Geographist

Milo Hamilton Born: September 2, 1927 Sport: Baseball - Announcer (60 MLB seasons, National Radio Hall of Fame, Ford C. Frick Award) As the baseball season approaches its home stretch and football prepares to take its place as the focal point of the fall calendar, I wanted to take one week to remember a man who shaped my own early impressions of sports.  Living for several years on the outskirts of Houston, I would frequently listen to games on the AM station when they either weren't televised or I couldn't quite get a good picture to see.  To be honest, baseball has been a sport I enjoy watching on TV but have much more regularly listened to on the radio, and the skilled announcers who paint a mental image of what is happening have always been enjoyed and appreciated by yours truly.  Milo Hamilton was one of the preeminent voices of baseball broadcasting for decades before I was even born, and he worked for numerous teams along his long and winding path before concluding...

Jimmy Wynn Born: March 12, 1942 Sport: Baseball (3-time All Star) Each week I try to determine who it makes sense to spotlight, and now that we've been looking at significant sports figures from the Houston area for well over a year we're pretty deep into the initial list I created (with a few new individuals added along the way).  But although I try to be relevant by generally having athletes represented during the time of year when their sport is usually played, it is also fun to mix things up from time to time so we don't get buried in a single sport or era for too long.  I'll be honest, however, it seems like we had better get as many baseball players as possible done while this season is going on - if you're not the kind of fan who follows the off-field drama of various leagues then suffice it to say there's some labor strife that may result in a work stoppage soon.  That could mean a very long offseason if the various parties don't come to an agreement...

Doug Drabek Born: July 25, 1962 Sport: Baseball (155-134 pitching record, All-Star, Cy Young) I probably started getting serious about sports when I was 8 or 9 years old, at which point I was playing basketball and watching the rise of my hometown Rockets which would result in them winning our city's first major championships a few years later.  One could argue that the Oilers winning a pair of AFL titles in the 1960s should count, but while a bit of recognition is certainly warranted I obviously wasn't around for those and the NFL was the bigger league with a longer history at that point.  My focus on baseball was based primarily on whatever games I could attend, and my parents decided to get my brother and I involved in the Astros Buddies.  Started in the 1960s, it is the longest-running fan program in franchise history, and it got us tickets to a handful of games to see our team play at the Astrodome, which my grandfather had a hand in building long before I was born....

Abner Doubleday Born: June 26, 1819 Sport: Baseball (Mythically credited with inventing baseball) For the better part of the past week, I had the enjoyable experience of having a one-on-one vacation with my youngest daughter.  I have had the opportunity to take a trip alone with each of my three girls over the past two years, but this one was unique.  While the older two are big fans of beaches and cruise ships, my youngest decided to go a different direction when I offered her the chance to get away.  Declining the option to climb aboard a boat, she instead leaned into her love of history and asked to go see the battlefield at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.  And so we took off and saw the National Civil War Museum, the Civil War sites of Gettysburg and Antietam, and the Revolutionary War locations of Brandywine and Independence Hall in downtown Philadelphia.  During that time, a particular name came up on several occasions which actually has a connection to Houston ...

Hello everyone!  I'm currently enjoying some vacation time with my youngest kiddo, and maybe even getting some ideas for future topics.  Rest assured, I'll be back with more Houston sports figures soon.  Until then, I hope you all enjoy a terrific week and make the best use of your summer!  The Geographist