Happy Halloween!

Longtime Mariner Announcer Ron Fairley Dies

Ron Fairley, a Mariner commentator and announcer during some of the team's best years has died.  He was 81.  

Fairley, known as "Red" was in the team's booth from 1993 to 2006, although he did fill in work for the team after his departure. 

Fairley played in the Majors for 21 years, his best with the Los Angeles Dodgers, winning 3 World Series titles.  

A little known fact is he played as in the All Star Game for the Montreal Expos in 1973 and was an All Star from the Toronto Blue Jays in 1977.  He is the only player to have  represented both Canadian teams in the Summer Classic.

He started his broadcasting career with the San Francisco Giants in 1987, before joining the M's.
I loved Fairley because of his stories while on the air.  He would talk about his playing days in the 60s, a time when the baseball really mattered.  That was the time that I discovered baseball and had a huge baseball card collection.  When I watched my first World Series on TV.  I read every baseball book that I could get my hands on  and could never wait to watch the Saturday national telecast.
Not everyone was a fan of Fairley's and many thought of him as a cornball.  But maybe most of his critics weren't fans during that era.  Maybe baseball could use a little cornball.

Happy 8th Birthday, Dasher!

Burl Barer From The Mid 1980s

In this picture from 1986, my cousin, Burl Barer is pictured with family friend, Bill Grant and then Washington Governor Booth Gardiner.  Burl is leaning against the wall, third from the left.

At the time, Grant was campaigning for the Washington State Legislature.  He would be successful and serve until his death in 2009.

This was taken in front of Walla Walla's old Liberty Theatre, which had closed years before and was used as a campaign headquarters. 

This was on the Bygone Walla Walla blog. 

Beautiful Sunday In Maple Valley

Mt Rainier was clearly visible as beautiful weather returned to the area.

Fall Colors

Looking down the street at the brightly colored leaves on the trees.  They will all be gone soon.

Another Battle Of The Birds!

Seahawks take on the Falcons Sunday.

Cougar Basketball Will Honor Coach Raveling

On February 9 of this next year, the Washington State Cougars will honor Legendary Coach George Raveling.  I know it's  cliché, but Raveling put WSU basketball on the map.  Raveling was a product of the East Coast, growing up in Washington, DC and going to college at Villanova. He would become assistant coach at Villanova and then Maryland.

In 1972, Raveling was named basketball coach at Washington State University, the first African-American coach in what was then the Pac 8.  I can only imagine what a leap of faith it was for a man to cross the entire country to a relatively small and isolated town in Eastern Washington.  At the time, black coaches in any level of any sport were very rare. 

Raveling, who had a listed number in the Pullman phone book, was the basketball coach when I attended WSU from 1976 to 1981.

Raveling took the Cougars to the NCAA Tournament in 1980 and 1983.

Raveling would later coach at Iowa and then, USC.  He retired from coaching after a serious auto accident in 1984.

Raveling has been inducted into both the both Naismith Memorial Hall Of Fame and the College Basketball Hall Of Fame. 

Seahawks Game

Deb and I posed for this picture with our friends at last Sunday's Seahawk game.

Ravens Peck On Seahawks

We were at Century Link Field yesterday where the Seahawks fell to the Baltimore Ravens 30-16. Playing at home, the Seahawks couldn't seem to execute on either side of the ball.  

Seahawk quarterback Russell Wilson threw his first interception of the year. It was a costly one as Marcus Peters ran in 67 yards with the pick.  

The Seahawk offense could not seem to get on the attack after that and the defense was stymied by Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson's  rushing.  

I won't say how annoying the relatively small contingent of Ravens were in celebrating the win because I do not want to give them the satisfaction. 

Go Seahawks!

We will be at the Seahawks vs Ravens game today.  Earl Thomas will return to Seattle as a Raven.  I'll post any good pictures that I can get.
Congratulations to the  WSU Cougars for returning to their winning ways.

Maple Valley's Brandi Carlile Sings Joni Mitchell

This past week, Brandi Carlile performed songs from Joni Mitchell's iconic "Blue" album to a crowd in LA's Disney Hall.  In attendance was Carlile's childhood idol Elton John and Michell herself. 

According to Variety, Carlile did the performance without notes or teleprompter,  a feat even John thought was amazing. 

 

ABC 1989 World Series Game 3 Earthquake

30 years ago today! October 17th, 1989.   I remember it so well.  I had just moved to Seattle in late May of '89 and was living in a house with two other people in the Juanita area of Kirkland.

The World Series, much bigger than it seems to be this day was between two teams from the San Francisco Bay Area.  The San Francisco Giants from the National League and the Oakland Athletics  from the American League.

I had been looking forward to watching the game on TV.   I turned the TV  on and watched the pregame buildup.  Suddenly when I was watching (as shown in this video) I heard someone say "earthquake".  

An earthquake had just struck during the World Series between the two teams from that area.  I remember KOMO news crew came on, Kerry Brock was one of the anchors and I believe Dan Lewis.  The coverage was totally on the destruction in the Bay Area.

There was some cause for concern as my brother was going to college in San Francisco. I turned out that he was alright.

