There are all kinds of towns – Greek, Italian, and so on with China town probably being the most popular. I’ve never heard of Irish or Sweden town so I guess no one leaves those countries. Anyway, alcoholic is a town too, but alcoholics go to meetings and preach the 12 step higher power where as drunks follow the bible and do like Ecclesiastes and drink and are merry. Can i buy you a drink? What’s your poison or excuse me what’s your pleasure? You wanna dance?
I’ve hid a flask under my pillow on my bed and reached for it and it responded so we were married in a great sense, in that wild kind of love of, singing out loud in the rain all by oneself and when a lonely straggler neared he or she was welcomed in for a swig. That bottle sang to us all like a Christmas Carol or a John Cooper Clarke punk blast and then another sip and gulp and all that mattered was the world, our place, our home and all the vintage 8-pane windows that Walter Johnson played with, throwing balls through, to perfect his aim and….
I worked at the old County Stadium in Milwaukee, as caretaker for the carnival like game called Speed Pitch. It offered fans an opportunity to see how fast they could throw a baseball. We started work three hours before first pitch outside the stadium and it was Milwaukee where tailgating in the parking lot and beer drinking were the euphoric norm so there were a lot of drunks eager to try out their best fastball. My mom always told me that my job at the stadium was a turning point, that it opened me up to others and I think she was right, it opened me up to the joy of drink and camaraderie. And after three hours outside the stadium we moved 
the contraption to the bleachers and it was a blast and I got paid to boot and even better, we finished our
jobs after the fifth inning was completed and so since we were already inside the stadium, we got to watch the last four innings or more and that was the mid to late 1980’s when Teddy Higuera was perhaps the most underrated pitcher in all of baseball and he threw complete games, 15 in 1986 (10 at home) and 14 the following year (8 at home) so I had a chance to see Higuera work, real hard work, and he quickly became one of my favorite pitchers, painting corners with an electric fastball and a big curve ball and plenty of K’s and wins and infectious smile and this card I’ve posted here, a card I would love to get is from where? I wasn’t sure until I asked Mark at RetroSimba and he let me know that …..”Steve, the 2 American League ballparks that had opposing team logos on its outfield walls in that time period were Anaheim Stadium and Toronto’s SkyDome. Because of the grass field, I think the Teddy Higuera card is from Anaheim Stadium, home of the Angels.”
Thanks Mark as I raise up a a flask and make a toast with a drunk sigh.
brewers baseball and things 
May 24, 2024 at 3:20 pm
Steve, your post sent me down numerous research rabbit holes in learning about Teddy Higuera. A few of the tidbits:
_ His given name is Teodoro Valenzuela Higuera. Not only is his middle name the same as the last name of another outstanding Mexican left-handed pitcher, Fernando Valenzuela, but Teodoro Valenzuela Higuera was born in the Mexican town of Los Mochis, also the birthplace of Benny Valenzuela, a third baseman whose big-league career consisted of 10 games with the 1958 Cardinals. Viva Valenzuelas!
_ Teddy Higuera’s first big-league win in 1985 came for the Brewers at Anaheim Stadium! He pitched a four-hit shutout in beating Tommy John and the Angels.
_ In 1986, Teddy Higuera became the second Mexican-born pitcher to achieve a 20-win season in the majors, joining (who else?) Fernando Valenzuela.
_ Teddy Higuera’s only All-Star Game appearance came in 1986. He pitched three scoreless innings and struck out Tony Gwynn and Ryne Sandberg. In that same game, Fernando Valenzuela also threw three scoreless innings. That’s the game in which Valenzuela struck out five in a row, tying Carl Hubbell’s All-Star Game record. What a game for Mexican left-handers! Retrosheet Boxscore: American League 3, National League 2
_ Teddy Higuera is listed as a switch-hitting batter but he never had an at-bat in a big-league game. That’s a damn shame
I join you in raising a toast to Teddy Higuera!
May 24, 2024 at 3:24 pm
PS: Though he never had an at-bat in a regular-season big-league game, Teddy Higuera did get to bat in that 1986 All-Star Game _ and Fernando Valenzuela struck him out!
