The ghost of Richard Lee “Dick” Stuart was alive and well that warm, languid evening at Angel Stadium of Anaheim on Gene Autrey Way. Many of you weren’t born when Stuart, infamously known as Dr. Strangeglove following the Stanley Kubrick 1964 classic of the same name, held court and, oopsy-daisy, drop-kicked balls from 1958 to 1969. Stuart didn’t just butcher the rawhide. He stewed, filleted,…
(Editor’s Note: Author Bruce Kauffman died in December 2018 at his home in National City. A longtime journalist with the North County Times at Escondido and San Marcos, and before that CNN, Bruce was born in Massachusetts and attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison while taking a BA at Case Western Reserve University and MA at the University of Missouri School of Journalism. Locally, he specialized…
It was all over, especially the shouting, little that it was, as the San Diego Padres wrapped up the 2015 home schedule at Petco Park. And oh, by the way, in this season of their continued discontent, the Padres humbled their apparent arch-nemesis Milwaukee Brewers 3-1 behind Ian Kennedy’s best game of a 9-15, .428 ERA season. Believe it or not, the Brewers had won…
It’s been 50 years. Welcome to Lysergic World San Francisco, April 16-19, 1993 presentation of one of the most infamous days in San Diego sports history. Los Angeles, April 8, 1984- Former Pittsburgh Pirates’ pitcher Dock Ellis says he was under the influence of LSD when he pitched a June 12, 1970 no-hitter against the San Diego Padres. Ellis, later co-ordinator of an anti-drug program in Los…
Tale of the Toppled Hurler: A Peter Hartwell Story by Bruce A. Kauffman c 2017 All rights reserved. For full story, visit: https://escondidograpevine.com/a-the-tale-of-the-toppled-hurler-a-peter-hartwell-story/. Chapter 16 They’ve weathered the crisis at the temple and now Hartwell heads for town to witness the rest of the Yankees’ series. Jimmy drove me to Kenmore Square, where I checked into the hotel and lingered under a hot, needle-point shower until…
Tale of the Toppled Hurler: A Peter Hartwell Story by Bruce A. Kauffman c 2017 All rights reserved. For full story to date, visit: https://escondidograpevine.com/a-the-tale-of-the-toppled-hurler-a-peter-hartwell-story/. Chapter 14 Peter Hartwell at last is in the driver’s seat, having turned the tables so that the fat man becomes his prisoner. They are driving toward Boston. “Would you tune in the Opera Channel?” my passenger said. What with all…
Tale of the Toppled Hurler: A Peter Hartwell Story by Bruce A. Kauffman c 2017 All rights reserved. For full story to date, visit: https://escondidograpevine.com/a-the-tale-of-the-toppled-hurler-a-peter-hartwell-story/. CHAPTER 12 Last we saw, Hartwell’s latest escape attempt was foiled and he was chauffeured by the fat man from Boston to the Donut Depot in the heart of Hartsdale. The fat man is now indulging his tryptophane urgings. The fat…
Tale of the Toppled Hurler: A Peter Hartwell Story by Bruce A. Kauffman c 2017 All rights reserved. For full story to date, visit: https://escondidograpevine.com/a-the-tale-of-the-toppled-hurler-a-peter-hartwell-story/. At last reckoning, another of Peter’s attempts to escape fails. Now the fat man is driving him south toward Braintree in the sleek Infiniti. The radio is on. My host punched in the Opera Channel and sang along as we cruised…
Tale of the Toppled Hurler: A Peter Hartwell Story by Bruce A. Kauffman c 2017 All rights reserved. For full story to date, visit: https://escondidograpevine.com/a-the-tale-of-the-toppled-hurler-a-peter-hartwell-story/. His last adventure saw Peter Hartwell tied up and locked in the back seat of the Fat Man’s Infiniti and about to roll into the Charles River. Russell, the Fat Man’s compadre, shows up at last with a girl in tow….
Tale of the Toppled Hurler: A Peter Hartwell Story by Bruce A. Kauffman c 2017 All rights reserved. For full story to date, visit: https://escondidograpevine.com/a-the-tale-of-the-toppled-hurler-a-peter-hartwell-story/. Readers will recall that intrepid journalist Peter Hartwell was en route to a watery grave when Russell, the Fat Man’s partner, shows up, a girl in tow. The Fat Man, concerned about the presence of a witness, puts the brakes on…