Rickstate

Episode 27 – 12.10.24

Show notes:
60 mins classic jazz.
30 mins soul.
25 mins funk.
5 mins mixed bag.

The jazz hour consisted mainly of the usual suspects: The Three Sounds, Dinah Washington, Coleman Hawkins, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Sinatra, Louis Prima, Miles Davis, Billie Holiday, Wynton Kelly, and more.
30 minutes of soul followed and included Ray Charles, Jackie Wilson, Lee Dorsey, Curtis Knight, James Brown, Mary Wells, Ruby Johnson, and more.
25 minutes of funk followed and included the B.T. Express, Marvin Gaye, The J.B.’s, Eddie Kendricks, Bill Withers, and more.

A recording of the broadcast is available for you here:

Provided your device’s media player treats you better than the above WordPress player, the Rick’s Canteen google folder has been updated (this is always the first thing to be updated).

The Spotify playlist is below.

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Episode 28 – 12.17.24

Show notes:
60 minutes classic jazz.
50 minutes soul.
10 minutes blues.

The jazz hour consisted mainly of the usual suspects: Cannonball Adderley, Sonny Stitt, Bud Powell, Django Reinhardt, Oscar Peterson, Count Basie, Duke, John Coltrane, and more.
50 minutes of soul followed and included Ray Charles, Young-Holt Unlimited, Mable John, Fats Domino, Helene Smith, Big Maybelle, The Ad Libs, The Temptations, Bill Withers, Marvin Gaye, Tammi Terrell, and more.
10 minutes of blues followed and included Ray Charles, John Lee Hooker, B.B. King, and Booker T. & the M.G.’s.

A recording of the broadcast is available for you here:

Provided your device’s media player treats you better than the above WordPress player, the Rick’s Canteen google folder has been updated (this is always the first thing to be updated).

The Spotify playlist is below.

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Episode 29 – 12.24.24 – Christmas Eve Special

Show notes:
Four hour Christmas Eve Special. I covered for the 6pm-8pm 2-5-1 program that leads into Rick’s Canteen on Christmas Eve.
60 mins classic jazz (without a holiday theme).
120 mins of holiday jazz.
60 mins of holiday soul.

Recordings of the broadcasts are available for you here:

2-5-1 (above) and Rick’s Canteen (below).

Provided your device’s media player treats you better than the above WordPress player, the Rick’s Canteen google folder has been updated (this is always the first thing to be updated).

The Spotify playlist for both programs is below.

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Episode 30 – 12.31.24 – NYE Special

Show notes:
I once again subbed in for the 2-5-1 program that leads into Rick’s Canteen and played mostly instrumental jazz for the first two hours. Mostly jazz vocals for the third hour I was on the air.
The special concluded with an hour of soul. I tried to keep everything on the upbeat and conversational cocktail theme while also sprinkling in some NYE-themed tracks.

Recordings of the broadcasts are available for you here:

2-5-1 (above) and Rick’s Canteen (below).

Provided your device’s media player treats you better than the above WordPress player, the Rick’s Canteen google folder has been updated (this is always the first thing to be updated).

The Spotify playlist for both programs is below.

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Episode 31 – 1.7.25

Show notes:
60 mins classic jazz.
40 mins soul.
10 mins blues.
10 mins contemporary.

The jazz hour consisted mainly of the usual suspects: Horace Silver, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Junior Mance, Billie Holiday, Kenny Dorham, Miles Davis, Hoagy Carmichael, Howard Alden, Sinatra, John Coltrane, The Three Sounds, Sarah Vaughan, Wynton Kelly, and more.
40 minutes of soul followed and included Young-Holt Unlimited, Mable John, Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, Tommy Ridgley, Aretha Franklin, Brenton Wood, Ann Peebles, Jackie Wilson, Jimmy Ruffin, Joe Bataan, Mary Wells, and more.
10 minutes of blues followed and included Slim Harpo, Bobby “Blue” Bland, and Lightnin’ Hopkins.

A recording of the broadcast is available for you here:

Provided your device’s media player treats you better than the above WordPress player, the Rick’s Canteen google folder has been updated (this is always the first thing to be updated).

The Spotify playlist is below.

What is Sandlot?

Holidays, work, and other factors have gotten in the way of publishing this belated post.
That said, November brought the Drag four very different games.

11.1.24 – Austin Moontowers vs. Austin Drag – Govalle – 7pm

Instagram post about the game.

I know we 21st-century humans no longer read long-form content.
But there’s a lot to write about this game.

Admittedly, I don’t know much about the Moontowers.
What I do know is that they look and carry themselves like a legit ballclub. I also know that even their hitters with less-than-perfect swings are still able to turn on our Ace’s pitches and authoritatively drive the ball pull side.

They are absolutely a ballclub.
In a league where each organization has their unique sliding scale of social club-to-ballclub ratio, the Moontowers are an organization that obviously put their emphasis on ball. I dig it.

For all the personalities and eccentrics that provide our league with a healthy chunk of fanfare and extracurriculars, it’s refreshing to be able to compete against an old-school ballclub.
However, our track record of competitive competition usually includes an inning or two where we shoot ourselves in the foot and dig ourselves a hole. We’ve showcased shakey bullpens with coinflip command (sometimes they have it, sometimes they don’t), defensive lapses, drunken/clumsy baserunning, bewildering ABs… every facet has contributed to our podiatric gunshot wounds and fresh holes we’ve dug for ourselves.

