Last time we challenged you to test your knowledge with a 10-question quiz about major league baseball.

In this program, I run through all the questions again, and this time I also supply the answers. 

The list of winners rounds out the show.  Congratulations to you all, and I'll see you again Next Year!

Fred Foy, the announcer on The Lone Ranger radio program whose voice will live forever with the immortal line "Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear," died this week at the age of 89.

Foy also played the Lone Ranger himself in one episode, when Brace Beemer, the radio voice of the Lone Ranger, had laryngitis. 

Here is that episode, Burly Scott's Sacrifice, as it originally aired on March 29, 1954.

The girl in the photo with Fred is my daughter, Karen Hughes, who had the privilege of acting with Fred in several radio re-creations of the Lone Ranger. 

For a short video clip from a re-creation of Burly Scott's Sacrifice, visit http://tinyurl.com/yhe4fez. 

And by the way, I play one of the outlaws - that's me in the dark T-shirt.

And so another year comes to an end. 

In this wrap-up program, I talk about a REAL treasure park (write Mike Post at info@allaroundashevillenc.com), and I bring you up to date on my attempts to retrieve my childhood treasure.

I also talk about my new book.  Well, actually, the second edition of The Metal Detecting Manual.  Check it out at http://treasuremanual.com.

He first appeared as a jewel thief in a pulp magazine in 1914, then he showed up in the silent movies, then in the talkies, and then on the radio.  Finally, he had his own TV show in the early 1950s.

I'm talking about Boston Blackie. 

He was played in the movies and initially on the radio by Chester Morris, but Richard Kollmar (husband of Dorothy Kilgallen) took over the radio role the second year and held it until the show went off the air in 1950.

This episode, Murder With an Alibi, originally aired on March 5, 1946. 

It's the holiday season, and I'm in a gift-giving mood, so this week's In the Softball Corner show is a baseball trivia quiz. 

Be one of the five winners of a copy of my book Managing and Coaching Adult Slowpitch Softball. 

Enter by sending an email with your ten answers and your name and mailing address to:

cornerquiz@gmail.com

Entry deadline:  Midnight CST December 24, 2010.  First five correct entrants will win a book; if there are fewer than five perfect scores, the five best entries will receive a copy of the book.

Decision of the judges (that would be me) are final.

For a look at the prize, visit http://slowpitchbook.com.

Jimmy Stewart is best-remembered for his movie roles in films like It's a Wonderful Life, Harvey, and Rear Window.

But in the fall of 1953, he starred in a radio series.  He played wandering cowboy Britt Ponset, the title character of the western series The Six Shooter. 

Though the series lasted just one year, the writing was excellent and Stewart was at the top of his form.  The plot was simple:  Ponset travelled around the wild west, and each week he had a new adventure. 

Some of the shows were serious, some of them were funny, and some of them were classic stories retold with a western background, like Cinderella and A Christmas Carol.

This episode, Silver Annie, was first broadcast on October 11, 1953.

Come one, come all, to Treasure World Park!

No, it's not open yet, but we're working on it. 

Well, thinking about working on it. 

Well, thinking about getting someone else to work on it. 

Here are some off-the-wall ideas for a dream park for treasure hunters, especially those who are looking out windows at ice and snow and frozen ground for several months of the year.

Join the fun - tell us what you'd like to see in a Treasure Park.  Click the comment button (lower right corner) and add to the craziness.

For more articles about treasure hunting, see http://treasuremanual.com.

P.S. Here's the newsletter that Bob didn't like and thereby started this whole idea:

Dan's Christmas Newsletter

One of the funniest programs ever to air. 

Phil Harris as a vain, happy-go-lucky bandleader, Elliott Lewis as his scheming guitarist Frankie Remley, Alice Faye as the wife and family anchor, two actresses playing the precocious daughters, and Walter Tetley as the brash, insulting grocery delivery boy.

In this episode, Remley needs a family to seal an inheritance, and so borrows Phil's wife and daughters as his own. 

This show originally aired on December 5, 1948.

The Amateur Softball Association of America (the ASA) just held their annual meeting, and in this program we take a look at the rule changes they made that will go into effect for the 2011 season.

The major change is a new ball.  Not mandatory now, but it probably will be within two years.  It's "bouncier," but softer than the current ball, so it goes slower and won't hurt as bad when it hits you.

Another change - you can paint your name or your number on your bat now, or ever laser-cut your name or number right into your bat.

Lots of other changes, but most of them are minor.  Hear them all in this program.

For more articles on adult slowpitch softball, visit http://slowpitchbook.com.

The Halls of Ivy ran from 1950 to 1952.  It was a weekly half-hour sitcom set on the campus of Ivy College. 

Ronald Colman starred as William Todhunter Hall, the college president.  Colman’s real-life wife Bonita played his wife Vicky, an ex-star of the English theater. 

