Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Goodbye!
Here's the cover of the May 26 issue of Sports Illustrated...
At first, I thought I was looking at some major mistakes in the artwork, but then I realized, no, the action depicted is taking place in Bizarro World. (That was a little less clear on my subscription copy, which has the address label printed over the bizarro advertising in the lower right corner.)
At first, I thought I was looking at some major mistakes in the artwork, but then I realized, no, the action depicted is taking place in Bizarro World. (That was a little less clear on my subscription copy, which has the address label printed over the bizarro advertising in the lower right corner.)
Labels: art, devil rays, sports illustrated, yankees
Sunday, May 18, 2008
The Searchers
I noticed today that around a dozen people had been led to my other blog this weekend by searching for "Jason Giambi thong." So, steeling myself against the hideous assortment of possible discoveries that flitted through my clearly too-active mind, I plugged those terms into {a popular search engine that may or may not employ Jim} and discovered . . . this.
Apparently Giambi is the owner of a gold lame thong, which he dons when he feels the need for some supernatural help in breaking a slump. But that's not the worst of it: he also has on occasion lent this thong to teammates who felt a similar need! Derek Jeter and Johnny Damon have both admitted to wearing it. Jeter told the Daily News,
I'll leave you with a hypothetical question for those Yankee fans out there: is winning worth this? Will you ever be able to sleep again, having pictured Jason Giambi in a gold thong? Would a quiet last-place finish really be so bad?
Apparently Giambi is the owner of a gold lame thong, which he dons when he feels the need for some supernatural help in breaking a slump. But that's not the worst of it: he also has on occasion lent this thong to teammates who felt a similar need! Derek Jeter and Johnny Damon have both admitted to wearing it. Jeter told the Daily News,
"I had it over my shorts and stuff. I was 0-for-32 and I hit a homer on the first pitch. That's the only time I've ever worn it."{Editorial note: wouldn't you have expected "and stuff" to be in brackets?}
I'll leave you with a hypothetical question for those Yankee fans out there: is winning worth this? Will you ever be able to sleep again, having pictured Jason Giambi in a gold thong? Would a quiet last-place finish really be so bad?
Labels: jason giambi, yankees
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Hooray for the '70s
As seen on Uni Watch, this particular item is apparently a Yankee Stadium food vendor shirt from the 1970s. Quite a difference from what was being worn on the field.
Edited later to add: Further evidence turned up that these are actually from the late 1960s.
Edited later to add: Further evidence turned up that these are actually from the late 1960s.
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
The olden days
Phil Rizzuto's death today comes just a couple of days after I (finally) listened to a Christmas present from my father: a 2-CD set containing the radio broadcast of the Yankees and Dodgers in Game 5 of the 1949 World Series (the deciding game). At one point during the game, Mel Allen points out that if you saw Scooter walking with the rest of the team, because of his small size, you might think he was the batboy.
It was a game with a lot of action (16 total runs), but I found the radio broadcast more interesting for things other than the game itself. Red Barber and Mel Allen were the announcers, with each responsible for the team they announced for during the regular season -- Mel was at the mike by himself in the half-innings when the Yankees were batting, with Red while the Dodgers were up. Occasionally, they would talk to each other between innings, mostly to do live commercials for Gillette (all of the commercials were for Gillette -- this was a "Gillette Cavalcade of Sports" broadcast).
At one point, Red Barber mentions that Jerry Coleman was moving Jackie Robinson's glove out of the way -- fielders used to leave their gloves at their position. And Mel Allen refers to the fact that the American League umpires were wearing their chest protectors on the outside, and the National League umpires were wearing them on the inside.
There's also a mention that this Sunday game started an hour late (2:00 instead of 1:00) due to "New York state law" and couldn't go past 7:00 for the same reason. Because of all the action, the game goes fairly long, and the umpires confer with commissioner Happy Chandler in the stands, with the results being that the lights are turned on for the first time during a World Series game.
And for a broadcasting geek like me -- I didn't realize the phrase "let's pause 10 seconds for station identification" was that old, but there it was, followed by a station identification for "WOR and WOR-FM, New York" and a suggestion to watch the game on WOR-TV, Channel 9. Yes, I did know WOR-FM and WOR-TV were that old.
It was a game with a lot of action (16 total runs), but I found the radio broadcast more interesting for things other than the game itself. Red Barber and Mel Allen were the announcers, with each responsible for the team they announced for during the regular season -- Mel was at the mike by himself in the half-innings when the Yankees were batting, with Red while the Dodgers were up. Occasionally, they would talk to each other between innings, mostly to do live commercials for Gillette (all of the commercials were for Gillette -- this was a "Gillette Cavalcade of Sports" broadcast).
At one point, Red Barber mentions that Jerry Coleman was moving Jackie Robinson's glove out of the way -- fielders used to leave their gloves at their position. And Mel Allen refers to the fact that the American League umpires were wearing their chest protectors on the outside, and the National League umpires were wearing them on the inside.
There's also a mention that this Sunday game started an hour late (2:00 instead of 1:00) due to "New York state law" and couldn't go past 7:00 for the same reason. Because of all the action, the game goes fairly long, and the umpires confer with commissioner Happy Chandler in the stands, with the results being that the lights are turned on for the first time during a World Series game.
And for a broadcasting geek like me -- I didn't realize the phrase "let's pause 10 seconds for station identification" was that old, but there it was, followed by a station identification for "WOR and WOR-FM, New York" and a suggestion to watch the game on WOR-TV, Channel 9. Yes, I did know WOR-FM and WOR-TV were that old.
Labels: dodgers, game report, mel allen, phil rizzuto, red barber, yankees
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
Sorry, Devil Rays
This site, called Cool Standings, shows the major league baseball standings -- including expected wins, expected losses, and their calculation of each team's chances to win the division, win the wild card, and make it to the playoffs, period. The Red Sox currently have a 96.5% chance of making the playoffs; the Padres are tops in the NL, with a 90.9% chance.
If you click on each team's name, you get more stats, including a graph showing how their playoff chances have risen and fallen during the season. The one for the Yankees is particularly recommended.
If you click on each team's name, you get more stats, including a graph showing how their playoff chances have risen and fallen during the season. The one for the Yankees is particularly recommended.
Labels: padres, red sox, statistics, yankees
Monday, April 02, 2007
Opening Day 2007: Hour 4
1:00 -- Boston Red Sox at Kansas City Royals (ESPN and NESN)
Arizona Diamondbacks at Colorado Rockies (FSN Rocky Mountain)
1:01 -- At last, a game is over: Marlins 9, Nationals 2.
1:05 -- Mariano Rivera comes on for the Yankees. The Devil Rays were keeping it close for a while, but the Yankees now lead by 4.
1:11 -- Hey, the Diamondbacks really did switch to red uniforms. If their fellow expansion team were to follow suit, though, they'd be accused of copying the Red Sox, their division mates.
1:14 -- But they lost 9-5 to the Yankees, so maybe they should think about switching to red.
1:17 -- Gary Sheffield is still swinging his bat wildly in an amusing manner as he waits for pitches.
1:18 -- Didn't help. He struck out.
1:22 -- The Dodgers-Brewers game must have been a quick affair, since the postgame show is already airing.
1:29 -- Ken Griffey Sr., in the FSN Ohio booth, claims he grounded his son a few times while they were playing together for the Mariners.
1:45 -- I check my e-mail. Nothing much seems to be happening in the world except for Opening Day.
1:52 -- It's hard to come back from 9 runs down in the bottom of the 9th, and I'll be surprised if the White Sox do it.
1:54 -- There's another Molina?!
1:58 -- Turns out I'm not surprised, although the Sox did manage to score 2.
Arizona Diamondbacks at Colorado Rockies (FSN Rocky Mountain)
1:01 -- At last, a game is over: Marlins 9, Nationals 2.
1:05 -- Mariano Rivera comes on for the Yankees. The Devil Rays were keeping it close for a while, but the Yankees now lead by 4.
