Off-Topic Forum

While working at my last job in the restaurant industry, back home in Arkansas, I was invited to a party by some of my fellow co-workers. I showed up later that night and to my surprise who would be there but A.J. Burnett and his girlfriend at the time. I certainly wasn't expecting that! Found out that he was friends with a few of my colleagues who were wait staff at the location I was working at because he and they all grew up in the same area of my hoimetown. This party took place right after he was traded from the Mets to the Marlins for Al Leiter.

Justin Williams .... NHL Carolina Hurricanes. 

His first stint with the Hurricanes he lived near by and the wife and I struck up a casual friendship with him and his wife. 

Great guy ... I could go into details but it would seem more like boasting than anything else so I won't.

There are so many that I have met across the years, mostly from Baseball and Football.  Recently (February 2020), I got my first hit of this Baseball Season (Space Coast Baseball League) off of Doug Flutie.  It was a weak infield single that made me grateful that I had been doing a whole bunch of running since last August.  Doug and His older Brother are amazing Baseball Players and are enjoyable to play against and watch play Our grand Game.  He was fun to visit with Him after the Game and even got a couple of football cards autographed.  Then He drove off in a vehicle that looked exactly like the batmobile.

Nice to be getting back on the Baseball Field, next Sunday afternoon with my Team (Treasure Coast Conquistadors) and get  back to preparing to resume the Season.  Play was stopped back on or about 12 March.  It is time to resume again and glad to have had a few good baseball workouts already with Our Son, in the past few weeks . . .

Yours in The Greatest Game - Felix

Love these stories, and I have several non-game venue type encounters...

1. Ken Caminiti (Houston Astros) with his family at a Galveston, Texas, aquarium park. He was on the DL for a wrist injury and when I saw him I held the door for them to walk into the buliding which we were exiting. I told him I recognized him and he smiled. We both reached out of hands to shake and did so, but he grimaced as I was a bit more vigorous than I should have been on his injured wrist. He laughed afterwards, though.
2. Craig Reynolds (Houston Astros) at an annual Christian concert at a local church. I ran into him two years in a row. And both times we "met" in the men's room. No hand shaking there.
3. John Lucas (Houston Rockets) at a Christmas party that my wife's hospital where she was the assistant controller gave for employees. Lucas headed a drug and alcohol rehab associated with the hospital. His voice always sounded like an old man's, and it wasn't any different in person.
4. Pat Combs (Phillies) retired from baseball and joined an organization that gave seminars on how to encourage people (and in our case, students) to succeed. He was our trainer for the week, and I really enjoyed talking baseball as much as I could with him. 
5. Lee Roy Jordan (Dallas Cowboys) spoke at an airbase in Abilene, Texas, in the off-season and I was able to ask him a question during the Q/A, but the most memorable aspect of it was when he was signing autographs. I didn't come prepared for that, so my uncle who had taken me to the event gave me a blank check for him to sign the back of. When I gave it to Jordan, he looked at it and asked, "Who gave me a check to sign?" and proceed to give it back and instead took out one of his business cards and signed it and gave it to me. I eventually lost it.
6. I used to work as a newscaster on Houston radio and one Saturday morning after getting off the air and heading home - I worked the graveyard shift - I was on the feeder road and stopped at a light and to my right was Mike Newlin (Rockets) driving his black Porsche 911. I looked at him and he at me; I signaled with my hand as if I was dribbling, and he acknowledged it. I'm sure he remembers that.
7. Larry Dierker (Astros) was the celebrity chair for some local event that I went to cover for another radio station I worked at. When I got there to the Pasadena (Houston suburb) mayor's office, I was the only reporter there. There was a 4-alarm fire that had just been reported and other reporters had gone to cover it. The mayor wanted to call off the meeting since "no one was there to cover it", but Dierker said pointing to me, "He's here. Let's do it." So we did.
8. I used to work at a seafood and steak restaurant while in high school in Abilene, Texas. One of the greeters was dating and eventually married the college star basketball player who ended up in the NBA playing for the Sixers, Harvey Catchings. I attended a Rockets game against Philadelphia to see Catchings - he didn't know me at all - but from the crowd, and there were not many there because of how bad Houston was at the time, I heard someone shout my name. I looked and it was two acquaintances from college there for the same reason. We met afterward and one of those friends played ball in college (Hardin-Simmons University) with Catchings so he had arranged to meet with him  and we spoke for a little while after the game. I introduced myself as having worked with Catchings' wife, and he kindly acknowledged it. (Game venue, I know, but I had to include it.)

