Dear DPC2;

As you well know your Grandfather is a Chicago Cubs fan but ultimately he is a baseball fan. As such there are non-Cubs that he reveres. Mickey Mantle is one that we covered. But the greatest pitcher in his mind played for the Brooklyn/LA Dodgers. Sandy Koufax had a short career, like Gale Sayers and Bo Jackson, but his greatness in that short time span was timeless. He dominated the National League in such a manner that he made it to Cooperstown even though he only had four great seasons.

• 1963: 25-5, 1.88 ERA, SHO: 11 K’s: 306
• 1964: 19-5, 1.74 ERA, SHO: 7 K’s: 223
• 1965: 26-8, 2.04 ERA, SHO: 8 K’s: 382
• 1966: 27-9, 1.73 ERA, SHO: 5 K’S: 317 ”

Trying to hit him was like trying to drink coffee with a fork.” – Willie Stargell

 Arthritis in his throwing arm shut down his career but in those final four seasons he was the most dominate pitcher in the last half of the 20th Century. He also lead the Dodgers to a pair of world championships, 1963 & 1965.

What Koufax lacked in longevity he made up for in having four-seasons that will never be replicated. All the greater feat when one considers the amount of arm trouble that he was having at towards the end of his career.

Your Grandfather disagrees with my assertion that former Houston Astros pitcher J.R. Richard had a career similar to Koufax. Both pictures found glory in the later chapters of their respective careers and for four-seasons they were both unhittable. Richard’s career is starting to become obscure.

He pitched for the Astros from 1971 to 1980 and had a somewhat pedestrian career mark of 107-71 but from 1976 – 1980 he dominated the National League. Unfortunately he suffered a debilitating stroke in 1980 and his career was over. But four and half seasons he was dominate in a manner rarely seen in MLB.
• 1976: 20-15, 2.75 ERA, SHO: 3, K’s: 214
• 1977: 18-12, 2.97 ERA, SHO: 3, K’s: 214
• 1978: 18-11, 3.11 ERA, SHO: 3, K’s: 303
• 1979: 18-13, 2.71 ERA, SHO: 4, K’s: 313
• 1980: 10-4, 1.90 ERA, SHO:4, K’s 119

At 6’8” he was an imposing pitcher and in the last part of his career he teamed up with Nolan Ryan to form a formidable 1-2 punch. Richard was still developing as a pitcher when his career ended as his walks total were still dropping. From a 151 in 1976, to 98 in 1979. He had just turned 30-years old when he retired and was beginning to mature as a picture.

Like Koufax, it’s difficult to develop conjecture on where Richard’s career would have ended up without the stroke that derailed his promising career. But I can say that he would have been a dominate pitcher and his story would be better known. As opposed to now. Where he has been relegated to the obscure chapters of the baseball history books

Dear DPC2;

You will spend at least 12-years of your life in school. Ideally you will pursue challenges after high school but we’ll deal with that issue at another time. You’re going to learn a lot in school. Some good, some bad, some completely irrelevant to any pursuits you may encounter in life. But what I want you to understand that school is important, even if some of the subjects seem completely irrelevant to reality.

When I think back On all the crap I learned in high school It’s a wonder I can think at all – Paul Simon, Kodachrome

The reason school is important, and why you should do your best to be a good student, is so you learn new ideas, new concepts and broaden your mind. It’s very easy to live a narrow minded existence but I want to know that there is a big world out there and by the age of 18 you will just be scratching the surface. Use education to broaden your mind. To enhance your life. To make yourself a modern Renaissance Man.

I think the big mistake in schools is trying to teach children anything, and by using fear as the basic motivation. Fear of getting failing grades, fear of not staying with your class, etc. Interest can produce learning on a scale compared to fear as a nuclear explosion to a firecracker. -Stanley Kubrick

I’ll be quite honest with you, school was very tough for me. I didn’t know it at the time but I have Attention Deficit Disorder. I figured this out after I graduated from college. I didn’t do well academically at Santa Rosa High School. Some of this is based on undiagnosed ADD and my tendency to spend most of my evenings getting loaded and playing Mario Kart while listening to Led Zeppelin.

