Blue's Barbecue in the Heights

I heard a short audio advertisement at Dehler Park a couple of times as they thanked the sponsors of the Legion Regional tournament that was going on this past weekend. I heard Bob the Announcer say only "Blue's Barbecue, corner of Hilltop and Main," which is about all he said as their contribution must have been smaller than the rest of them. I had not heard of these good folks before so I resolved to give them a try. The picture above is from the entrance on Hilltop, looking toward the Cenex station and on the far right you can just barely see their sign below the Cenex sign. Over the hill is Main St, running perpendicularly to Hilltop, of course.

Though I am geographically challenged at times, especially in the Heights because I don't get there very often, I thought I could find this place fairly easily. Well, I came up Main, keeping a sharp lookout for a sign. I was in the middle lane and should have been in the left lane to make a left turn. I had to double back and finally guessed to turn up Hilltop from Main and viola there it was: Near the Corner of Hilltop and Main, Behind the Stockman Bank, and turn into the Cenex Station, and there you are.

I checked Billings' version of UrbanSpoon before I went and found this interesting blogsite with information on Blue's Barbecue. The pictures are pretty good. Their pulled pork sandwich looked a lot like my shredded beef sandwich today. They start in Canada and come down to the States and on to Chicago if you are interested in a road trip.

As I mentioned I tried the shredded beef with one side and a drink special for $6. Seemed to be a fair price, especially considering the size of the sandwich and the side of baked beans with a surprising amount of pork in it. The last was excellent. The sandwich was a little bland so I put some "mild" sauce on it but that didn't help, so I screwed up my courage and added some "hot" sauce which came out just right, sort of "medium."

I have always been wary ever since arriving in Billings over 30 years ago and trying the "medium" sauce at CJs: bread and water quickly please. Blue's Barbecue should probably increase the spice in the meat a little to start with and maybe add an "extra-hot" sauce on the side for those who like that sort of thing. This is only my first trip there. I would have to check out some of their other offerings before making any certain pronouncements. The rest of the stuff looks good and their menu is fairly simple, both for eating in and for taking out. I am going back for more.

This was fairly early, a little after 11am, the tables were filled by the time I left. The customers varied from us refined old folks down to hungry working stiffs.

Pictures from Paradise

The above was captured while watching some baseball during the past long weekend. It appears to be that of a Grandfather doing video-photography of his grandchild at Billings' Dehler Park, where the Northwest Regional Legion Baseball Tournament was on-going this past weekend.

There were a number of strong teams in the tournament as you might expect from having eight state champions from as far away as Alaska and Hawaii, as well as the closer and usually fairly strong teams from Washington and Oregon, together with Idaho, Wyoming, and two teams from Billings, Montana.The reason we have two teams from Billings was because they traditionally have a host team from the same state that is hosting the Regional tournament in addition to the state champion. This year that happened to be the two teams from Billings as they finished 1-2 at their state tournament in Butte.

That is the state flag of Wyoming above with the outline of a buffalo, atop the dugout the team used for this game, a nice touch along with US flags scattered around and the singing of God Bless America and the national anthem. And that is the state flag of Hawaii with the Union jack in the upper left corner, a remnant to remind the rest of us of their history before they became a state.

The Wyoming state Legion baseball champion came from Cheyenne Post #6 to take part in the Regional competition. Unfortunately, the way the tournament is set up some teams have to lose twice in a row; this year both Wyoming and Alaska went home after two losses, which is why it is called a double-elimination tournament, probably a partial recognition that baseball is a different than all other forms of sport, perhaps with the exception of cricket, with different patterns and rhythms and even different satisfactions for both players and those who watch them.

If you are curious about the philosophy behind this game you might be interested in reading the collected baseball works of A. Bartlett Giamatti, the late professor of Renaissance English Literature and then the President of Yale University followed by a three year tour as President of the National League, and then a way too short tenure as Major League Baseball Commisioner. The titles are Take Time for Paradise and A Great and Glorious Game. Books like these are not written about football or basketball or, Thank Heavens, volleyball. Check him out, his resume alone is worth reading.

