Sunday Potpourri No. 53

Surprise, Surprise!

My beloved Kansas City Royals got their Cactus League season off to a winning start yesterday, beating the Texas Rangers 7-5 at the Surprise Recreation Campus the two teams share in Arizona.

The offense had a good day, scoring seven runs on twelve hits and two walks. All-Star C Salvador Perez led the way with a double, a home run, and four RBIs. OF Pete O'Brien also hit a two-run pinch hit home run in the 8th inning.

The pitchers mostly had a good day as well, with the exception of RHP Jake Junis, who gave up four hits, a walk, and five earned runs in 1 1/3 innings of work. The other seven pitchers the Royals used only gave up a single hit and no runs in a total of 7 2/3 innings.

Before the game, both teams paid tribute to the late Yordano Ventura. The city of Surprise presented Royals Manager Ned Yost with
a special plaque honoring Ventura which will now be permanently hung at the complex.

"It will be good therapy for you, having baseball to talk about again."

Baseball is basically good for my mental health, it's true...

Hard Pass

This evening ABC will televise the 89th Academy Awards ceremony from the opulent Dolby Theatre
in Hollywood.

Once upon a time this was must- see TV for me, and tonight's telecast is expected to draw a large viewing audience, but I'm simply not in the mood for the tiresome political posturing that will almost certainly accompany the presentations.

That's one of the nice features of the modern age: We no longer have to watch such drivel just to find out who won the Oscars...

"Are you rooting for any movies in particular?"

I haven't seen enough of this year's nominees to have many strong opinions, but I really enjoyed Doctor Strange and hope it wins for Best Visual Effects...

Happy Birthday!

Today is the "birthday" of not one but two of America's scenic treasures...

On February 26, 1919 President Woodrow Wilson signed the legislation creating Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona...

...and ten years later,
on February 26, 1929 President Calvin Coolidge's Executive Order established Wyoming's Grand Teton National Park.

Maybe It's a Commentary On Your Taste in Music, Dear

From the droll comic strip FoxTrot, by Bill Amend, which you should read every Sunday.

Until Next Time...

On February 26, 1928 Antoine Domino, Jr. was born in New Orleans to parents who were of French Creole descent. His first language was Louisiana Creole, and his father was a well-known local musician, as was his brother-in-law. The latter taught him the piano, and when he was just 19 he was invited to join a professional band. His new boss nicknamed him Fats Domino because of the similarities in his playing style to the well- known pianists Fats Waller and Fats Pichon.

Domino was a seminal figure in the history of rock and roll, not least because of his establishment of the piano as a lead instrument in that style of music. In this he would precede other key figures in rock and roll history who also played piano, like Professor Longhair, Jerry Lee Lewis, Pinetop Perkins, and especially Little Richard.

Original 1949 78 rpm single

His recording career began with
a bang in December of 1949, with his recording of "The Fat Man" for Imperial Records. Released just before Christmas, it took only six weeks to peak at No. 2 on the national R&B Records chart.

"The Fat Man" is always included
in the discussion of which recording should be considered the first true rock and roll record, and it is frequently cited as the first rock
and roll recording to reach a million copies in sales.



Domino's career included nine No. 1 hits on the R&B chart, and more than three dozen singles that crossed over to become Top 40 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 as well.

Today's send-off is the hit song that launched Fats's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame career (he was one of the Hall's original class of ten inductees in 1986), from his YouTube channel. Enjoy...and don't resist the urge to dance...