One-armed soldier makes sweet snag at Yankees game
June 27th, 2011 | Afghanistan Army Baseball | Posted by Phil Creed
Congrats to Staff Sgt. Michael Kacer, an Army National Guardsman who lost his left arm in Afghanistan, who’s getting plenty of attention after catching a foul ball with his hat at a New York Yankees game on Friday. Read this story to learn more about Kacer’s remarkable story, and watch the SportCenter interview below to hear it in his own words.
My favorite part of this whole episode might be Kacer immediately giving the ball to his nephew. This soldier is a class act all-around.
Note to grown men who still bring gloves to MLB games: If this doesn’t shame you into stopping that nonsense, then you simply have no self-respect.
Marine lieutenant colonel offends gentle sensibilities of Phillies fans
June 22nd, 2011 | Baseball Marine Corps | Posted by Phil Creed
Some members of the notoriously polite and refined Philadelphia Phillies fanbase are outraged — OUTRAGED! — that a Marine O-5 would dare joke about using a tank to stop pitching ace Roy Halladay. Saying something like this is terribly insensitive because, as we all know, tank attacks on major league pitchers are an epidemic that should never be joked about. The nerve of this guy!
Anyway, here’s how this mess got started: Lt. Col. Shane Tomko, the Marine in charge of Marine Week St. Louis, was a guest in the booth last night as the Phillies played the hometown Cardinals. While talking about the week’s festivities, he appeared to give a compliment to Halladay in the form of an awkward joke.
“I’ll tell you what, with that M1A1 Abrams we got across the street, if Halladay keeps on pitching well, we can fix that with one round pretty quickly,” Tomko said.
I know, I know. Somebody go get the smelling salts. So outrageous.
The announcer seemed caught off guard by the joke (granted, it was awkward and hardly laugh-out-loud funny), saying, “I’m sure you could. I don’t know if we should say that, but you just did.”
Tomko then said, “I can say whatever I want because I’m a war fighter, and this is the Cardinals Nation the last time I checked.”
That last comment caught the ire of the Crossing Broad blog, which has video of the incident. Most fans weighing in in the comments section have hammered Tomko.
A writer for PhillyBurbs.com also took exception to Tomko, calling the Marine a “TV tough guy” and saying “[Tomko] should keep that smack talk in the barracks. Or better yet, Colonel Tomko should dress down to his civilian duds, take a walk down to the Phillies clubhouse and say it to Doc’s face. Let’s get that awkward exchange on camera.”
Marine Corps Times writer Dan Lamothe has more about the incident at our Battle Rattle blog.
Submarine horn replaces Natstown HR fireworks
April 26th, 2011 | Baseball | Posted by Mike Hoffman
The Washington Nationals have scrapped fireworks this year and begun celebrating homeruns and wins with a submarine horn. Makes sense for a baseball team whose stadium is not much further from the Washington Navy Yard than a Jayson Werth throw from right field.
The Washington Post’s intrepid reporter Dan Steinberg has the story. Steinberg is incredible at tracking down the back story on most lingering sports questions you and a buddy might debate in the stands or sitting at a bar watching a game.
“Wait, didn’t they used to have fireworks last year? What happened? Now, all I hears is this bloody horn,” one Nat diehard says to another sitting at local watering hole Lola’s.
“Maybe you’ve just had one too many Dogfish Heads tonight,” the other Nats diehard responds.
But Steinberg doesn”t settle, and as usual, he got to the bottom of this pressing story.
Here’s the quick brief of what he found out: The Nats front office wanted to provide a unique quirk for the stadium’s Navy Yard location. Hence, the submarine horn, which is hooked up to the stadium’s sound system, because, well, submarine’s are pretty freaking sweet. Even a Zoomie can admit that, although that same Zoomie would rather not spend six months at a time without seeing sunlight, but we digress.
The Nats didn’t nix the fireworks because of budget issues like some Natstown residents suspected considering the 7-year deal the Nats gave to Werth to snatch him from the slums of Philly. They did it to add the unquestionable coolness of a sub’s horn. We at After Action commend the move as Military Times’ resident Nats fans.
