Chet Nichols was one of those guys who I discovered only after his rebound back to MLB with the Red Sox in the early 60's when he had a couple of successful seasons coming out of the bullpen. Only after getting his baseball card did I see that he had previously been an MLB "regular". In-between, he was out of the bigs for some 3-4 years. 

So far Los Angeles and California in general are "performing" fairly well in terms of deaths per population size thanks to getting a relatively early start on social distancing. My wife and I have at least one month food and supplies on hand, possibly more. Still, we have been increasingly reducing our sorties - almost down to zero now - and are experimenting with various ways to attain (some) fresh food. Many of my walking trails have been shut down so that leaves me with the backyard (thank goodness for that) and (still open) some local walking paths.

Hoping we all get thru this unscathed.

Yes, what a staff that would've been! I remember how upset NY fans were that Thomson was being traded. They thought they'd got the short end on that deal (which they really did not)! Braves also included Don Liddle in that trade as well and Don won 9 games in 1954 and 10 the next year.

Chet Nichols, Spahn's favorite, never had the control a major league pitcher needs. Always walked way too many hitters.  Somehow he had a pretty long career with multiple teams. Guess they always thought the potential would be realized.

Robb,

Sorry to hear of your "detention" in CA. It's one thing to be essentially housebound (as we are in FL) and quite another to be away from "home". The Netherlands is certainly a hot spot based on the John Hopkins map, with about 11,000 confirmed cases. I'd be surprised if most of the problem isn't in Amsterdam. I have been there often (in the early 90's) and it was a popular place for tourists and students (and a very busy city in general as I recall).

We are essentially all in high risk groups for fatalities, but the odds still seem to be around 10% if you actually get the virus. So lets hope that you and the rest of us are in the 90%!

Good to see your here on the board!

Jan

The Braves got Bobby Thomson in that Trade.  Imagine if they'd have had kept Antonelli, along with Spahn, Burdette, and Buhl???

Mike, I remember him well with the NY Giants. A classy lefthander who threw hard.

He was traded by the Braves to the Giants before the 1954 World Championship season. The Braves apparently thought they had an imbalance on their staff with  too many lefties. It came down to dealing either Chet Nichols or Johnny and management asked Warren Spahn's opinion. He preferred Nichols and bye bye Antonelli. 

Same to you, Robb.

Links to your Soul Music, and Hockey, fora???

I'm stuck in L.A.  So, we're fairly close.  It otherwise would have been a time we could have met in person.  But we're both in the high-risk group, so it wouldn't be a good idea.  We've got about 2 and a half to 3 months of non-perishable food stocked up, and get perishable food (greens, eggs and the like) delivered from a farm once a week,  so we can avoid leaving the house during the virus peak in April and May.  There may be a window between the tapering off in California, and the 2nd wave of the virus hitting Europe.  If so, I might risk the airport, airplane trip, and public tram]nsport, to return to The Netherlands in July.  But I hope everything goes much better than expected before then, so I won't feel that I'm risking my life by doing that, when the time comes.

Being housebound for 4 months (despite bringing my work with me) gives me plenty of time to post on this forum and my Soul music, and hockey fora.  Maybe I'll make us a few more music and sports quizzes for some entertainment.

Good luck and good health to everyone!

Robb,

Glad to hear you're doing OK. I'd been thinking we have not heard from you in some time but remembered as well that you had 'dark periods' in which you don't post given your many travels. Crazy times!

Couple interesting anecdotes:

Anyone recall The Magnificent Montague, a DJ in LA (KGFJ) who promoted live music shows in NY and LA? Montague was apparently his real last name. He coined the phrase "Burn Baby Burn" well before the Watts riot in '65. It apparently referred to the "hot" music he played, not arson.

Booker T recounts a memorable early-career show at the Roseland in NYC with Ruth Brown, Jimmy Reed and Otis Redding in 1962. The MGs were the opening act and the crowd began getting surly, throwing bottles, etc. Backstage, a drunk Jimmy Reed pulls a gun from his guitar case and threatens to fire at the audience. At the end of the show, Magnificent Montague absconds with ALL the show's proceeds and no one ever gets paid.

Another eye-opener. Booker T visits the Shindig TV show in the mid-60s and meets keyboardist Billy Preston. He asks Billy how much Shindig is paying him to be in the TV show's "house band." Preston says $50,000. Booker T ruminates on the fact he's earning $125 a week as a member of Stax Records' house band, eventually moves to LA and joins AFTRA.

Booker T was a graduate of the well-regarded Indiana University School of Music.  He read and wrote music, and played pretty much all manner of instruments from keyboards, reeds, on to stringed and horn instruments. Best known as an organist ('Green Onions' and the other instrumental hits), he played the tasty guitar licks on William Bell & Judy Clay's "Private Number" -- one of my fave soul cuts.