But on this game, against this competitive club, we played good, solid baseball.
The Drag have been built on Keith Hyndshaw’s favorite adage, “Celebrate our successes. Laugh at our mistakes. Have a damn-good time!” This game’s celebrations outweighed the goofball laughter and slapstick chatter. We had an exceptional time playing quality, solid baseball.
“Not bad for a has been and couple of never will bes huh?”

To be clear, Steven (lefty starting pitcher) has put The Drag in position to win some “competitive” games before, but our defense and/or bullpen has managed to squander a few late-game leads, but on this particular evening, the defense didn’t break and the bullpen remained steady.

Offensively, Keith, Gelli, Jeff, Steven, RJ, and pretty much every Dragster contributed to putting runs on the board. You never know when things are gonna click and go in your favor, but they sure went ours this evening.

To be expected, many adult recreations (especially super social sandlot leagues) provide games that often feel like a foregone conclusion. Teams show up, cleat up, warm up, and thoughts cross one’s mind in one of three ways:
– Welp, though nothing is guaranteed, if we don’t screw up too badly, we should leave here with a W (confidence).
– In order for us to get outta here with a W, they’ve gotta make a ton of mistakes and we’ve gotta play a clean, tight game (doubt).
– This is a coin flip. Can’t wait to see what happens (it’s anyone’s game, let’s play ball).

In a season chockfull of sloppy wins and lousy losses (every one of which, we’re always grateful to be a part of), getting in one super clean, competitive game made the whole squad feel outstanding.
Thank you to every Sandlotter for making it happen!

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11.3.24 – Austin Drag vs. Smithville Baseball Club – Keilberg Park – 12pm

Instagram post about the game.

Not gonna lie, with our previous game concluding a mere 36 hours prior, we were still floating. The Drag were “just happy to be there.” Smithville was great though. Friendly folks, cool, old field. If it hadn’t been for a wildfire threatening the area, it would’ve been a picture-perfect day in every way.
Due to the potential nearby natural disaster, it still remained a pretty-good-to-great day at the ballpark.

Braden went the distance on the hill and the entire Dragster lineup hit.
Good times indeed. Thank you for hosting us Smithville Baseball Club!

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11.9.24 – LovejoyCobraCowboys vs. Austin Drag – Govalle – 11am

Instagram post about the game.

In our penultimate game of the season, we played the South Austin LovejoyCobraCowboys. The LoveSnakeBoys. The CobraJoyBoys. You get it. It was a collection of players organized by the Lovejoys.

The game moved fairly quickly as it was a lot of defense and pitching. Rallies were kept to a minimum. Keith was sharp on the hill as he went the distance. Our infield, for the most part, had sure hands (including an outstanding pick at first by Big Rig to save a few runs and end an inning). The outfield, Gelli in particular, tracked everything down and we were able to escape the few oppositional offensive threats.

Though we were on top for most of the game, it remained close. And as I’ve previously wrote, some games feel like we’re one inning away from our house of cards collapsing. That acknowledged, the structural integrity remained true, and there are no collapses to report for this day.

Just another outstanding day with our pals at Govalle.

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11.16.24 – ATX Roadrunners vs. Austin Drag – Govalle – 11am

Instagram post about the game.

Final game of 2024. One last afternoon in the sun with our friends and this incredible community.

Without a doubt, November 2024 provided The Drag with our best month of baseball on record. Our pitching was sharp. The lineup produced. Though our defense may have bended here and there, it never broke. Just an outstanding conclusion to a very satisfying 2024 Sandlot season.

Steven Carrizales started on the hill against our Roadrunner pals and then our bullpen of Rickner, Braden, and RJ (making his sandlot pitching debut) sealed up the game.

Katy Fairlee’s bat remained hot as she had a few base knocks and RJ, Stillman, Steven, and Co. kept the offense moving with extra base hits. Colin made his return from world traveling and we picked up Jacob, a former Roadrunner and current Papervalley Pike, for the game.

“It’s not whether you win or lose, but how you play the game.”
This game was played with joy on both sides.
Perfect conclusion to a rewarding season.
Spring 2025 can’t come fast enough.

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As NFL, college football, NBA, trips to movie theaters, and whatever else might help you pass the time ballplayers refer to as “the offseason,” it’s easy to get a little down.

A brief aside – I’m kind of weird about art and media.
If you weren’t aware of that, we haven’t had conversations over beers.
Anyways, many people turn to genre fiction, trash television, top 40 tunes, comic book commercial cinema, or whatever else for “escape.”
I hear it all the time – “Movies/Adolescent Literature/Music is, just, like an escape for me man.”

And that’s all well and good. Every human needs their preferred form of escape/escapism. But I know myself well enough to understand that there’s no better escape than showing up to a beloved, yet junky ballpark with 30 or so folks, cleating up, grooving fingers into a worn-out glove, loosening up a belabored shoulder, taking a few hacks with a piece of lumber you’re well aware will inevitably fall apart on ya, then march through the ballgame’s ups, downs, and eventually wash the day down with a few beers in the later innings.
It’s what our weekends are scheduled around.

When’s our game?
When are we playing ball?
Who do we have this weekend?
Who’s pitching?
How’s the arm feeling?

December, January, February – these questions turn dormant.
Regardless of how great the music is, there’s only so much satisfaction that listening to LPs while watching televised non-baseball activities can bring.

So we wait.
We tell ourselves that our arms and bodies can use the break, but we know we belong at the ballpark.
Thank God nobody can ever hold back spring.