Baseball’s here!
March 31st, 2011 | Baseball | Posted by Sean Smyth
From left, Coast Guard Rear Adm. Paul Zukunft, Air Force Lt. Gen. Richard Y. Newton III, Navy Vice Adm. Michael Vitale, Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Terry G. Robling and Army Maj. Gen. Karl Horst throw out the first pitches before the Washington Nationals’ season-opening game against the Atlanta Braves on March 31. (Alex Brandon / The Associated Press)
President Obama has a lot on his plate now, so you can understand why he might not be so eager to take a couple hours out of his day and deal with the circus known as the Washington Nationals.
RIP Bob Feller
December 15th, 2010 | After Action Baseball Navy | Posted by Sean Smyth
While Bob Feller’s greatness on the mound won’t go unnoticed upon passing — he died Wednesday — we also should remember his service to our country.
Bob Feller meets with officers from the transport dock ship Cleveland, Lt. Cmdr. Elizabeth Zimmermann and commanding officer Capt. Frank McCulloch, before a game between the Cleveland Indians and Toronto Blue Jays in August 2006. Feller, 92, was the first Major League Baseball player to enlist after Pearl Harbor. He died late Wednesday. (File photo / Navy)
Feller, who turned 92 last month, enlisted in the Navy on Dec. 8, 1941, one day after Pearl Harbor. He missed parts of four seasons serving in the Navy, most notably aboard the battleship Alabama for three years. He rose to the rank of chief petty officer and was in charge of a 40mm gun mount. He saw action in the Pacific theater during World War II.
On to the obligatory rundown of his baseball statistics: Feller won 266 games over parts of 18 seasons with the Cleveland Indians, helping guide the Tribe to a world championship in 1948. He won 20 or more games six times, and won 25 or more games three times. He was an eight-time American League all-star.
In addition to his major league resume, he also played regularly against military teams while enlisted. When Feller returned stateside after the war, he was assigned to Great Lakes Naval Training Center, Ill., where he pitched and coached the baseball team.
While proud of his playing career, Feller often referenced his Navy service. According to his profile on the wonderful Baseball in Wartime website:
“I’m very proud of my war record, just like my baseball record. I would never have been able to face anybody and talk about my baseball record if I hadn’t spent time in the service.”
Feller was as opinionated as you’d expect an old-timer to be. Fay Vincent mentions this in a tribute to Feller published by The Plain Dealer of Cleveland.
I can’t find a definitive attribution to this quote — just a bunch of links online, including this one — but it’s a good way to end this entry.
“Baseball in the Navy always was much more fun than it had been in the major leagues.”
You thought you had it rough …
November 19th, 2010 | Baseball | Posted by Sean Smyth
In South Korea, as in many other nations, military service by men of a certain age is compulsory — and over there, you have to serve between the ages of 20 and 30. A nice-sized window — but that time does go fast when you’re pursing a professional baseball career.
Cleveland Indians outfielder Shin-Soo Choo, 28, was nearing the end of his window and facing the possibility of having to take time off from the majors to serve his nation. But with the South Korean team’s 9-3 win against Taiwan in the final of the Asian Games on Friday, Choo may get a pass.
Players on the South Korean team that won gold at the Beijing Olympics two years ago were given exemptions. But Choo missed the Olympics, having undergone Tommy John surgery in 2007. So this was his last real shot at getting on the exempt list.
The Indians also expect Choo to get a pass “based on our understanding prior to the tournament and past precedent,” general manager Chris Antonetti said.
Surely that news is (cash-register-style) music to the ears of Choo’s agent, Scott Boras.
Former Marine Sandy Alderson new GM of New York Mets
October 28th, 2010 | After Action Baseball Marine Corps | Posted by Sean Smyth
There’s a new sheriff in town for the New York Mets, and it’s a guy who has been in sticky situations before — Sandy Alderson, the former A’s, Padres and Major League Baseball executive.
