Running Bear's July 2025 Coffee Shop
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Take care....John
John
Here is the article from the Baltimore Sun.
By Matt Weyrich | [email protected]
UPDATED: July 4, 2025 at 1:39 PM EDT
Billy Hunter, the last living member of the Orioles’ inaugural 1954 team, who made the MLB All-Star Game as a rookie and spent parts of 14 seasons as the third base coach in Baltimore, has died, the club announced Thursday. He was 97.
Hunter was a holdover from the St. Louis Browns, moving to Baltimore along with the rest of the franchise when it relocated ahead of the 1954 season. Coming off his All-Star campaign, he was the Orioles’ first opening day shortstop; Hunter went on to play 125 games that season, hitting .243 with two home runs and five stolen bases.
The Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, native who was originally recruited by Penn State to play both baseball and football lasted only one season in Baltimore before being traded as part of a 17-player deal to the New York Yankees. He was part of New York’s 1956 World Series-winning roster but never made an appearance in the Fall Classic.
Hunter played six seasons for different franchises before converting to a coach. After managing the Bluefield Orioles farm team, he was promoted back to the majors as a third base coach and he held that position until accepting the Texas Rangers’ managerial job midway through the 1977 season.
The Orioles enjoyed a golden period in its franchise history with Hunter on staff. Baltimore won two World Series titles, made the postseason six times, and fielded Hall of Famers Brooks Robinson, Frank Robinson and Jim Palmer.
Hunter was credited for coming up with the idea for the clubhouse to hold its famous “Kangaroo Court” with Frank Robinson serving as the judge, complete with a robe and mop on his head, levying fines on players who made mental mistakes in games.
After being fired a year and a half into his stint with the Rangers, Hunter returned to Baltimore to take the head baseball coach job at Towson State. He spent nine years at the helm of Towson’s baseball program, took on the additional responsibilities of associate athletic director in 1981, and became the school’s fifth director of athletics in 1984.
Hunter held that position until he retired in 1995. Under Hunter, Towson’s athletic program made two NCAA Tournament appearances in men’s basketball, reached the 1991 national championship game in men’s lacrosse and finished fifth nationally in gymnastics in 1990. He also served as president of the East Coast and Big South conferences during his tenure.
He was inducted into the Orioles Hall of Fame in 1996 as part of the same class as Cal Ripken Sr., and Towson followed suit, adding him to its Hall of Fame two years later.
Hunter is survived by his wife, Bev, sons Greg and Kevin, four grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
WALTER MCCARDELL, JR. / Baltimore Sun
The late Billy Hunter demonstrates proper base running technique during Orioles training camp in 1973. (Staff file)
I see it as another aspect of God's amazing creation. Life can adapt and live comfortably in the frigid temperatures near the poles or at the equator. Amazing and yes, remarkably interesting!
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Guilford Railman
Well-Known Member
Hello everyone!
The fiancée and I decided to keep it simple for the 4th of July and head on over to Look Park in Northampton MA. We spent part of the afternoon there walking around the park, having an ice cream treat, visiting the zoo, and of course riding their C.P. Huntington Replica train!
I visited the park many times as a kid, so it was the perfect way to spend the day off of work with my fiancée and experience a little nostalgia
The fiancée and I decided to keep it simple for the 4th of July and head on over to Look Park in Northampton MA. We spent part of the afternoon there walking around the park, having an ice cream treat, visiting the zoo, and of course riding their C.P. Huntington Replica train!
I visited the park many times as a kid, so it was the perfect way to spend the day off of work with my fiancée and experience a little nostalgia
westtexjohn
Well-Known Member
I have not flown the drone yet. For the last week we have had rain off and on during each day and on a couple of days we have had high winds so not good conditions to "learn" to fly a drone. I have found a couple of very good YouTube videos on first time flying for the DJI Mini Pro 4 and have watched them a couple of times as there is a lot to take in. It is not as simple as turn it on and go fly. There are upgrades to firmware, registration info, first time settings and things one must do within 48 hours of your first flight if you want to have any warranty on your drone. I might give it a try this weekend. I'll post when the first flight takes place. I also have several irons in the fire on model railroad projects that need attention and finishing. And sadly, there are those days when all I want to do is sleep.
Take care....John
John
Kusojiji
RANK AMATEURS OF THE MODEL RAILROAD FORM MEMBER
Here's my USPS comparison with Royal Mail: shipment from Kato USA started 23 JUN. Went from IL to PA to NJ to NY back to NJ and finally got into the air on 2 JUL.
Shipment from Kernow started 1 JUL. In the air on 2 JUL. I usually receive my stuff from the UK in 7 days or less. Twice as long from the US.
