It was 1976. A very fun year for yours truly. Graduated from high school and life was good. At that age you don't realize how good it is. I had two girl friends, who were blissfully ignorant of the others existence, for awhile, lol. I was playing legion baseball and working a good summer job for a foundation company. Was having the time of my life. ISIS did not exist, for the time being race issues seemed dormant, cell phones did not exist so people were not walking around or sitting around with their faces in their phones constantly. People still wrote letters instead of texting. People called one another to visit instead of sending messages on facebook. Oh well. It was also the year the NBA and ABA merged finally. Much the like the NFL and AFL the senior league had tried to ignore the upstart league but after they both took a foothold and started throwing some serious dough around it became more practical to merge. Most of you would not recall the ABA but it was a very, very legitimate league. It's where the Pacers, Nets, Nuggets and Spurs originated. I still have a year book from teams called the Memphis Tams, Utah Stars, Virginia Squires and Carolina Cougars. Stars such as Julius Erving, Rick Barry, Zelmo Beatty, Louie Dampier, Mel Daniels and my own personal favorite Connie Hawkins. I learned much of what I know about the game from the late Cotton Fitzsimmons who coached Hawkins later in the league with the Phoenix Suns. He raved about Hawkins. He is is the best player most folks today have never heard of. I remember it was a cool thing to own a red white and blue ABA ball. It was a fun league.
Okay, a free release for tonight. I love my Cardinals and will be at Busch this weekend for the game saturday but with that being set aside I like the Rangers for tonight in the series opener. The Cardinals have been plagued by inconsistent play all year. Just when it appears they are ready to make their move they stumble. Getting swept at home by the Astros this week is a prime example. I know Wacha has started to look more like his old self but I like the Rangers with Hamels at this price guys. The stubborn fact is the Rangers have been stellar in interleague action against good clubs. In fact they have now prevailed in an impressive thirteen of their last sixteen. I like Texas in the opener here.
On the business side I passed on any featured release yesterday. Nothing amounted to more than a single star grade in my view. I don't force big plays. I do have my Triple Star Diamond Game of the Month going tonight. I have now cashed in on a documented 72% of my last 40 Triple Star releases here. This month I have hit on 73% of them. Love the game tonight.
Happy fathers day weekend to all the other dads out there. I wish more than I can say I could spend it with mine. I am sure many of you can relate. It hurts. But, on the flip side my family knows a weekend in St Louis for Cardinals baseball is something this dad is always up for so they are treating me. They can read me like a book. Take care guys and best of luck this weekend with your action.