One of the regulars you'll recognize is Willard Waterman, who was also the second Great Gildersleeve, as Colman’s friend on the college board of governors.

This episode, Student Editorial, was the second show of the series.  It aired on January 13, 1950.

Wherein your brave correspondent sticks his neck out and dares to make specific recommendations. 

Four entry-level detectors are compared feature-by-feature, to help you make an informed choice. 

The machines in question:  Fisher F2, Garrett Ace 150, Tesoro Compadre, and White's Coinmaster.

P.S.  Here's the site that offers the Fisher F2 with the 4" coil, AND a pinpointer, for $215: 

http://tinyurl.com/27xmy4v 

Also, several internet dealers are offering an F2 package with the 4" coil and the 10" coil for $275.

For more articles about metal detecting, see my website.

Frank Lovejoy starred as the nighttime beat reporter for the Chicago Star in Nightbeat. 

This episode will be of particular interest to Gunsmoke fans, because the radio actors who played Matt Dillon, Chester, and Miss Kitty all appear as guests.

So with Frank Lovejoy in the lead role and William Conrad, Parley Baer, and Georgia Ellis in supporting roles, here's Nightbeat, from October 13, 1950, and Einer Pierce and His Family.

Wherein your correspondent bestows heaps of pity upon himself as another year of softball comes to a close.

For more softball articles, visit http://slowpitchbook.com.

On radio and in the movies, Basil Rathbone WAS Sherlock Holmes.

He played the part from 1939 to 1946, appearing in hundreds of radio shows and fourteen movies.

Along with Nigel Bruce as Dr. Watson, here's Basil Rathbone in The Unfortunate Tobacconist, which originally aired on April 30, 1945.

A program especially for newbies.  Thoughts on picking your first metal detector. 

What if you buy an expensive machine and then find you don't like the hobby? 

What if you buy a cheap machine and then find that you love the hobby? 

With dozens and dozens of brands and models available, at prices from under a hundred dollars to over a thousand dollars, where in the world do you start?

This show helps you begin your search.

For more articles on treasure hunting, visit my website http://thetreasurecorner.com.

Information Please! was a popular quiz show, on the air from 1938 to 1951. 

Listeners sent in questions to stump the panel.  If the listener's question was used on the air, the listener won a few dollars. 

If the panel couldn't answer the question, the listener won a few more dollars.

Clifton Fadiman was the moderator of the show.  The panel consisted of three regulars who had an immense knowledge of music, sports, literature, popular culture, and several other fields. 

They were joined by a different celebrity panelist every week. 

Some of the celebrities who played the game were Orson Welles, Dorothy Parker, Boris Karloff, and Mike Wallace, when he was still known as Myron Wallace.

From June 20, 1939, here’s Information Please, with guest panelist Gracie Allen.

Upon hearing of the death of a teammate from several decades ago, I thought I'd like to do a show about some of my cherished softball memories.

Pop Palmer and his two sons played on my Media Blitz team. 

We were mostly radio broadcasters in real life, and most of us were a lot better at describing and analyzing the action on the field than we were in actually creating it. 

But we had a lot of fun, and a lot of laughs, and hopefully the stories here will bring a smile to your face.

The fall softball season ended last week, the temperature is dipping below the freezing mark at night, and it's time to sit back and relive the good times.

The guys in the photo, left to right, are Joe and Ron Palmer, and their father, "Pop" Palmer.

For more softball stories, visit my website http://slowpitchbook.com.

The Shadow was created in 1930 as the narrator for a radio show that dramatized stories from Detective Story magazine. 

The character became more popular than the shows he introduced, and soon The Shadow magazine was born. 

The Shadow radio show appeared in 1937, with Orson Welles as one of the early Shadows. 

This episode, the Gibbering Things, was originally broadcast on September 26, 1943.

In 1958, I buried a treasure in the back yard of this house. 

Here's the story of what it was, how it came about, and why I've had so much trouble trying to recover it for the past half-century.

For more articles about treasure hunting and metal detecting, visit my website http://treasuremanual.com.

Though at least seven actors played The Saint on the radio over the years, Vincent Price is the Saint to most of us who listened to the show. 

The Saint got his name from his initials - ST, for Simon Templar.  He was a suave, clever, fun-loving and lovable criminal whose targets were pretty much rich bad guys. 

The Saint first appeared in 1928 in a book, moved to the movies in 1938, then to radio in 1940, and finally to television in 1968.

This radio episode, The Corpse Said Ouch, stars Vincent Price and was first aired on August 6, 1950.

Back in Program #53, we took a look at the pros and cons of fastpitch bats.  I invited listeners to send me their stories about using fastpitch bats in slowpitch softball.

Mark Jones of Minneapolis sent in a report of his experiences with fastpitch bats. 