1:11 -- Hey, the Diamondbacks really did switch to red uniforms. If their fellow expansion team were to follow suit, though, they'd be accused of copying the Red Sox, their division mates.
1:14 -- But they lost 9-5 to the Yankees, so maybe they should think about switching to red.
1:17 -- Gary Sheffield is still swinging his bat wildly in an amusing manner as he waits for pitches.
1:18 -- Didn't help. He struck out.
1:22 -- The Dodgers-Brewers game must have been a quick affair, since the postgame show is already airing.
1:29 -- Ken Griffey Sr., in the FSN Ohio booth, claims he grounded his son a few times while they were playing together for the Mariners.
1:45 -- I check my e-mail. Nothing much seems to be happening in the world except for Opening Day.
1:52 -- It's hard to come back from 9 runs down in the bottom of the 9th, and I'll be surprised if the White Sox do it.
1:54 -- There's another Molina?!
1:58 -- Turns out I'm not surprised, although the Sox did manage to score 2.
Labels: devil rays, diamondbacks, gary sheffield, gustavo molina, ken griffey sr., mariano rivera, red sox, rockies, royals, white sox, yankees
Opening Day 2007: Hour 2
11:00 -- Chicago Cubs at Cincinnati Reds (ESPN 2, WGN, and FSN Ohio)
L.A. Dodgers at Milwaukee Brewers (FSN Prime Ticket)
Cleveland Indians at Chicago White Sox (Comcast SportsNet Chicago)
11:01 -- Vin Scully! "And a pleasant good day to you wherever you may be." Now it really is baseball season.
11:13 -- Hey, a new family movie starring Ice Cube! Looks about as good as the Devil Rays.
11:15 -- There sure are a lot of car commercials on YES. But I thought no one in New York drove.
11:19 -- The Blue Jays caps have a "T" instead of a "J," I notice. Too bad, because I liked the "J." Maybe that's still the home cap.
11:21 -- Two female fans in the upper deck of Comerica Park are interviewed. One of them refers to it as "Tiger Stadium" and is quickly corrected by the interviewer.
11:24 -- Since the Reds are wearing their new mustachioed Mr. Redlegs patches, perhaps they should all have grown mustaches to match.
11:25 -- The Superstation WGN Scoreboard graphic has a problem, I say.
I contend that "Sponsored By:" should either be right-justified so it's against the sponsor graphic, or that graphic should say "Sponsored by Scotts" (which would work fine even with the graphic there on the right).
11:29 -- C.C. Sabathia looks a little large.
11:31 -- The White Sox announcers start talking about how one should not judge a book by its cover when it comes to C.C. Sabathia. I guess I've been properly chastised! However, Darin Erstad promptly hit a 2-run homer off him to pull the White Sox to within 3 runs in the bottom of the 1st.
11:37 -- Chicago mayor Richard M. Daley is in the stands at U.S. Cellular Field, but does not have to be interviewed by someone with a radio mike.
11:39 -- The Yankees infield has been a bit error-prone today, which has helped the Devil Rays tie.
11:40 -- First appearance of Joe Maddon, coming out for an explanation from the umpire about a player being called out on a bunt that hits him in fair territory.
11:42 -- Rocco Baldelli hits an RBI single, and the Devil Rays are leading.
11:44 -- Amtrak -- the Washington Nationals of transportation!
11:49 -- Hey, Dr. Cox from "Scrubs" is in that movie with Ice Cube. Well, John C. McGinley, I mean. I assume he's not playing the same character he plays on "Scrubs." Not to be confused with John C. Reilly, who is not to be confused with Andy Richter, who is not to be confused with John Candy.
11:54 -- Comcast SportsNet's "Scores on the Fours" should perhaps be renamed "Scores on Most But Not All of the Fours."
L.A. Dodgers at Milwaukee Brewers (FSN Prime Ticket)
Cleveland Indians at Chicago White Sox (Comcast SportsNet Chicago)
11:01 -- Vin Scully! "And a pleasant good day to you wherever you may be." Now it really is baseball season.
11:13 -- Hey, a new family movie starring Ice Cube! Looks about as good as the Devil Rays.
11:15 -- There sure are a lot of car commercials on YES. But I thought no one in New York drove.
11:19 -- The Blue Jays caps have a "T" instead of a "J," I notice. Too bad, because I liked the "J." Maybe that's still the home cap.
11:21 -- Two female fans in the upper deck of Comerica Park are interviewed. One of them refers to it as "Tiger Stadium" and is quickly corrected by the interviewer.
11:24 -- Since the Reds are wearing their new mustachioed Mr. Redlegs patches, perhaps they should all have grown mustaches to match.
11:25 -- The Superstation WGN Scoreboard graphic has a problem, I say.
I contend that "Sponsored By:" should either be right-justified so it's against the sponsor graphic, or that graphic should say "Sponsored by Scotts" (which would work fine even with the graphic there on the right).
11:29 -- C.C. Sabathia looks a little large.
11:31 -- The White Sox announcers start talking about how one should not judge a book by its cover when it comes to C.C. Sabathia. I guess I've been properly chastised! However, Darin Erstad promptly hit a 2-run homer off him to pull the White Sox to within 3 runs in the bottom of the 1st.
11:37 -- Chicago mayor Richard M. Daley is in the stands at U.S. Cellular Field, but does not have to be interviewed by someone with a radio mike.
11:39 -- The Yankees infield has been a bit error-prone today, which has helped the Devil Rays tie.
11:40 -- First appearance of Joe Maddon, coming out for an explanation from the umpire about a player being called out on a bunt that hits him in fair territory.
11:42 -- Rocco Baldelli hits an RBI single, and the Devil Rays are leading.
11:44 -- Amtrak -- the Washington Nationals of transportation!
11:49 -- Hey, Dr. Cox from "Scrubs" is in that movie with Ice Cube. Well, John C. McGinley, I mean. I assume he's not playing the same character he plays on "Scrubs." Not to be confused with John C. Reilly, who is not to be confused with Andy Richter, who is not to be confused with John Candy.
11:54 -- Comcast SportsNet's "Scores on the Fours" should perhaps be renamed "Scores on Most But Not All of the Fours."
Labels: amtrak, brewers, c.c. sabathia, cubs, darin erstad, devil rays, dodgers, indians, joe maddon, nationals, reds, richard m. daley, rocco baldelli, vin scully, white sox, yankees
Opening Day 2007: Hour 1
When Opening Day came around a year ago, I was unemployed with no immediate prospects. Within a month, I had been hired for a full-time temp job. And by the time the World Series rolled around, I was hired as an actual employee.
So it's clear that baseball is a force for good. Let's see what it can do for me this year.
10:00 -- Tampa Bay Devil Rays at New York Yankees (ESPN and YES)
Atlanta Braves at Philadelphia Phillies (TBS)
Toronto Blue Jays at Detroit Tigers (FSN Detroit)
Florida Marlins at Washington Nationals (MASN)
Time for everyone's pre-produced "Opening Day" intros.
10:05 -- The Tigers manage to get under way first.
10:06 -- The Blue Jays have the first at-bat of the season -- a walk.
10:08 -- And the Blue Jays steal against Ivan Rodriguez. This season is going great for the Tigers so far.
10:09 -- The Marlins steal third! Looks like this is going to be the Year of the Stolen Base, as the L.A. Times sort of predicted today.
10:11 -- Carl Crawford leads off for the Devil Rays with a hit against the Yankees.
10:12 -- Crawford steals second!
10:15 -- Rocco Baldelli, whose name is on the back of the Devil Rays T-shirt I'm wearing, hits to the warning track. The Yankees announcers say it could have been a home run if the humidity were lower today.
10:19 -- I have to go get my laundry out of the dryer. Meanwhile, things fall apart for the Devil Rays.
10:30 -- The Yankees score two runs, which the YES graphics briefly award to the Devil Rays.
10:40 -- Hey, it's Adrian Fenty, the mayor of Washington, D.C., in the stands at RFK Stadium, being interviewed with a radio mike that's not quite working properly.
10:49 -- The Devil Rays get their first run of 2007. First of many, I'm sure.