If we go with non-sport personalities 2 immediate ones jump into my head. Chuck Norris hung out with one of my platoons (I was a company Operation Chief at the time) for an hour when we were at Al Asad Airbase, Iraq. Our external patrol element (we were the force protection unit for the base during this time) had the callsign "Walker" with his silohouette painted on the vehicles and everything. During my mutiple tours we did plenty of VIP interaction (i.e. protection, Gary Sinise amongst them), but this was the only time when one specifically sat with us, and chilled, schedule be damned.

I met Steven Tyler in a bathroom in Disney World a few years ago. I had to go to the bathroom and when I walked up to one there was a huge crowd outside just sitting there which was weird. I walked in and there he was with his small entourage (i.e. Disney security/guest relations and his handler). Got to say hi, anything else wuold have been awkward.... I'll give the crowd credit, they didn't mob him when they left. And yes, he was on the Rockin' Rollercoaster later that day; it was his birthday.      

While visiting my in-laws in St Louis in 2012, I met Lou Brock after a church service. We had a nice conversation and my wife took a picture of us afterwards. After the picture, he made a wisecrack about my "light complexion"; he said it reminded him of the times when he was photographed with Pewee Reese and his light complexion. I laughed because it was probably what most people were thinking. I will look for that photo and post it later tonight. 

Lou Brock is such a fine gentleman and a great person!  He really helped lighten the mood when Our two-year old Son (July 1999) was getting restless in the MLB Suite at the HR Derby (Fenway Park) and I was getting the "evil eye" from Eddie Murray for having Him there with Us.  Lou totally diffused the situation and allowed the evening to continue well for all of Us.

The ride up to the MLB Suite was pretty special as We rode up with my good Buddy Bernie Carbo, as well as Mr. Henry Aaron and His Wife Billie.  They were wonderful and Mr. Aaron grabbed Jason's foot and gave Him quite the Baseball Blessing, that He would be some kinda fine Baseball Player in the not too distant future.   Good times, good times . . .

Yours in The Journey - Felix

 I guuess I have a few

Before my stroke I worked then Ran the Auto shop at Orangeville Walmart, Dale Hawerchuk would come in the 4th of every month for me to do his Oil change, Edge and Christian would fdrekwent the store as Adams mother worked there , Christian originally lived in Grand Valley and I used to play with him and his 3 brothers and I worked in a Pizza Delight and the owners played hockey with Brett Lindros so they got Brett and Eric to come and do autographs, We hung out all day and closed a few bars that night. 

My favorite one goes waaaaay back - late 60's.  Our family was in downtown St. Louis and stopped to get gas at a place called Mansion House.  At the time it was an apartment building but had a couple gas pumps out front.  Dad told me to get out the car because he wanted me to meet someone; it was Jack Buck.  I couldn't believe I was talking to the person that I had listened to doing Cardinal games on KMOX in St. Louis.  Got a couple of auto's and that was great I thought.

Anoither neat one was meeting bad boy Tony Twist of the Blues. I went to my nephew's pee-wee hockey practice in Chesterfield just out of St. Louis and Twist's son played on the same team.  Quite an interesting guy to say the least.....

And back in the old ABA days when I lived in Louisville, my buddy and myself would go to every Kentucky Colonels home game.  After a game against the Nets, we went to the Executive Inn which was right next to Freedom Hall.  We walked in to the restaurant and there was Julius Erving sitting there eating.  I had to get his autograph.  I walked into the gift shop there and picked up a copy of Sport Magazine that had Erving on the front cover dressed up like a doctor with the caption "The Doctor Is In".  I walked back into the restaurant and asked for his auto.  He said, sit down, have a seat.  He not only signed the cover but also every picture inside with the story about him.

I'll start with the uncool one. There was a local card show with guest signers. I remember getting an auto of Billy Hatcher and walking by Jose Canseco. I got to the end of the line and paused to take a Polaroid of him. I yelled his name, he looked at me as I took his picture. First thing he says is, hey stop that kid and get money for taking my picture without paying! I wasn't a fan before and after that never did. 

In high school my senior year we were told we had a special substitute teacher. In walked Russ Springer, I think he was pitching for the Astros that year. I was beyond excited, I think I got on his nerves asking questions. We for non sports, I had to go to a Wal-Mart training academy a few years ago. I was in line checking out and noticed this tall guy behind me. He nodded his head. He looked familiar and finally I told him he looked familiar. Turned out to be he had been on the tv show Swamp People lol. He was Stringbean, was very polite and one of the nicest people.