Macko And Mack: Two Generations Of Texas Rangers Fans

Joe Macko has been employed in professional baseball for 62 years. Mack Skeels has been alive for five. Age is no factor when it comes to excitement, though, and both were thrilled beyond belief at receiving an American League championship ring with a large T embedded on top.

Macko and Mack are the latest proof that in addition to bringing joy to a region, a sports franchise on top of its game can unify generations.

Macko, 82 years old and a Texas Rangers employee since the birth of the franchise in 1972, is an avowed optimist certain he'll be alive to see the team win a World Series title. For now, the AL ring he was handed at a lunch ceremony at the stadium Monday made him feel like a kid again. He reflected on the lean years, the close calls and his many friendships, from legendary Hall of Famers Ted Williams and Nolan Ryan to the anonymous clubhouse attendants he worked alongside for three decades.

Skeels felt like a kid because he is a kid. He was given a pewter replica championship ring as a gift on opening day at Rangers Ballpark -- same as the ones fans received at Monday's game -- and he showed it off to lunch patrons at Uncle Julio's restaurant and spent the afternoon hitting Wiffle balls in his backyard and dreaming of diamond glory. The son of attorney and former minor league player David Skeels and former Fort Worth Trinity Valley High and NCAA All-American distance runner Megan (Flowers) Skeels, Mack has been to six Rangers opening day games before his sixth birthday.

Macko and Mack, like countless others among the largest opening weekend crowd since the The Ballpark at Arlington opened in 1994, represent the past and future of Rangers' baseball while basking in its present.

A franchise struggling to develop an identity and the type of fan loyalty found in places like Boston and Chicago, New York and Los Angeles took a huge step by reaching the World Series in 2010. To follow that with a season-opening sweep of the Red Sox while mixing in the championship ring ceremony is the kind of experience that will linger for young and old alike.

Said Macko: "We've been at it a long time and came close many times. So this is something quite meaningful to me. This is something to be cherished."

Said Mack: "I had fun and I got to see Josh Hamilton. He's my favorite player."

Hamilton, the reigning AL MVP, and his teammates received their rings before Saturday night's game. They had conflicting emotions because the rings also reminded them they'd lost the World Series to the San Francisco Giants.

"It's bittersweet," said infielder Michael Young, the player who has been with the Rangers the longest. "Winning the AL was a great accomplishment, something this club had never done, but we still fell short of our ultimate goal."

Macko, whose playing career ended in 1964, will leave the what-could-of-beens to the current players. The ring is something of a lifetime achievement award in his mind and he plans to wear it every day along with the three others he almost never removes from his huge fingers.

"My ring finger is a size 17," he said. "I ordered this one in a 15 because I'm going to wear it on my index finger."

One ring is from the Major League Baseball Equipment Managers Assn., commemorating his three decades of service, and two are from the independent minor league Fort Worth Cats.

Macko has seemingly had some involvement with every minor league team in the state since he was signed by the Cleveland Indians in 1947.

"Each ring is a talking piece," he said. "I like to wear them because I like to brag about the game of baseball."

As a goodwill ambassador for the Rangers (that's his actual job title), Macko visits elementary schools and retirement homes, high schools and corporate functions, relating tales from his 18 years as a power-hitting minor league player and his nearly 40 years with the Rangers.

A few quick ones ...

• Nolan Ryan had his uniform jersey stolen from his luggage during his first road trip as a Ranger in 1989, apparently by somebody wanting valuable memorabilia. From then on, Macko put his clothes in Ryan's bag and Ryan's clothes in his.

"I never had mine stolen because I found a bottle of skunk spray at a novelty shop, and I'd spray some on a handkerchief and put it in the luggage," Macko said. "When they opened it, that's all they smelled."

• Ted Williams, the Rangers' first manager, and Macko were golfing in Irving, Texas, when Williams sliced his first drive into some trees and threw his club. On the second hole he sliced his drive again and became so enraged he broke his driver in half.