To the right and slightly up is a shot of the beer tent at Dehler for the Legion tournament, far out along the left field line, where they were stationed owing to orders from on high. Apparently, selling beer and hard lemonade at places other than Montana has had some problems.

Above is a picture of part of the celebrations after Hawaii won the Northwest Regional championship, remaining undefeated after 5 games. That is Sumi Pruett, second from the right, pitcher and first baseman for the Waipahu Marauders, holding his award for being the Most Valuable Player of the tournament. He threw a shutout against the Scarlets for the championship and hit a grand-slam home run as well as pitching some very good innings against one of the lower-ranked teams.

Below is a part of paradise after the games are over. The Mustangs will be back soon. And the boys of spring will return next year. And the Regional Tournament will be back at this same location next August.

Waipahu Marauders Win Regional Legion Baseball Championship

The Scarlets or Royals have not been this close to a National Legion Tournament since the days of Dave McNally around forty years ago. There was only one team standing in the way of a trip to Shelby NC and that was Waipahu, Hawaii and their tournament MVP Kawika Pruett, good hitting first baseman and their #1 pitcher. He shut out the Scarlets today, 7-0, scattering 4 hits, and helped his cause by belting a grand-slam home run off Joe Barta. At the ceremony they said he allowed only 6 hits in 14 innings, which qualifies for a dominant pitcher in my book.

I asked yesterday if the Scarlets had some pitchers to take on these guys from Hawaii. They did, at least for one game, but they had no hitters to speak of except Ty Gilmore. Six or 7 runs is a reasonable pitcher's good job in Legion baseball. The batters are expected to get that many and a few more. They reverted to the high fly ball to centerfield boredom which nearly lost the opening game, and nearly lost the game with the Royals, except for a couple of high flies that were long enough to be home runs by Tolstedt and Gilmore.


The regional tournament will be in Billings next year as well. It will be interesting to see if the Scarlets can scare up enough reasonable competition in the regular season to hone their skills: in batting against good pitchers; and in bunting and base-running when needed, i.e. close low-run games. According to the souvenir scorebook they will have 11 players graduating, though how many of those are still eligible is not clear from the data in the book.

Talking about next year reminds me that it seemed like the Scarlets were a little short-handed at the end of the season, and probably other teams as well. I thought the usual number was 18. I understand the need for taking advantage of any football scholarships on offer but I would think that some judicious compromise at the coach level could work these problems out before they become critical. I can't believe that a few days missing calisthenics in early August is going to make that much of a difference, even if you are going to Georgia Tech or Nebraska.

If worse comes to worst you could always be red-shirted and get some of your basic studies in before you start knocking heads against better players than you've seen before. It seems to me that if worser comes to the worst you could choose your players at the beginning of the season depending on who is available at the end of the season. Just some bargaining chips in case they are necessary.

The young men from Hawaii should be fun to watch at the Legion World Series in North Carolina. I wouldn't be surprised if they go all the way.

[Update:]  17 Aug 2011: I didn't see anything in the Gazette on the Legion World Series held in Shelby NC the following week. The news gathered from the Gaston Gazette had Brooklawn NJ beating Waipahu, Hawaii 3-2 in the bottom of the ninth in the opening round. Most of the game was pitched by Chevas Numata, the big guy who won the first game against the Scarlets here in the Regional. Other opening day games included Eden Prairie, the eventual winner of the World Series, losing big to Midland MI; Tupelo MS topping Las Vegas NV 6-3; and Gaffney SC beating Bedford NH 12-1. Waipahu lost badly the following day with Sumi Pruett, the big guy who handled the Scarlets with ease in the final of the Regional here in Billings doing the pitching, and thus went home quickly, sadder but wiser I'm sure. Through the usual twists and turns of a double elimination tournament Eden Prairie and Tupelo, each with a loss,  faced off in the championship game and Eden Prairie won 5-4. Wait 'til next year when we hope the Scarlets and Royals will be hosting at the State tournament and representing the Montana state champs, just like this year.

