Jim Deshaies---1986
Everyone comes from somewhere.
Looking at the back of Jim Deshaise’s
card, Topps lists his home as the
same place as his birth: Massena,
New York.
The small town north of the
Adirondack’s in Upstate New York,
Massena rests along the banks of the
St. Lawrence River. Visitors can book
a room at the Blue Spruce Motel and
walk the Main Street, grabbing a beer
and bite at Smokey’s Pubhouse &
Grill. Locals will hit the St. Lawrence
Centre Mall or the movie theater,
while there is plenty of fishing and
hiking to be found.
Sounds beautiful, and for Deshaies it
is home.
The rangy southpaw won 11 or more
games in four consecutive seasons
as a mainstay for the Astros rotation
in the mid-1980s and won 13 contests
in 1993 when he began the season
with the Twins and finished with the
Giants. However, at the close of his
12-year career, Deshaies was 84 up
and 95 down.
But what I remember most about
Deshaies came from my friend,
longtime Astros traveling secretary
Barry Waters; who would tell me that
on road trips to Los Angeles, one of
Deshaies’ hometown buddies would
come to visit Jim in the Dodgers
visitors’ clubhouse. The visitor was
none-other-than Hal Smith.
For those of you who are not Andy
Griffith Show fans; Hal Smith played
the loveable town drunk Otis
Campbell.
How cool is that? Okay, maybe not
that cool, but for those of us who are
stuck in the 1960s, it is significant.
Now, I never did hear of Hal donning
a Houston uniform and joining the
club for batting practice like
celebrities are known to do; though
the mental imagery of Otis Campbell
standing in right field of Dodger
Stadium wearing the Astros stripes
and star just wouldn’t be right.
Somehow I have a feeling that Gomer
would run out on the field yelling
“citizens arrest” at the portly star in
uniform.
Everyone comes from somewhere.
And, well, former major league pitcher
Jim Deshaies and Hal Smith both
came from Massena, New York.
(10/8/08)
Looking at the back of Jim Deshaise’s
card, Topps lists his home as the
same place as his birth: Massena,
New York.
The small town north of the
Adirondack’s in Upstate New York,
Massena rests along the banks of the
St. Lawrence River. Visitors can book
a room at the Blue Spruce Motel and
walk the Main Street, grabbing a beer
and bite at Smokey’s Pubhouse &
Grill. Locals will hit the St. Lawrence
Centre Mall or the movie theater,
while there is plenty of fishing and
hiking to be found.
Sounds beautiful, and for Deshaies it
is home.
The rangy southpaw won 11 or more
games in four consecutive seasons
as a mainstay for the Astros rotation
in the mid-1980s and won 13 contests
in 1993 when he began the season
with the Twins and finished with the
Giants. However, at the close of his
12-year career, Deshaies was 84 up
and 95 down.
But what I remember most about
Deshaies came from my friend,
longtime Astros traveling secretary
Barry Waters; who would tell me that
on road trips to Los Angeles, one of
Deshaies’ hometown buddies would
come to visit Jim in the Dodgers
visitors’ clubhouse. The visitor was
none-other-than Hal Smith.
For those of you who are not Andy
Griffith Show fans; Hal Smith played
the loveable town drunk Otis
Campbell.
How cool is that? Okay, maybe not
that cool, but for those of us who are
stuck in the 1960s, it is significant.
Now, I never did hear of Hal donning
a Houston uniform and joining the
club for batting practice like
celebrities are known to do; though
the mental imagery of Otis Campbell
standing in right field of Dodger
Stadium wearing the Astros stripes
and star just wouldn’t be right.
Somehow I have a feeling that Gomer
would run out on the field yelling
“citizens arrest” at the portly star in
uniform.
Everyone comes from somewhere.
And, well, former major league pitcher
Jim Deshaies and Hal Smith both
came from Massena, New York.
(10/8/08)
