Sweet Baby James

The El Paso Diablos minor-league baseball team and I go way back. Dad, Robert and I would go to two or three games a year at that old crackerbox Dudley Field, right next to the city zoo. The park was so small, pitchers’ ERAs came to El Paso to die every year. Robert and I would stalk the ice cream stand for whatever helmet we needed… And we’d watch the baseballs fly out of the park and watch old Texaco scoreboard light up. Great times, to be sure.

Anyhow, Paul Strelzin was the public address announcer for a lot of years. A legendary voice in El Paso for decades, but he also had a way with ruffling feathers. He’d nickname the players every year-- right about the time when Chris Berman at ESPN went places with his nickname shtick. Daryl ‘Jaws’ Sconiers, 'Chilly' Willie Lozado and Bill ‘Shotgun’ Schroeder were just a few of the players we watched pass through town every summer.

In 1982, Dion James was our center fielder, a player who found success with the Brewers, Braves, Yankees and Indians. Strelzin dubbed him Dion ‘Sweet Baby’ James. I’m not quite 11 years old at this time, so I have no idea what this means or where it comes from.

It’s not until a few decades later that my rudimentary music knowledge tells me that Strelzin must have been a James Taylor fan, since it’s the title of what’s become my favorite JT song. He played in the second set of his show in Birmingham Tuesday night, a show which the First Lady and I were delighted to attend. He’s in his mid-60s, still tours and still obviously loves what he does. He basically sang the same songs he’s been singing for the last 40 or so years, but they were sung with a passion and with heart. We truly enjoyed every note of every song.

But the concert was the perfect cap to a perfect day the wife and I spent in the Magic City. I started the day mowing my lawn for the first time with our brand-new rotary mower. Okay, so maybe that wasn’t so awesome, but it’s a new thing for me. We headed into town and grabbed lunch in the Five Points district, at a restaurant called 26 Twenty-Six. The décor was a 1960s meets The Jetsons motif.

But the food was great—I had Carolina barbecue pork with macaroni and cheese on top. The pork was very sweet, and it was complemented perfectly by the mac and cheese. It was the kind of meal you don’t want to eat, because it’ll be over soon. We also split a chocolate chip ice cream cookie, served open face. Homemade ice cream and a delicious cookie. Definitely a meal to remember.

We spent the balance of the afternoon shopping and browsing for items to furnish our new home. We managed to pick up some dishes and other accessories, as well as get a few ideas together for the long-term plan.

Five Points hosted our pregame meal, a Tex-Mex place called Fuego. We took advantage of half-priced margaritas and two-dollar tacos on Tuesdays. Another excellent choice, since we’re both used to the homogeneous Mexican food restaurants that seem to be everywhere.

After we eat and drink, it’s off to the show, and our first trip to the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Center. We both noticed that most of the crowd seemed to be our age, though there were a few pups in attendance. Great music sung and performed by people who care about the music.