Excitement at Dehler: Only Waipahu and Billings Scarlets Still Standing

This has been an interesting Regional American Legion Baseball Tournament. As far as I can remember we have only had three regional tournaments since 1980, one in the early 80s when Jeff Ballard—before he went on to star at Stanford and pitch for the Baltimore Orioles—got beat in extra innings by a Washington bloop hit over the 2nd baseman's—or maybe the shortstop's head—and the Scarlets were so depressed they got beat by Helena the next morning, leaving way too quickly; and another sometime in the 90s about which I have no memory, and then this one.

This tournament, directed by Joe Studiner, was unusual in that both AA teams here in Billings were playing, the Scarlets as the state champion and the Royals coming in 2nd at the state tournament became the host team. The Royals drew Salem Oregon in the first round and lost but won their 2nd game. I forget who they sent home, either Alaska or Wyoming, both often going two and out.

The seeding was very favorable for the Scarlets, drawing Boise Idaho the first round, which they won 3-1, with Joe Barta pitching a 5 hit game and Max Tolstedt hitting a 3 run homer to win it.

See the picture above and left as his teammates welcome him home.

Then they faced Waipahu, Hawaii: the Scarlet pitching was unfortunately not up to par, their fielding wasn't so good, and their running game was even worse. They lost 11-10 when the pitcher Girard, after a gutsy performance for most of the game, threw a sacrifice bunt over the first baseman's glove.

That put the Scarlets and the Royals to face each other the next day in a loser-out contest. Appar-ently this was the first time this has happened in Billings or in a Regional tournament.

Brady Muller of the Scarlets looked good on the mound and Ty Gilmore won it in the bottom of the 9th with his first home run of the season. One wonders if Muller should have been pitching against Hawaii. Yes, I know, this is Monday morning quarterbacking. It was difficult to see any really dominant pitchers in this tournament, thus allowing the coaches to play hunches and try to save their better pitchers for the bigger games to come. So anyway, the Scarlets sent the Royals packing which was probably a just result, reflecting the big difference between the teams this past year.

I almost forgot the big storm that cancelled a couple of games and interrupted the Royals ousting some team in the early loser-out part of the tourney. So everything was a little strange as the games were delayed, and the scoreboard didn't work very well, omitting the balls and strikes. I forgot how much we depend on knowing the count on nearly every pitch. Maybe we shouldn't be surprised at unusual things happening at Dehler, with all the unusual weather we have been having this spring and summer.




There were good crowds at all the games the Scarlets and Royals played, especially the one where they played each other, maybe as many as 2000-2500. I saw a lot of alumni in the crowds too. See above right.

Salem Oregon—more accurately the Withnell Dodgers—surprised Bellingham Washington on the 2nd day but then they lost to Waipahu early today, 8-2, and then got walloped by our Scarlets 25-5, yes, twenty-five! I said. They called it, mercifully, at the end of 7 innings as Salem simply had no pitchers left. All the balls that were high flies in the earlier games for the Scarlets were now line drives to the deepest parts of Dehler Park. Ty Gilmore hit his 2nd home run in as many days and Brady Muller also hit a home run. Miles Berkram almost cranked one out as he tripled in two runs.

Some of the fans from Oregon were a little miffed because they thought the Scarlets were purposely embarrassing them. There is a 10 run rule but it doesn't come into effect until after 7 innings. You can't run out the clock like they do in high school football or simply toss it around like they do in basketball.

The late game today was won by Hawaii, 6-5, a come-from-behind victory in the 9th inning. They remain undefeated for the Scarlets to take them on again on Monday. Bellingham Washington was feeling fairly confident going into the 9th inning, leading 5-3. Their pitcher, Hayden Knight, had done a very creditable job the whole night, holding the Hawaiians down to three runs. When he walked the first batter of the inning his coach decided to promptly replace him with another who walked several more. A few errors and a fielder's choice, and a third pitcher came in with the game tied now: with one out a long fly to center scored the winning run. I don't think they got a hit at all in the ninth inning. Bellingham fans had some discouraging words to say as we all left pondering the matchup the next day, and Hawaii celebrated in their own fashion. This was an exciting game and so is the tournament thus far. The Hawaiians remain surprisingly calm and relaxed. Last year they came in 2nd at Las Vegas, who knows, this year they may go all the way with their rhythmic cheerleading letting off the pressure.

