Unusual Baseball Event

This is the biggest news of the day for K.C. Royals fans. After coming back as they did in game 4, I believe they are back in the grove that they strayed from during the last month of the regular season. Now they will face the Toronto Blue Jays who won today by beating the Texas Rangers 6-3. It was a most interesting game. With the score tied 2-2 in the top of the 7th and Texas batting with a runner on 3rd base. There was a 2-2 count on the batter and as the Blue Jay catcher tossed the ball back to the pitcher, it hit the bat of the Texas batter still standing in the batters box. The ball dribbled out toward 3rd base and the runner scored. There were umpire conferences and the rule book was cited which legitimized the run. At that time, the 1 run lead looked like it might be all that was needed. However, Texas made errors on the next 3 batters and Toronto went on to win 6-3. In all my years of playing and watching baseball games, I had never seen the catcher hit the bat while throwing the ball back to the pitcher. Back in our Blue Valley League days, if Adolph would have done that, he probably would have just picked the ball up and then threw it back to Art on the mound. I don’t think anyone from Staplehurst would have considered advancing. Adolph probably would have even apologized to the Staplehurst batter.

Major League Baseball Champions

The Major League Baseball playoffs leading up to the World Series have become difficult for some of us to follow. First we have the “wild card” play in, the Division Series, the League Championships and finally, the World Series. Back when I was a kid, there were only 8 teams in each league and the league winners went to the World Series. It was often the Yankees vs the Dodgers (in Brooklyn). I came across this bracket to help me keep track of the current games. I have written the score of each game and circled the winner. The only team to reach the Division Series is the Chicago Cubs who won their 3rd game tonight against the St. Louis Cardinals. By the time this is read, the Met’s and Dodger’s game will be over, if the Mets win, they will play the Cubs. If the Dodger’s win tonight, they will need another game to determine who plays the Cubs. In the American League, the 2 teams playing in the Division Series will be determined tomorrow with all 4 teams having already won 2 of the necessary 3 games. My loyalties have evolved over the years from the Chicago Cubs>New York Yankees> Kansas City Royals. There is a story involved with each change. Having seen games in all 30 of the current Major League Parks, I will be familiar with the park where ever the World Series is played. 

Blackburn Stakes

Elaine happened on to an article on Neligh in the July/August issue of Nebraska Life Magazine this evening. What caught her eye was reference to the Blackburn Manufacturing business in that City. She remembered our being in Neligh some years ago and buying a bundle of the “ Blackburn, plastic flagged, wire stakes” . Bud Blackburn has operated the business since it moved to Neligh in 1957 according to the article. It also refers to Bud's Uncle, a surveyor who began the business.

I first heard of Blackburn stakes in about 1952 when I and another Soil Conservation Service Technician were in our Office in the Seward County Courthouse; an older gentlemen from South Dakota, came in carrying a couple bundles of stakes which he asked us to try. The other Technician was from South Dakota so they had a lot to talk about. As I remember, Mr. Blackburn told of having a Patent on the process which he had perfected prior to WWII. However, materials were not available during the War and for some time after. By the early '50's he was able to get material, had developed a machine for production, and was operating out of his garage. It seemed that a key item in the Patent was the material used to fasten the 3 by 4 inch plastic flag to the 24” wire. We used his samples, were favorably impressed, and ordered more. Surveying was never the same after we were able to use the Blackburn stakes instead of the old wooden lath we used previously. I have told the story many times as I've seen them in use all over the world. Right now, there are hundreds of them in Seward marking the lines for Black Hills Energy's new lines.

Hot Weather-Cold Football

Ken Siemek had it right as he talked about the possibility of setting a high temperature record today in eastern Nebraska. Ken, the weather forecaster on Channel 10/11, indicated the record was 89 and we had a good chance of topping it. At left is an “on-line” service by a local insurance office that shows our having a high of 95 at 4:14pm. I have just heard that Norfolk, NE had a high of 98 today. We have had a beautiful fall with occasional rain and generally mild temperatures. Farmers have been harvesting corn and soybeans. We have received over 29” of rain already compared to our average annual 26”. 

One of my farmer friends has said that you were unable to tell the difference between the dry land and irrigated corn while harvesting. This picture of our thermometer on the backyard fence was taken about 4:20pm. We do have a cold front moving in overnight but are still to have a nice Columbus Day tomorrow. The unusually warm weather gave Nebraskans something to talk about today other than Husker football. I did hear that our team is a 1 point favorite going to Minnesota next Saturday. The sportswriters were at a loss to  explain how 4 games could be lost as consistently as has happened this season. One even suggested that, just maybe, Bo Pelini has more influence with the football gods than we ever suspected. A real test will come in seeing if the “sold out” record of over 300 consecutive games can  be continued. 

Big 10 Football in Lincoln

With :09 seconds left on the clock, the Wisconsin Badgers had all the time they'd need to deal Nebraska another gut-wrenching loss. The Wisconsin kicker missed a field goal with just over a minute left, giving Nebraska the ball with 1:26 and Nebraska leading 21-20. All the Huskers needed was a first down. But, Wisconsin had all three timeouts and Nebraska was only able to gain 3 total yards on 3 carries. Following a Foltz punt, the Badger QB took over, marching the Badgers down the field with 1:06 left on the clock to put them in position for another field goal with :09 seconds left. Their kicker then nailed a 46-yard field goal to take the lead and end the game 23-21. That's the fourth loss for Nebraska this season, and the fourth loss that's come on either the final play of the game or in the final minute of the game. After last weeks lose, Tom Shatel, Omaha World Herald sports writer noted that "Mike Riley’s Honeymoon is over" as Nebraska’s new Coach. He went on to say, “the marriage is still in tact but he may have to sleep on the couch all week”. After today, he may have to leave the couch and go to the dog house.

Soil Conservation Service Staff, 1953

This picture was taken during the summer of 1953 of the SCS staff in Seward, NE. The City was celebrating an “Old Settlers” event and men were asked to grow beards. Our office was in the NE corner on the lower floor of the Courthouse. Shown standing (l-r) are: James Struve, Arnold Davis and Tony Vrana; Kneeling are Norm Neujahr and Clarence Schmidt. Mr. Struve was the head of the Office staff and had been with the Soil Conservation Service since its formation in the ’30’s. Our job involved working with farmers throughout the County by laying out terraces, waterways, dams, etc. and helping them to plan and apply appropriate conservation practices on the land. Today I received a comment on a recent blog, from the son of the pictured Jim Struve, who is interested in learning more about his father’s career. I was thrilled to hear from him and have responded. Jim had a profound effect on my career that led me in advancing to our Washington Office. I am most pleased to provide him any information available. We moved on after a few years and never kept up with the family but its most interesting to hear from people that we only knew as youngsters. “Old people” get a lot of satisfaction in passing on memories, even if the dates may be off a year or two. 

Hot Water Heater Control after Pilot Light Re-lit.

We were pleased a week or so ago when the contractors from Black Hills Energy came to re-light our Furnace and Hot Water Heater pilot lights. Elaine called to my attention this morning that she had to adjust the shower toward more cold than normal. I was shaving at the time and acknowledged that the hot water was warmer than normal. The fellows at coffee reminded me that they would have had to change the control in lighting the pilot and just didn’t get it back to where it was. When I checked, it was set midway between normal and high. I re-set it to a bit below normal where it had been. I don’t think there was any intention of selling more gas but with all the new lines being laid, and pilot lights being re-lit,  if our experience is representative, many people will find a higher than expected Natural Gas bill.