In search of Roberto Clemente

We found the great Roberto Clemente at the Hall of Fame, his plaque on the same row as Sandy Koufax, another of our favorites. Clemente had the best outfield arm (non-softball division) I have ever seen. He dominated the 1971 World Series against the Orioles. If he had played his career in New York instead of Pittburgh, he would have been hailed as one of the top 25 players ever.

Piratemania at Hall of Fame!

It's been mighty tough being a Pirates fan lately. Losing teams. Lousy trades. Bad GMs. Crummy ownership. A generation of Pittsburgh kids has gone to grade school, junior high, high school and college and not seen the Pirates above .500 at the end of a season. Fifteen straight losing seasons. That's ugly.

Well, some of us are old enough to remember the greatness of the Pittsburgh Pirates. The '71 team led by the incomparable Roberto Clemente beat the Orioles in the World Series. The "We Are Family" '79 champs that again beat the Orioles in the World Series. Hey, notice a pattern there?

So given that the current state of the Pirates and figuring I'll be dead by the time the Bucs have another winning season, I decided today to make the five-hour trek (3 1/2 hours if you can read a map) to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., to soak up the greatness of the outstanding Bucco teams of the past. Clemente, Stargell, Honus Wagner, Ralph Kiner. Pie Traynor. Oooooo, it gave me goose bumps. I had my picture taken in front of the plaques of all the Bucco Hall of Famers.

The one at the top is me with Clemente, who had the best outfield arm in baseball history. The next shot is one Wilver Dornell Stargell, one of the great non-'roided up home run hitters ever. And, of course, who can forget Lloyd "Little Poison" Waner? And then there is the great Pie Traynor, third baseman extraordinaire. As a kid, I used to see Pie at the bus stop in downtown Pittsburgh chatting it up with fans. Next, we have Lloyd's brother, Paul. He was called "Big Poison."

Lost and found!

On a walk along the Farmington River today, Mrs. Banks spotted this $20 bill on the ground. Because she had no place to put it, she graciously turned it over to me for safekeeping.

Discovering Vermont...or is it really Switzerland?

Imagine a state where you couldn't find a McDonald's. Or a CVS. Or a Burger King. Or a Wendy's. That would be Vermont, where we couldn't find one of the standard chain restaurants or stores in our six-hour drive-by Saturday. And that was kind of neat. Vermont didn't seem like part of the U.S. It seemed like a little slice of Switzerland.

It was our first visit to the state, so Carol, the girls and I did the tourist thing and checked out the Ben and Jerry's ice cream factory in Waterbury (yeah, that's me by the tank room with the fake smile) and the Boyden Valley Winery (above) in the middle of nowhere. Carol and I sampled seven different wines there (she drove back to Connecticut), and we bought three bottles. Try the the Big Barn Red.

The 30-minute tour at Ben and Jerry's concluded with a sample or two. We were disappointed to discover that Ben and Jerry sold out to The Man. Some mega-conglomerate purchased the company awhile back. Ben and Jerry are probably out on their yachts somewhere off the coast of Florida eating Haagen-Daz.

Vermont should be one popular place in about a month when the leaves begin to turn. The mountain scenes you see here will be quite spectacular then, and tourists will pack the backroads. We're gonna go, and we'll be sure to take a camera.