Dasher At The Pumpkin Patch

We went to Thomasson Family Farm in Enumclaw last Sunday.  Although dogs are not allowed in most of the  area where the food is sold and the petting farm are located, they are allowed in the pumpkin patch.  We took this photo of Dasher there, although we did not buy a pumpkin.

Autumn In Maple Valley

I had the day off yesterday and took a moment on the way to Starbucks to take a picture of the Fall colors.  Mount Rainier is barely visible in the background.

Haunted House '66

This house in Walla Walla was just a few blocks from our house on Palouse Street.  I thought that it looked like a haunted house, even before it was designated as such.  It became the Little Theatre Guild's haunted house for 1966.

A couple months after it closed,  the local fire department staged a "practice burn".  They set the house on fire and proceeded to extinguish the flame.  

The house was later torn down to make way for apartments.

Remember Walla Walla's Haunted House Of '65

A post on Joe Drazan's Bygone Walla Walla page brought back memories, in the mid 60s, my parents were very involved with Walla Walla's Little Theatre.  My dad was even in a few productions.  My brother Danny was also involved at one point. 

Around Halloween, they would stage a haunted house to help raise funds.  My dad is mentioned in the newspaper article for his involvement in the set up.  Costumes and props were probably of little problem since it was a theatre. 

Seahawks Get Quality Road Win

The Seattle Seahawks overcame a slow start, a loud stadium and a Cleveland  team that came ready to play to beat the Browns 32-28.
The Browns raced out to a 20-6 lead, not where you want to start when you're in Cleveland,  but the Hawks rallied toward the end of the half.  The Seahawks were down by just two at halftime.
Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson threw two touchdown passes, both to Jaren Brown and rushed for a third.  He wound up with 295 passing yards.  Running back Chris Carson had 124 yards and one touchdown.   The defense forced 4 turnovers.

Saturday Night At Issaquah's Vino Bella

A great night out with friends at Vino Bella, the wine bar on Front Street in Issaquah.  We watched the band Show Nuff Funk, who rocked the house with R and B and Jazz.

Big Football Weekend

Cougars will try to get their winning ways back on Saturday, while the Seahawks fly to Cleveland to take on the Browns  Sunday.

Kol Nidrei - Cantor Azi Schwartz live from Park Avenue Synagogue

The Kol Nidrei precedes the Yom Kippur evening service. More here.

Yom Kippur 2019

Issaquah Salmon Days A Hit

Cotton candy in the shape of cartoon animals was a popular booth at the 2019  rendition of Issaquah Salmon Days.  Warm and sunny weather and no Seahawk game, combined to help bring big crowds  out Sunday.  

Since the outdoor festival takes place in the first week of October in the Eastside town, the weather outlook can vary year by year. 

Cream Drummer Ginger Baker

Ginger Baker , the drummer for classic rock band, Cream has died. Cream was at the time considered Album rock, getting airplay on FM stations, but not in  the heavy rotation top 40 AM radio stations of the time.  The band featured the legendary guitarist Eric Clapton, who did foray occasionally in top 40 hits, and bass player Jack Bruce.

Baker and Clapton would later join Traffic keyboard player, Steve Winwood and Bassist Ric Grech in the band Blind Faith in 1969 for one album and tour. 

Ginger Baker was 84.

Diahann Carroll Dies

Diahann Carroll, who broke barriers in the sitcom, Julia, has died at 84.  The show, which ran in the late 60s and  early 70s on NBC, featured Carroll playing a widow, raising a son.  It was maybe the first network show to feature a black woman playing a professional worker.  Julia worked as a nurse for a gruff but lovable  doctor, who was played by Lloyd Nolan. 

She would later play a character in dynasty. 

Carroll also performed on Broadway and in nightclubs.

Paul Allen Joins Ring Of Honor

Here is the beautiful ceremony inducting Paul Allen into the Seahawks Ring Of Honor.

Rapid Reaction Russell Wilson LIVE on set Seahawks def. Rams 30-29 | Thu...

It was close, but the Seahawks would not let themselves lose, or at the elements would not let them lose as a last minute field goal by the Rams, which would have won the game, went wide.

The game was special in that the late owner of the Seahawks, Paul Allen was inducted into the Ring Of Honor.

Seahawks Against The Rams On TNF

After a short turnaround from a victory over Arizona, The Seahawks face the Los Angeles Rams on Thursday Night Football.

Walla Walla Native Set A Record At The U

My Uncle wanted me to mention that Dean Derby, who was in his graduating class at Wa-Hi, set the University of Washington football record for longest run from scrimmage.  I believe that he may still hold that record. 

My mother also graduated from Walla Walla High School with Derby.  He would play in the NFL with Pittsburgh and Minnesota.

Paul Allen Who Saved The Seahawks Will Enter Ring Of Honor

Paul Allen, who pulled a miracle and stopped the Seahawks from moving to LA, will be inducted this Thursday into the Seattle Seahawks Ring of Honor.  By coincidence, Allen would be inductee number 12.  The term 12 has been often used for fans or anyone giving the team support off the field. Allen died last year.
Allen's sister and current owner of team, Jody Allen, will raise the 12 flag before the Seahawks vs Rams game.
For names of other inductees into the ring, click here