It’s 30 years and counting for Astros play-by-play announcer
Astros play-by-play announcer Bill Brown just celebrated his 30th anniversary with the team. He’s the all-time longest-running broadcaster in Astros history.
I think one of the best in any team’s history.
So here you go, Brownie … four questions.
1. Was there one moment in your career when you realized, “I belong here”?
Brown: “It might have come in 1975 or 1976 when I was broadcasting Cincinnati Reds games and they were winning back-to-back World Series titles. We didn’t televise the World Series games, but we did do the early-round playoff games. It was never a feeling of arriving or belonging, though, because Elmer Fudd could have done those exciting games.”
2. What was the most exciting baseball moment in your career, and did you keep your cool?
Brown: “It probably was Craig Biggio’s 3,000th-hit game. I didn’t keep my cool. But in my job, it’s fine to lose all composure.”
3. Who is your favorite baseball character?
Brown: “Sparky Anderson, the manager of those great Cincinnati ‘Big Red Machine’ teams in the ’70s. He would visit Children’s Hospital in Cincinnati the first day after road trips and not allow any publicity. A sportswriter from Evansville, Ind., got as good a story from him as a New York Times writer.”
4. You knew this was coming. What was your most embarrassing professional moment?
Brown: “This hurts. It was blowing a Billy Doran grand-slam call in San Francisco. I called it a three-run homer. It would have been a good time to take off in a kayak in the Pacific Ocean.”
Chita has a brand-new name
Channel 11’s sunshiny weathercaster Chita did something unusual after marrying landsman and longhorn rancher Lane Craft.
She took his last name professionally. She’s now Chita Craft on TV.
Many female newscasters stick with their maiden name on the air after they get married. Main reason: Their single name has built-up value. That’s how audiences know them.
Last year, Dave Ward, who has reported on Halley’s Comet five times at Channel 13, suddenly (and without permission) decided to call himself “David Ward” on the air. The station said stop doing that. You’ve been “Dave Ward” since we hired you in 1966, and you’re going to stay “Dave Ward.”
“David Ward” lasted less than a week.
For TV newswomen, changing their last names after each marriage and divorce might be confusing to viewers. It would be like trying to explain that tattoo of your former spouse’s name to your new spouse. Top of my head, I can’t think of one Houston TV newswoman who uses her married name on the air. Except for Chita Craft. “My mom, grandma … everyone in my family changes their name when they get married,” she said. Her mother and grandmother are also named Chita. “I love my husband and respect him so much that I was honored to take his last name.
“Everybody at the station was really supportive. They even made a really cute promo that shows my new last name.”
So congratulations, Mrs. Craft.
Just no tattoos, OK?
Pedal pushers
Last week, I wrote a column about David Baldwin, a self-proclaimed “slobby-looking old” investor who’s pedaling his bicycle across the U.S. to raise money for The Center on Dallas Street in Houston, the largest facility in Texas serving adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. He started his trek in Astoria, Ore., and plans to finish in Rehoboth Beach, Del. Good for him. Now I’ve heard that Ed Anderson, a Wendy’s hamburger franchisee in Virginia, also is doing a coast-to-coast bike ride. Anderson is spinning his wheels from Virginia Beach, Va., to San Diego, Calif., to raise awareness for adoption — Wendy’s corporate pet social cause. Good for him, too. While I’m a big fan and beneficiary of adoption, I have to say … I think the Wendy’s guy is doing it backwards.
I watch the TV weatherman every night. When he goes to the “Mega Super Doppler 10,000” map, it seems that weather moves across the U.S. from west to east. Every bicyclist knows: Your best friend is the wind at your back, whooshing you along.
A bicyclist’s worst enemy: wind in your face. Even Bob Seger knows it’s difficult pedaling “against the wind.”
I asked Channel 2’s ace weatherman Frank Billingsley: If you’re riding a bike across the U.S., would it be smarter to ride west to east — or east to west?
“I think the chances of a tailwind vs. a headwind would be better riding west to east. Upperlevel winds, 18,000 feet to 33,000 feet, are generally west to east. Surface winds that would affect a bike rider vary according to weather systems and location. Saying that, in the 40-degree latitude area (Houston is at 29 degrees), you’d have better luck finding surface winds in your favor heading west to east,” Billingsley said.
In defense of Anderson, however, I think Wendy’s new Bacon Mozzarella Burger is a winner.
Cuba Si!
Harris County Judge Ed Emmett visited our new buddy Cuba last week. He went with the Texas Lyceum, a group of professionals interested in public policy. Emmett spoke to the group about the future relationship between Cuba and Texas, particularly involving transportation and logistics.
“I jumped at the chance to see Cuba before it changes dramatically,” Emmett said. “The juxtaposition of a five-star hotel filled with international tourists and a market where average Cubans receive their food rations was jolting. It is a fascinating place with old and new competing. Remnants of Soviet influence abound in ugly, deteriorating buildings. The revolution is celebrated on billboards and posters. U.S. cars from the ’50s are everywhere, but few have original equipment.
“My takeaway was that Cuba is perfectly positioned to be a logistics center and a tourism magnet. It all depends upon the direction of the government. I am hopeful, but there are lots of questions.”