He talks about the reaction of other players, including a friend who shrugged off the fact that he could consistently hit harder and farther with a fastpitch bat.

Check out my other softball articles at http://slowpitchbook.com.

How many old-time radio sitcoms do you know of that were also a television series, and a movie?  I'll probably hear from listeners who have other answers, but the one that springs to mind for me is Our Miss Brooks.

Connie Brooks was a high school English teacher who had a crush on Mr. Boynton, the science teacher.  Gale Gordon played the blustery principal, Mr. Osgood Conklin.  And a very young Richard Crenna played the high school student who dated the principal's daughter. 

Incidentally, forty years later, Richard Crenna played Colonel Denton Walters in the movie Hot Shot Part Deux - a reversal of his Our Miss Brooks character, Walter Denton.

This episode, Student Government Day, originally aired on January 16, 1949.

Old, abandoned drive-in movie theaters can be a coinshooter's paradise.

This is a look at the history of drive-in theaters, their rise and fall, and the two main reasons they are now nearly extinct.

And some suggestions on how to find those old, dilapidated screens and concession stands that lie forgotten, patiently waiting to be rediscovered by the persistent coinshooter.

For more treasure tales and helpful articles on metal detecting, visit http://treasuremanual.com.

In the late 1950s, radio as a dramatic medium was dying out, giving way to disc jockey formats.

CBS radio tried to hold on a while longer by putting on radio what the public adored on television:  westerns!

This western, Luke Slaughter of Tombstone, perhaps would have been a huge hit twenty years earlier.  It was produced by the same folks who gave us Gunsmoke. 

But, good as it was, it was just too late.

This episode, Tracks Out of Tombstone, was originally broadcast on March 3, 1958.

Fall Ball is different.  Less pressure, more fun, fewer fans, snowstorms.

This program is a lighthearted look at the differences between summer softball and fallball.

And don't miss the tip about fallball bats - what bats NOT to use when the weather is cold.

For more articles about playing, coaching, and managing adult slowpitch softball, see my website http://slowpitchbook.com.

Richard Diamond on radio and Richard Diamond on TV were two different animals. 

The radio Diamond (Dick Powell) was rather lighthearted and funny, and the television Diamond (David Janssen) was more hardboiled and serious.

Dick Powell himself does the whistling that opens the radio show.  This episode, the Ralph Chase Case, was originally broadcast on May 15, 1949. 

What you see here are the innards of a Long Distance Locator that sells for $1595. 

According to an engineer who disassembled it, the circuit board comes from an AM transistor radio that sold at Radio Shack for $6.99. 

He also says this pricey machine detects nothing but AM radio stations. 

Here's a full report:  http://tinyurl.com/2br2hrb

This podcast discusses the effectiveness (or lack thereof) of these expensive machines.

For more articles about treasure hunting and metal detecting, visit my website: http://treasuremanual.com.

This is the show that evolved into television's I Love Lucy.

Three years before Lucy and Ricky on TV, there were Liz and George on the radio. 

The radio program was called My Favorite Husband, and many of the radio episodes were rewritten for use as scripts on the I Love Lucy TV show.

Lucy played Liz, but George was played by Richard Denning, who was replaced by Lucy's real-life husband, Desi Arnaz, when the show went to television.

So listen now to an early version of I Love Lucy.  Here's Lucille Ball in My Favorite Husband, from August 20, 1948.

The rundown is one of the most exciting plays in softball. 

This show looks at the rundown from both the runner and fielder sides. 

The runner can be ejected from the game if he makes one particular mistake, and the fielder can also be thrown out if he breaks one particular rule. 

Hear about them both in this program.

For more articles on playing, coaching, and managing adult slowpitch softball, visit http://slowpitchbook.com.

Inner Sanctum Mysteries ran from 1941 to 1952, and in those 11 years over 500 shows were broadcast. 

Many old-time listeners refer to it by its signature sound effect, The Creaking Door.  It was hosted by a ghoulish character who enjoyed bad puns.

The show was similar to television’s Twilight Zone, with stories that mixed humor with horror. 

From September 25, 1945, here’s Inner Sanctum, and The Lonely Sleep.

Everybody hunts modern schoolyards, but what about the old, abandoned schoolhouses out in the country?  In this show we offer some tricks to help you find these often forgotten rural schoolyards.  We also tell you how to discover where in those schoolyards you are most likely to find the good stuff.

For more tips and tricks in treasure hunting and metal detecting, check out the articles at http://treasuremanual.com

Philip Marlowe was a hardboiled private eye created by hardboiled author Raymond Chandler.

He began in the pulp detective magazines, then moved to the movies and then to radio.

Marlowe was played by film star Van Heflin on the radio, then later by Gerald Mohr.

