The LuLac Edition # 639, Nov. 14th, 2008

PHOTO INDEX: STATE REPRESENTATIVE TODD EACHUS, OUR 1968 LOGO AND THIS BLOG EDITOR WITH CLEVELAND INDIANS GREAT HERB SCORE, CIRCA 1984.

HERB SCORE

Indulge me here today. One of my Cleveland Indians favorite players died the other day. Herb Score had his best years when I was an infant. He got hurt in 1957 when a line drive by Yankee Gil McDougal hit him in the eye. By the time I became a Tribe fan (around 1963) the Herb Score accident was legend. What struck me about him was how he recovered and never looked back. He became a broadcaster for the Indians and had a great career as the sometimes comical but always sincere proponent of Indians baseball. In 1969 I contracted a disease called uveitis and wound up in Wills Eye hospital in Philadelphia. I sat there pumped up on steroids waiting for the swelling in the eyes to go down. After 32 days, my sight came back but I was blind in my right eye. The doctors were concerned thinking I’d be bitter and crazed as only a 15 year old teenager in those days could be. But I thought of Herb Score, the guy who was destined to be the next great left hander in baseball, the guy who had more strikeouts than innings in his first two seasons, the guy who had his eyelid cut by a screaming liner that ended his career. And I thought, if Herb Score could get by, so could I. In 1984 I met Herb Score at Municipal Stadium in Cleveland and I was all set to tell him how he inspired me. But I didn’t. We talked about the Indians that year, we talked about Reggie Jackson’s performance the night before and the sparse crowds even though it was Fireworks Weekend. In short, we talked about the “now” of life, not the past. I thought about that on the night the Florida Marlins broke the Indians hearts in 1997. I thought about that when I heard Herb Score died this week. He was a guy who led his life in the present and never looked back. Herb Score was teaching people all about baseball and life long after he left the mound. I was glad to know of him and glad to talk baseball with him. We talked all about baseball, not shattered eyeballs. And that is how I will always remember Herb Score, a timeless Indian legend.


EACHUS A GO

State Rep. Todd Eachus announced his intention to run for House majority leader – the top position in the Democratic Caucus. Eachus, a Butler Township Democrat, won his seventh term last week. He said becoming majority leader would give him the ability to advance key issues to help working families according to a report in the Times Leader. The leadership elections will be held Tuesday. State Rep. Frank Dermody, D-Oakmont, has also announced his intention to run for the post to replace House Majority Leader Bill DeWeese, D-Waynesburg, who has led House Democrats for the last 12 years.
Recently, DeWeese has been accused by a former aide of knowing about illegal payments of taxpayers’ funds as bonuses to House political operatives in 2006. DeWeese who won re-election in a tough fight has been urged not to run by statewide newspapers as well as members of the Democratic caucus who are tired of his drama tactics on and off the House floor. Eachus might have a better than even chance given his success in recruiting new candidates to run for the House and the gains made in this election. Eachus headed the House campaign committee. Eachus was elected in 1996 beating Tom Stish, a former Democrat who switched to the GOP.

CHURCH VS. STATE

How 'bout this! A South Carolina Roman Catholic priest has told his parishioners that they should refrain from receiving Holy Communion if they voted for Barack Obama because the Democratic president-elect supports abortion, and supporting him "constitutes material cooperation with intrinsic
evil." The Rev. Jay Scott Newman said parishioners in Greenville that they are putting their souls at risk if they take Holy Communion before doing penance for their vote. Doing penance for their vote? What happened to the concept of seperation of church and state? And Obama or voting for Obama does not advocate baby killing or tearing the little tykes from the womb in a bloody mess! Obama advocates choice. That's it. Maybe the IRS should take a big long look into the Catholic Church's tax exempt status if they want to get involved in nullifying someone's vote in an election.

MIKE AT THE MIC

Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor and GOP presidential candidate did several fill-ins for ABC's Paul Harvey earlier this year, and now ABC Radio Networks president Jim Robinson gives Huckabee his own forum. The only description of them so far is that they'll be "short-form news features" broadcast "weekday mornings and afternoons." No details on the feed times or program length. But ABC says Huckabee will "provide listeners with the top news stories of the day while also drawing on his experiences" as a governor and candidate for the White House. The Huckabee Report launches on Monday, January 5, 2009. And let's not forget that when Ronald Reagan lost his second run for the Presidency in 1976, he went on the radio as a commentator and reached more people with his own unique brand of conservatism. I'm not saying history will repeat itself with Huckabee, I'm just saying, that's all.

KNOLL NEWS

Funeral arrangements for the late Lt. Gov. Catherine Baker Knoll havebeen finalized, and they include a final, somber stop at the center ofthe state government she so enjoyed being part of for most of the last 20 years.Knoll's body will lie in repose in the state Capitol Rotunda from noon Nov. 21 to 2 p.m. Nov. 22, before returning to Pittsburgh, where she will also lie in repose at St. Paul's Cathedral,from 1 to 5 p.m. Nov. 23. A public funeral mass will be held at noon Nov. 25, also at St. Paul's, followed by a private burial. Continuing the tributes to the former lieutenant governor, Gov. Ed Rendell's office has placed a memorial book in the Rotunda with an invitation to any Pennsylvanian who wishes to pay personal tribute to Knoll to sign. Congressman Kanjorski added his sentiments to the Knoll passing, “As we mourn the loss of Lieutenant Governor Catherine Baker Knoll, I pass along my thoughts and prayers to her family and friends. She honorably served Pennsylvania throughout her life, as a wife, mother, teacher, and as a dedicated public servant, including as the Commonwealth’s first female Lieutenant Governor. Her devotion to Pennsylvania and to its constituents was ever present in her work and she will be greatly missed.” By the way, the state Rotunda is open to the public from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays and 9a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekends.

1968

Operation commando hunt is initiated to intercept men and supplies on the Ho Chi Minh Trail through Laos into SouthVietnam. By the end of the operation, 3 million tons of bombs are dropped on Laos, slowing but not seriously disrupting trail operations……..Yale University announces it is going co-educational.... NBC cuts off the final 1:05 of an Oakland Raiders-New York Jets football game to broadcast the pre-scheduled Heidi. Fans are unable to see Oakland (which had been trailing 32-29) score two late touchdowns to win 43-32; as aresult, thousands of outraged football fans flood the NBC switchboards to protest……………….

Statewide, Congressman Richard Schweiker readies himself to succeed Senator Joe Clark who he beat in the general election……in Luzerne County, Commissioner Ed Wideman announced that he favored an across the board raise for all county employees and in 1968 forty years ago, the number one song was Cream’s “White Room”, an insight into the shape of things to come in popular music.