Can the Scarlets come up with the pitchers to win two game on Monday? Watch this space.

This tournament thus far has featured some outstanding umpires. The three man crew is a very good idea. Perhaps we should adopt it for the regular season games. I am guessing they don't teach the boys to hit down on the ball these days as there seem to be an unusual number of high fly balls to the outfield. They do allow the fielders to catch up with them, sometimes in spectacular fashion.

Another good idea was the placing of the state flags on their respective dugouts. It sent all of us to Wikipedia to look them up, especially the Hawaiian state flag with its small Union Jack. We all learned a little history.

Tolstedt Powers Scarlets To Win 3-1

Something unusual for American Legion baseball, at least this year: the pitchers for both sides were dominant in the 4 pm game on Opening Day of the Northwest Regional Legion Tournament here at Dehler Park. Billings' Scarlets played the Boise Gems. Joe Barta started and finished for the Scarlets, getting stronger as he went deeper into the game. He was tagged for a home run but that was all as he gave up only 5 scattered hits.

The big blow for Billings came in the 6th inning when after a couple of hits, Max Tolstedt whacked a hanging curve over the left field fence. That brought the score to 3-1 and there it remained. I wonder if the other teams in the tournament noted the problems the Scarlets had in hitting a pitcher throwing relatively slowly?

Cartoons Are The Answer

This guy is very funny. And he tells a good story. See more of his genius here.

Graphs Are Great

This is called 'cutting' the budget by Our Dear Leader and other Bozos on the Left. This was picked up from the very useful website Electric City Weblog. Dave budge mentions other assessments of what has just happened in Washington DC.

A Useful Tool

Have you had your colon scoped recently? Here is a useful tool for home inspectors, exterminators and insurance adjusters. The only thing they left off this list is DIY colonoscopists. Found while walking around CostCo. You're welcome.

Celtic Princesses Entertained By Mustang Loss 10-8

Just getting started in the second half of the season, the Mustangs have yet to find their pitching shoes, at least in this Monday night game.

These regularly attending red-heads, aka Celtic princesses, to the left, were not exactly ecstatic in the early part of the game though they remained hopeful after the 4th inning when it looked like the batters might pick up the slack and the pitchers seemed to be able to string a few outs together.

Although the batters woke up in the 4th inning with 6 straight hits—3 doubles, a triple and a Vicioso home run, oh, and an 'excuse-me' single—and 5 runs, their colleagues on the mound had already allowed 10 runs for the Osprey, including a grand-slam home run.

More Celtic princesses below and to the right. That is how the game ended. Two explosions by the Osprey lead to 9 runs, which the Mustangs came close to matching with their own single 5 run explosion and multiple single scores, but they fizzled in the 8th and went down quietly in the ninth. Final score 10-8.

The lineup tonight featured some new names and others moved from the bench to the field. The problem as always when you are near the bottom of the feeding chain is that the good players get moved up to higher status leagues and teams and they get replaced by guys that are still learning the game.

By the way, talking about learning the game reminds me that Robert Maddox is looking very slick at first base. He may have persuaded base umpire Bayer into an inning-ending double play with a quick push off the bag. Though Buckley, Waldrop and Maddox may provide some heroics, we needed some Lohman and Read and Poulk magic to finish. Those guys have been moved up to Bakersfield and Dayton.

I almost forgot my usual comment on the quality of umpiring as they are learning too. Mr Park, hiding in plain view behind home plate, showed his usual 'moveable feast' of a strike zone, so much so that Mr Kelly could not restrain himself to mutters. The ever alert ears of Mr Park heard some of these comments and therefore Mr Kelly was ejected. Certain discerning fans kept reminding Mr Park that he shouldn't give up his day job for the rest of the game.

A Q-Tip

More accurately, Q-Tips, nicely focused in the above picture. For Adrienne's brand of humor on steroids see her blog here: Wow, what a funny lady.