This is the very first episode of The Adventures of Philip Marlowe.  It originally ran on June 17, 1947 on the NBC radio network.

Fastpitch bats in slowpitch softball?  Wimpy, right?

Maybe not.  This show examines the differences between fastpitch and slowpitch bats. 

Weight, length, and resultant power. And more importantly, how to determine what's right for you. 

That pink fastpitch bat may just raise your batting average dramatically!  So, do you dare use it? 

I'd like to hear your thoughts on fastpitch bats.  Write dan@danhughes.net.

For more articles on slowpitch softball - on coaching, managing, pitching, hitting, and more, visit http://slowpitchbook.com.

Gunsmoke was an original concept in radio – a bleak western for adults.   It ran on the radio from 1952 to 1961. 

The program had the perfect cast members – straight-talking Bill Conrad as Marshall Matt Dillon, quirky Parley Baer as Chester, ghoulish Howard McNear as Doc Adams, and Georgia Ellis as Matt’s love interest and saloon girl Kitty Russell.  

They had all done hundreds, perhaps thousands of roles in various radio programs before they were signed for Gunsmoke.  

William Conrad went on to star in television’s Cannon and Jake and the Fat Man, and Parley Baer and Howard McNear both had regular parts in the Andy Griffith Show, with Parley as Mayor Stoner and Howard McNear as Floyd the Barber.

This episode, from July 24, 1960, is called The Imposter.

You've done your research, planned your recovery, and one fine morning you find a stash worth millions!  Easy Street forever, right?

Probably not. 

This show reveals what has happened to people who have become suddenly rich, and it ain't pretty.

So listen to this program, and you may decide that coinshooting is great, but treasure hunting is maybe just a little bit scary.

Or would YOU be able to handle that much money with no problems? 

Sure you would.

For more treasure tips, visit http://treasuremanual.com.

Before Jack Webb made those four notes “dum da dum dum” forever famous, he starred in a quirky series set at the San Francisco harbor, called Pat Novak for Hire.

The dialog he wrote for Novak was just bizarre – there’s just no other way to describe it.

Listen for yourself, as we give you the April 23, 1949 episode of Pat Novak for Hire. This is called Rita Malloy.

Happy Birthday to Me!

I turned 63 last week, and this show is two years old today.

Listen and learn which shows over the past two years have been the most popular (one show in particular is in #1 position by a landslide), and hear a few inside comments about the structure and maturation of the program. 

For more softball tips, visit my website http://slowpitchbook.com

He was the voice of Bugs Bunny.  He was the voice of Porky Pig.  He was the voice of Jack Benny’s perpetually-frustrated violin teacher, and Jack’s parrot, and Jack’s antique Maxwell automobile when it struggled to get started.

Mel Blanc, the man of a thousand voices, had his own radio series that ran for one season on CBS.  Mel played a mousy handyman who ran a fix-it shop with the help of his assistant Zookie, who sounded a lot like Porky Pig. 

Sadly, Mel’s unique talents were wasted in this series.  The writing was weak and the jokes not very funny.  Still, for historical purposes, old-time radio fans should listen to an episode or two of The Mel Blanc Show. 

This one is called The Astrologer, and it was originally broadcast on November 19, 1946.

Happy Birthday to Me!

I turned 63 on Tuesday (August 17), and this show is two years old today.

Listen and learn which shows over the last two years have been the most popular, and a few inside comments on the structure and the maturation of the program.  (Wow!  That sounds boring!  It's not - honest!)

For more treasure tips, see my website http://treasuremanual.com.

McCarthyism was rampant in the early 1950s, and radio gave us a weekly series called I Was a Communist for the FBI.  It ran from 1952 to 1954. 

Dana Andrews played the real-life spy who pretended to be a Red so he could infiltrate the Communist Party. 

I Was a Communist for the FBI was an independent syndicated program, not run by any specific network, and it was carried by an astounding 600-plus radio stations. From May 7, 1952, here’s an episode of I Was a Communist for the FBI, called Little Red.

This is the final segment in our series on pitching for newbies. 

In it, we discuss what you as a pitcher should do after the batter hits the ball. 

If it isn't hit to you, you just stand there and watch, right?

Well, not quite....

For more tips and tricks about playing, coaching, and managing adult slowpitch softball, visit my website http://slowpitchbook.com.

Radio producer-director Norman McDonnell and head writer John Meston gave us two old-time radio western series.  Both were “adult, thinking-man” programs.

One was Gunsmoke. 

The other was Fort Laramie.

Fort Laramie ran for less than a year, from January 1956 to October 1956.  It starred a relatively unknown mostly bit-part actor who had done radio for several years and had been in the movies too. 

The year after he starred in Fort Laramie, his career would skyrocket as he became television’s Perry Mason.