"He swung the broken piece of club at the golf cart, missed and hit his leg," Macko said. "Blood started running down his leg but we kept playing. When we walked you could hear the squish of blood in his shoes. He left a bloody imprint on every green."

The next day Williams had to explain to the team and to reporters why he was limping. He told Macko to back his story that he'd caught a hook in his leg while fishing. "He asked me to promise that as long as he was alive, I wouldn't tell the true story," Macko said.

Macko kept the promise, although since Williams passed away in 2002, he's probably recounted the incident a thousand times.

Where to find the best gear, jerseys and footwear in Seattle

Soccer is something that has really taken root in the Pacific Northwest, and specifically Seattle.

The Seattle Youth soccer Association alone serves over 13,000 soccer players in the Seattle and Shoreline area. It's only fitting that Seattle finally joined Major League Soccer in 2009, by having its own team, Sounders FC. On game days, SoDo (South Downtown) is just as flooded as it is on Mariners and Seahawks games.

To support this huge interest, there are several stores in the area that supports Seattle soccer. Here is a listing of the three best in the Seattle area:

Schmetzer's Sporthaus
This euro-styled soccer specialty store is one of the best places for gear, jerseys, and team wear.

There is a large selection of cleated shoes, turf shoes and indoor shoes. You'll find all the major brands, like Nike, Adidas, PUMA and Diadora. In addition, you can find all your other supplies, like gloves, shin guards, clothing, and coaching supplies. Seattle is well known for its cold weather and rain, and their cold weather gear really compliments the city's climate.

For soccer fans, there are also a lot of team and replica jerseys.

They have lot of Sounders FC jerseys and trainers that are great for game days. There are also European replica jerseys for those who like to follow Champions League "football." Teams include replica jerseys from Real Madrid, Barcelona, Arsenal and Manchester United, to name a few.

While the selection is fairly large, the store caters primarily to men and youth boys. For a larger selection for youth girls and women, you can try some of the later stores listed.

Website: http://www.soccerspecialists.com

Location: 12524 Lake City Way NE Seattle, WA 98125 (Seattle Store), 505 SE Everett Mall Way Everett, WA 98208 (Everett Store), 12525 Willows Rd NE Kirkland, WA 98034 (Redmond Store), 5015 Tacoma Mall Blvd Tacoma, WA (Tacoma Store)

Hours of Operation: Monday-CLOSED, Tuesday-Friday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m., Saturday & Sunday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.

Shop Soccer West
Shop Soccer West is the other major soccer specialty store in the Seattle area. There is a wide selection in shoes, clothing, and gear for men, women, boys and girls.

They carry all the major brands for cleated outdoor shoes, indoor shoes, and turf shoes. There is a lot of equipment from balls, shin guards, gloves to referee equipment. There is also a wide selection on apparel like shorts and training gear.

Similar to Schmetzer's, they also carry a lot of replica jerseys of football clubs in Europe. What you're not able to find at Schmetzer's, you'll find at Shop Soccer West. For example, there are replica jerseys for AC Milan, Juventus, and Liverpool, to name a few. In addition, there are jerseys assorted by country. So you can get a Brazillian or a Team USA jersey.

Shop Soccer West also supports the local football clubs by carrying the club wear for 11 local teams. These include Mt Rainier FC, Snohomish United, Issaquah Soccer Club, and Washington State's Women's Association.

Locations: 3333 184th Street Southwest, Lynwood, WA 98037 (Lynwood Store), 31833 Gateway Center Blvd-S, Federal Way, WA 98003 (Federal Way Store), Factoria Village, 3700-Factoria BLVD SE-A, Bellevue, WA 98072 (Bellevue Store), 15932 Redmond Way #102, Redmond, WA 98052 (Redmond Store)

Hours of Operation: Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.- 5 p.m.

Code Four Athletics
Code Four Athletics is one of the last independent soccer stores in Seattle and is also the best in providing team jerseys and clothing.

