Ralph: The thrill is gone The thrill is gone away The thrill is gone, baby The thrill is gone away You know you done me wrong, baby And you'll be sorry someday
The thrill is gone It's gone away from me The thrill is gone, baby The thrill is gone away from me Although, I'll still live on But so lonely I'll be
The thrill is gone It's gone away for good All the thrill is gone Baby, it's gone away for good Someday I know I'll be open-armed baby Just like I know, I know I should
You know, I'm free, free now, baby I'm free from your spell Oh, free, free, free now, baby I'm free from your spell And now that it's all over All that I can do is wish you well
Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: Lew Brown / Ray Henderson
The Thrill Is Gone lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Ray Henderson Music Co., Inc
C.: Thanks for joining us after the concert, Ralph. You can really play that bass, now. That was an interesting song you picked to play for us.
d.: I think that Ralph was answering my trivia question from yesterday with his song. Yes, Ralph, that is correct Will (The Thrill) Clark IS the player with the most home runs hit off the all-time strikeout king, Nolan Ryan. He hit six in his career. You answered yesterday’s trivia question correctly!
My old classmate at Mississippi State University was on one of the best, if not THE best team that my alma mater ever fielded! That team may have been even better than the one that won the national championship last year. The 1985 Bulldog roster featured four future major leaguers (and three perennial all-stars) in Thrill, Rafael Palmeiro, and Bobby Thigpen (who was an outfielder at the time. He came in from right field to close out important games for the Delta ‘Dogs. He gave up the game-winning grand slam to the national champion Miami Hurricane. Thigpen, though, showed his mental toughness by becoming an all-star closer for the Chicago White Sox when he joined the big league organization). This trio was joined by ace starting pitcher Jeff Brantley, who would become a middle relief pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds. Brantley later became a well-known commentator for the ESPN network.
This quartet of future major leaguers was joined by two other draftees that never made it to the major leagues. Second baseman Gator Thiessen was drafted by the classless New York Yankees in the fifteenth round after his junior season. Not wanting to play for such a classless organization (and wanting to finish his education) Gator came back for his senior year. He was drafted in the tenth round by the St. Louis Cardinals. Thiessen never even came up for a “cup of coffee” with the parent organization, though.
The other draftee was one of the two most talented athletes that I ever played high school football against. Centerfielder Dan Van Cleve was drafted in the twenty-first round by the Texas Rangers. He played three seasons in the minors, before hanging up his cleats and accepting an invitation to attend one of the top medical schools in the country- Baylor University. The late Dr. Van Cleve became a heart surgeon. Sadly, he passed away in 2013.
I say sadly because this man, by all accounts, was a class individual. I did not know him well personally, but I did experience a dose of his athleticism when I was a junior in high school playing special teams for the second-ranked school in the state in our division. We had a home game against the top-ranked school in the state in mid-season. They were led by their all-state quarterback/kicker, Dan Van Cleve. Our stellar defense stopped the Patriots on their first drive at our thirty-three-yard line. Dan called a timeout, calmly changed his right shoe, and kicked a fifty-yard field goal. The route was on. Final score Dan’s team 24, my team 0.
The only other player I played against that was in his class as an athlete was Paul Ott Carruth, who would later play fullback for the Green Bay Packers for three years. Carruth then played one year for the Kansas City Chiefs before leaving the NFL for the Birmingham Stallions of the USFL. He played one year in Birmingham before the league folded.
Dan Van Cleve held the school record at State for runs scored until his teammate, Palmeiro, surpassed him. He was a stellar centerfielder, after switching positions from second base, in addition to being a good leadoff hitter for the Bulldogs. Rest in Peace, Dr. Dan Van Cleve!
Ralph: I didn’t know you asked a trivia question yesterday. I just felt like playing some blues.
d.: Well, you might as well know that B.B. King grew up in the Mississippi delta. That is why I used one of his songs as a hint. Although Clark grew up in New Orleans, he did play college baseball for the Diamond Dogs of Mississippi State.
Anyway, since we are talking about baseball, is the commissioner of Major League Baseball, Rob (he is NOT a) Man,Fred going to BE a man and do something about this?
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