Canada’s Raymond Burr was picked to play Perry Mason over such better-known actors as Jeff Chandler, Fred MacMurray, and Efrem Zimbalist Jr. 

Legend is that Perry Mason author Erle Stanley Gardner said, “THAT’s Perry Mason” when Burr walked in to audition.

Raymond Burr played cavalry Captain Lee Quince in Fort Laramie.  From February 5, 1956, here’s an episode of Fort Laramie called Squaw Man.

Many treasure hunters are pretty close-mouthed when it comes to their favorite hunting spots, and for good reason.

But if you're a coinshooter looking for those older coins, it really pays to talk, talk, talk. The more people who know about your hobby, the more places you are going to be able to detect.

This program discusses how YOU should discuss your hobby with friends, relatives, and all sorts of strangers. 

By following the simple instructions in this show, you will learn about hidden prime coinshooting areas right in your own backyard (or your Uncle Leonard's back yard).

If you enjoy these podcasts, please visit my website http://treasuremanual.com for more articles about metal detecting, and a sales pitch for my book, The Metal Detecting Manual.

Nero Wolfe was a most unlikely detective. 

He was a gourmet and an orchid connoisseur, and he was generally a rather nasty man altogether.

He was so vastly overweight that he seldom left his apartment.

He listened to clients tell their stories, then he sent his assistant Archie Goodwin to do the footwork (and the dirty work).

Archie tracked down the clues, often putting himself in great physical danger, then he turned his findings over to Wolfe, who solved the mystery in the comfort of his easy chair. 

Three actors played Nero Wolfe on the radio.  In this program, we hear the most well-known Nero Wolfe, Sydney Greenstreet.

This episode, Stamped for Murder, was originally broadcast on October 20, 1950.

You're a pitcher, and you've just released the perfect pitch. 

Your pitching form is picture-perfect, your follow-though is stunningly choreographed and breathtakingly beautiful, and . . . and suddenly the ball is flying toward your face at a hundred miles an hour. 

What should pitchers do immediately after they have thrown their pitch? 

This program gives you some tips on avoiding injury, predicting where the ball will be hit, and why you should never stay behind the pitching plate after you've released the ball.

For more softball tips, visit my website http://slowpitchbook.com.

Fibber McGee and Molly were one of America's best-loved radio couples. Stars Jim and Marion Jordan were married in real life, and their show was on the air from 1935 to 1959.

Their radio show was as popular as The Lone Ranger, Jack Benny, Gunsmoke, and Burns and Allen, but unlike those programs, Fibber McGee and Molly was not able to adapt itself to television. 

Perhaps it failed because it was better heard than seen.  Fibber McGee and Molly was more "sound-oriented" than other radio shows.

For example, Jim Jordan was a wizard at delivering extended alliteration at breakneck speed, and he was also a professional punster.  No picture is required to fully appreciate either of these verbal gymnastic techniques.

Also, the most popular running gag of the show was Fibber McGee's closet.  It was stuffed with junk, and whenever it was opened, you heard everything fall out.  The sound effects man would sweep shelf after shelf of umbrellas and bowling balls and pots and pans to the floor, going on for maybe thirty seconds, and it got funnier all the time.

But in real life, gravity isn't that slow.  The closet crash would last only three seconds or so, and the humor was lost.

And finally, when the TV version was cast, new actors were chosen for the parts of Fibber and Molly.  Like David Letterman said (repeatedly) of Val Kilmer, "That ain't Batman."

This episode, Catching a Train, first aired on February 20, 1945.

What's a 1926-S penny worth? 

Could be three hundred dollars, could be six bucks.  It all depends on the condition of the coin.

This program explains why the coins you find with your metal detector may not be worth as much as the books say, and it also tells you which coins don't lose value while in the ground.

For more articles on metal detecting, visit http://treasuremanual.com.

Once upon a time there were radio shows - and then television shows - that told a different story every week, with no continuing characters except the host who introduced each story, and with different locations, and even time periods, every week. 

In radio, there was Suspense, and Lights Out, and The Whistler, and Academy Award Theater and Lux Radio Theater and the First Nighter Program. 

In television, there was Playhouse 90 and the Loretta Young Show and Alfred Hitchcock Presents and The Twilight Zone. 

One of the best radio shows of this type was Escape, which ran on CBS and was hosted by William Conrad and Paul Frees. 

Escape usually took place in some exotic locale, and dramatized someone in a life-or-death situation. 

This episode, The Man Who Stole the Bible, first aired on May 5, 1950.

It's a new game!  You're on the mound!  All eyes are on you as you prepare to throw the first pitch.

Wait!  Stop right there! Are you sure you know what you're doing?

This show walks you through all the little details that should go through your mind before you throw the first pitch of a game, and then before you throw the first pitch to each batter as the game progresses.

