{"id":21022,"date":"2022-04-21T19:36:46","date_gmt":"2022-04-21T23:36:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=21022"},"modified":"2022-04-21T19:40:26","modified_gmt":"2022-04-21T23:40:26","slug":"fwd-tommy-mctaggart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=21022","title":{"rendered":"Fwd: Tommy McTaggart"},"content":{"rendered":"
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EPISODE 670     BLUE JAYS WoN WORLD SERIES 1992 AND 1993 \u2014 WE SOLD BLUE J\u2019s <\/div>\n

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alan skeoch<\/div>\n
april 21, 2022<\/div>\n

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THE BLUE \u201cJ\u201d CA[PER 1993 (PARKDALE ROTARY CLUB)<\/div>\n

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SCOTT BARTLE sent this picture today (April 21,2022)a.  Impossible to forget those halcyon days of<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

1992 and 1993 when our Bluejys won back to back Baseball World Series championships.<\/p><\/div>\n

Back then I was a member of the tiny Parkdale Rotary Club \u2026 a club that made up for<\/div>\n
its size in spirit a lot of which was generated by Scott Bartle although he would insist<\/div>\n
that was not the case.   <\/div>\n

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\u201cRotarians, I have a plan whereby we can make a little money and have a good time doing it.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cYou have a plan?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cWe can sell Blue J\u2019s at the stadium\u2026got clearance to do so.:<\/div>\n
“What is a Blue J ?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cExactly what it says it is\u2026a Blue J, made of foam rubber, about 2 feet long and 2 inches thick\u2026soft as a baby\u2019s bottom.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cWho would buy them?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cFans\u2026we are in the World Series for the second time\u2026some would want a souvenir\u2026others would want something soft<\/div>\n
to put their bums on\u2026either way they will sell and we\u2019l get a percentage for community work.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cWhen?;\u2019\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cFinal game \u2026need everybody out selling.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cCan Marjorie come as well?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cNeed all the help we can get.\u201d<\/div>\n

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\"Home<\/div>\n

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Recent picture of Scott Bartle with a Paul Harris Rotary award.<\/div>\n

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PARKDALE ROTARY CLUB \u2014 SMALL GROUP WITH BIG INTENTIONSS<\/div>\n

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(NOTE: Scott Bartle, Frank Gagne and Bruce Conrad invented the Blue J concept and then<\/div>\n
produced them.  The market was never big enough so the Blue J moment in history <\/div>\n
was short but a lot of fun.)<\/div>\n

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And so the adventure began.  Our principal, Bob Putnam, had joined the Parkdale Rotary Club as part of his<\/div>\n
community outreach.  Then the Board of Education shuffled him off to Western Tech.  And I took<\/div>\n
his place with the Rotarians.  This was not easy.  Teaching full time does not leave much time for<\/div>\n
community work.  But it was important.  Parkdale was a needy community.  Still is today.  Needed<\/div>\n
the Rotarians.  I felt strongly that the community that paid my salary should get something back\u2026same<\/div>\n
feeling as the example set by Bob Putnam.  But how to get the time?  <\/div>\n

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And now expected to sell Blue J\u2019s at our baseball stadium.  Like selling popcorn and peanuts.  Rather<\/div>\n
demeaning.  Lessons to prepare, papers to mark\u2026where will I find the time? Time was found. Good time.<\/div>\n

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So glad we made time for this adventure.<\/div>\n
I will never forget the  game.  Nice warm sunny day with thousands of people streaming into<\/div>\n
the place.  We\u2026our whole club with wives and others\u2026intercepted the crowd inside.  \u201cGet your Blue J\u2026only $5\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cGET A BLUE J\u2026TO SIT ON\u201d  \u201cGET a Blue J to wave the team on to victory.\u201d  \u201cBetter than popcorn.” (and other assorted yells)<\/div>\n

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Scott had a truckload of the Blue J\u2019s ready.  <\/div>\n