10:52 -- Not particularly baseball-related, but I get an automated phone call from the L.A. Times telling me that the "TV Times" section is being discontinued after next week, but I'll still be able to get TV listings online. They don't know I have a TiVo.
So it's clear that baseball is a force for good. Let's see what it can do for me this year.
10:00 -- Tampa Bay Devil Rays at New York Yankees (ESPN and YES)
Atlanta Braves at Philadelphia Phillies (TBS)
Toronto Blue Jays at Detroit Tigers (FSN Detroit)
Florida Marlins at Washington Nationals (MASN)
Time for everyone's pre-produced "Opening Day" intros.
10:05 -- The Tigers manage to get under way first.
10:06 -- The Blue Jays have the first at-bat of the season -- a walk.
10:08 -- And the Blue Jays steal against Ivan Rodriguez. This season is going great for the Tigers so far.
10:09 -- The Marlins steal third! Looks like this is going to be the Year of the Stolen Base, as the L.A. Times sort of predicted today.
10:11 -- Carl Crawford leads off for the Devil Rays with a hit against the Yankees.
10:12 -- Crawford steals second!
10:15 -- Rocco Baldelli, whose name is on the back of the Devil Rays T-shirt I'm wearing, hits to the warning track. The Yankees announcers say it could have been a home run if the humidity were lower today.
10:19 -- I have to go get my laundry out of the dryer. Meanwhile, things fall apart for the Devil Rays.
10:30 -- The Yankees score two runs, which the YES graphics briefly award to the Devil Rays.
10:40 -- Hey, it's Adrian Fenty, the mayor of Washington, D.C., in the stands at RFK Stadium, being interviewed with a radio mike that's not quite working properly.
10:49 -- The Devil Rays get their first run of 2007. First of many, I'm sure.
10:52 -- Not particularly baseball-related, but I get an automated phone call from the L.A. Times telling me that the "TV Times" section is being discontinued after next week, but I'll still be able to get TV listings online. They don't know I have a TiVo.
Labels: blue jays, braves, carl crawford, devil rays, ivan rodriguez, marlins, nationals, phillies, rocco baldelli, tigers, yankees
Thursday, March 01, 2007
It has begun
A co-worker reports that she just got a text message from her mother, who is at Legends Field for a Yankees spring training game.
Labels: spring training, technology, yankees
Friday, January 19, 2007
Recommended baseball reading
Jury duty is good for getting some reading in. For the past two days while I was in the main Los Angeles criminal courts building, I read Rob Neyer's Big Book of Baseball Blunders
. These are blunders not by players, but by coaches, managers, general managers, and owners. It starts with the White Sox getting rid of first baseman Jack Fournier in 1917 in favor of future "Black Sox" ringleader Chick Gandil, and ends with Joe Torre not putting Mariano Riviera into Game 4 of the 2003 World Series.
Yes, the penultimate chapter is about a certain sequence of events that occurred just six days earlier, in Game 7 of the 2003 ALCS, and the Devil Rays get an entire chapter (the idea being that the franchise got off on the wrong foot when they immediately traded away Bobby Abreu after taking him with their first expansion draft pick).
. These are blunders not by players, but by coaches, managers, general managers, and owners. It starts with the White Sox getting rid of first baseman Jack Fournier in 1917 in favor of future "Black Sox" ringleader Chick Gandil, and ends with Joe Torre not putting Mariano Riviera into Game 4 of the 2003 World Series.Yes, the penultimate chapter is about a certain sequence of events that occurred just six days earlier, in Game 7 of the 2003 ALCS, and the Devil Rays get an entire chapter (the idea being that the franchise got off on the wrong foot when they immediately traded away Bobby Abreu after taking him with their first expansion draft pick).
Labels: baseball books, devil rays, red sox, white sox, yankees
Monday, October 23, 2006
Bumper that ran before "Robot Chicken" last night
Hey, New York City
Wasn't this weekend supposed to be
the start of the big Subway Series?
Guess that's not happening.
Unless there's a subway between St. Louis and Detroit.
[adult swim]
Wasn't this weekend supposed to be
the start of the big Subway Series?
Guess that's not happening.
Unless there's a subway between St. Louis and Detroit.
[adult swim]
Labels: Cardinals, Mets, tigers, tv, yankees
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
I am a horrible person
My first thought: "Oh, great, now for the rest of the playoffs all we're going to hear is 'Yankees, Yankees, Yankees, Yankees.'" (As opposed to what it would have been, "Yankees, Yankees, teams that are actually in the playoffs, Yankees.")
Labels: corey lidle, yankees
Monday, October 09, 2006
The Giambi Apocalypse and the Elven Skipper
Hang around me and Stacey long enough, and you're sure to hear us speculating about the dangers of the coming zombie apocalypse. We'll enter a building and note whether the doors open in (bad) or out (good); we'll speculate on whether a bow is a good anti-zombie weapon (no, because eventually you're going to have to go get the arrows); we'll weigh the merits of having a zombie apocalypse supply cache (shotgun, ammo, canned brains) versus having a bird flu apocalypse supply cache (water, hand crank radio, forty pounds of peanut butter).
Well, after paying close attention to Friday night's Yankees-Tigers game, we're beginning to wonder whether we were focused on the wrong danger. The coming disaster isn't a zombie apocalypse . . . it's a Giambi apocalypse.
Several times during the game, Fox's X-treme Close-up Camera caught Derek Jeter lifting his cap off his large head and adjusting it. The next shot, inevitably, would be of Zombie Giambi, eyes rolling and mouth wide, in near-ecstasy at the thought of Jeter's delectable brains.
So in anticipation of the Giambi Apocalypse, what should we put in our supply cache? After this weekend, I know two things: Kenny Rogers and, just to be safe, this guy.
Well, after paying close attention to Friday night's Yankees-Tigers game, we're beginning to wonder whether we were focused on the wrong danger. The coming disaster isn't a zombie apocalypse . . . it's a Giambi apocalypse.
Several times during the game, Fox's X-treme Close-up Camera caught Derek Jeter lifting his cap off his large head and adjusting it. The next shot, inevitably, would be of Zombie Giambi, eyes rolling and mouth wide, in near-ecstasy at the thought of Jeter's delectable brains.
So in anticipation of the Giambi Apocalypse, what should we put in our supply cache? After this weekend, I know two things: Kenny Rogers and, just to be safe, this guy.
Labels: derek jeter, jason giambi, kenny rogers, tony la russa, yankees, zombies
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
These "Peanuts" reruns should come with annotations
This strip originally ran in 1959. That's two years before the Senators moved to Minnesota and became the Twins, so the reference is to the Minneapolis Millers of the minor-league American Association.
In 1959, the Yankees finished in third place in the American League, and the Millers finished in first place in the AA (but lost the Junior World Series to the Havana Sugar Kings of the International League). They probably could have taken the Yankees.
Labels: havana sugar kings, minneapolis millers, peanuts, senators, twins, yankees
Tuesday, December 20, 2005
Pure good meets pure evil; hair cut, universe destroyed
Well, despite my unemployment, I've been feeling pretty good recently. Hmm, as long as I'm sitting here in front of my computer waiting for "Deal or No Deal" to accumulate on the TiVo, I'll activate iChat. Why, I've got an instant message popping up already! It's from hanger-on Maura. She usually has something interesting to say, often about baseball. I'll just bring the message window to the front, and...OH, MY GOD, NO!
Labels: johnny damon, maura johnston, yankees
Wednesday, October 26, 2005
Score that play 6-3, and thus ends 2005
Wow, every time Levi's wife makes a jack-o'-lantern involving a baseball personality, their team with which they're associated wins the World Series! Levi, how does it feel to be married to someone with magic powers? I hope you're more accepting of it than Darrin Stephens!
No, seriously, I'm sure Stacey would be the first to tell you there's nothing otherworldly about her pumpkin carvings. However, consider the following: we started this blog at the beginning of the 2004 baseball season, and since then...
Clearly, the existence of this blog has been a major force for good in the world of baseball. Therefore, I'm considering starting a few more blogs.