Shipment from Kernow started 1 JUL. In the air on 2 JUL. I usually receive my stuff from the UK in 7 days or less. Twice as long from the US.
westtexjohn
Well-Known Member
Happy Independence Day to all...........
My worthless comments on others posts..........
I have never heard of "Reapercon" until today. I have too much to do on my model railroad, so not much time for other interest. Denton Texas is about 175 miles from me. My son is heavy into computer role player/fantasy type stuff like troyphoto shows in his posts, just not my cup of tea and all that time spent sitting for hours in front of the computer is, for me, lost time. My son lives not far from Denton but I doubt he went to Reapercon as he is always broke.
I have a ROKU box connected to my TV. It works great. I will NEVER pay for TV programs as there is nothing ( in my opinion ) worth paying for. Anyhow, most 'Pay for" series on TV come up later for free. YouTube makes up about 95% of my TV watching. I will, on occasion, pay for a movie on Amazon Prime but not that often and usually I will want to see an older movie (when movies were good). I rented "Tom Horn" the other night and enjoyed it very much. YouTube has a lot of older "who done it" movies from the 40s and 50s for free.......I like the old movies, guess because I'm old.
Gas in Vernon Texas ( about 60 miles from me ) priced at $2.37 per gallon yesterday. I was there at the large Wal Mart they have. Gas prices in my little burg of Seymour Tx is $2.89. If you ask around town why gas is high, they will tell you it is delivery charges being higher, which is bull$hit. The real reason is Seymour is just about halfway between Dallas/FT. Worth and Lubbock Tx. Texas Tech University is in Lubbock and Hiway 82 (known as the Lubbock Hiway) runs through Seymour. So students who drive to college each week (home on the weekends) will stop to buy gas in Seymour. GOTCHA. I live not far off hiway 82 and traffic on Friday afternoons and Sunday afternoons is pretty steady, even during the summer.
RC Cola at the WalMart yesterday was $6 for an eighteen pack. I prefer RC over Coke or Pepsi....yea, I'm always in the minority.
My prayers for those in Kerrville Texas and surrounding areas. If anyone has kin in this neck of the woods, I wish the best for them.
I am going to pay the $34 MicroSoft fee to keep Windows 10 on one of my desk top computers for another year. I purchased a laptop about 6 months or so ago with Windows 11 Pro and that will be my only computer with Win 11 on it. I am going with Linux, Zorin Pro on my other desktop. I have had Zorin on an old laptop for several months now and really like it. Only thing is, I had my railroad layout done in the "AnyRail" layout program and that is NOT available for Linux, but I can still put it on my laptop with Win 11.
On the topic of Office 365 and the fees, I use, as many others do, LibreOffice. LibreOffice is a great replacement for Office 365 and is FREE. LibreOffice is also available for Linux.
85 degrees for a high here on July 4 and upper 70s for the next 4 days. I can never remember when the weather was this cool in July. Usually we have allready hit 102 to 105 by this time of summer. I'm not complaining, just saying.........guess all those "global warming" folks don't have much to say now.
OK......I'm done now.............John
My worthless comments on others posts..........
I have never heard of "Reapercon" until today. I have too much to do on my model railroad, so not much time for other interest. Denton Texas is about 175 miles from me. My son is heavy into computer role player/fantasy type stuff like troyphoto shows in his posts, just not my cup of tea and all that time spent sitting for hours in front of the computer is, for me, lost time. My son lives not far from Denton but I doubt he went to Reapercon as he is always broke.
I have a ROKU box connected to my TV. It works great. I will NEVER pay for TV programs as there is nothing ( in my opinion ) worth paying for. Anyhow, most 'Pay for" series on TV come up later for free. YouTube makes up about 95% of my TV watching. I will, on occasion, pay for a movie on Amazon Prime but not that often and usually I will want to see an older movie (when movies were good). I rented "Tom Horn" the other night and enjoyed it very much. YouTube has a lot of older "who done it" movies from the 40s and 50s for free.......I like the old movies, guess because I'm old.
Gas in Vernon Texas ( about 60 miles from me ) priced at $2.37 per gallon yesterday. I was there at the large Wal Mart they have. Gas prices in my little burg of Seymour Tx is $2.89. If you ask around town why gas is high, they will tell you it is delivery charges being higher, which is bull$hit. The real reason is Seymour is just about halfway between Dallas/FT. Worth and Lubbock Tx. Texas Tech University is in Lubbock and Hiway 82 (known as the Lubbock Hiway) runs through Seymour. So students who drive to college each week (home on the weekends) will stop to buy gas in Seymour. GOTCHA. I live not far off hiway 82 and traffic on Friday afternoons and Sunday afternoons is pretty steady, even during the summer.
RC Cola at the WalMart yesterday was $6 for an eighteen pack. I prefer RC over Coke or Pepsi....yea, I'm always in the minority.