For more tips on pitching (and hitting and coaching and managing) slowpitch softball, visit http://slowpitchmanual.com.

The Green Hornet (Britt Reid) was the son of the nephew of the Lone Ranger. 

Like the Lone Ranger, he fought crime though law officers thought he was an outlaw. 

And like the Lone Ranger, he had a foreign sidekick (Tonto for the Lone Ranger, Kato - a Philipino - for the Green Hornet).

The program ran from 1936 to 1952, and though several actors played Britt Reid, Al Hodge is best remembered for the role.

This episode, Torpedo on Wheels, originally aired on November 14, 1942.

In program #008, we discussed the three keys to selecting homes with yards that are likely to hold the most coins, and the oldest coins. Now we talk about how to hunt a private yard, and where the older coins are likely to be found.

For more articles on metal detecting, visit http://treasuremanual.com and click the Articles link at the top of the page.

For every really successful radio western, like The Lone Ranger and Gunsmoke, there were dozens of lesser-known cowboy shows.  

A good example of one of these programs that flew under the radar is Dr. Sixgun, which ran just one year, from 1954 to 1955.

Karl Weber played the gun-toting physician.  Weber was no stranger to radio, or to the medical profession.  He had played a doctor for two years in the radio soap opera The Guiding Light, and he appeared in several movies and tv shows, including Perry Mason, Doctor Kildare, and Maverick.

Dr. Sixgun was narrated by Weber's sidekick, Pablo, who was played by Bill Griffis.  

This episode, "No Guns" Ordinance, originally aired on October 31, 1954.

Earlier this year, a slowpitch pitcher in Virginia was killed by a line drive (see program #044). 

A pitcher on my own team took a line drive to the groin and had to have an emergency operation on his testicles.

This program examines ways pitchers can protect themselves in this time of flat pitches, juiced bats, and steroid-pumped batters.

P.S.  This is a photo of my shinguard.  Note the permanent dent in it, caused by a line drive.  That definitely would have crushed the bone in the front of my leg.  (Fibula?  Tibula?  Whatever.  It still hurt for several days).

By the way, I've just completely redone my book website - let me know if you find any typos there.  http://slowpitchbook.com

The site now has an easy up-top link to my softball articles - enjoy!

Nathan Birnbaum married Grace Ethel Cecile Rosalie Allen in 1926.  For the next 30 years, they were one of the best-loved couples in America. 

Nathan became George Burns and Gracie dropped all those middle names, and Burns and Allen were headliners in vaudeville, radio, and television for almost half a century.  George was in show biz for over 93 years!

Their radio program was one of the top-rates shows for many years.  This episode, Sweeping Into Office, was originally broadcast live from the San Francisco World's Fair on May 29, 1940.

In program number 006, we discussed the most likely places to find coins and rings in parks. 

In this program, we go a step farther and talk about how to find the older (and hopefully, more valuable) coins in parks. 

Where exactly to hunt, how to find the hotspots for older coins, and how to find fewer coins on purpose - because you're concentrating on coins that were dropped decades ago, not yesterday.

I've just revamped my website, making it easier to read and to navigate.  Check it out at http://treasuremanual.com.  And click on the Articles link for more treasure hunting secrets.

Movie actor Alan Ladd played Dan Holiday, an ex-newspaper reporter who wrote mystery novels. 

To find ideas for his stories, he ran a classified ad:  "Adventure wanted, will go anywhere, do anything.  Write Box 13, Star-Times." 

Each episode began with the reading of a letter responding to this ad, and Halliday was off on another adventure.

The series ran in 1948 and 1949, and Ladd himself was co-writer of some of the scripts. 

This episode, Suicide or Murder, aired on November 7, 1948.

For newbie pitchers who want to win from the start - a list of things you must know before you step onto the field.  The pitching frame described in this show is at: http://danhughesbooks.com/backyardpitching.htm

For more tips, visit my website:

http://slowpitchbook.com

Dark Fantasy was a supernatural anthology, much like the television show, The Twilight Zone.  It didn’t last very long – it was on the air from November 1941 to June 1942 – but it was written by Scott Bishop, who also wrote The Mysterious Traveler, and it was much admired by fans of the genre.

This episode, The Thing From the Sea, originally aired on November 28, 1941.

In Depth Secrets 1 (podcast 004), we looked at four simple ways to get better depth from your metal detector.  Now in part 2, we examine another four ways to increase your depth.

For more tips and tricks of metal detecting and treasure hunting, see my website: http://treasuremanual.com.

Westerns were big on radio.  Some were almost "literary" and aimed at adults, like Gunsmoke, Frontier Gentleman, and Have Gun Will Travel.

Others were full of exciting action and more for the kids, like Gene Autry's Melody Ranch, Wild Bill Hickok, and Roy Rogers.