Uh, but just for interest's sake, Stacey, whose face do you foresee rendering on a gourd next October?
No, seriously, I'm sure Stacey would be the first to tell you there's nothing otherworldly about her pumpkin carvings. However, consider the following: we started this blog at the beginning of the 2004 baseball season, and since then...
- The World Series was won by a team that hadn't won in 86 years.
- Then the World Series was won by a team that hadn't won in 88 years, after winning the American League pennant for the first time in 46 years.
- Also making a World Series appearance was a team that had never been there before, in 43 years of trying, and their uniforms look a lot better now than they did for many of those 43 years.
- The Yankees have not gone to a World Series.
- The first four "Complete Peanuts" volumes have been released, right on schedule, and they are awesome.
Clearly, the existence of this blog has been a major force for good in the world of baseball. Therefore, I'm considering starting a few more blogs.
- Cure-for-Cancer-Related Program Activities
- Democratic-Party-Related Program Activities
- Origin-of-the-Universe-Related Program Activities
- Jim's-Sex-Life-Related Program Activities
Uh, but just for interest's sake, Stacey, whose face do you foresee rendering on a gourd next October?
Labels: astros, red sox, stacey shintani, white sox, world series, yankees
Tuesday, October 11, 2005
Faux News
This just in: Fox has invited the Yankees and Red Sox to play a seven-game series in the consolation bracket. The games will be broadcast in prime time Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday, Sunday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the NLCS and the ALCS play-by-play will be delivered via telegraph and local re-enactors. Or, if you prefer, you'll be able to get a radio broadcast by Scooter.
Meanwhile, the NLCS and the ALCS play-by-play will be delivered via telegraph and local re-enactors. Or, if you prefer, you'll be able to get a radio broadcast by Scooter.
Labels: red sox, Scooter, yankees
Wednesday, October 05, 2005
Operation Duplicate Chili: a qualified success
Hey, look, I made chili! And there are plenty of things to put on and in it, including Farmer John brand bacon, in honor of the poor Dodgers (their longtime sponsor, one of the few "longtime" things the Dodgers still have)...
The chili would probably taste a little better if Derek Jeter weren't on TV, but that's what Fox gives us...
I call this only a "qualified success" because I've heard no reports from Levi on whether he's eating chili as well, which was the whole point of Operation Duplicate Chili. Levi's been jet-setting all about, going from apple orchards to public libraries in the Pacific Northwest. But since I have plenty of the chili left over -- and most of the makings for a second batch -- it's a safe bet that we'll be eating the same chili some night in October. Actually, not exactly the same, since I bet Levi won't be putting bacon on top of his.
The best part of the game was the tape of Joe Torre interviewing Gene Autry in the Angels' locker room in 1986; that tape's probably been shown before, but I don't remember having seen it.
The chili would probably taste a little better if Derek Jeter weren't on TV, but that's what Fox gives us...
I call this only a "qualified success" because I've heard no reports from Levi on whether he's eating chili as well, which was the whole point of Operation Duplicate Chili. Levi's been jet-setting all about, going from apple orchards to public libraries in the Pacific Northwest. But since I have plenty of the chili left over -- and most of the makings for a second batch -- it's a safe bet that we'll be eating the same chili some night in October. Actually, not exactly the same, since I bet Levi won't be putting bacon on top of his.
The best part of the game was the tape of Joe Torre interviewing Gene Autry in the Angels' locker room in 1986; that tape's probably been shown before, but I don't remember having seen it.
Labels: angels, chili, derek jeter, gene autry, joe torre, tv, yankees
Monday, October 03, 2005
Everyone's getting into the baseball act
I know it's hard to believe, but even the monthly customer newsletter of the service that hosts baseballrelated.com wants in on the baseball commentary action...
Yes, the newsletter is always written in this style, although it's usually not about baseball.
Baseball is a weird sport because it's quite often the cheapest sport to attend, yet the players are paid the most of any pro sport. For example, I believe they were paying people $12 to attend the Giants games this weekend, but at the same time Alex Rodriguez earned $20,000,000 per attempt to swat away the ball while being tagged on his way to first like a little girl!
The way baseball can afford to pay its athletes so much while at the same time keeping ticket prices and stadium refreshments so reasonable is actually through a number of quite-unrelated side businesses. The most lucrative of which is the bulk purchasing and re-selling of highly desirable domain names! I KID YOU NOT.
It USED to be that only the richest sports franchise-owning billionaires and the president of the United States could get into this literal GOLD MINE of easy profits. But now, thanks to DreamHost lowering the price of .com, .net, .org, and .info domain registrations to just $9.95/year even YOU can now get in on this GUARANTEED PAYDAY! (You still get one free domain registration with every shared hosting plan too of course.)
Just remember, you are required by law to send all profits made through the resale of domain names to the New York Yankees. With the playoffs beginning tomorrow, they need this money more than ever to offer complimentary tickets to the starving children of the rest of the league's players.
Yes, the newsletter is always written in this style, although it's usually not about baseball.
Labels: alex rodriguez, Baseball writing, giants, yankees
Thursday, September 29, 2005
Since they know a little about defeating an evil empire...
...why weren't they throwing out the first pitch before a game against the Yankees?
Tuesday, September 27, 2005
Meanwhile, the Devil Rays sign J'onn J'onzz
Some talk in Gene Weingarten's Washington Post chat today about The Flash's impact on the game if he were added to the Yankees lineup.
Labels: gene weingarten, yankees
Friday, July 22, 2005
God on baseball
Because I like a good Biblical quote as much as--hell, let's be honest: more than--the next nonbeliever, I enjoyed seeing The Pinstriped Blog making use of Job a couple of days ago. For those of you whose joy in Yankee misfortune rivals Satan's joy in Job's boils, you can instead think of this quote as it applies to yesterday's Cubs bullpen disaster.
APPROPRIATE BIBLICAL QUOTATION FOR MANAGERS
WHO CALL IN THE WRONG PITCHER FROM THE BULLPEN
“Truly I cannot help myself; I have been deprived of resourcefulness.”--Job, 6:13.
The author also, with thanks to Robert Benchley, gleefully takes Hebrews 8:13 out of context:
"Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever."*
APPROPRIATE BIBLICAL QUOTATION FOR MANAGERS
WHO CALL IN THE WRONG PITCHER FROM THE BULLPEN
“Truly I cannot help myself; I have been deprived of resourcefulness.”--Job, 6:13.
The author also, with thanks to Robert Benchley, gleefully takes Hebrews 8:13 out of context:
"Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever."*
Labels: cubs, jesus, robert benchley, yankees
Tuesday, June 28, 2005
What pitchers think
Steve Kline, complaining about a balk call in the Orioles/Yankees game last night:
"Giambi called time. I stepped off the rubber. You could hear the Yankee bench yelling 'Balk.' Once you get hit for it once, the umpires look for it. That was a bogus call. I was deliberating whether to put [home plate umpire Foster] in the Cobra Clutch. It was a great game until that happened."
I don't think he meant this kind of Cobra Clutch.
thatbob: Wow, the Cobra Clutch, natural arch-enemy of the dreaded Camel Clutch!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Professional_wrestling_finishers
"Giambi called time. I stepped off the rubber. You could hear the Yankee bench yelling 'Balk.' Once you get hit for it once, the umpires look for it. That was a bogus call. I was deliberating whether to put [home plate umpire Foster] in the Cobra Clutch. It was a great game until that happened."
I don't think he meant this kind of Cobra Clutch.
Original comments...
thatbob: Wow, the Cobra Clutch, natural arch-enemy of the dreaded Camel Clutch!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Professional_wrestling_finishers
Labels: cobra clutch, jason giambi, orioles, steve kline, yankees
Tuesday, April 05, 2005
"The Greatest Game Ever Pitched"
From the Yankees' 1981 yearbook. The artist did the "Spider-Man" comic strip for years, so it's nice to see that he can present an entire baseball game in only four pages.
thatbob: "No one will ever better Don Larsen's performance in the Greatest Game Ever Pitched!" is quite a claim. Mightn't someone pitch a perfect World Series game AND hit a couple of grand slams? And wouldn't that, by any standard, be considered a better performance?
