The Slice: The readers always write

Let’s address some old business before moving on.

Here’s a sampling of baseball memories readers shared.

When Bob Kirlin was a kid, he had an Al Kaline signature baseball glove.

“When my mom first saw it, she didn’t believe the name. She thought it was someone playing with the word alkaline.”

My mention of Willie Mays reminded Colbert’s Ron Lugone of the years in the 1960s when he worked at San Francisco’s Candlestick Park as a vendor roaming the stands. “I saw Willie play about 200 or so games during that time. Thanks for bringing back those wonderful memories.”

And Stu Lee shared this.

“When I was an 11-year-old Little Leaguer in San Antonio, my dad got tickets for the opening of the Astrodome (in Houston). He had connections and our seats were behind home plate. The highlight was prior to the first game when Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle each came out of the dugout with a five gallon bucket of baseballs and a bat. They stood at home plate and tossed those balls up and tried to hit the roof.”

They did not succeed, but Stu remembers being awestruck by their attempts.

George Shea saw The Slice’s reference to “Begin the Beguine,” and he suggested I ask how many Alexa or Echo owners know who Artie Shaw was.

Katherine Shellorne answered a Slice question this way. “A person bitten by a Hanford tick might acquire the ability to suck the very lifeblood from unknowing victims.”

Not sure how that would be different from a non-irradiated tick, but OK.

Jean Olney wrote, “I think a Washington resident would gain the ability to turn into a vaporous mass and move about undetected through the Cork District while sucking down copious amounts of wine without ever paying a tasting fee.”

In the matter of work jargon infiltrating everyday speech at home, Joyce Mann became familiar with the expression “going-home side of the road” while working for grocery distributor URM. “Now retired, my husband and I still plan the route of our errands using that phrase, and predict the success of a new businesses by evaluating the after-work traffic flow.”

And my favorite lucky-to-be-alive story came from Larry Plager, who described some high-speed skateboard antics.

Not all that many years after that, he joined the Marines and got shipped to Vietnam.

Today’s Slice question (for those who grew up in another state): When you were a kid in grade school, what were you required to memorize that children in Washington were not expected to learn?

Write The Slice at P. O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210; call (509) 459-5470; email pault@spokesman.com. Wonder how many Spokane cats are named Claude.