“Are you looking for a volunteer opportunity?” Bob Joyce, board member of Houston Ground Angels, asked Rotarians for volunteer drivers to transport cancer patients from area airports to the Texas Medical Center for treatment. Cancer patients come from all over the country to Houston for cancer treatments, he explained during an August 4, 2021 speech to the Rotary Club of Lake Houston Area. Many of these patients come alone, or a parent arrives with their young child. They do not know the city, or anyone who lives here. It can be frightening to arrive in a strange city, especially when you have cancer or some other life-threatening disease or illness.
“Are you looking for a volunteer opportunity?” Bob Joyce, board member of Houston Ground Angels, asked Rotarians for volunteer drivers to transport cancer patients from area airports to the Texas Medical Center for treatment.
Cancer patients come from all over the country to Houston for cancer treatments, he explained during an August 4, 2021 speech to the Rotary Club of Lake Houston Area. Many of these patients come alone, or a parent arrives with their young child. They do not know the city, or anyone who lives here. It can be frightening to arrive in a strange city, especially when you have cancer or some other life-threatening disease or illness. Many patients have to make multiple visits during their treatment.Houston Ground Angels’ volunteers ease the burden for these patients by transporting them for free from public and private airports around Houston to their local destination. Volunteers work as much or as little as their schedule allows and they also choose which trip or “Mission,” as they are called, to take.
A Ground Angel, not necessarily the same Angel who picked them up at the airport, will also pick-up a patient at their hotel or the Texas Medical Center and deliver them to local airports for their return home.
During 2019, a record year, more than 3,800 “Missions” were completed. Volunteers provide their own transportation, fuel and time as part of their “Mission.” There is no charge to patients for this service. Houston Ground Angels is a non-profit, 501(c)(3) organization formed in 2000.
To learn more, make a donation or to volunteer, visit their website at https://groundangels.org/.
Mr. Joyce, in addition to sharing his volunteer opportunity with Houston Ground Angels, shared baseball history stories of his grandfather and father’s time in the major and minor leagues. His grandfather, Joe Joyce, was a third baseman in California’s “Outlaw League” and was inducted into the Stockton Athletic Hall of Fame in 1969. His father, also named Bob Joyce, was inducted into the Stockton Athletic Hall of Fame in 1974 and the Pacific Coast Hall of Fame in 2016.
If you’re wondering if baseball was in Mr. Joyce’s genes, he did give it a shot or two. “My folks said to be a position player so you can play every day,” said Mr. Joyce. He played college baseball and basketball and a little pro-baseball with the Giants and tried out with the Cardinals.
“I was the world’s tallest pitcher,” he said. But a baseball career was not to be. Mr. Joyce became a lawyer and graduated from UCLA law school in 1966. But he didn’t totally give up the sport. He umpired high school and youth baseball for 15 years and refereed high school and youth basketball for 10 years.
One story he shared about his father was from 1944 during the Pacific Coast League playoffs. His father was a pitcher with the San Francisco Seals and dribbled a grounder down the first base foul line.
He would have fouled out except in baseball’s early years the players, except for the pitcher and catcher, left their gloves on the field when they changed innings. His ball hit a mitt near first base and stayed inbound. The Oakland Oak’s first baseman picked-up the ball and stepped on first base and Joyce was called out.
It was a controversial call and the rest of the game was played under protest. The Seals lost (5-6) in 13 innings.
Rule 3.14 of the official baseball rule book prohibited leaving all gloves or other equipment on the field in 1954.
But the twist to this story is Mr. Joyce didn’t read about this happening to his father until 1981 when he was working in Norway for Mobil Oil negotiating contracts for the construction of the North Sea oil production platforms. There weren’t too many English television programs or publications for him to watch or read in his off hours. One of the few publications in English was Sports Illustrated and that’s where he read about his father’s mishap with the glove left on the field in an article about Baseball’s Rule 3.14.
The Rotary Club of Lake Houston Area members and guests meet at 11:45 a.m. Wednesdays for their weekly lunch meeting at the Lake Houston Family YMCA, 2420 West Lake Houston Pkwy in Kingwood. The Summer Creek Satellite Club meets the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays of the month at 8:30 a.m., at Generation Park 2nd floor board room, 250 Assay St., Houston.
For more information about Rotary, visit www.LHARotary.com .