I regret not doing well in high school because when I eventually got my act together, at the University of Nevada, I had terrible study habits and an even worse work ethic. I could have spent my time at SRHS learning and developing as a student but instead I got mellow and listened to “Houses of the Holy”.

To do well academically, and prove my doubters wrong, at Nevada I had to work twice as hard as the next man because I was ill prepared to be a student on a larger stage. Simply put I was overwhelmed by the academic process. I treaded water. Stayed afloat the first year and developed as a student. But in my mind if I had been a decent high school student (or even attended classes regularly)my transition to Nevada would have been easier and my grades would have been better.

I’ve never let my school interfere with my education. Mark Twain

 I am not saying that you need a 5.00 GPA, which your Mother’s GPA  in high school because she took Advanced Placement courses. I would be pleased with a B average (3.0 GPA). But I want you to develop the ability to learn. To be a student. To be able to manage time and study the proper way. To be handed a test and not be intimidated by it. I want you to be educated, open minded and willing to learn new subjects. I want you to read a book, not because it was assigned reading, but because you want to learn new things.

Your Grandfather is an avid reader and he passed down his love of reading to me and your Uncle Bryan. Reading books, beyond the assigned ones in school, broadens your mind and if you adhere to the ideas Stephen King it also makes you a better writer. The books you will be assigned to read in school are fine. They’re usually the standards or classics but I want you to learn beyond the class room walls because there are limitations from a K-12 public education.

There is a lot of hypocrisy in the educational system. The history you learn is just one man’s perspective and that’s all you know until you take the time to read another man’s view. Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States is a prime example of using a different perspective when analyzing history.

Unfortunately most folks don’t take the time to learn outside the parameters of the classroom but I would like you to not necessarily accept each history course as the absolute truth. History is about perception and you need to see the world from many different angles to get the absolute truth.

Early in your academic career you will learn about the Spanish Explorer Christopher Columbus. You’ll likely be in the early years of Elementary school when you learn that in 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue. A convenient rhyme and there is some truth to it. Yes he set off from Spain in 1492 sailed across the Atlantic. He was looking for India and bounties of spices, silks and gold.

Yes he was an explorer but ultimately he was a business man. He never made it to India but instead landed in the Caribbean. He called the local population “Indians”, which is inaccurate but has stuck to this day. You see it pop as mascots for various teams in amateur and professional sports but that’s another story for another time.

Columbus was always portrayed as the benevolent and intrepid explorer that wanted nothing than a safe passage from Spain to India. (early maps were incredibly inaccurate and some said the Earth was flat) In reality he was hungry for gold and he enslaved the locals in his quest to garner more wealth.

My friend Alec D had a T-shirt and on it was a wanted poster with Columbus on it with the tagline, “Wanted For Genocide”. I initially laughed it off but a bit of research showed that the shirt was right and I was ill informed.

But too many of the slaves died in captivity. And so Columbus, desperate to pay back dividends to those who had invested, had to make good his promise to fill the ships with gold. In the province of Cicao on Haiti, where he and his men imagined huge gold fields to exist, they ordered all persons fourteen years or older to collect a certain quantity of gold every three months. When they brought it, they were given copper tokens to hang around their necks. Indians found without the copper had their hands cut off and bled to death. – Howard Zinn, A People’s History of the United States, page 4

Columbus was motivated by greed and did not care for the locals. They were a means to an end. You won’t learn this in school. Your own curiosity will need to get you there. Stay open minded. Learn at every avenue. Because the history that is taught in schools may not be entirely true.

Okay guys, one more thing, this summer when you’re being inundated with all this American bicentennial Fourth Of July brouhaha, don’t forget what you’re celebrating, and that’s the fact that a bunch of slave-owning, aristocratic, white males didn’t want to pay their taxes. – Ms. Ginny Stroud Dazed and Confused 1993

Dear DPC2;

It isn’t a given that you will be a sports fan. But if you are I would like to share baseball with you in the same way that my Dad did with me. There is something inherently paternal in the national pastime. I can’t explain why exactly but the movie “Field of Dreams” does a pretty job of it, despite having Kevin Costner.