Many of the local, family run or independent shops in Seattle have started closing down. Soccer Shop in Redmond closed down in 2010, and Sport Specialties in Belletown closed in 2008.

Code Four Athletics doesn't compete with larger stores like Shop Soccer West and Schmetzer's Sporthaus because they don't deal with gear and footwear. They sell soccer warm ups, team hoodies and jerseys. They customize them for local and out of state teams, and sell them as discounted team packages. Items can also be bought individually.

There is also a great selection of different books and DVDs to help improve soccer techniques and drills.

Tampa Bay Rays open defense of AL East Flag

For some fans it may be hard to believe that thirteen seasons have passed in the history of their local baseball club and tonight the Tampa Bay Rays embark on a defense of their second American League East title in the last three years.

A lot has changed since the final game in 2010 but it is felt that the new additions, such as Manny Ramirez, Johnny Damon, Kyle Farnsworth, Adam Russell and Joel Peralta will soften the blow of departures like Rafael Soriano, Joaquin Benoit and most importantly, Carl Crawford.

A sellout crowd will pack Tropicana Field as they host the retooled Baltimore Orioles under the leadership of Buck Showalter. The Birds won an astounding 34 games under their new manager considering they won only 32 prior to that and he did that after August 1st becoming the first manager since 1900 to turn the trick.

The Orioles are coming off a year where they beat the Rays in the season series 10-6 and have added three thumper to their lineup: Vladimir Guerrero, Derrick Lee and Mark Reynolds, all of whom have had 40 HR seasons in their careers. But the Rays have something Baltimore does not – a starting rotation that could turn out to be the best in the junior circuit.

This evening lefty David Price toes the rubber hoping to become Tampa Bay's first 20-game winner after falling one short in 2010. His 19-6 record was the best in team annals while posting a stellar 2.72 ERA. This will be Price's first opening day assignment. The O's will send righty Jeremy Guthrie (11-14, 3.83) to the hill.

Before the first pitch fans will get to see the raising of the Rays' third banner for beating out the New York Yankees for the AL East top spot. Since their inaugural season in 1998 the Rays (2) and Yankees are the only teams to have one more than one division championship (Kids 14 and under will receive a replica banner this Sunday).

Since the Rays made their first appearance in the postseason in 2008, they have played at a torrid pace under the roof of Tropicana Field going 158-85 (65.6% winning percentage) tying them with Boston for the best home record over that span. 19 of the first 32 games of the season will be played in St. Petersburg. In addition, the Bay Bunch have a 40-13 mark with crowds of 30,000 or more. Tonight will mark the sixth straight season the Rays have sold out the home opener. The first pitch will be tossed out by Florida Governor Rick Scott.

SILENCE PLEASE: A moment of silence will be observed for the three fallen St. Petersburg police officers who were killed in the line of duty this year. They are Sergeant Thomas Baitinger, Officer Jeffrey Yaslowitz and Officer David Crawford. In addition, 125 police officers from the St. Petersburg force will unfurl a 150x300-foot US flag and the colors will be presented by the police department.

HELPING HAND: Volunteers from the Red Cross will be collecting donations for the Japan relief Fund during the opening series that will run through Sunday. The Rays have already donated $10,000 to the Children's Japan Earthquake Tsunami Children in Emergency Fund and will match up to $15,000 to the red Cross' efforts.

Civil War Program Focuses on Local Family Stories

Two days before Gen. Sterling Price's Confederate forces entered Pacific and destroyed railroad property, officers stopped at the Catawissa stone farmhouse of Riverboat Dan McAuley looking for horses.

Upon learning that McAuley had hidden his horses, they forced his wife to cook for them and kidnapped his two oldest daughters. They kept the girls, ages 18 and 19, for three nights before releasing them to return home. It was an incident that scarred the family for three generations.