Original comments...
thatbob: "No one will ever better Don Larsen's performance in the Greatest Game Ever Pitched!" is quite a claim. Mightn't someone pitch a perfect World Series game AND hit a couple of grand slams? And wouldn't that, by any standard, be considered a better performance?
Labels: art, don larsen, john romita, yankees
Sunday, April 03, 2005
Kitty loves baseball
I was planning on giving Levi the first word on the first game of the season, but I think he'll agree that it was vitally important that I post this picture of my cat Chessie (who jumped off the TV shelf once the Yankees started winning)...
And I assume this commercial was met with great joy and delight in Rocketship-land...
Levi: Damn you, TiVo! I missed that ad completely!
Jim: That's why I haven't enabled the semi-secret "30-second skip" option -- I want to see what I'm fast-forwarding through, just in case.
I guess now you'll have to watch the commercials on every single baseball game until you see this Johnny Damon one!
And I assume this commercial was met with great joy and delight in Rocketship-land...
Original comments...
Levi: Damn you, TiVo! I missed that ad completely!
Jim: That's why I haven't enabled the semi-secret "30-second skip" option -- I want to see what I'm fast-forwarding through, just in case.
I guess now you'll have to watch the commercials on every single baseball game until you see this Johnny Damon one!
Labels: cats, johnny damon, red sox, tv, yankees
Friday, April 01, 2005
Opening night
Could we possibly ask for a better Opening Night game?
Sunday night, we get the World Champion Boston Red Sox at Yankee Stadium against the World Champion (Choker Division) New York Yankees.
For the second year in a row, Johnny Damon will be our first sight of the baseball season, stepping into the box in all his glory.
And on the mound, we get pure contrast. David Wells v. Randy Johnson. Junkballer v. Flamethrower. One of the roundest guys in baseball v. the tallest, skinniest. They ought to go on the road as a comedy team. They're listed at Baseball-reference.com as weighing the same, despite the Unit's six-inch height advantage. Now that's comedy.
It's time. Y'all are invited for chili and corn bread.
Sunday night, we get the World Champion Boston Red Sox at Yankee Stadium against the World Champion (Choker Division) New York Yankees.
For the second year in a row, Johnny Damon will be our first sight of the baseball season, stepping into the box in all his glory.
And on the mound, we get pure contrast. David Wells v. Randy Johnson. Junkballer v. Flamethrower. One of the roundest guys in baseball v. the tallest, skinniest. They ought to go on the road as a comedy team. They're listed at Baseball-reference.com as weighing the same, despite the Unit's six-inch height advantage. Now that's comedy.
It's time. Y'all are invited for chili and corn bread.
Labels: david wells, johnny damon, randy johnson, red sox, yankees
Friday, September 03, 2004
A certain something in the air
I apologize for being a couple of days late with this, but here you go:
Did you notice on Wednesday morning that the world was a bit brighter? The sky a bit more blue? The normally sad-eyed businessmen downtown walking with a bit of life in their step?
Maybe the pretty girl you see every day on the train raised her eyes over the top of her RedEye and flashed you a conspiratorial smile? Maybe a group of schoolkids on a field trip walked by your office window singing "Kumbaya"? Maybe the sweet strains of "Morning in Cartoonland" drifted your way across a meadow?
Ah, yes. For at least one day, America was a happier, sunnier, more hopeful place. The Yankees had lost, 22-0 the night before, the worst defeat in Yankee history. And to paraphrase Ernest L. Thayer, "Oh, everywhere in this favored land the sun is shining bright. The band is playing everywhere, and everywhere hearts are light.
And, everywhere men are laughing, and little children shout."
Such wonderful times come so rarely, one must savor them. So raise a glass, baseball fans, Americans, humans. To home, to country, to Johnny Damon's beard, to history!
Did you notice on Wednesday morning that the world was a bit brighter? The sky a bit more blue? The normally sad-eyed businessmen downtown walking with a bit of life in their step?
Maybe the pretty girl you see every day on the train raised her eyes over the top of her RedEye and flashed you a conspiratorial smile? Maybe a group of schoolkids on a field trip walked by your office window singing "Kumbaya"? Maybe the sweet strains of "Morning in Cartoonland" drifted your way across a meadow?
Ah, yes. For at least one day, America was a happier, sunnier, more hopeful place. The Yankees had lost, 22-0 the night before, the worst defeat in Yankee history. And to paraphrase Ernest L. Thayer, "Oh, everywhere in this favored land the sun is shining bright. The band is playing everywhere, and everywhere hearts are light.
And, everywhere men are laughing, and little children shout."
Such wonderful times come so rarely, one must savor them. So raise a glass, baseball fans, Americans, humans. To home, to country, to Johnny Damon's beard, to history!
Monday, July 12, 2004
More bites from the Big Apple
One of my stops while I was in New York last week was the New York Transit Museum, which is in an old subway station in Brooklyn. Many of the old subway and elevated cars that are normally parked on the lower level had been moved out to run on fan trips all summer (this being the 100th anniversary of the opening of the first subway line in New York), so instead they brought in some not-so-old cars that have only recently been retired from the system. Including this one:
Yes, there's a Yankees logo on the other end of the car, but the platform wasn't wide enough for me to get a picture of the entire car. Besides, I would see plenty of Yankees logos at Yankee Stadium.
When I arrived at the stadium from the subway, wearing my Devil Rays shirt and cap, I ended up walking around the stadium the "wrong" way looking for the ticket booths. At the press/game personnel entrance, one of New York's finest stopped me and said, "You look like a big fan," then asked me who Paul Olden was, since he had just come in. I eventually remembered he was their radio play-by-play announcer. He was the TV broadcaster for the Yankees in the mid-1990s, but perhaps the cop was actually a Mets fan in disguise.
At any rate, there were plenty of good seats left for this game, now that the Devil Rays were no longer the hottest team in baseball. Here's the view I had:
Yes, you can smell the history at Yankee Stadium, or maybe that was just in the men's room. I completely forgot about going to Monument Park on my way in, so I had to settle for taking pictures from across the field. Also, I guess Adidas has enough money that they can print up a different bullpen awning for every visiting team:
Now, here's the sacrilegious part: because certain people had to work Thursday night, I was at the game alone; when I'm at a game alone, I try to keep up my scorekeeping skills. At Yankee Stadium, you had to buy the $7.00 magazine to get a scorecard, which I expected because of their evilness. (Surprisingly, though, they serve good and pure Coca-Cola instead of evil Pepsi.) One of the articles, written by Keith Olbermann, was about how no one can remember who the P.A. announcer for Yankees was before Bob Sheppard took over in 1951, not even Bob Sheppard himself. These days, he doesn't even do the between-inning promotions, just announces the starting lineups and does some of the other announcements at the beginning of the game, and then announces the players during the game. Problem is, I found him a little bit hard to hear and understand, especially his first announcement of each half-inning where he was usually talking over music. It's probably a combination of the P.A. speakers all being in center field, plus his 136-year-old voice. Vin Scully, who is almost as old, has the benefit of going through radio and/or TV audio engineering.
Also at the game, by the way, were former New York Giants quarterback Phil Simms (who got a lot of applause) and current Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Jon Gruden (who got no applause because they showed him briefly on the Diamond Vision screen but didn't put his name on the scoreboard, so I may have been the only person who noticed him and recognized him). I saw only two other people wearing Devil Rays merchandise. I was asked a couple of times if I was from Florida. "Originally," I said both times. The man sitting next to me asked if I knew why Fred McGriff only had two home runs for the season, so I attempted to explain the whole sordid story.
Anyway, here, have some more pictures. Anyone want to translate the orange-and-white ad here, which I assume is for the benefit of people in Japan watching Hideki Matsui?
And anyone want to translate the "F" and "G," or perhaps "FG," on the out-of-town scoreboard? It's hard to see because I didn't take this picture until after dark, but there is a column of single-digit numbers available under each letter, which weren't used at any point. Until I hear differently, I'm going to assume it stands for "Faraway Games."