For each generation there is a certain player that captures the imagination and makes you think that all of the records will be broken and that you are a witness to greatness. You go out of your way to watch him play and even if he isn’t on your favorite team you root for his success because his work could be timeless and you want to remember the moments.

When I was growing up that baseball player was Ken Griffey Jr., a centerfielder for the Seattle Mariners.  He made his debut as a teenager and played alongside his father in 1989. The sky was the limit for him. His swing was perfect. He was quick around the bases and patrolling the outfield of the Kingdome. The game seemed easy for him and his debut baseball card, 1989 Upper Deck number 1, was iconic and I still have one.

“We love Ken Griffey, Jr. because he is everything we would like to be. He’s young, he’s good-looking, he’s got the best smile in the world, and he’s a heroic athlete. He is a shot in the arm for baseball. He is what this game needs right now. He is creating excitement and making headlines just by his presence. There hasn’t been anyone like that since… Reggie Jackson.” – Hall of Fame Outfielder Reggie Jackson

He started quickly in his rookie season of 1989 hitting 16-homeruns while still a teenager. For the five subsequent seasons he hit between 22 and 45 homeruns each year. In 1995 he injured his wrist but he came back and from 1996 to 2000 he averaged 49.8 homeruns. There was a sense that Griffey would surpass Hank Aaron MLB record of 755 career homeruns. His gifts were so immense that it seemed possible that he would go down as an all-time great. Unfortunately his health and by extension his career took a severe hit when he was traded to the Cincinnati Reds in 2000.

You can’t blame the Reds for the downfall of Griffey. Bad luck stung him and from 2001 to 2007 when he played 698 out of a possible 972, meaning that he missed over a season and a half with the Reds.  No longer was he The Chosen One. The one meant to break all the records. Instead he labored through the last half of his career as a shell of his former self. Yes, he ended up hitting 630-homeruns and had a greater career than most of peers but in a way it all seemed lacking. Maybe our expectations were too high. Maybe we shouldn’t have anointed him as the next great thing.

Regardless of reaching imagined goals Griffey was the best baseball player of my youth and the fact that he wasn’t mentioned in the Mitchell Report or never had his name sullied by PED accusations will make his accomplishments all the greater. The modern game has been destroyed by rampant PED use from supposed greats such as Barry Bonds, Manny Ramirez, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Alex Rodriguez and all the rest. It was reassuring that a player such as Griffey could hit over 600-homeruns naturally.

“He should lead the league in everything. With his combination of speed and power he should win the triple batting crown every year. In fact, he should do anything he wants to do.” – Casey Stengel

He was supposed to be the next Joe DiMaggio. The next great New York Yankee and despite abusing his body Mickey Mantle will go down in history as an all time great. Like Griffey, Mantle made his MLB debut as a teenager and was anointed the next great thing. A rare athlete with speed and power (and a catchy name) he manned centerfield for the Bronx Bombers for 18-seasons, hammered 536 homeruns and won the 1956 Triple Crown but despite all of these great accomplishments it always seemed like he should have done more.

“On two legs, Mickey Mantle would have been the greatest ballplayer who ever lived.” – Nellie Fox

Unfortunately Mantle injured his knee early in his career and spent the rest of it, essentially, on one good leg. Considering the numbers he generated over his career it is a greater accomplishment that he did it with a bad wheel but baseball fans have a tendency towards conjecture and Mantle was an easy target.

A big facet of Mantle’s legend is the fact that manned the key outfield position, centerfield, for those great Yankee teams (where he won 7  World Series), his country boy charm ,(My former supervisor thought he was handsome) and the fact that his father ordained him to be a baseball player by naming him after Hall of Famer Mickey Cochrane. He played on the biggest stage and lived large off it.