"Gen. Sterling Price is no hero of mine," Billy Murphy, McAuley's great-great grandson, recently told an audience that packed the Pacific High School auditorium March 24. "After that none of the local men would have anything to do with those girls. It damaged their lives for years."

It was a story that had been whispered in Catawissa and told among family members, but not talked about publicly. Murphy said it was a story that needed telling to give a true look at the Civil War.

Murphy was one of eight speakers who related incidents of the Oct. 1, 1864, battle of Pacific that academic historians refer to as a skirmish - if they mention it at all.

As the nation observes the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, descendants of Pacific families were asked to relate their family's experiences.

The Meramec Valley Genealogical and Historical Society staged the program as part of the 2011-2015 Civil War Sesquicentennial celebration. The society, which collects local family histories, looked at its own archives to identify speakers.

Bobby Kommer, Catawissa, said his family fought on both sides of the war. His Musick ancestors, who had fought in the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812, joined the Missouri State Guard before the start of the Civil War and later joined the Confederate Army. His Whitworth relatives remained loyal to the Union and volunteered to fight for the north.

After he spoke, Kommer dropped down on the second-to-bottom auditorium step and watched the rest of the presentation, nodding in agreement as each of the speakers told their stories.

"Bobby is representative of Missouri, and of our region, because that's how it was, cousin against cousin," said Maggie Brundick Koetting, the program narrator.

Nancy Thater, MVR-III Odyssey director, said Missouri was unique in the Civil War, having two governors, two seats of government and two volunteer militia groups.

"It was all very confusing for citizens," Thater said. "Loyalties were divided across the state."

There were more than 1,000 battles and engagements in Missouri during the Civil War, the third highest of any state, Koetting said. And Pacific was a center of troop movements throughout the four-year conflict because it sat at the junction of two of the four railroads west of the Mississippi River.

It was the Pacific Railroad and its southwest branch that battalions, companies and regiments of Union solders were sent to guard. The Pacific rail center survived until the last months of the war when Confederate forces finally destroyed it.

On Oct. 1, 1864, Price's ragtag army torched the railroad bridge over the Meramec River south of town, looted stores on St. Louis Street and burned every railroad building in downtown Pacific to the ground, including the depot, eating commissary, repair shops, roundhouse, storage buildings and water towers.

After a four-hour conflict that included pounding Union forces with cannon fire, the rebels were driven from town. They took a railroad baggageman, known locally as Uncle Peter Morrison prisoner, robbed him of his shoes and sent him to walk home barefooted.

But in Gray Summit, at the home of the Ming family, Southern sympathizers who had barbecued the fatted hogs and baked big cobblers, they found what could have been the first good meal they had in months, according to local history writer Sue Reed.

"Johnny Ray, have I died and gone to heaven?" one Confederate foot soldier rhetorically asked another.

Reed uncovered the story of the barbecue held for Price and his men during oral interviews for her book on the Jeffries family. Like Kommer's relatives, Jefferies family members chose their sides and enlisted in opposing armies.

"At that picnic dinner, there actually were first cousins of the men they had just fought at Pacific," Reed said.

Local lore and stories told by grandparents were often what kept the Civil War stories alive in families, Reed said.

But there were documents that survived. Henry Alt displayed the original discharge that his great-uncle Charles Frise carried with him from the time of his discharge until the war ended.

"It's amazing that it's still in as good shape as it is," Alt said. "He couldn't put it away at home. He had to carry it with him all the time, folded up, to prove he wasn't a deserter in case he got stopped."

Many papers have been lost or not yet discovered. Dale Hoffman recalled that when he and his father demolished the old St. Louis Street mansion, called The Blue Goose, his father found a large scrapbook containing a diary and letters written by soldiers who had been patients in the army hospital set up in the building.

"I think my dad gave the scrapbook to a relative of one of the soldiers," Hoffman said. "I don't recall who he gave it to."