They still make the groundskeepers do "YMCA"!
The Number 4 wins the subway race!
Speaking of which, this isn't necessarily a baseball-related story, but people who know me may find it amusing: on the way back from the game, I had to change trains at 59th Street-Columbus Circle. So picture me, wearing a Devil Rays shirt and cap, on a subway platform with dozens of people wearing Yankees shirts and/or caps, so I perhaps looked less like a New Yorker than every other person there. Nevertheless, two people came up to me and asked about getting to Penn Station. I'm beginning to think my reputation is preceding me. (Yes, I did know the right answer, more or less. I didn't realize it was as late as it was, so I told them they could either take the local C on the outside track or the express A on the inside track, whichever came first, but in the late-night hours, the A runs local instead of the C, so what showed up first was an A on the outside track. The people I had helped had wandered off, so I didn't see if they managed to figure it out or not. Yes, the New York subway is somewhat more complicated than, for example, the Chicago 'L'.)
Later, waiting for the light to change at the corner of 48th Street and 8th Avenue, a man asked me if I knew where the strip clubs were. But that's another story.
The final line, on the Yankee Stadium scoreboard (and note that, although they have enough money to make a "Tampa Bay Devil Rays" awning, they don't have enough money to put in a scoreboard with enough characters available to allow a space between "Tampa" and "Bay"):
Here's the headline from the Daily News. Really, the difference in the game was that Victor Zambrano was shaky at the beginning, and Jose Contreras wasn't.
And the front page. I wonder how many people know what that thing between "Daily" and "News" is supposed to be, now that they're "New York's Hometown Newspaper" instead of "New York's Picture Newspaper." Why, they don't even own WPIX-TV anymore. But the good news is that, since both New York teams have baseball-shaped logos, it makes for a nice layout balance.
Later, in Connecticut, I saw The Ballpark at Harbor Yard, home of the Bridgeport Bluefish. You get a very nice long view into the stadium as you're on a train that's decelerating into the Bridgeport train station, it turns out, but there wasn't a game going on as I was preparing to detrain in Bridgeport.
Dan: I believe I read somewhere it's an ad for a Japanese newspaper (Yomiuri Shimbun?)
Luke: FG = First game?
Levi: I bet the guy who asked you about the strip clubs had been hoping to run into Mo Vaughn, but in Vaughn's absence, he turned to you.
Steve: I find it hard to believe nobody knew who Jon Gruden was. During the football season they cut over to him on the sidelines more than any other coach.
maura: victor, not carlos, zambrano. but don't worry, people make that mistake all the time.
Jim: Well, Carlos Zambrano would have been shaky at the beginning, too, if he'd been there.
maura: a handy mnemonic: the 'v' in victor stands for 'get out of the way, because there's a good chance he'll hit you.'
DrBear: Yup, FG is for first game. You kids may be too young, but us old-timers remember when teams used to play two games in one day! The old scoreboard at County Stadium in Milwaukee had the same thing as G1, even including it at the end of the linescore for the Braves/Brewers game.
Yes, there's a Yankees logo on the other end of the car, but the platform wasn't wide enough for me to get a picture of the entire car. Besides, I would see plenty of Yankees logos at Yankee Stadium.
When I arrived at the stadium from the subway, wearing my Devil Rays shirt and cap, I ended up walking around the stadium the "wrong" way looking for the ticket booths. At the press/game personnel entrance, one of New York's finest stopped me and said, "You look like a big fan," then asked me who Paul Olden was, since he had just come in. I eventually remembered he was their radio play-by-play announcer. He was the TV broadcaster for the Yankees in the mid-1990s, but perhaps the cop was actually a Mets fan in disguise.
At any rate, there were plenty of good seats left for this game, now that the Devil Rays were no longer the hottest team in baseball. Here's the view I had:
Yes, you can smell the history at Yankee Stadium, or maybe that was just in the men's room. I completely forgot about going to Monument Park on my way in, so I had to settle for taking pictures from across the field. Also, I guess Adidas has enough money that they can print up a different bullpen awning for every visiting team:
Now, here's the sacrilegious part: because certain people had to work Thursday night, I was at the game alone; when I'm at a game alone, I try to keep up my scorekeeping skills. At Yankee Stadium, you had to buy the $7.00 magazine to get a scorecard, which I expected because of their evilness. (Surprisingly, though, they serve good and pure Coca-Cola instead of evil Pepsi.) One of the articles, written by Keith Olbermann, was about how no one can remember who the P.A. announcer for Yankees was before Bob Sheppard took over in 1951, not even Bob Sheppard himself. These days, he doesn't even do the between-inning promotions, just announces the starting lineups and does some of the other announcements at the beginning of the game, and then announces the players during the game. Problem is, I found him a little bit hard to hear and understand, especially his first announcement of each half-inning where he was usually talking over music. It's probably a combination of the P.A. speakers all being in center field, plus his 136-year-old voice. Vin Scully, who is almost as old, has the benefit of going through radio and/or TV audio engineering.
Also at the game, by the way, were former New York Giants quarterback Phil Simms (who got a lot of applause) and current Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Jon Gruden (who got no applause because they showed him briefly on the Diamond Vision screen but didn't put his name on the scoreboard, so I may have been the only person who noticed him and recognized him). I saw only two other people wearing Devil Rays merchandise. I was asked a couple of times if I was from Florida. "Originally," I said both times. The man sitting next to me asked if I knew why Fred McGriff only had two home runs for the season, so I attempted to explain the whole sordid story.
Anyway, here, have some more pictures. Anyone want to translate the orange-and-white ad here, which I assume is for the benefit of people in Japan watching Hideki Matsui?
And anyone want to translate the "F" and "G," or perhaps "FG," on the out-of-town scoreboard? It's hard to see because I didn't take this picture until after dark, but there is a column of single-digit numbers available under each letter, which weren't used at any point. Until I hear differently, I'm going to assume it stands for "Faraway Games."
They still make the groundskeepers do "YMCA"!
The Number 4 wins the subway race!
Speaking of which, this isn't necessarily a baseball-related story, but people who know me may find it amusing: on the way back from the game, I had to change trains at 59th Street-Columbus Circle. So picture me, wearing a Devil Rays shirt and cap, on a subway platform with dozens of people wearing Yankees shirts and/or caps, so I perhaps looked less like a New Yorker than every other person there. Nevertheless, two people came up to me and asked about getting to Penn Station. I'm beginning to think my reputation is preceding me. (Yes, I did know the right answer, more or less. I didn't realize it was as late as it was, so I told them they could either take the local C on the outside track or the express A on the inside track, whichever came first, but in the late-night hours, the A runs local instead of the C, so what showed up first was an A on the outside track. The people I had helped had wandered off, so I didn't see if they managed to figure it out or not. Yes, the New York subway is somewhat more complicated than, for example, the Chicago 'L'.)
Later, waiting for the light to change at the corner of 48th Street and 8th Avenue, a man asked me if I knew where the strip clubs were. But that's another story.
The final line, on the Yankee Stadium scoreboard (and note that, although they have enough money to make a "Tampa Bay Devil Rays" awning, they don't have enough money to put in a scoreboard with enough characters available to allow a space between "Tampa" and "Bay"):
Here's the headline from the Daily News. Really, the difference in the game was that Victor Zambrano was shaky at the beginning, and Jose Contreras wasn't.
And the front page. I wonder how many people know what that thing between "Daily" and "News" is supposed to be, now that they're "New York's Hometown Newspaper" instead of "New York's Picture Newspaper." Why, they don't even own WPIX-TV anymore. But the good news is that, since both New York teams have baseball-shaped logos, it makes for a nice layout balance.
Later, in Connecticut, I saw The Ballpark at Harbor Yard, home of the Bridgeport Bluefish. You get a very nice long view into the stadium as you're on a train that's decelerating into the Bridgeport train station, it turns out, but there wasn't a game going on as I was preparing to detrain in Bridgeport.
Original comments...
