Daily Dirt: Steve and the Little Woman enjoy first taste of Quincy’s newest eatery

Quincy has given birth to a new restaurant … That and more in today’s three thoughts that make up Vol. 182 of the Daily Dirt.

1. The Little Woman and I made a weekend pit stop at Quincy’s newest eatery, Lucky Dogs, positioned at 1800 State in the former Elder’s restaurant building.

What a tremendous experience! Lucky Dogs’ specialties are gourmet hot dogs and brats, plus some incredibly tasty sides like baked beans and mac-and-cheese. While the dogs and brats are great in their own right — and yes, they truly are — it’s those sides that will set this site apart from others.

Kathy and I both had the baked beans, which is actually a combination of about a half-dozen different types of beans plus some assorted meats. While baked beans by name, the dish could easily serve as chili, too. Kathy and I each had a sandwich, side and drink for less than $20.

I also had the chance to talk to co-owner Scott Frese, who has had several other successful business ventures around town. He says the rather limited menu of dogs and sides is by design. Frese pointed to nearby Gem City Pizzeria, which specializes in pizzas and Mexican offerings. Also nearby is State Street Bar and Grill, a popular choice for burgers, tenderloins and the like. Lucky Dogs will not be offering any of those items.

“This is our niche,” Freese said, further accenting the dogs, brats and sides.

My guess is that will be a quite successful niche.

2. Here’s the top license plates we’ve seen in the past week in West-Central Illinois and Northeast Missouri:

Gold medal: MRS BUZ 3. Well, we know who wears the pants in this family. Certainly not MR BUZ 3.

Silver medal: (tie) A RUBI 21 and RUBI 5. Ironically, I saw both of those in different areas of the same parking lot.

Bronze medal: (tie) MDOG 16 and MADOG 5. Once again, I saw these two in different sections of the same lot.

3. The best player from every MLB not in the Hall of Fame? An excellent question that yardbarker,com tackled. Here was the website’s call for teams in our region:

St. Louis Cardinals: Curt Flood. “Flood is best known for how his challenge of the reserve clause that ultimately led to free agency, but effectively cost him his career in the process. Yet what gets lost in the mix is how excellent Flood was on the field prior to that. A member of two World Series championship teams in St. Louis, Flood won the N.L. Gold Glove in center field in each of his final seven seasons and made the All-Star Game in 1964, 1966 and 1968. At the plate, he hit .300 or better in six of his 12 Cardinal seasons and led the NL with 211 hits in 1964,” wrote Matt Whitener.

Chicago Cubs: Sammy Sosa. “Sosa hit 545 homers over his 13 seasons on the north side of Chicago, but his highlight came amid the most prodigious power run in MLB history. He was one half of the historic home run race of 1998, a season where he won NL MVP. Sosa hit the most home runs in history over a three-year span, connecting for 179 from 1998 through 2000. He is the only player to hit 60 home runs three times and has the second-most career home runs by a foreign-born player with 609,” Whitener noted.

Chicago White Sox: Wilbur Wood. “Wood transformed his career after becoming a knuckleballer when he reached Chicago in 1967. Over the course of the next 12 seasons, he would first become a dominant reliever, pitching a modern-record of 88 games in 1968. After converting to a starter in 1971, Wood became a three-time All-Star, twice finished as a top 3 Cy Young finalist, and started more than 40 games for five consecutive seasons from 1971-75,” Whitener explained.

Kansas City Royals: Kevin Appier. “Appier owned the dubious distinction of being one of the best pitchers on bad teams through the 1990s, reaching double digits in wins six times. He posted an ERA under 3.00 in three different seasons, with his 2.56 mark in 1993 being the lowest in the American League – one of two times K.C. posted a winning record during his tenure. Appier’s career 3.49 ERA is second-best in franchise history for pitchers with at least 220 starts,” Whitener said.

Steve Thought O’ The Day Of the four baseball players just mentioned, Steve feels Curt Flood is the most worthy of induction in Cooperstown.

Steve Eighinger writes daily for Muddy River News. Have fork, will travel.