Mixed day

Yesterday was a mixed day. I was happy because I did get to the car at lunchtime and made a POTA contact on 20 Meters with WS4Y at US-1873 in Florida. That was nice. Then, up the band a ways, I heard NV4H in New Mexico. re-tuned the ZM-2 until the red LED went out, as per the instructions, but for some reason, I still got a high SWR warning on the QMX and it went into self-protection mode and would not transmit. I still have a lot of "getting used to" with the QMX ahead of me. I guess I've been spoiled by how easy the KX3 is to use..

When I got home, I was saddened to learn of the passing of two people:

Ed Kranepool was my hero Met when I was a kid. He is the only player who played for the team for his entire career. He was very good first baseman and later in his career, a pinch hitter par exelance. He was a National League All Star in 1965 and was a member of the 1969 World Championship team. To me, he was Mr. Met. I got to meet him in the 90's at a baseball card show and got his autograph on a Major League baseball. He was quite the gentleman.

The other person whose passing away touched me is James Earl Jones.

This clip, from Field of Dreams, is one of my absolute favorites. The world will remember him as the voice of Darth Vader and the voice of CNN, but to me, James Earl Jones will always be Terence Mann, delivering perhaps the finest soliloquy about baseball that I've ever heard.

RIP Eddie and James - I hope you get to meet each other on the Field of Dreams.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Ham Heaven

There's a lot of things in life that I care deeply about - family, friends, my Faith, my community. My grandfather used to say that other than things like these, you have to have other passions in your life to make your time on Earth enjoyable. Mine of course, are Amateur Radio and baseball.  Ever since I was 10 years old, when my Dad took me to Shea Stadium to watch this certain phenom rookie pitch, I have been a baseball fan.  In particular a New York Mets fan, but really a baseball fan. Baseball captivates me. It's a battle between pitcher and batter. Anything can happen at any given moment. I've been known to watch Winter League baseball games in order to satisfy my appetite for the game.

My favorite baseball movie is "Field of Dreams" closely followed by "The Natural". There's a line in that movie, delivered by James Earl Jones that just went straight to my heart the first time I heard it. I particularly like this version narrated by the late and great Vin Scully:

When I saw this video that Kevin K0KLB posted on the Skeeter Hunt Facebook page, I just had to post it here:

It may be a bit "corny", but it resonated with me - my two passions combined!

Oh, and by the way, that rookie phenom pitcher my Dad took me to see? It was a kid by the name of George Thomas Seaver, who would become known as "The Franchise".

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!