Big Hair and Plastic Grass

Beat On The Brat With A Baseball Bat

Just FYI: My book Stars and Strikes: Baseball and America in the Bicentennial Summer of '76 (now out in paperback!) isn't just about what happened on the diamond — it also contains plenty of musical action from that crucial year, as well.

Fr'instance: 40 years ago this month, noted Yankees fan Johnny Ramone plays three-chord monte at Plaza Sound in New York City, where the Ramones are tracking their debut album. The self-titled LP requires only four days and $6,400 to wax; released in April, it will receive mixed reviews and chart no higher than #111 on the Billboard Hot 200, but will eventually be hailed as the most influential punk rock record of all time — and for good reason.

A Trip To The Mound

The man pictured above is Mike LaCoss, former hurler for the Reds, Astros, Royals and Giants from 1978-91. Last week, I had the pleasure of guesting on Trip To The Mound, a podcast Mike does with Roy Giovannoni for the iBaseball channel. I was "there" to talk about Stars and Strikes (now out in paperback!), but our wide-ranging talk wound up covering everything from sabermetrics to thrash metal — and I also got to pick Mike's brain a bit about his experiences with the Big Red Machine. Go HERE to listen to the whole thing...

Also, for those of you who can't get enough of my yakkin', I did two radio appearances last week with some old friends: Rich Kimball of WZON in Bangor, Maine, and Ray Steele of WIBC in Indianapolis. Both gents really know their baseball, and I am immensely grateful for their enormously supportive of my books through the years. Go HERE to listen to my chat with Rich, which includes some Lemmy- and Strat-O-Matic-related tangents; and go HERE to hear my chat with Ray, in which we talk about Mark Fidrych, Dick Allen, and whether or not you'd rather have Bill Veeck or Ted Turner as the owner of your favorite baseball team.

Happy Valentine's Day, Ted Turner Style

Today in 1976, Ted Turner — who recently purchased the Atlanta Braves — has Valentine's Day cards sent out to all of the team's season ticket holders. The cards contain the following message:

Rose is a Red
Morgan’s one, too
They finished first
Like we wanted to

But last year’s behind us
We’re happy to say
Now we’re tied for first
Happy Valentine’s Day

BRUSS!!!

Funky birthday greetings to Phillies (and later White Sox and Cubs) reliever Warren Brusstar, who was born on this day in 1952.

I post his '78 Topps card just about every year on this date on the Big Hair and Plastic Grass Facebook page, because, well, how could you not?

As if Warren's perm n' pornstache combo wasn't righteous enough, the unruly unibrow, gigantic chaw, mesmeric stare and matted chest hair yearning to breathe free all conspire to make this truly one of the most quintessential baseball cards of the 1970s.

The First Time

I wrote a piece about my first major league ballgame — a May 1976 visit to Tiger Stadium for a Yankees-Tigers game — as my contribution to Baseball Continuum's Blogathon '16, which is raising money for the Rosewell Park Cancer Institute.

Go HERE to read my piece (and the many fine ones posted by other writers). And while the Blogathon is technically over at this point, you can still donate to the charity via the Blogathon's GoFundMe page. Thanks!