Dan: I believe I read somewhere it's an ad for a Japanese newspaper (Yomiuri Shimbun?)
Luke: FG = First game?
Levi: I bet the guy who asked you about the strip clubs had been hoping to run into Mo Vaughn, but in Vaughn's absence, he turned to you.
Steve: I find it hard to believe nobody knew who Jon Gruden was. During the football season they cut over to him on the sidelines more than any other coach.
maura: victor, not carlos, zambrano. but don't worry, people make that mistake all the time.
Jim: Well, Carlos Zambrano would have been shaky at the beginning, too, if he'd been there.
maura: a handy mnemonic: the 'v' in victor stands for 'get out of the way, because there's a good chance he'll hit you.'
DrBear: Yup, FG is for first game. You kids may be too young, but us old-timers remember when teams used to play two games in one day! The old scoreboard at County Stadium in Milwaukee had the same thing as G1, even including it at the end of the linescore for the Braves/Brewers game.
Labels: devil rays, game report, jon gruden, paul olden, phil simms, victor zambrano, yankees
Note from the Big Apple
Yes, I was at Yankee Stadium for last Thursday's 7-1 loss by the Devil Rays. I'll post photos and more details tomorrow (or later Monday, given what the time stamp is going to be on this post), including some perhaps sacrilegious observations regarding Yankee P.A. announcer Bob Sheppard and my ability to understand what he was saying.
Actually, here's an observation I'll post right now: during the seventh-inning stretch, the Yankees play "God Bless America" (a recording of Kate Smith, in this case) and then "Take Me Out to the Ball Game." A disheartening number of people sat down after "God Bless America."
Levi: Though I'm with you on the "Only one song should be played during the seventh-inning stretch, and that's 'Take Me Out to the Ballgame' (although I make an exception for Wisconsin, where tradition and history demand following it up with 'Roll Out the Barrel'), I'm willing to give Yankee fans a pass for a few weeks.
After all, maybe they were worn out from booing Cheney recently.
Dan: Yankee fans, with a handful of exceptions, are bandwagon-jumping pricks. And they have been for the better part of 80 years.
Go Mets, woo!
Dan: Oh, and kids who like the Yankees are even worse.
Actually, here's an observation I'll post right now: during the seventh-inning stretch, the Yankees play "God Bless America" (a recording of Kate Smith, in this case) and then "Take Me Out to the Ball Game." A disheartening number of people sat down after "God Bless America."
Original comments...
Levi: Though I'm with you on the "Only one song should be played during the seventh-inning stretch, and that's 'Take Me Out to the Ballgame' (although I make an exception for Wisconsin, where tradition and history demand following it up with 'Roll Out the Barrel'), I'm willing to give Yankee fans a pass for a few weeks.
After all, maybe they were worn out from booing Cheney recently.
Dan: Yankee fans, with a handful of exceptions, are bandwagon-jumping pricks. And they have been for the better part of 80 years.
Go Mets, woo!
Dan: Oh, and kids who like the Yankees are even worse.
Labels: bob sheppard, devil rays, god bless america, seventh inning stretch, take me out to the ball game, yankees
Friday, May 28, 2004
More thinking on just rewards
I've been thinking a little more about the role one's behavior at baseball games could play in the handing down of eternal punishment or reward. It's a complex issue.
For example: Jeffrey Maier. You remember him. He's the twelve-year-old kid who helped win Game 1 of the 1996 ALCS for the Yankees by reaching over the fence and grabbing what would likely have been a flyout by Derek Jeter, turning it into a home run.
Now, my view on fan interference is this: feel free to interfere with a ball in play, but be sure of what you're doing before you stick that hand or glove out there. If you're rooting for the home team from the front row down the line, and the ball hit by the opponent is headed for the corner, a definite triple, feel free to lean over the fence and turn the ball into an automatic double. What I don't like to see is the fan who, wrapped up in his ignorant desire for a batted ball, turns his own team's triple into a double. It's all about thinking in advance. I guarantee that Scott Rolen, before each play, thinks through what he'll do in any situation. Is it too much to ask fans sitting at field level to do the same?
So Jeffrey Maier clearly fits into the category of righteous interference: he saw that Tony Tarasco was probably going to catch the ball. He may not have been sure that it would be ruled a home run if he caught it, but the consequence of not catching it was camped out beneath him. So grabbing it, despite the fact that he was taking a chance of being thrown out of a playoff game, was clearly the right thing to do.
But the situation gets more complex. After all, the team Mr. Maier was supporting with his action was the Yankees. And I like to think--Damn Yankees to the contrary--the gods know the Yankees are evil. What--you think the gods aren't as smart as a 6-year-old Sox fan? No, the gods definitely know the Yanks are evil. I think they allow the Yankees their success both as a trial to the rest of us, a test of our faith in our own teams, and as a kind of spiritual flypaper. Anyone foolish enough to fall prey to the easy seductions of the World Series trophies and the black-and-white pinstripes reveals a weakness sure to be noted by the gods.
So given that: was Jeffrey Maier's action a good action, in a philosophical sense? Is it likely to have added to the credit side of his spiritual ledger, or did it weigh down the debit?
See why the Old Testament God was so cranky? It's complex. I don't blame him for just sending plagues all the damn time rather than thinking about this kind of thing.
P.S. Added later
To clarify a bit the concept of "spiritual flypaper": I think of it kind of like the situation in Nina Simone's "Sinnerman": the sinnerman runs to the rock, and it can't hide him, then he runs to the river, and it's bleeding, and he runs to the sea to find it boiling, then he runs to the lord, who tells him to go to the devil.
The devil is waiting. He's always waiting. I picture him in a nicely tailored blue houndstooth smoking jacket, a circle of flattened cigarette butts around his spats a little indication of how long he's been waiting, knowing that the sinnerman would show up sooner or later.
Like the Yankees. They're content to wait until your team blows a 13-game lead or goes twelve years without a winning season or your cast-off first baseman rediscovers his youth in the very place Ponce de Leon came up empty.
Steve: So, according to this logic the Cubs are Isaac and Bartman is Abraham--only God decided not to intervene at the last minute.
Luke: >I don't blame him for just sending plagues all the damn time rather
>than thinking about this kind of thing.
How do you think we ended up with the wild card, green-screen ads and the Devil Rays? We also ended up with, for a time, Johnny Damon's hair, but if God truly loved us, the shaving cream would have turned to wine when it touched his face.
Other than a handful of personalities and talents who have made fandom worthwhile -- the Marks Grace, the Alberts Pujols, the Rickeys Henderson, the Antonios Alfonseca -- have there been any developments in the past 30 years to suggest God's grace? Streaming broadcasts, maybe, but one has to pay for them (that the Bill of Rights fails to mention our right to free baseball audio merely proves our forefathers' lack of foresight). All other changes to the game -- retractable domes, sponsored first pitches and lineup changes, elbow pads -- seem to be proof of God's retributive side.
Levi: So, Luke, you're saying that Selig is Satan?
Luke, hanger-on: I figured it went without saying, but just in case, I'll say it: Bud Selig is Satan.
"Allan H Bud Selig," after all, anagrams to "Hell! Bad! Sin! Luga!"
(Luga being the eskimo word for "menace to a great sport.")
For example: Jeffrey Maier. You remember him. He's the twelve-year-old kid who helped win Game 1 of the 1996 ALCS for the Yankees by reaching over the fence and grabbing what would likely have been a flyout by Derek Jeter, turning it into a home run.
Now, my view on fan interference is this: feel free to interfere with a ball in play, but be sure of what you're doing before you stick that hand or glove out there. If you're rooting for the home team from the front row down the line, and the ball hit by the opponent is headed for the corner, a definite triple, feel free to lean over the fence and turn the ball into an automatic double. What I don't like to see is the fan who, wrapped up in his ignorant desire for a batted ball, turns his own team's triple into a double. It's all about thinking in advance. I guarantee that Scott Rolen, before each play, thinks through what he'll do in any situation. Is it too much to ask fans sitting at field level to do the same?
