Tampa Bay Raves and Rants is a weekly airing of national and local politics, sports, lifestyles and nostalgia items from a very politically incorrect viewpoint. As always, beware - much of what is printed here should not be taken literally.

One way we pay tribute to our Vets

With thanks to a good friend and fellow vet, Bob Green, we share this vignette about a special group of people, the guards at the Tomb of the Unknown, who pay tribute to an even more special group – the brave men and women laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery.

“In 2003 as Hurricane Isabelle was approaching Washington, DC, our US Senate/House took two days off with anticipation of the storm. On the ABC evening news, it was reported that because of the dangers from the hurricane, the military members assigned the duty of guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier were given permission to suspend the assignment.

They respectfully declined the offer, 'No way, Sir!' Soaked to the skin, marching in the pelting rain of a tropical storm, they said that guarding the Tomb was not just an assignment; it was the highest honor that can be afforded to a serviceperson.

The tomb has been patrolled continuously, 24/7, since 1930.

God Bless and Keep Them.”

Great Tampa Bay, politics and stuff:

With Veterans Day coming up this week, the answer is Boston Braves Catcher Hank Gowdy. The question – who was the only major leaguer to fight in both World War I and World War II? Gowdy was the first major leaguer to volunteer for service in the First World War.

And while we’re on the subject, a sincere Thank You to our vets of World War II, Korea, Vietnam and the numerous Mid-East wars. Your service is appreciated and will never be forgotten.

And this – becoming less and less of a do it yourselfer, we don’t visit hardware stores as much anymore, but had occasion to recently. And again, we thank Lowe’s for their special parking spots for vets. It’s appreciated.

He was an Air Force vet, a practicing physician for three decades in Clearwater and a member of the team that formulated Gatorade at the University of Florida. Dr. Jim Free passed away last week at age 87.

With two-thirds of his opponent’s money coming from out of state, Republican Glenn Youngkin was elected Governor of Virginia in what most observers considered the first referendum on the Biden presidency.

Meanwhile, Minneapolis voters came to their senses and rejected a proposal to scrap their police department in favor of some progressives’ idea of a public safety department.

Five Years Ago in TBR&R (November 6, 2016) - A not so outrageous prediction: whoever prevails in the presidential race this week will be our nation’s first one-term (or less, pending indictments) president in two decades. (That prediction was just too easy).

Sports, media and lighter stuff:

Crime news from the Semi-official 5:05 Newsletter: The Federal Bureau of Prisons says 4500 federal prisoners have been released due to the threat of Covid spread. Upon release, each felon receives $50, a new suit, and his old job back with the Houston Astros.

Seen on a t-shirt: “I tried seizing the day but I think I pulled something.”

It was 50 years ago this fall that the first World Series game was played at night – at Pittsburgh’s Three Rivers Stadium (Pirates versus the Orioles). Baseball fans have been sleep deprived ever since.

One nice thing about the recently completed playoffs is watching players like the Braves’ Eddie Rosario and the Dodgers Chris Taylor become the modern day Dusty Rhodes, Johnny Podres and Brian Doyles – lesser known players who shined under the brightest of spotlights. And good for them – they are both free agents with big paydays ahead beginning next week.

Pardon us if we are a bit skeptical about major league baseball’s All-Star game site selections. We all know the story of how MLB swooped in and stole this year’s game from Atlanta. With the recent selection of Seattle for the ’23 game, the next three named sites will all be in blue states - LA, Seattle and Philadelphia, plus this year’s last minute choice of Denver. By the way, compare Colorado’s voting requirements to Georgia’s some time.

America lost one of the greatest voices of the sixties and early seventies when Jay Black of Jay and the Americans passed away in late October. He was 82. The group’s hits included Cara Mia, This Magic Moment and Sunday and Me – the first Neil Diamond composition to ever hit the charts.

You’ve lived in the bay area a long time if you ever treated yourself to one of the ice cream creations at Farrell’s Ice Cream Parlor on Tyrone in St. Pete. Kids loved the place.

Braves win! Braves win!

For those of you who follow this weekly drivel, this item, featuring the call immortalized by the late great Skip Caray, will be no surprise. Some disjointed thoughts follow. A couple numbers – 22 years and 111 days. They are the number of years (22) between World Series appearances by the Atlanta nine (the Mariners have never been there and the Pirates and Orioles have droughts of 42 and 37 years respectively). The 111 is a major league record – the number of games in a season it took for a World Series champion to finally achieve a winning record – formerly held, of course, by another Braves team – the Boston Braves. In short, it’s been a while since Marquis Grissom caught the final out in the 1995 World Series. So permit us this one week of joy as actuarial tables tell us we won’t be around for the next one – this is only the fourth World Championship in Braves history (1914, 1957, 1996 and 2021). Were the Braves the best team in baseball in 2021? Not even close. But as Hall of Fame manager Bobby Cox has said, he won the World Series with not his best team, but lost with better teams he managed. The “new” Braves manager, Brian Snitker culminates 44 years in the Braves organization with this World Series win. And sadly, Dusty Baker, himself a former Brave, falls short again with his trademark penchant for misusing a pitching staff. Now pardon us as we go on line to order a bunch of stuff to replace our threadbare 1995 World Championship duds.

UP NEXT: Tom comes tumbling down; New Biden book

Thank our vets this week!

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