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I am writing this note on April 21, 2022. Someevents are fuzzy.  but I remember much that day back in 1993 as<\/div>\n
if it was yesterday.  \u201cGet your Blue J\u2026now\u2026Before we are sold out.\u201d (a huckster\u2019s lie). <\/div>\n

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Two incidents come to mind in particular.<\/div>\n

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1): \u201cAlan, look over there.  That\u2019s Mike Harris from North Bay.  I’m going over to say<\/div>\n
hello\u2026knew his mom and dad well, Hope and Dean were raised near Parkdale before moving to North Bay<\/div>\n
\u2026I even had a date with his older brother Sid\u2026back<\/div>\n
then Mike was just a little boy but he might remember.\u201d\u2019’<\/div>\n
\u201cWell, how did it go?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cFailed\u2026he would not even look at me.\u201d<\/div>\n

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Marjorie tried\u2026failed.<\/div>\n
\u201cAlan, he would not even look at me.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cMust have been the Blue J\u2019s you were holding\u2026maybe he did not have five bucks.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u2026maybe he thought you wanted his signature on the Blue J?<\/div>\n
\u201cHe just lost my vote.\u201d<\/div>\n

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2)  \u201cAlan,\u201d said Scott, \u201cYou take the centre aisle that runs from the bleachers right down to home plate.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cJust me?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cMarjorie and you.\u201d<\/div>\n
So I nabbed the prize aisle.  From the people with no money in the gods to the<\/div>\n
the moneybag bunch behind home plate. \u201cGet Your Blue J \u2026 Five Bucks\u201d<\/div>\n
I sold a bunch but was surprised at the response from some of the front<\/div>\n
line fans.  \u201cGet out of the way!\u201d \u201cFor God\u2019s sake sit down!\u201d \u201cI paid to see the goddman name\u2026not to see a huckster like you\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cDo you have a permit?\u201d\u201dYou son of a bitch, I missed that pitch.\u201d \u201cPrick!”  Kind remarks like that\u2026lots of them.  What was I to do?\u201d<\/div>\n

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The answer was obvious.  Answer given by the fans.  \u201cSit Down!\u201d  So I sat down on the cement steps<\/div>\n
just above the catcher\u2026direct line from the pitcher.  Comfortable on my pile of Blue Js.  Marjorie was selling at the top and<\/div>\n
doing well.  I was not needed.  Hoped that Scott did not see me.\u201d<\/div>\n

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\"An\"On\"On\"The\"Today<\/div>\n
Strange.  I have searched through many pictures of the fans in 1993.  Lots of<\/div>\n
pictures of Joe Carter and Pau Molitor but no picture of fans waving a Blue J.<\/div>\n
Why is that?  Maybe Blue Jay management expected a cut of our small community<\/div>\n
budget.<\/div>\n

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POST SCRIPT:  I Write this in memory of Tommy MacTaggart, Rotarian, whose memorial will be celebrated in Aliston on May 15.<\/div>\n

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POST SCRPT:  IF you can find an old 1993 copy of Sports Illustrated you will find us waving and selling our Blue J\u2019s\u2026even<\/div>\n
a pic of me sitting down behind home plate.  <\/div>\n

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POST SCRIPT:  AT one point I was treasurer of our Rotary Club.  That was an eye opener.  Up until<\/div>\n
then I thought Rotarians were all well healed business people.  Nor so.  Most were just people of modest means<\/div>\n
who wanted to help other people.   Much of the money raised went to help support the Redwood shelter for women<\/div>\n
fleeing abusive relationships.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
alan skeoch<\/div>\n
april 21,2022<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

EPISODE 670     BLUE JAYS WoN WORLD SERIES 1992 AND 1993 \u2014 WE SOLD BLUE J\u2019s  alan skeoch april 21, 2022 THE BLUE \u201cJ\u201d CA[PER 1993 (PARKDALE ROTARY CLUB) SCOTT BARTLE sent this picture today (April 21,2022)a.  Impossible to forget those halcyon days of 1992 and 1993 when our Bluejys won back to back […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21022","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21022","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=21022"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21022\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=21022"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=21022"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=21022"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}