“(Mickey) Mantle’s greatness was built on power and pain. He exuded the first and endured the second.” – Roy Fitzgerald in the Boston Globe

Sadly Mantle never took care of himself during his career. He never rehabbed his early knee injury and he also liked to stay out late and party until dawn. This lifestyle likely damaged his career and it ultimately cost him life as he died in 1995, at the age of 63, from liver failure.

Your Grandfather is a Chicago Cubs fan but he still holds Mantle dear. In his den there is a 1956 Topps Mantle baseball card on his desk and on the wall there is an autographed picture and a framed jersey of The Mick. For his generation Mantle was the greatest.

When I was a kid he took me to Sacramento to a baseball card show. He wanted me to see Mantle in person. I consider that a very special moment because as I have gotten older I now realize what Mantle meant to a generation of fans

Mickey Mantle: 5’11 195 lbs. Born: 10.20.1931 – Throws: Right Bats: Both  -Centerfield – New York Yankees 1951 – 1968 , Games: 2401 Hits: 2415 HR: 536 RBI: 1509 AVG: .298 OBP: .421 SLG: .557

Ken Griffey Jr.: 6’2” 230 lbs – Born: 11.21.1969 Throws: Left Bats: Left – Centerfield – Seattle Mariners: 1989 – 1999, Cincinnati Reds: 2000 – 2008, Chicago White Sox 2008, 2009 – 20010 Seattle Mariners – Games: 2671 Hits: 2781 HR: 630 RBI: 1836 AVG: .284 OBP: .370 SLG: .538

Dear DPC2;
I have been a sports fan since I can remember and my Dad, your Grandfather, likes to point out that I saw Nolan Ryan pitch for the Houston Astros, against the Chicago Cubs, at Wrigley Field when I was three years old. I have no recollection of this game but according to history I was there.

I remember developing a taste for sports in 1987, when I was 9, my first loves were football and baseball. I grew up in Santa Rosa, CA which is a little over an hour from Oakland Coliseum (home of the Oakland A’s) and Candlestick Park (the dungeon home of the Giants) so your Grandfather took me and your Uncle Bryan to quite a few games. These were great times and they will always remain cherished memories from my youth. I consider myself lucky that my Dad took us to games. Not every kid gets that opportunity and when the time comes I hope you will go to football and baseball games with me and your Grandfather.

For as long as I can remember your Grandfather maintained a pair of ideologies that he could never be swayed from. First: Sandy Koufax was the most dominate pitcher in the history of mankind. Even though his career was cut short, by debilitating arthritis in his throwing arm, his four years of dominance for the Dodgers was awe-inspiring and worthy of his Hall of Fame induction and a lifetime of admiration from all who saw him. Second: Gale Sayers was the greatest half back ever and like Koufax his career was cut short by injury. Though his career only lasted for four full seasons his work was unmatched as a running back and kick returner. Also he was immortalized in Bryan’s Song, with Billy Dee Williams as Sayers and Jimmie Caan as the doomed Brian Piccolo.

As time goes on and if you develop a love of sports you will realize that, like my Dad, I have an abnormal amount of love for an athlete whose career was cut short. For me, that man is Bo Jackson. An All Star in baseball for the Kansas City Royal and a Pro Bowler in football for the Los Angeles Raiders. (Yes, the Raiders moved from Oakland in the 80’s and then came back north to Oakland in the mid 90’s). Jackson was the best athlete of my lifetime and I believe he would have been the best running back ever if he hadn’t injured his hip against the Bengals.

Jackson was 6’1” 227 pounds and ran the 100-meters in 10.39 seconds. He was built for power but had the speed on a sprinter. In his football career, which was part time because he played baseball full time for the Royals, he played 38-games spread over four seasons. Essentially he would play the entire baseball schedule of 162-games and then move right into playing for the Raiders. The only other modern athlete to do this was Deion Sanders.

Jackson’s career numbers don’t compare to other athletes with transcendent careers that were cut short (like Koufax and Sayers) and he won’t make the Hall of Fame for the NFL or MLB. In total he had 2782 rushing yards, while averaging 5.4 ypc and he scored 16-touchdowns but on one special Monday night he won me over forever.

