Al Hrabosky

For baseball fans looking for a short get-away, maybe Hot Springs, Arkansas is the place for you. It is about a six hour drive from St. Louis and they are unveiling a new baseball complex with festivities and celebrities on Aug. 27. The Hot Springs website encourages many reasons to visit including the relaxing springs soaking pools. For centuries visitors from around the world have flocked to the natural hot springs to bathe in the healing waters– and now baseball fans con combine relaxation with their favorite pastime.

Very early one Sunday morning in the very late 1970s, I was behind the wheel of my truck with a couple of friends, parked outside of a country and western bar in Salina, Kansas, preparing for the drive home after a night of beer drinking and line dancing. Suddenly the doors to the bar flew open and a small cowboy burst out. He wasn’t your typical Kansas cowboy, he was Asian, quite possibly Japanese, and appeared to be about 5’6 and maybe 125 pounds. He gave his cowboy hat to a friend and proceeded to warm up with a series of kung fu moves.