Thursday, October 18, 2007

Stevie Ray and the Mick

Dept. of Stuff I Never Knew: Stevie Ray Vaughn's famous Lenny Stratocaster was autographed by Mickey Mantle:


Throughout the remainder of his career, the Lenny guitar traveled with Vaughan almost everywhere he went, and it was later autographed by baseball great Mickey Mantle during a chance meeting in Houston. On April 10, 1985, Vaughan had just performed the National Anthem at the season's opening game for the Houston Astros where Mantle was also in attendance as a guest of honor. Without a baseball or bat nearby, Stevie offered up his beloved guitar to be touched with the magic of the American sporting legend.

For what it's worth, April 10, 1985 was the Astros' second game of the season, not opening day [praise be to Retrosheet]. That day Jerry Reuss and the Dodgers beat Joe Neikro 5-4 on the strength of solo homers in the 7th from Kenny Landreaux and Pedro Guerrero.

Reliable sources report, however, that by the time Landreaux came to the plate, Stevie and the Mick had already retired to Kay's Lounge over on Bissonnet Street in order to drink some Lone Stars and discuss the challenges of peaking at 30.

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