exceptions to every rule, and the magazine that peeled back the covers of this heretofore unknown phenomenon was one.

It was called the Business Insider.

And, according to columnist Kevin Loria,

"If there are current magazines around, people steal them!"

Their research showed that gossipy magazines (those having at least 5 celebrities on the cover) are also stolen as often as current ones.

The National Geographic is stolen most often.

TIME and THE ECONOMIST magazine are almost NEVER stolen.

In the comments section of the article, a reader suggests that the solution is to bring a really  good
book that you can't wait to read, with you.  That, according to the reader, will assure that you will be called by the nurse within seconds of your arrival, even ahead of all the others who have been waiting forever.

-Ed

Hail to the Chief

Last week Mitt Romney announced that he's not going to run for President.

I'm not either.

Many people believe that you have to be a little bit crazy to want to be President of the United States.

However, there are a number of people who have run who were actually insane!

I came upon an article by a writer named Adam Todd Brown who listed some of them:

JOHN HAGELIN,   1992 Natural Law Party nominee


Hagelin was actually a doctor. He claimed to have the problem of terrorism figured out.
He said the solution was... Transcendental meditation.
If elected, he would have a group of people get together in one room and Think real hard....
Voila, problem solved!

Brown's article went on to name JACK SHEPARD, a candidate for the Republican Nomination
in 2008.

Not many people knew he was running, since all of his political activities were conducted from Rome, Italy because he was also running from the law. 25 years ago he was accused of arson for burning down his house.

Brown writes that Shepard hoped to become President so that he could pardon himself.



LEE MERCER JR. was a 2008 Democratic Candidate.

According to  Brown, what surprised him most about Mercer's campaign was that 

 "...someone actually got Lee Mercer Jr. to take a long enough break from being absolutely out-of-his-gourd insane to stop and pose for a picture.   

This is what Mercer's official  biography said:
 

"Since my high school graduation in 1969, I developed myself to my own academic interest to be a Collegiate Professional."

"On August 22, 1992, The State of Texas installed an intelligence hotwire in me at the United States Army Military Intelligence Academy Camp Bullis San Antonio, Texas."

"As a part of my continuing eduaction, I am making my presidential campaign part of my ROTC Intelligence Academics to record the learnings, doings, and examples of the United States Government as a government consultant, community developer, and financial planner appointed by the United States Federal Congress to record my biography in the United States Government Presidential Election for 2008 from Electronic Surveillance to develop records on the United States Government Presidential Campaign because I am on an academic intelligence hotwire that can not be unhooked by anyone."

And, I think we all remember CYNTHIA McKINNEY who was the 2008 Green Party Nominee.

She was  actually a member of Congress until 2006 and is remembered for her efforts to pass a bill to release the government's secret records on Tupac Shakur. And who can forget her physical assaults on the Capitol Police for not recognizing her and making her show a  pass to enter the Capitol.

And then there's  LYNDON LAROUCHE who ran at least 8 times.  It was hard to follow what he believed...whether the The Holocaust didn't happen...or if it did, it wasn't so bad and besides, the Jewish-British cabal is at the heart of the world's problems,etc., etc....
He was Bat Guano crazy, but a surprising number of otherwise sane people fell under his spell.

I'll never forget the story I read about the woman, whose husband was a fanatic as far as "scrimping and saving" was concerned. In spite of having plenty of money, he was obsessed with spending as little as possible, using only enough electricity in the home to keep from freezing in the winter, never going out to eat, insisting on the family buying second hand clothes, etc.

When he finally passed away, she gave all the money he had accumulated..from his lifetime of penury to Lyndon LaRouche!

The fact that these loony tunes received any votes at all, and they all did, plus the realization that our current Congress already contains a number of members just as corrupt and wacko doodle as the wanna be's in this article, confirms my belief that the problem is not those unhinged space cadets, but the people who elected them.

By the way, when was the last time you heard the once common expression, "The Wisdom of the American People?"

-Ed