Ryan the Redbird — and ex-Trailblazer and Rebel — becomes an all-star

By Ron Kantowski

Monday, July 7, 2008 | 4:35 p.m.

NOW:

Now that Greg Maddux has turned 40-something, it's not every day a Las Vegas kid makes the baseball All-Star Game. So kudos to former Durango High Trailblazer and UNLV Rebel Ryan Ludwick for doing it. Going to the all-star game has to be a ginormous thrill for somebody who has never done it. Or doesn't fish (which is what most ballplayers do during the all-star break). I'd rank it right up there with hitting a walk-off grand slam or making late-night visits to Madonna's place.

When you consider Ludwick has been injured more often than Richard Simmons' pride, it makes what he has accomplished for the Cardinals this season even more impressive.

That said, his brother, Eric, and T.J. Mathews will probably help you win a trivia contest -- or a bar bet -- even faster.

They were the two former UNLV pitchers who were traded from the Cardinals to the A's for Mark McGwire.

The other player in the package deal was Blake Stein. He did not play for UNLV. But he did strike out eight Milwaukee Brewers in succession on June 17, 2001 while pitching for the Kansas City Royals.

----- When I heard that Roger Federer finally lost at Wimbledon my first reaction was that Tim Donaghy must have been the chair umpire.

----- Scott Dixon, the most current Indy 500 winner, said he was a "complete idiot" for spinning during a yellow flag and taking himself and Ryan Briscoe, another contending driver, out of the race at Watkins Glen Sunday. On the other hand, Danica Patrick, who also looked like a complete idiot spinning out of control down the pit lane during a yellow flag (nearly taking out half of Dixon's pit crew), more or less said the sun got in her eyes.

----- The Arizona Diamondbacks lead the National League West with a 44-45 record. Too bad the UNLV football team doesn't play baseball.

----- Or Arena Football. The Grand Rapids Rampage, which, I believe, is also a featured attraction at Six Flags, made the football-in-a-can playoffs with an 6-10 record.

THEN:

The last home run I hit was in Wiffle Ball or Strat-o-Matic, and I have never made a late-night visit to Madonna's place. (Although I do remember listening to "Papa Don't Preach" around 11:30 one night.)

But I did receive a special cap for making my Little League all-star team when I was 12. Alas, we didn't make it to Williamsport. We lost our first game, 4-0.

I didn't get to play. I warmed the bench like Chico Ruiz. But man, was I ever proud of that cap.

When it was humid, I wouldn't wear it, because I didn't want to sweat -- even if it had one of those old brown sweat bands that was wider than the runway at Meigs Field.

Funny, I don't remember what happened to that cap.

Or, for that matter, my Barrel of Monkeys game.