There were letters, too, that Robert B. Denny and his wife Maleta wrote to each other during his three years as captain of Company B, 26th Missouri Infantry, perhaps as many as a 100 letters, according to Bryon Denny, Catawissa, Denny's great-great-great grandson.

The husband-wife letters have not surfaced but the diary that Denny kept survived. Written in lead pencil, with an entry for each day, Denny recorded every time he received a letter from his wife Maleta and every time he wrote to her.

His company was with Sherman's forces at Atlanta, Ga., when the September invasion of Catawissa took place. Day after day he made a diary entry, ‘no mail from the north,' ‘no letter yet.' Finally on Oct. 26, he received a letter from Maleta.

"Old Pap Price only got one horse from me," the diary entry said. "That's all he got."

As Price's army moved north through Missouri it conscripted a growing number of wagons, horses and mules - all it could find, Koetting said.

Still there weren't enough horses to pull the artillery pieces, according to local Boy Scout Zach Myers, who researched what type of artillery a moving army would take with them so he could purchase an accurate replica for his Eagle Scout project.

"Because it was so hilly in the Ozarks they used the lighter 12-pound Howitzers. They wouldn't have been pulling the big Napoleon cannons that you see in pictures of Gettysburg," Myers said. "The 12-pounders were usually pulled by six horses, but by the time they got here they were usually only using four horses because they didn't have enough horses."

Bill McLaren owns the farm where the fenced Whitworth family cemetery is located and rents the adjoining Phelan property that overlooks the Meramec River and the railroad bridge, guarded for most of the war by Union solders.

"There's a Civil War campsite up there that's pretty clear," McLaren said. "You can envision the encampment."

McLaren said he had known about the burning of the railroad bridge most his life.

"I was about 4 or 5 when the late Jim Phelan's mother Annie Dailey Phelan, who was very old at the time, told me how she recalled when she was a small girl and the Rebel soldiers made the women and children carry brush onto the railroad bridge that they set on fire."

Portions of the presentation were a repeat of a program at the genealogy society's annual meeting at the Pacific Presbyterian Church last July.

"I'm glad we're doing it again because it gives me a chance to say what finally happened to my great-aunts, the McAuley girls," Murphy said. "When Riverboat Dan died he left each of his daughters $426 in cash.

The oldest one right away took her money and moved to Colorado. She later sent for her sister. They both married, one to a store owner and one to a miner. They ended up doing OK, but for a long time it was a sad, sad story. Neither one of them ever came back to Catawissa."

Henry Alt also had an after-the-fact story. He carried onto the stage with him a large spent shell that had been found in Pacific after the Civil War.

"We always had this on our farm, but I was almost afraid to claim it was from the Civil War," Alt said. "Last night I went to another Civil War event with Ron Sansone and there was an artillery expert there. I can confirm that this was definitely a Civil War shell and it was found in Pacific."

Patricia Sewell, Genealogy Society president, said additional research is being done in the society archives to locate correspondence and photographs that relate to the Civil War.

"We want to make the record as complete as possible," Sewell said.

Pauline Masson, who wrote the program script, said the use of the Pacific High School auditorium for the presentation was made possible Tom Sauvage, PHS principal. Fred Nolley and Cheryl Schlemper, MVR-III technology director who coordinated the video projection, sound and lights.

"Our little society never envisioned a program quite this grand," Masson said.

The Pacific Tourism Commission, Chamber of Commerce and Pacific Partnership sponsored the program, which Step Productions, New Haven, recorded on video.

‘Love Indonesian shoes’ campaign

To counter the inflow of imported products from China, the Indonesian footwear Association (Aprisindo) is cooperating with government institutions and schools to promote the use of domestically-made shoes.

Aprisindo chairman Eddy Widjanarko said in Jakarta on Monday that the association would soon hold an exhibition at the National Education Ministry as part of the “Love Indonesian Shoes” campaign.

