Posts

Showing posts from June, 2014

Short Time Mets Outfielder: Ben Johnson (2007)

Image
Benjamin Joseph Johnson was born on June 18, 1981 in Memphis, Tennessee. Johnson was recruited to play football at Mississippi State but opted for baseball instead, signing with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1999. He got traded over to the Padres organization, and was an All Star in their minor leagues. He hit twenty plus HRs & drove in eighty plus RBIs two straight years including hitting a career best .312 in 2005 at AAA Portland.  He got rewarded with a call up in the summer then again in September. To begin the month he hit HRs in back to back games. He finished the season batting .213 with 3 HRs 8 doubles & 13 RBIs. In 2006 he saw action in 58 games for the Padres NL Western Champions, hitting .250 with 4 HRs & 12 RBIs but he did not make the post season roster. That November the Mets made a bad decision giving up on pitcher Heath Bell. They traded Bell & Royce Ring to the Padres in exchange for Johnson. The trade didn’t work out for the Mets, as Johns...

Concert Review: Ringo Starr & His All Starr Band (2014 Tour @ Westbury Music Fair)

Image
What's My name? RINGO! the crowd yells back, as the legendary Ringo Starr performs another spectacular live concert.  This Tour marks the thirteenth time Ringo Starr has taken to the road with another version of his All Starr Band. The show stars Ringo, who sings his classic Beatle tunes as well as some great stuff from his solo career. He then goes & plays the drums as members of his All Star Band take the spotlight.  The All Starr's consist of veteran rockers who were at one time or another members of other famous bands. It makes for a great show, some one always brings something to the stage that surprises you. It's also a good chance to see people who you might not go see if they were out there on their own. This was my tenth Ringo All Star Band show & through the years I saw some great people on these tours. This show was super special, first off it was at the intimate Westbury Music Fair Theater and it was in the half round, as opposed to the rotatin...