<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by louise:
I only got interested in the Pirates cos of you Joe!! AAARRRRRRR!!
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Being a Pirate fan these days can be frustrating. Hope you're still speaking to me by June!

Now, I could really drag you all the way down with me & introduce you to Duquesne Dukes basketball...

I used to play Back for the Impala's.

Sounds interesting, Louise! You'll hafta explain to me what that is.

Meanwhile--

8 more months till the gathering at the Wall!

And this for Shelly - About 8 months until the Fall Church Concerts!

(But isn't there a spring church weekend coming first? All I know is that I sometimes get little postcards inviting me to the Church concerts. There's zero chance that I could make it, spring or fall, but I keep 'em on my dining room table for a couple weeks so I could look at 'em coz I think it's cool that a famous folksinger sends 'em to me. Then I throw 'em out.)

Have a great day, folks. I'm having a busy weekend - Got tickets to see the Dukes play Xavier today. Yesterday had to go into the office & last night I added to my world record for Most Bar Mitzvahs Attended by an Italian.

(Edited for spelling.)

<center><FONT COLOR="#000080">--- Edited 1 times, lastly by P. Pittsburgh Joe on Feb 13, 2005 ---</FONT></center>

There was a guy named Cheney who played for the Bucs when they won the series in 60.

Tom Cheney, who still holds the record for msot K's in a game with 21 (he pitched 16 innings)! I once got him to autograph the box score from that one.

Valentine's Day was a bummer for those of us who hang out at the Forbes Field Wall, for 2 reasons.

First was the news of the sudden passing former Pirate P Nellie Briles, 61, yesterday on a golf course. He was a hero of the 1971 World Series for the Pirates. He was not on the 1960 team, yet he often came out to hang out with the fans at the Forbes Field Wall many years on Oct. 13. I have 8-9 of his autographs---not that I was building a shrine to him or anything, but coz his personal appearances were always enjoyable. He genuinely liked meeting & talking to baseball fans, & my boys will never forget when we ran into him at the ball park last year & he talked to us & showed us his World Series ring.

His finest hour came in the pivotal game 5 of the 1971 Series, when he beat the Orioles with a complete-game (remember them?) 2-hit shut-out & for good measure added a 2-run single of his own to account for half of the Pirates runs. Once or twice a game, in situations where he really needed a big K, he'd throw what I call his "special occasion" fast ball, the delivery of which sent him flopping on his belly. One of the most famous pictures from the 1971 Series is of Nellie striking out the great Frank Robinson with one of these special occasion fast balls.

Then there's the saga of Scottie the Hot Dog Man....

Scottie the Hot Dog Man has been a fixture in the Oakland section of the city for years, his cart being located on a street corner just a block from the Forbes Field Wall. I stop there for lunch each Ot. 13 (& several other times a year) for a hot dog & pop. Besides the great food, it's always good to talk to Scottie; he's a genuine Pittsburgh character who always has something funny or wise to say, an asset to the area.

Because of a new set of vending ordinances, his vendors license has been revoked & he's suing City Council for denying his "grandfather" application. The stupid fools who denied him sit in their stupid offices all day posing for stupid pictures & writing meaningless proclamations about nothing & have no idea what makes Pittsburgh the great city that it is or what we love about it. We love our characters like Scottie & our unique ethnic neighborhoods & our 3rd-generation-owned family businesses. We refuse to live a suburban-type existence where folks waste their time running to the malls & looking at the same old stores that you see everywhere, & so far we've pretty much succeeded.

I dunno how much weight the opinions of an out-of-towner are given (or even local folks like GerryB & me), but if you like to raise hell & have time to write a letter (like I'm gonna do tomorrow), here's where you can find the names of the folks on Council & an address:
http://www.city.pittsburgh.pa.us/council/

Many moons ago when I was in my late 20's I played Basketball, in Brisbane, for a team called the Impala's. It was fun but then I moved out of town, into the countryside, and it was too far to drive!

I know you all care about this important issue, so here's an update.

A Hot Dog Man sighting has been reported!

Don't know whether it was my letter that did it or not---I doubt it, really---nor do I care, but Scottie was seen back at his customary spot today, servin' 'em up as always. Now I gotta sneak outta work & get down there myself one of these afternoons & find out what's going on. Hopefully he gets to stay there permanently!

Life is good.

Good luck to the hot dog man...

I would like to see Barry Bonds and Hank Aaron discuss steroid use!

I doubt that Barry would be any more forthcoming around Hammerin' Hank than he was with the AZ media this week at his annual spring training press conference----a curious ritual for all participants, considering that every question irritates Barry & the assembled media hafta know that they're only going there to get insulted.

Vitamin/nutrition freak Barry would have us all believe that he'd rub a cream & a clear substance on his body without knowing what either of 'em were......yeah, right. About the only truthful thing he said at this year's event was in response to a question about steroid use by others, when he said, "I only care about myself."

This is the same guy who complained of fatigue last year coz he was constantly being walked & thus had to be on his feet all the time. He concluded that tirade by stating, "I live in the real world, brother." Yeah, right again.

Hammerin' Hank is a class guy, BTW; I wrote to him in '98 asking for an autograph, got it back in less than a week.

<center><FONT COLOR="#000080">--- Edited 1 times, lastly by P. Pittsburgh Joe on Feb 25, 2005 ---</FONT></center>

Scottie can't leave 'til I've been over and had one of his dogs. You'll just have to chain yourself to the stand Joe. Friends DO THAT for friends you know.

Hammerin' Hank is one of the ultimate classy guys!

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by louise:

Scottie can't leave 'til I've been over and had one of his dogs. You'll just have to chain yourself to the stand Joe. Friends DO THAT for friends you know.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

LOL! I've actually thought about taking action like that, Louise. Here's the situation, as told to me by an insider after I last posted. (Anybody bored with my local problems, stop reading now...)

So much hell was raised over the vending permit situation at the last City Council meeting that they gave all of the vendors their permits on a temporary basis until "further review." Supposedly the reason given for denying Scottie's permit was that he "doesn't fit into the fabric" of their stupid plans for a new park in the area--as if a park isn't a good place to sit & have lunch!

Here's a map (no, there ain't) that will illustrate the stupidity of this proposed park. (Instead imagine a street map with a red star on the NW corner, a parking lot in the middle, & a green park in the SE corner. Or you can go to mapquest & enter "Forbes Ave. & Bigelow Blvd., Pittsburgh, PA 15213."

The red star you see is Scottie's location. Across the street from him is a parking lot---in fact, with the Oakland section housing 3 universities & being a major medical center not only for Pgh., but the world, this lot is THE VERY LAST PLACE in Oakland where one can find a parking space! This is being turned into a park. Look at the big green patch in the SE corner of the map, & what do you see? Schenley Park, one the biggest parks located in any big city in the US!

So why replace the last usable parking lot with a small park when Schenley Park is right there? Coz some city planners who have never done anything wanna show their family & friends that they've actually "planned" something that came to fruition.

And that's today's sermon.....time for work.

(edited to remove unwieldy broken link; new material is in bold).

<center><FONT COLOR="#000080">--- Edited 1 times, lastly by P. Pittsburgh Joe on Feb 28, 2005 ---</FONT></center>

This post has been edited in honor of Perry White.

<center><FONT COLOR="#000080">--- Edited 1 times, lastly by P. Pittsburgh Joe on Feb 28, 2005 ---</FONT></center>

Just posting to make ya'll read this thread again, coz I edited the last 2 posts, unable to fix my broken link.