RAY SWANSON Garner's feistiness is appreciated

My good friend, Doc Adams, a one-time writer for The Vindicator and The (Sharon) Herald, is now residing in San Antonio with his wife, Eileen.
Doc passed along an article recently, one written by Brent Zwerneman of the San Antonio Express News and it features a story about Phil Garner, manager of the Houston Astros and his rise to the top in the profession.
Garner, a one-time standout with the Pittsburgh Pirates (later going on to play with the Astros), has lived up to his nickname "Scrap Iron" one hundred percent. He was aggressive as a player and still manages the same way. He is known for making gut decisions, perhaps along the same line as the Yankees' Joe Torre.
Garner is also adept at making adept substitutions. Not all of his decisions are popular, but he took a team this season that started out with a 15-30 record to the World Series as a wild card. Now, who's going to question that?
In fact there are those who claim that Garner really does have a golden touch.
Craig Biggio, veteran second baseman of the Astros, said Garner is an aggressive manager and one not afraid to make changes. Garner, at age 56, (he replaced the fired Jimy Williams) is now in his second season at the helm of the Astros and once in command he has certainly taken Houston to new levels in the baseball world, however he manages.
The Astros had several bad breaks to launch the World Series with the White Sox, due mainly to Chicago's power with the bats. Garner has already won the hearts of Astro fans. He'll be around for quite awhile.
Battery-charged
One could say that the Astros' fireballer, Roy Oswalt, is really a bionic man.
It's hard to believe that anyone can throw the ball as fast, and as accurate, as Oswalt.
A story surfaced during the playoffs about Oswalt's pitching arm. He was pitching in Texas during his collegiate career when he developed a sore arm. If that wasn't enough, his car wouldn't start so he lifted the hood and attempted to find the problem.
After shifting several wires around he literally got the biggest shock of his life. Oswalt later concurred that he never again had a sore arm, nor did he ever again attempt to fix a dead battery in his car. He is battery-charged.
This young man brings back some memories of other standouts like Sandy Koufax, Bob Gibson and Bob Feller. Koufax was more polished while Gibson and Feller were true fireballers.
Just about every baseball player that ever lived can tell you about sore arms. Most young players develop the pain in the early spring, the first few days on the diamond. I always had trouble lifting my fork to my mouth and the pain was so intense that it hurt to look at it. The dilemma came about every spring.
There was no immediate cure, and the pain hung around for nearly a week. It felt like a year. As practice progressed, the pain dissipated.
Pitching clinic
The Westminster College softball team's pitching staff will be conducting a six-week fast-pitch softball clinic for girls at any skill level.
The clinic is slated for Monday evenings beginning Nov. 7 and running through Dec. 12.
Two sessions will be held each evening. Jan Reddinger, the coach at Westminster, said the cost is $75 per pitcher for six sessions. The fee should be paid in advance or the day of the clinic.
Pitchers must provide their own catchers. For more information contact Reddinger at (724) 946-7319 or reddinjm@westminster.edu.