May 25, 2024 at 2:50 am
Wonderful Higuera information and all the Venezuela connections. Thanks Mark. One more interesting bit about Teddy. Yovani Gallardo, also of Mexican origin looked up to Teddy and for that reason wore Teddy’s #49. I’m wondering why Higuera didn’t ask to wear number 34, Valenzuela’s number? It was previously worn by Fingers, but he retired the same year – 1985 that Higuera began with the Brewers. Fingers number was eventually retired by the Brewers but not until 1992. Anyway, here’s the video. The Higuera K is at 1:55. Thanks again for mentioning it.
May 25, 2024 at 7:51 am
According to the El Paso Times, Teddy Higuera and Fernando Valenzuela met for the first time at that 1986 All-Star Game in Houston and a friendship developed.
In an April 9, 1989, story in the El Paso Times, Higuera said, “We talk frequently on the phone. I went to see him at his home in Etchohuaquila last year on my way to see my family in Los Mochis. We talked a while.”
Higuera told the El Paso paper that when he started playing baseball at age 17 his favorite player was Mexican slugger Hector Espino. “I have the greatest respect for Fernando Valenzuela,” Higuera said. “I would say he’s a role model for me. He opened doors for me as a Mexican trying to make it in the U.S. and he still helps me a lot.”
On June 12, 1991, at Anaheim Stadium, Higuera and Valenzuela started against one another for the first time in a regular-season game. Higuera was the better pitcher that day: Retrosheet Boxscore: Milwaukee Brewers 8, California Angels 0
May 25, 2024 at 10:46 am
Thanks for the link to the game. Musta been one of Fernando’s earliest exits.
May 24, 2024 at 5:23 pm
Teddy was awesome. Great story!
May 25, 2024 at 2:53 am
Thanks Dan. It was truly a treat to watch him pitch. I think it’s safe to say that Teddy is one of the best, if not the best pitcher in franchise history.
May 25, 2024 at 1:07 pm
Seems like a perfect job for a teenager. I have to admit I’m not familiar with Teddy Higuera.
May 25, 2024 at 3:57 pm
It truly was a great job and I forgot to mention that they gave us free food too, in the stadium restaurant, meat and potatoes stuff like a hospital cafeteria.
Higuera wasn’t drafted. The Brewers signed him out of Ciudad Juarez, A Mexican team. Here’s a quick peak at his motion.
May 26, 2024 at 3:15 pm
Nice. Looking at the crowd, I do miss the 80’s. Beer and mustaches.
May 26, 2024 at 4:10 pm
I’m reminded of Tom Selleck, he of the 80’s and mustaches as you say and that underrated baseball movie Mr. Baseball though that came out in 1992, but offers a great look at Japan.
May 27, 2024 at 12:52 pm
I’m putting Mr. Baseball on my to watch list.
May 27, 2024 at 1:17 pm
Yes, Mr. Baseball seems so underrated to me. It’s such an amazing reality, USA players going to Japan and vice versa. Unfortunately, the MLB has a habit of gutting rival leagues in monopoly fashion and probably ruining them. I think that’s what happened with the Negro Leagues, once American baseball people decided that black people were ok enough to play in their “sacred” game. Such nonsense. Ruined the Negro Leagues. But things are changing or maybe not, with the right wing autocrats taking over. Might be a good time to build a bunker and load up on weed and whisky and oh yeh, food too. There’s some movie with Christopher Walken as the father of a family that lived underground during a nuclear war threat and they stayed down there for a while. I liked that movie but can’t remember the name of it.
May 27, 2024 at 1:31 pm
Yea, these autocrats scare me too. I’m not familiar with that movie. I’ll see if i can find the name of it. I’m not very mechanical, so building a bunker probably wont work. I’ll just make a run for the Canadian border. I would love to see some competition, different leagues. Even in other sports. Like hockey.
May 27, 2024 at 1:38 pm
I just looked it up on IMDB and that move with Walken and end of the world is BLAST FROM THE PAST. It’s from 1999 and not such a great rating, but I loved it, all that thought to live in an underground shelter and to live well and whatever other satires they had in the movie. I’m not too mechanical either, but my girlfriend just had her windows changed so there’s lots of patch work, sanding and painting to do. Time for me to step up!
May 27, 2024 at 1:45 pm
I just watched the trailer. I remember that movie coming out. Though I haven’t seen it.
May 27, 2024 at 1:48 pm
I’ll say no more. Don’t want to be spoiler. But inspiring to me in that we have so many unused bunkers in the world and I assume lots in America too. Surprising that they are not put to use for homeless people and skyscrapers downward too.