The exhibition will be the second of the campaign program. The first expo was held in cooperation with the Trade Ministry early this month. Eddy said the association would also hold exhibitions at schools to promote locally-made shoes.

“We will also cooperate with the Foreign Ministry in organizing an exhibition at its building in May,” Eddy told The Jakarta Post.

He said promoting the use of domestically-produced shoes through exhibitions was necessary because foreign products, mainly those from China, the world’s largest footwear producer, dominated the domestic shoe market.

Fans go to extreme lengths to bag a ticket for mouth-watering game

The Very Very Important People (VVIP) list of those expected to come to watch the India-Pakistan match at Mohali tomorrow is growing by the day.

The Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) officials are in a mad rush to make sure the most comfortable seats are made available for them.

With Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani both expected, security screening to enter the stadium has been unprecedented.

As I entered the stadium yesterday, for the first time in this World Cup, I was frisked from top to bottom, with the policeman going to the extent of searching my socks and shoes.

I felt bad for these policemen who have to search every single leg entering the stadium.

Black market ticket rates are mounting by the hour. I've heard a Rs1,000 (Dh82) ticket was purchased by a visitor from Delhi for Rs25,000 (Dh2,047). "I cannot understand the madness in spending such money. For this money he could have bought an LCD 42-inch television and watched the match comfortably from his home!" said a PCA official.

It was nice to see Yuvraj Singh respecting PCA officials.

He touched PCA president I.S. Bindra's feet and hugged him. Bindra has played a big role in Singh's development.

Film actor Rahul Bose managed to get himself a ticket but screen villain Gulshan Grover has failed.

Security pressure

Superstar Shah Rukh Khan was supposed to attend the match but decided against as it could put additional pressure on the police.

Local newspapers here reported an Indian fan offering his kidney for a ticket!

A fan was permitted into the stadium while India were practising. He had a replica of the World Cup on his shaven head and wore a Sachin Tendulkar shirt.

Meanwhile, bookmakers are favouring India over Pakistan. Bets on the semi-final are expected to cross to dizzy heights. Ladbrokes, the British betting syndicate, has given the Indian team 4-7 odds. Bets have also been placed for huge amounts on whether Tendulkar will score a century.

The harsh treatment of Kamran Akmal by the fans has also continued. As he was boarding the team bus, a fan shouted: "Akmal, can you also drop me on the way?"

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$45 is the price if you want a pair.

Find out more at the Stuarts of London website

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Tampa Bay Comic Convention is a huge success

Comic book conventions are famous for bringing out the crazed fanboys, the creepy autograph seekers, a casual comic book collector and the connoisseurs of rare DVDs and toys. The Tampa Comic Convention didn't disappoint.

From Ghostbusters to Wolverine to an adorable child dressed as a lego Stormtrooper - the fans came dressed for a comic book convention as the ballroom at the Doubletree in Tampa was transformed for a few hours on a beautiful Sunday.

Comic book artists Arthur Suydam, Mike Perkins, Alex Saviuk and Frank Brunner headlined a list of creators who joined with legendary wrestler Greg "The Hammer" Valentine and the King of Independent films: Joel Wynkoop.

The convention bustled as fans scurried to snag deals on comic books, toys, DVDs and collectibles. The lines for autographs and photos were consistent but never too lengthy to be out of control. Haggling the vendors to knock $5 off of the price of a poster, questioning the authenticity of rare "Nightmare on Elm Street" Nike shoes or debating the print run of a comic book - odd behavior in other settings, but not at the Tampa Comic Convention.

The Doubletree proved to be a great venue with accessible ATMs, restrooms and snacks at the hotel. Darth Vader towered over fans, greeting them at the entrance while "Ghostbusters" were more than willing to put children in the replica containment unit for a photo or two.

A costume contest was an entertaining finale to a great show as both adults and children marched across the stage. They were met with cheers and laughter as the audience truly enjoyed the enthusiasm these guests brought to the convention.

The next show is scheduled for August 7, so mark that calendar.