Frank is no longer posting in this blog . . .

 Virgil Trucks dead at age 95. Hurled two no-hitters for Detroit in 1952.

DETROIT -- Virgil Trucks, who pitched two no-hitters in 1952 for the Detroit Tigers, has died. He was 95. The two-time All-Star died Saturday near Birmingham, Ala. He pitched in the major leagues from 1941-58, helping the Tigers win the World Series in 1945.

"Fire" Trucks is one of five pitchers to throw two no-hitters in a season, according to STATS. He did it in a year the Tigers lost 104 games. Trucks went 5-19 with a 3.97 ERA in 1952, but he held Washington without a hit on May 15 and did the same to the New York Yankees on Aug. 25.

Trucks pitched 12 seasons for the Tigers and also had stints with the St. Louis Browns, Chicago White Sox, Kansas City Athletics and Yankees.

Vintage photo of Connie Mack

Connie Mack with A's coach Ira Thomas in 1914.

Photo courtesy of Jeffrey Leonard

Proof that Men Have Better Friends...

Friendship among Women: A woman didn't come home one night. The next morning she told her husband that she had slept over at a friend's house. The man called his wife's 10 best friends. None of them knew anything about it.

Friendship among Men: A man didn't come home one night. The next morning he told his wife that he had slept over at a friend's house. The woman called her husband's 10 best friends. Eight confirmed that he had slept over, and two said he was still there.

What's in a name: Hunter Pence and Joaquin Andujar aka Underpants and Underwear

A few years ago, Mark Loretta and Hunter Pence were teammates on the Houston Astros. Loretta is now a San Diego Padres' vice president and Pence the starting right fielder for the San Francisco Giants.

Today, Loretta was filling in as a commentator on the Padres' telecast and recalled that his then four-year old son could not pronounce Hunter Pence's name. According to the former infielder, his son Frankie referred to him as "Underpants".

Do you remember former pitcher Joaquin Andujar? His name is not easy to spell, much less pronounce. Your blogger recalls that a few people called him "Walking Underwear".

YOU KNOW YOU ARE A REAL BASEBALL FAN IF YOU REMEMBER COCO LABOY

I can still remember Coco being introduced by the P.A. announcer at Jarry Parc/aka Parc Jarry. That was back in the John Boccabella era, before Rusty became a Met for the first of two times.

My reference to Rusty Staub in from "Willie, Mickey and the Duke".

Rose is at the Vet, Rusty again is a Met . . .

A BOOK THAT CELEBRATES "TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALLGAME"

My old friend from San Diego, Andy Strasberg, recently visited the grave of Jack Norworth who is buried about two miles from the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim stadium. Norworth wrote the lyrics to "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" with music by Albert Von Tilzer.

Andy has an extensive collection of recordings of the song and a large assortment of sheet music for baseball's anthem. You can see a book in the photo, "Baseball's Greatest Hit; The Story of Take Me Out to the Ballgame", by Tim Wiles, Bob Thompson and Strasberg.

A website selling the book has this information:

“Take Me Out to the Ball Game” is the third most frequently sung song in America, after “Happy Birthday” and “The Star-Spangled Banner.” This special edition, full-color book takes us on a fascinating journey into how the beloved song has come to take a special place in our cultural landscape. A glorious celebration brought to life through historical photos and clippings, baseball cards, movie stills, and more."

If you would like to order a copy, do a Google search for information.