Not only is he 88 years old, but John Hammond is also blind. In his 54 years living in the same house, Hammond has never had a problem.
"July the 4th, 1958, we moved in," Hammond said.
Last week, trouble came calling. It started with a simple question and offers to fix chairs and the stove.
"Do you have somebody to do your yard?" he recalled the suspects saying.
The 88-year-old, though blind, was his usual trusting self -- receptive.
"My attitude in life is detrimental to me," Hammond said.
And on that day, it was.
"Saw that I was an old man and just took advantage of that," Hammond said.
The man who rang talked himself inside and soon another man joined him. After a few minutes, it was obvious no one wanted to help him anymore.
"He grabbed both arms and firmly shook them hard -- says, 'Don't try anything,'" Hammond said.
He was directed back to his chair, where one burglar covered him with a blanket while the other carted out TVs and jewelry.
"And he said, 'Don't move' and I didn't," Hammond said.
Once gone, Hammond called police and his daughter, Gail Faerman.
"Very low, anybody who would take from someone else and do what they did to daddy," Faerman said.
Security upgrades are now on the to-do list, and Hammond vows to never let in another stranger, though he is thankful to an extent to the ones last week.
"I still got my life," he said.
Hammond wasn't hurt. Bellaire police are investigating and are looking for information.
If Hammond looks familiar to you, it's because he sings the National Anthem at the Astros game every year around his birthday in September.
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