Retired Superintendent-Transylvania County Schools. Husband, father, grandfather, educator & mountain philosopher. Public Schools advocate
Western North Carolina
Joined June 2009
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Jeff McDaris retweeted
"At the 1999 All-Star Game, an ailing, 80 year old Ted Williams was brought out to a roaring crowd for the opening ceremony.
As the cart pulls up near the pitcher's mound, the American League and National League All-Stars, and slew of Hall of Famers all converge on the mound.
The players surround 80 year old Ted Williams and one by one they shake his hand and embrace him.
There's Mark McGwire and Cal Ripken Jr. surrounding Williams.
Then Tony Gwynn, who had developed a close relationship with Williams, breaks through the crowd.
Ted Williams wipes away tears as he chats with star after star;
The fans stand and watch.
Ten minutes pass.
Then fifteen minutes.
Officials from Major League Baseball move in on the spontaneous scene and attempt to break it up so that the game isn't delayed too much longer.
But the players don't budge.
Even the public address announcer asks the players to return to their dugouts.
But they ignore the announcement.
They just wouldn't let go of the moment. Williams asks McGwire to lean in so he can ask him a question.
"When you foul a ball off, do you smell burnt wood?" Williams asks.
"All the time," McGwire responds.
"I did too," Williams says, grinning proudly.
Jeff McDaris retweeted
I often get asked what my all-time favourite baseball picture is.
To be honest, so hard to answer, I have seen over 10000 pictures.
That said, this one is near the top. Mantle hits a home run off Koufax in the 1963 WS. That stare from Sandy says it all
Jeff McDaris retweeted
Willie Mays is the only player ever with 3,000 hits, a .300 average, 300 home runs, and 300 stolen bases.
His real line reads 3,293 hits, .301, 660 homers, and 339 steals.
Nobody else checks all four boxes.
Jeff McDaris retweeted
Fifty years ago (Jan. 16, 1976), NC State's student newspaper, @NCSUTechnician, had a review of a country concert at Raleigh's Memorial Auditorium with the headline: "Dolly Parton--No Woman Can Rival Her."
It's rare that a newspaper headline can hold on to the truth for 50 years.
Jeff McDaris retweeted
NC State University and the United States Army have signed a Regional Intergovernmental Support Agreement, establishing a new strategic partnership designed to strengthen innovation, workforce development and collaboration across a range of disciplines. ncst.at/RJ7s50ZBF4G
ALT Chancellor Howell in a dark suit with a red tie and glasses shaking hands with a man in a U.S. Army uniform smiling warmly.
Many of today's players would sit it out
On the last day of the 1941 season, Ted Williams was hitting .39955.
Officially, that rounds up to .400.
His manager offered to sit him. He could have walked away as a .400 hitter without lifting a bat.
He played both games of a doubleheader instead.
Understand what was at stake. Hitting .400 is the most romantic number in baseball. It had been done a handful of times and it was already becoming rare.
Williams was 23 years old. If he sat, the record book would say .400 forever.
He refused.
His reasoning, as he told it for the rest of his life, was that he didn't want to be a .400 hitter with a technicality. He wanted to earn it standing in the box.
So on September 28, 1941, in Philadelphia, Ted Williams played a doubleheader against the Athletics with the single most famous batting average in American sports hanging on it.
He went 6 for 8.
He finished the season at .406.
Nobody has hit .400 in a Major League season since. Eighty five years and counting. It has become one of those records people quietly assume will never be broken again.
And here's the part that makes the whole thing even more absurd.
Ted Williams lost nearly five full seasons of his prime to military service in two different wars. He was a Marine fighter pilot in World War II and flew combat missions in Korea, where he crash landed a burning jet.
He still finished with 521 home runs and a career .344 average.
His final at bat, in his last game in 1960 at Fenway Park, he hit a home run. Then he ran the bases, went into the dugout, and never came out to tip his cap.
And when he was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1966, he used his speech to argue that Negro Leagues greats like Satchel Paige and Josh Gibson belonged in Cooperstown too. That was 1966. He didn't have to say that. He said it anyway, and it's cited as one of the reasons the doors eventually opened.
Two games he could have skipped.
Eight at bats he didn't have to take.
Six hits, and the last .400 season anyone has ever had.
For more stories like this, follow us on any platform @thesportsontap
Jeff McDaris retweeted
Tomorrow, the NC State Board of Elections is going to decide early voting plans for the 20 counties whose boards did not come to a unanimous decision.
So, how do the plans disagree?
Here’s a short post where I attempt to explain:
chriscooperwcu.substack.com/…
#ncpol
Heard a new word at the gym this morning. "Guiltlanthropy"... groups giving lots of money to things they don't really like or care for, but just want to control and look good. Hmm... yep... Gotta remember this one
But hey, at least one of those has a special class to teach them how great they are...even when they're not. 😉