Alderson served four years as a Corps officer, including a tour of Vietnam. The Associated Press reported Thursday that Alderson would be introduced the Mets’ general manager as soon as Friday. Speculation has centered on Alderson for the past few days.
Alderson was GM in Oakland from 1983-97. His team won three American League pennants and captured the World Series in 1989.
He faces a challenge in Queens, with the Mets’ roster featuring broken down stars playing with bloated contracts.
Golden Knight gets stuck on flagpole at Texas Rangers game
August 25th, 2010 | Army Baseball | Posted by Phil Creed
There’s something about the Ballpark in Arlington this season.
The latest incident at Arlington involved a member of the prestigious Army Golden Knights, who had the unfortunate luck of getting caught up in the flagpole last night as he parachuted into the stadium before the Texas Rangers- Minnesota Twins game. The soldier, who has not been identified, was not injured.
The incident was caught on video by a fan and posted immediately to YouTube.
To echo the concern of a fan on the video, I hope this guy doesn’t lose his job.
The Golden Knight incident is only the latest bizarre/darkly comical thing to happen at a Rangers game this season. In July, a fan fell from the upper deck in Arlington — and somehow survived — while trying to catch a foul ball during a game against the Cleveland Indians. And earlier this week at a game against the Twins, a photographer snapped this classic picture of a fan taking a foul ball to the face.
All things considered, the Golden Knight is by far the luckiest of the group.
The shot heard ’round the world
August 17th, 2010 | Army Baseball | Posted by Sean Smyth
No, it was not on the battlefield. It was Bobby Thompson’s historic home run in the epic Brooklyn Dodgers-New York Giants playoff game in 1951, the one that sent the Giants to the World Series. Thompson, 86, died late Monday after a long illness, the Daily News of New York reports.
That same article notes that Thompson, born in Scotland and moving to New York when he was 2, served in the Army Air Forces from 1943 to 1945, but according to him, he did not deploy. “There are no war stories,” he said. After his discharge, he was signed by the Giants and the third baseman was eventually converted into an outfielder.
Ralph Houk, RIP
July 22nd, 2010 | Army Baseball | Posted by Sean Smyth
First-year Yankees manager Ralph Houk, right, is shown with, from left, Yankees legends Yogi Berra, Mickey Mantle and Joe DiMaggio during spring training in 1961. (File photo / The Associated Press)
Ralph Houk was a lucky man, in more ways than one.
When Casey Stengel left the Yankees, Houk took over, winning World Series titles in his first two seasons — the first in the midst of the chaos of Maris’ and Mantle’s assault on the home-run record in 1961.
But a main part of Houk’s legacy was away from the baseball field, and on the battlefield, where he survived some fierce fighting during his service.
Houk, 90, died Wednesday at his home in Florida. The longtime manager of the Yanks, Tigers and Red Sox served in World War II in the European theater.
A member of the 9th Armored Division, Houk received the Purple Heart, Silver Star and Bronze Star with oak leaf cluster and four campaign stars for his service. He achieved the rank of major before leaving the Army and joining the Yankees, where he backed up Yogi Berra.
This story from his commanding officer, Caesar Fiore, about Houk’s two-day disappearance in the middle of the Battle of the Bulge, is a gem.
“One day in the middle of the battle I sent Ralph out in a jeep to do some scouting of enemy troops,” said Fiore. “After being out two nights we listed him as ‘missing in action.’
“When he turned up he had a three-day growth of beard and hand grenades hanging all over him. He was back of the enemy lines the entire time. I know he must have enjoyed himself. He had a hole in one side of his helmet, and a hole in the other where the bullet left. When I told him about his helmet he said ‘I could have swore I heard a ricochet.’ We marked him ‘absent without leave’ but were glad to have him back alive.”
Houk also was a member of the 9th Armored Division’s baseball team, which made it to the playoffs for the 1945 ETO World Series.
He managed the Yankees from 1961-63 and 1966-73, the Tigers from 1974-78 and the Red Sox from 1981-84. He won six World Series as a player for the Yankees and two more as Yankees manager.
Fittingly, his nickname in the majors was “Major.”