The Cisco Kid definitely fit into the lots-of-action category.  Cisco and his sidekick Pancho got into a new fix every week, and by the end of the show they were back on the trailing, laughing with each other.

The program was on radio from 1942 to 1956, and a television version aired from 1950 to 1956.

This episode, War at Oak Pass, starred Jack Mather as the Cisco Kid, originally aired on July 14, 1953.

Baseball geeks live for stats, stats, and more stats.  Slowpitch softball is a bit more casual . . . or is it? 

Does your team keep good stats?  Useful stats?  And how can you use them once you have them?

On the controversial side, what exactly should a hitter get credit for?  These are a few of the topics of this internet radio show. 

For more tips on hitting, pitching, fielding, coaching, and managing adult slowpitch softball, see my web page at http://slowpitchbook.com.

It was, simply, the most listened-to radio series of all time.  People planned their activities so as not to miss this show. 

First they were Sam 'n' Henry, but they had to change their names when they switched radio stations.  One of the stars overheard two elderly black men address each other as Famous Amos and Handy Andy, and the new identities were thus created.

There are three main ways to ask permission to hunt private property.  Two of them you should never use.

In this show you'll learn the best way to get the okay to dig in private yards, with a suggested "script" to use when you are seeking permission.

(NOTE:  Program #002 discusses getting permission to hunt public property.)

For more metal detecting tips, see my web page:  http://treasuremanual.com

This is the first in a weekly series of old-time radio shows.  I have been doing this show for a local (Champaign, Illinois) radio station for the sight-impaired for the past year.  The radio station is on an SCA subcarrier, meaning that you have to have a special radio to listen to it. 

By putting it on the internet as a podcast, anyone can hear it whenever they like.

The first show is a Barrie Craig, Confidential Investigator episode, starring William Gargan. 

I am also involved with the annual Cincinnati Old-Time Radio convention.  Please visit our site here:

http://CincyOTR.info

Thank you!

Dan Hughes, http://danhughes.net

How often do you schedule a team practice, and half your guys blow it off with lame excuses?

In this episode of In the Softball Corner, I offer some suggestions that just might get more of your players to your practice sessions.

The bottom line:  If you make it fun, they will come.  (I tried to print that in a Field of Dreams voice, but I don't think it's working).

More softball tips for players (especially pitchers and hitters), coaches, and managers at http://slowpitchbook.com.

How you can use golf tees to your advantage in treasure hunting,and a story that might help you find a LOT of dimes.  This episode is a bit more light-hearted than most.

For more tips and tricks, see my web page http://treasuremanual.com.

Last week, an adult slowpitch softball pitcher was killed when a line drive hit him. 

This program is a tribute to George Crisp, and a look at what might be done to prevent further deaths on the mound.

For articles on playing, coaching, and managing slowpitch softball, see my webpage http://slowpitchbook.com.

If some of this week's program topics sound familiar, it's because I am plagiarizing myself.  Several of the tips here appeared in earlier programs.  No, I'm not recycling old shows out of laziness.  My earliest shows are a bit overlong, and I'm in the process of recording new versions of them. 

I'm dropping all those music intros and outros from those early shows, and limiting each program to just one topic.  That means I'll be removing all the tips and tricks from those shows. 

And rather than just discarding them, I'm recycling them in this show.  Today's tip topics include ideas about shoes, toothpaste, bars of soap, and nail apron fashion.

For more tips, see my web site http://treasuremanual.com.

The big rule change in ASA this year is the lowering of the maximum height of a pitch from 12 feet to 10 feet. 

This program discusses the ramifications of the new rule, with some suggestions on how pitchers can cope.

For more articles on managing, coaching, and playing softball, see http://slowpitchbook.com.

What exactly is treasure trove, and who owns it?  You'll be surprised!

This program looks at some of the laws concerning the finding and legal ownership of treasure trove.

For more articles on treasure hunting, see my website:  http://treasuremanual.com.

This is the final show in the series on catching.  Listen to the tips, tricks, and secrets of veteran catchers. 

Ideas on working with umpires, taking advantage of your proximity to all the members of the other team, body positioning on throws home, and lots more.

For more articles on managing, coaching, and playing slowpitch softball, see my website at http://slowpitchbook.com

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Split-the-loot contracts between treasure hunters and property owners are a popular topic with treasure hunters.  Here's why you should never (well, hardly ever) use such a contract.  And if you decide to use one anyway, please be aware of the one clause you should NEVER, EVER put into a contract.

For more articles on treasure hunting, see my website, http://treasuremanual.com

Should the slowpitch catcher call pitches? 

What else can he do to make a difference in the game, besides throwing the ball back to the pitcher and make plays at home? 

Catchers from around the country give their tips and tricks on playing the position.

For more articles on playing, coaching, and managing slowpitch softball, go to my website http://slowpitchbook.com.