On November 30, 1987 I was a nine-year old football fanatic. I was just getting into the game but I already loved it like only a kid could. This was Bo’s fifth game in the NFL and he was taking on the Seattle Seahawks who were lead on defense by Brian Bosworth.

Then, a Ruben Rodriguez punt pinned the Raiders on their own 5-yard line. On third-and-six, Jackson took the handoff and went around left end. Eugene Robinson dived at him when he got to the corner but missed. At that point, Jackson turned upfield and, before anyone knew what had happened, Bo was gone. He had beaten defenders so badly it appeared as if he let up around the Seattle 30 and put it on autopilot from then on. He didn’t stop running until he emerged from the runway beyond the end zone, and then tossed the ball up and swung at it with an imaginary bat as if to show the world of his two-sport prowess.
Then-MNF analyst Dan Dierdorf exclaimed, “He might not stop ’til Tacoma.”
The 91-yard TD, which established a new Raider record and is second-longest on MNF, broke the game open. The Raiders tacked on a couple of field goals to cap a 20-point second quarter and hold a 27-7 edge at halftime. But Jackson was not done. On the Raiders’ initial possession of the second half, he sparked a 75-yard scoring drive with a 42-yard gallop, and completed the effort with a two-yard power run when he literally carried linebacker Brian Bosworth across the goal line. – http://espn.go.com/abcsports/mnf/s/classic/bojackson87.html

It’s been nearly 14-years since that game and I remember his 91-yard touchdown run like it was yesterday. As a matter of fact I re-watch it about once a week on YouTube. From that point on Bo wasn’t just another running back. He was the best running back I have ever seen, even if his career was so short. I have seen many great running backs since then. Barry Sanders, Terrell Davis, Adrian Peterson, Emmitt Smith (who I feel is overrated but that’s another story for another time), Chris Johnson, LaDanian Tomlinson and all the rest don’t do the same thing to me that Jackson did. It was a short career but it was magical.
If you become a sports fan you will likely have the sentiments about an athlete whose career was cut short but was transcendent in his limited performances. This notion of athletes whose careers were cut short is constant and you can look to any sport and find many examples but I hope that your favorite athlete enjoys a long career.

Dear David Patrick;
Today, May 31, 2011, is your second birthday. You were born in Phoenix, AZ at Banner Good Sam Hospital to your parents Lindsey Fay Myers and David Castro a couple of years ago and now we all live in El Mirage. The last two-years have been a blur. You’re growing up more and more and each day you never cease to surprise us with what you are learning.

Besides the gifts that we all got you, and you seem to like the tool kit and Dinosaur train toys, I wanted to let you know what world you were born into in 2009. What people were watching and of course who were the great teams from your birth year. I also included the birthday that you share with many famous folks.

You make me a better a person and I have no idea what my life would be like without you. Without further adieu the important things that have happened on your birthday, May 31st.

• May 31 is the 151st day of the year (152nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 214 days remaining until the end of the year.
• 1929 – The first talking cartoon of Mickey Mouse, “The Karnival Kid”, is released.
• 1990 –  Seinfeld premiers
• 2005 – Vanity Fair reveals that Mark Felt was Deep Throat.
• 1930 – Clint Eastwood, American film director and actor is born
• 1938 – Johnny Paycheck, American singer is born
• 1943 – Joe Namath, American football player is born
• 1948 – John Bonham, British musician (Led Zeppelin) is born
• 1964 – Darryl McDaniels, American musician (Run-D.M.C.) is born
• World No Tobacco Day (International) is also May 31
From the year you were born the 2009 Champions
• World Series Champions – New York Yankees
• Stanley Cup Champions – Chicago Blackhawks
• Super Bowl Champions – New Orleans Saints
• NBA Champions – Los Angeles Lakers
• BCS – Florida Gators
• NCAA Basketball – North Carolina

Top Ten Grossing Movies from 2009
1. Avatar
2. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
3. Ice Age
4. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
5. 2012
6. Up
7. Twilight: New Moon
8.Sherlock Holmes
9. Angels & Demons
10. The Hangover