My prayers for those in Kerrville Texas and surrounding areas. If anyone has kin in this neck of the woods, I wish the best for them.
I am going to pay the $34 MicroSoft fee to keep Windows 10 on one of my desk top computers for another year. I purchased a laptop about 6 months or so ago with Windows 11 Pro and that will be my only computer with Win 11 on it. I am going with Linux, Zorin Pro on my other desktop. I have had Zorin on an old laptop for several months now and really like it. Only thing is, I had my railroad layout done in the "AnyRail" layout program and that is NOT available for Linux, but I can still put it on my laptop with Win 11.
On the topic of Office 365 and the fees, I use, as many others do, LibreOffice. LibreOffice is a great replacement for Office 365 and is FREE. LibreOffice is also available for Linux.
85 degrees for a high here on July 4 and upper 70s for the next 4 days. I can never remember when the weather was this cool in July. Usually we have allready hit 102 to 105 by this time of summer. I'm not complaining, just saying.........guess all those "global warming" folks don't have much to say now.
OK......I'm done now.............John
Kusojiji
RANK AMATEURS OF THE MODEL RAILROAD FORM MEMBER
How's the Zorin Pro working for you? Is it easy to install other programs? This was the reason why I went away from Red Hat. Also, I think they had VMWARE or something like that embedded so that you might be able to run windows type stuff. I used to play around with that a long time ago but haven't tried in the past 10 years...
That reminds me of the one from the Pittsburgh Zoo. They shut it down for a while, but it looks like they'll be bringing it back in the fall. The new one doesn't use tracks which kind of sucks but it is what it is. https://www.pittsburghzoo.org/event/one-wild-express/
Guilford Railman
Well-Known Member
I’ve been on a few of the trackless trains at various zoos around the country, and they aren’t too bad. Not as exciting as ones with tracks tho!
Bruette
Well-Known Member
Thank you, Terry, I didn't think many would notice. Billy Hunter was a legend in Baltimore.
Here is the article from the Baltimore Sun.
Billy Hunter, last living member of Orioles’ inaugural 1954 team, dies
Former Baltimore shortstop was inducted into the ballclub’s Hall of Fame in 1996
By Matt Weyrich | [email protected]
UPDATED: July 4, 2025 at 1:39 PM EDT
Billy Hunter, the last living member of the Orioles’ inaugural 1954 team, who made the MLB All-Star Game as a rookie and spent parts of 14 seasons as the third base coach in Baltimore, has died, the club announced Thursday. He was 97.
Hunter was a holdover from the St. Louis Browns, moving to Baltimore along with the rest of the franchise when it relocated ahead of the 1954 season. Coming off his All-Star campaign, he was the Orioles’ first opening day shortstop; Hunter went on to play 125 games that season, hitting .243 with two home runs and five stolen bases.
The Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, native who was originally recruited by Penn State to play both baseball and football lasted only one season in Baltimore before being traded as part of a 17-player deal to the New York Yankees. He was part of New York’s 1956 World Series-winning roster but never made an appearance in the Fall Classic.
Hunter played six seasons for different franchises before converting to a coach. After managing the Bluefield Orioles farm team, he was promoted back to the majors as a third base coach and he held that position until accepting the Texas Rangers’ managerial job midway through the 1977 season.
The Orioles enjoyed a golden period in its franchise history with Hunter on staff. Baltimore won two World Series titles, made the postseason six times, and fielded Hall of Famers Brooks Robinson, Frank Robinson and Jim Palmer.
Hunter was credited for coming up with the idea for the clubhouse to hold its famous “Kangaroo Court” with Frank Robinson serving as the judge, complete with a robe and mop on his head, levying fines on players who made mental mistakes in games.
After being fired a year and a half into his stint with the Rangers, Hunter returned to Baltimore to take the head baseball coach job at Towson State. He spent nine years at the helm of Towson’s baseball program, took on the additional responsibilities of associate athletic director in 1981, and became the school’s fifth director of athletics in 1984.
Hunter held that position until he retired in 1995. Under Hunter, Towson’s athletic program made two NCAA Tournament appearances in men’s basketball, reached the 1991 national championship game in men’s lacrosse and finished fifth nationally in gymnastics in 1990. He also served as president of the East Coast and Big South conferences during his tenure.
He was inducted into the Orioles Hall of Fame in 1996 as part of the same class as Cal Ripken Sr., and Towson followed suit, adding him to its Hall of Fame two years later.
Hunter is survived by his wife, Bev, sons Greg and Kevin, four grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
WALTER MCCARDELL, JR. / Baltimore Sun
The late Billy Hunter demonstrates proper base running technique during Orioles training camp in 1973. (Staff file)
chadbag
Well-Known Member
It’s interesting how a given temperature is felt or perceived. If it’s hot outside and you go into a house that is cooler, say 90F outside and 73F inside the house, that feels nice and cool.
