January 10, 2013

A point of view: Thoughts from Herman Sanders

Today we have a special guest, Herman Sanders, retiree, bringing his thoughts about sports and life.

My grandchildren, Marie and Steve, both like to call me Paps, and I would really hope that one day, all of you could call me that. I will start out by listing my achievements, so you can get better acquainted with me so you can respect my judgment for future writings.

  • I was born in 1954
  • I was born in Council Bluffs, Iowa
  • My favorite color as a child was blue
  • I played catcher in baseball all through high school
  • My first job out of high school was working textiles
  • With money from my first job, I purchased baseball cards that included Sandy Koufax

Now that you know a little about me, now I'm going to give you a few thoughts about the Hall of Fame inductions, or lack there of.


I've never liked cheaters. Once, when I was raising my children, Collin and Tara, I was playing a game of checkers. It was with Collin of course. Women never have given me a challenge on the checker board. Anywho, Collin thought that he could pull a fast one on ole' Paps and tried to move his checker piece 3 squares instead of one. This was a clear violation of checkers law, so I taught him a lesson in the only way I knew how. Gave him three lashings at the pole. Just joshin'. That's a little joke I had with me and my former wife, Nancy. We've since split up. We used to say that when we spanked our kids, that it was like a negro being whipped by a slave owner. It was all fun and games in our household. Some have told me my humor is a bit "dicy" but you'll learn that over the coming articles. It's all fun and games.

Where was I? Oh, yes, cheating. So, what you can take from my story is that I don't like cheating. And that is exactly what was happening over this period in baseball. Everyone was cheating, using substances that weren't legal in the game. This isn't the 60's anymore kids. Drugs aren't cool. In fact, no one is getting inducted to the Hall of Fame this year because of it. And I say, good riddance. They made a mockery of the sport I knew and loved. I told you about my Sandy Koufax card right? If I didn't, well, it must have slipped my mind.

I was on Alta-Vista, as I always do in the morning, and came across this article. It says that older generations of hall of famers were applauding the outcomes of the balloting this year. I'd just like to say, I applaud their applauding. Goose Gossage said it would be a black eye to the sport if these cheaters were inducted. I would say, from my point of view, that it would be more like an ulcer like the one I had last year. It was painful as all get out. I didn't have insurance at the time, so I just dealt with the pain. I could barely go out to the grocery store and purchase my breakfast and eat it there. And that's what it would be like in baseball. It would be like skipping breakfast. You know, breakfast is the most important meal. Could you imagine baseball not having breakfast? It would be insane. I know all you young folks like to skip on breakfast. My grandchildren, Marie and Steve, always skip breakfast. It's terrible for them I should really tell their mother, Tara, my daughter. Without a proper breakfast, how can you live with the rest of the world, and their motorized scooters and hybrid cars.

Anyways, I forgot my point. I guess I'll get going. I think you know how I feel about it.

This has been A Point of View: Thoughts from Herman Sanders.

I hope to see you around this way again. And maybe next time, I'll bring a pocket full of candy corn. I know you youngins love candy corn. You rascals.

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