Geographist

Jeff Kent Born: March 7, 1968 Sport: Baseball (5-time All-Star, 4-time Silver Slugger, MVP, Hall of Fame) Before getting started, my website stats say this is my 400th blog post.  Pretty cool!  Thank you again to everyone who takes the time to click and read!  It is Hall of Fame weekend in Cooperstown, New York.  Three men have been inducted into baseball's primary museum, and although debate goes on about what athletes, coaches, and contributors have been included or excluded, it certainly remains high praise to have a plaque with your name on it placed alongside so many legendary names.  One of this year's honorees had a brief, but impactful, time in Houston and has left a bit of himself in the Astros record book.  Throughout his 17 year career with six different teams, he set new standards for his position and never had a negative WAR (a stat measuring your level of play against the rest of the league's players at your position).  Today, as fans of ...

Zina Garrison Born: November 16, 1963 Sport: Tennis (World #1 junior women's player, World #4 singles player, Wimbledon singles finalist, 2-time Australian Open doubles finalist, 2-time Olympic medalist - 1 Gold, 1 Bronze) It's always amazing to me what variety of sports figures have come from Houston.  Obviously the city has long been a hotbed (figuratively as well as literally, given our typical weather patterns) of talent for the major sports.  But what about the events that don't always attract as big a spotlight?  Space City has had its share of stars there as well, and because of the makeup of our region we have produced some trailblazers and trendsetters.  Although tennis has never been a true "fringe" sport, it doesn't generally get in the zeitgeist unless someone truly special comes along.  During the time leading up to last week's Wimbledon final, much of the conversation centered on the return of Serena Williams to a major tournament at the age ...

Booker T Born: March 1, 1965 Sport: Wrestling (11-time WCW Tag-Team champion, 6-time World champion, 2006 King of the Ring, 2-time Hall of Fame inductee) It's another full week on the sports calendar in America!  Baseball has officially reached the All Star break, the symbolic midway point of the season, and many amateurs have had their lives changed during the annual draft.  In MMA, celebrity fighter Conor McGregor made his long-anticipated return to the ring but only lasted a minute before an injury put a stop to the fight.  Basketball is being played, with the regular season in the WNBA going on while NBA squads compete in Summer League action.  And of course the World Cup is down to the final four nations that will vie for the title over the coming days.  But this week, I'm going to take a bit of a detour and visit a group of athletes that frequently get accused of having a fake sport but whose physical prowess is undeniable.  A while back we learned th...

Today, www.geographist.com surpassed the 500,000 mark for total views.  Wow!  I know that's small potatoes for the big websites out there, but for me it's amazing to think that even a fraction of that number would find the time to click through this blog of things that interest me.  Thank you to every single reader! J.R. Richard Born: March 7, 1950 Sport: Baseball (107-71 pitching record, All-Star, ERA title) Happy Independence Day to everyone in the United States!  I've thoroughly enjoyed all of the celebrations for our country's 250th birthday, including my own neighborhood's 131st consecutive July 4th celebration last night, and continue to cheer on our national team as the play on the world's biggest soccer stage.  On the baseball field, we got news that Yordan Alvarez was voted into the starting position for the American League's DH at the upcoming All-Star game, and maybe he'll get to add some MVP hardware to that trophy case now that he's gett...