But then you go out and it’s 65F outside. When you come back in to the same 73F, it now feels kind of warm inside.
That happened to me tonight. I went to take the trash out and it’s 65F out. I came back into the house after being out for 5-7 min or maybe 10 min and it felt kind of warm. Even though before I went outside the same house felt nice.
It was probably in the 80s today. I didn’t check. It alternated between sun with some clouds and overcast and rainy (and some scattered pea sized hail). Earlier this week it hit 100 on a couple days (but has slowly been cooling off just a little). So going outside during the day and coming back in the same 73F felt nice and cool.
Just kind of an interesting observation.
But then you go out and it’s 65F outside. When you come back in to the same 73F, it now feels kind of warm inside.
That happened to me tonight. I went to take the trash out and it’s 65F out. I came back into the house after being out for 5-7 min or maybe 10 min and it felt kind of warm. Even though before I went outside the same house felt nice.
It was probably in the 80s today. I didn’t check. It alternated between sun with some clouds and overcast and rainy (and some scattered pea sized hail). Earlier this week it hit 100 on a couple days (but has slowly been cooling off just a little). So going outside during the day and coming back in the same 73F felt nice and cool.
Just kind of an interesting observation.
Bruette
Well-Known Member
Others may be wondering why I posted about the War of 1812 on the Fourth of July. I wanted to point out that the battle against tyranny was and always will be an ongoing struggle. The Fourth of July commemorates our Declaration of Independence. America’s response to tyranny.
In the years leading up to the War of 1812 the tyrant was at it again. Challenging our independence, our freedom, and our democracy. Until the United States declared war on June 18, 1812. Beginning what I and others like to think of as our second war for independence, the War of 1812.
Our Independence, our freedom and our democracy are not free. We must always stand up to tyrants, bullies if you will. We must always stand up for our values. To borrow from Superman, “Truth, Justice, and the American Way”
“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing” That quote is widely attributed to Edmund Burke. Even though there is no record of him writing or saying it. The closest verified quote from Burke comes from his 1770 work Thoughts on the Cause of the Present Discontents: “When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle.” That’s the authentic Burke
"God Bless Us Everyone" The final lines of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
Verified by Microsoft's AI, Copilot.
In the years leading up to the War of 1812 the tyrant was at it again. Challenging our independence, our freedom, and our democracy. Until the United States declared war on June 18, 1812. Beginning what I and others like to think of as our second war for independence, the War of 1812.
Our Independence, our freedom and our democracy are not free. We must always stand up to tyrants, bullies if you will. We must always stand up for our values. To borrow from Superman, “Truth, Justice, and the American Way”
“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing” That quote is widely attributed to Edmund Burke. Even though there is no record of him writing or saying it. The closest verified quote from Burke comes from his 1770 work Thoughts on the Cause of the Present Discontents: “When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle.” That’s the authentic Burke
"God Bless Us Everyone" The final lines of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
Verified by Microsoft's AI, Copilot.
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Bruette
Well-Known Member
It is interesting.
I see it as another aspect of God's amazing creation. Life can adapt and live comfortably in the frigid temperatures near the poles or at the equator. Amazing and yes, remarkably interesting!
troyphoto
Snarky Old Fart (in training)
I'm up! Made it to 5:30 after resetting my sleep headband. I had hit pause during the night. So the 4am pee run was quieter than normal.
Once I got the crickets in my ears again, I got another hour in.
Did some wording of words. It's the big debutante ball dance scene. And I know nothing of ballroom dancing. I asked AI for some numbers they might dance to. Any ballroom dancers here? Got a favorite I should work into the line up for these non-professional dancers?
OK, time to shower and begin the day.
Once I got the crickets in my ears again, I got another hour in.
Did some wording of words. It's the big debutante ball dance scene. And I know nothing of ballroom dancing. I asked AI for some numbers they might dance to. Any ballroom dancers here? Got a favorite I should work into the line up for these non-professional dancers?
OK, time to shower and begin the day.
Tango - Wikipedia
logandsawman
Northern Pacific history enthusiast
I am early, it was 95 yesterday, we attended some outdoor music nearby. We had shade, lawn chairs, nice breeze, but I think the heat got to me a bit...
Light rain now and 70.
Our gas prices hovering around 2.89 to 3.19 for several months, I can't complain.
Tragic about the flash floods in TX, pray for those affected.
More later, Dave LASM
Light rain now and 70.
Our gas prices hovering around 2.89 to 3.19 for several months, I can't complain.
Tragic about the flash floods in TX, pray for those affected.
More later, Dave LASM
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