Some basic tips and warnings for the newcomer to the treasure hunting hobby.  Old-timers may want to review, too.  My coin-digging video mentioned in the show is at http://tinyurl.com/yhumr7u.

For more tips on using metal detectors, see my web page at http://treasuremanual.com

Recent studies indicate that about 20 percent of us lack the necessary genetic variants necessary for building athletic endurance.

Is there anything we can do about that?   Well, yes, there is. 

In this program I offer some tips to help you compensate for your lack of the proper genetics.

For more articles on playing, managing, and coaching adult slowpitch softball, see my website at http://slowpitchbook.com.

Nobody knows quite what it is, but most every treasure hunter has experienced it at one time or another. I'm talking about what is called, for want of a better term, the Halo Effect. In a nutshell:  You get a good beep, you dig, but nothing is there.  You swing your loop over the hole, and the beep is gone.  But if you dig a bit deeper, you find a coin. What happened?   This program discusses the controversial "Halo Effect".  For a more detailed discussion of the science behind this phenomenon, read this discussion thread: http://tinyurl.com/ykdwn95

For more articles on treasure hunting and metal detecting, visit my web site http://treasuremanual.com.

When I recently put out a call for a discussion of catchers and catching, I got a lot of short responses with a lot of excellent insights and ideas.  But I also got two longer letters - one from a pitcher in Ohio, the other from a catcher in California. 

This program is a discussion of their ideas on catching.

For more articles on coaching, playing, and managing adult slowpitch softball, see my website http://slowpitchbook.com.

A listener to the last show wants to know more about how to find out what his local park regulations are, and how to keep from being told he can't hunt by officials who don't know the law.  I offer several suggestions as to how to get your ducks in a row before you take your metal detector into a park.  And the listener himself comes up with a wonderful way to work for change from the inside rather than the outside.

For more articles on metal detecting, see my homepage at http://treasuremanual.com

There are some simple changes you can make in your running style that will increase your speed out of the box.

• Should you run leaning forward or standing straight? 
• Should you take long strides or short ones? 
• Land on your heels or toes? 
• Should your toes point in, out, or straight ahead when you run?
• How should you swing your arms?

All of these things affect your running speed! 

This show gives you tips on how to increase your running speed by making simple changes in the way you run.

Roy Palmer of  http://fitness-programs-for-life.com and Bob Speroni of http://athleticquickness.com offer up their expertise on increasing your running speed by finetuning your running mechanics.

For more articles on playing adult slowpitch softball, see my web page:  http://slowpitchbook.com.

You're digging a beep in the park when a policeman approaches you. What should you do? Former police chief (and current field editor for Lost Treasure magazine) Anthony Belli offers tips on how to handle yourself in an encounter with the law.

Tony goes on to outline the investigative techniques he learned as a police officer, and how you can apply them to metal detecting.

Enjoy the program, then read more of my articles on treasure hunting at my web site, http://treasuremanual.com.

I've been pitching softball for a quarter of a century now, and over the years I've had several catchers who excelled at particular facets of the game. 

In this podcast I discuss two of the best catchers I've worked with, Kevin and Bill, and I tell you what they do that you can do, too, to become a better catcher.

For more articles on hitting, fielding, pitching, catching, and managing, see my web page http://slowpitchbook.com

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City Directories are a treasure trove of information about your town as it used to be.  By going through old city directories in chronological order, you can learn when particular houses were built, all the people who owned or lived in them over the years, the occupations of the tenants, whether the houses were ever used as businesses, and a lot of other fascinating facts that can help you judge whether or not a particular property might be worth detecting. I did a study of my own house from old city directories, and in this podcast I take you through the history of my home and its residents over the years.

For more articles about treasure hunting, see the bottom of my web page http://treasuremanual.com.

Catching is a controversial position in slowpitch softball.  Many teams hide their worst athlete at catcher, but that is where the runs score!   What to do?

With the help of dozens of long-time catchers, this program looks at the ins and outs of the position.

You can see a video of the song quoted in the show here: http://tinyurl.com/yalfdj7

For more articles about managing, coaching, and playing slowpitch, please visit my website: http://slowpitchbook.com.

And for you techies, this program was recorded with a Heil PR-30 microphone straight into a Mackie 402 VLZ mixer - with no mic processor.

When people want to hide valuables nowadays, they seldom dig a hole in the backyard.  Instead, they find a hiding place inside their house.   This programs lists and discusses some of the more common indoor hiding places. The two books mentioned in the show are SEARCH! by James Warnke, and THE STASH BOOK by Peter Hjersman. And speaking of books, please check mine out at http://treasuremanual.com

By the way, for those of you who are technically inclined, this is my first show with my brand-new microphone (a Christmas present to myself).  It's a Heil PR-30, and I love this mike!