So Jeffrey Maier clearly fits into the category of righteous interference: he saw that Tony Tarasco was probably going to catch the ball. He may not have been sure that it would be ruled a home run if he caught it, but the consequence of not catching it was camped out beneath him. So grabbing it, despite the fact that he was taking a chance of being thrown out of a playoff game, was clearly the right thing to do.
But the situation gets more complex. After all, the team Mr. Maier was supporting with his action was the Yankees. And I like to think--Damn Yankees to the contrary--the gods know the Yankees are evil. What--you think the gods aren't as smart as a 6-year-old Sox fan? No, the gods definitely know the Yanks are evil. I think they allow the Yankees their success both as a trial to the rest of us, a test of our faith in our own teams, and as a kind of spiritual flypaper. Anyone foolish enough to fall prey to the easy seductions of the World Series trophies and the black-and-white pinstripes reveals a weakness sure to be noted by the gods.
So given that: was Jeffrey Maier's action a good action, in a philosophical sense? Is it likely to have added to the credit side of his spiritual ledger, or did it weigh down the debit?
See why the Old Testament God was so cranky? It's complex. I don't blame him for just sending plagues all the damn time rather than thinking about this kind of thing.
P.S. Added later
To clarify a bit the concept of "spiritual flypaper": I think of it kind of like the situation in Nina Simone's "Sinnerman": the sinnerman runs to the rock, and it can't hide him, then he runs to the river, and it's bleeding, and he runs to the sea to find it boiling, then he runs to the lord, who tells him to go to the devil.
The devil is waiting. He's always waiting. I picture him in a nicely tailored blue houndstooth smoking jacket, a circle of flattened cigarette butts around his spats a little indication of how long he's been waiting, knowing that the sinnerman would show up sooner or later.
Like the Yankees. They're content to wait until your team blows a 13-game lead or goes twelve years without a winning season or your cast-off first baseman rediscovers his youth in the very place Ponce de Leon came up empty.
Original comments...
Steve: So, according to this logic the Cubs are Isaac and Bartman is Abraham--only God decided not to intervene at the last minute.
Luke: >I don't blame him for just sending plagues all the damn time rather
>than thinking about this kind of thing.
How do you think we ended up with the wild card, green-screen ads and the Devil Rays? We also ended up with, for a time, Johnny Damon's hair, but if God truly loved us, the shaving cream would have turned to wine when it touched his face.
Other than a handful of personalities and talents who have made fandom worthwhile -- the Marks Grace, the Alberts Pujols, the Rickeys Henderson, the Antonios Alfonseca -- have there been any developments in the past 30 years to suggest God's grace? Streaming broadcasts, maybe, but one has to pay for them (that the Bill of Rights fails to mention our right to free baseball audio merely proves our forefathers' lack of foresight). All other changes to the game -- retractable domes, sponsored first pitches and lineup changes, elbow pads -- seem to be proof of God's retributive side.
Levi: So, Luke, you're saying that Selig is Satan?
Luke, hanger-on: I figured it went without saying, but just in case, I'll say it: Bud Selig is Satan.
"Allan H Bud Selig," after all, anagrams to "Hell! Bad! Sin! Luga!"
(Luga being the eskimo word for "menace to a great sport.")
Labels: Jeffrey Maier, yankees
Friday, April 30, 2004
The Designated Hitter
Steven Goldman, writer of The Pinstriped Bible, a Yankees site worth reading--despite not being a Yankee-hating site--today calls the Designated Hitter "the Free Parking of baseball."
Aside from the fact that the DH sucks all the time, whereas Free Parking only sucks when your opponent lands on it, I think he's right on. Finding a good DH should be the easiest thing in the world for a team. That's why, when the Cardinals (in interleague play) batted Miguel Cairo there a few times, or when the Yankees, this season, have batted Ruben Sierra there against lefties, it has brought sorrow and joy, respectively.
Aside from the fact that the DH sucks all the time, whereas Free Parking only sucks when your opponent lands on it, I think he's right on. Finding a good DH should be the easiest thing in the world for a team. That's why, when the Cardinals (in interleague play) batted Miguel Cairo there a few times, or when the Yankees, this season, have batted Ruben Sierra there against lefties, it has brought sorrow and joy, respectively.
Labels: Cardinals, designated hitter, miguel cairo, ruben sierra, yankees
Wednesday, March 31, 2004
Now there's the Devil Rays we know and love
I set the TiVo to record the MLB Extra Innings feed of this morning's game. If I'd been 100% sure it would be showing up for free, I might have woken up earlier to watch it; as it was, I had to fast-forward through major portions of the game, which turned out to be a good thing. It was the Yankees' YES Network coverage, and it looked like they had dug up a lot of old films of teams and players visiting Japan in the past, including Mickey Mantle celebrating his 24th birthday while the Yankees were on a barnstorming tour of Asia. (Actually, maybe ESPN showed the same footage yesterday morning, but I wouldn't know.) Also, there will be a suitable-for-framing 8x10 photo of a Yankee great inside the Sunday Daily News every week.
Anyway, now that we know I'll be getting MLB Extra Innings free for the first week of the season, Levi, you're invited to my nameless apartment for the real Opening Day on Monday. It kicks off with Tigers at Blue Jays at 10:00 A.M. (And then the question is, since this morning's game was the first one in the Extra Innings package, will they define "first week" as lasting only until next Wednesday, or all the way through Sunday the 11th?)
Anyway, now that we know I'll be getting MLB Extra Innings free for the first week of the season, Levi, you're invited to my nameless apartment for the real Opening Day on Monday. It kicks off with Tigers at Blue Jays at 10:00 A.M. (And then the question is, since this morning's game was the first one in the Extra Innings package, will they define "first week" as lasting only until next Wednesday, or all the way through Sunday the 11th?)
Labels: devil rays, directv, yankees
Future hanger-on Luke Seemann pointed out a photo in the Chicago Tribune yesterday, taken at the Tokyo Dome at the Yankees/Devil Rays game. Luke characterizes it as the best sign ever. I think I might have to agree. It said, "Hi, Derek. I hope you achieve more and more!"
You gotta have wa.
You gotta have wa.
Labels: devil rays, japan, luke seemann, yankees
Wednesday, March 03, 2004
We have a blog
Three years ago, friends of ours named Luke and Sandy went on a baseball road trip and kept a joint blog about it. So I figured we should either rip them off, or pay homage to them, depending on whether or not Luke and Sandy are going to be reading this.
This is actually the replacement for some "manual" blogging I had been doing about this trip on my own web site, so I've copied all those entries over to here. The advantages are that Levi can easily make entries here as well, and we can both make entries from anywhere...including while we're on the trip, if we can beg, borrow, or steal a computer capable of connecting to the Internet at some point.
It has also been rumored that Luke may be joining us for the first portion of our road trip. I hope he can make it, even if I disagree in part with his opinions on National Anthem etiquette. While I will happily sing along to an instrumental version (especially if it's being played live by an organist), I will remain silent if someone is out on the field performing, because I actually want to listen to their performance. But I do agree that the cheering shouldn't start until the end of the song, no matter how good the singer is at hitting the high note.
Therefore, in case they do instrumental versions of "O Canada" in Toronto and/or Montreal, I want to be sure I have the lyrics down.
On another note, my mother tells me that my cousin is getting married in Connecticut in July. Depending on the exact wedding plans (and the exact wedding location), I may attempt to come up with a scheme to visit New York for a day, a city which is a noticeable gap on the road trip itinerary. The Yankees will be in town that weekend, right before the All-Star break, playing my hometown Devil Rays.
This is actually the replacement for some "manual" blogging I had been doing about this trip on my own web site, so I've copied all those entries over to here. The advantages are that Levi can easily make entries here as well, and we can both make entries from anywhere...including while we're on the trip, if we can beg, borrow, or steal a computer capable of connecting to the Internet at some point.
It has also been rumored that Luke may be joining us for the first portion of our road trip. I hope he can make it, even if I disagree in part with his opinions on National Anthem etiquette. While I will happily sing along to an instrumental version (especially if it's being played live by an organist), I will remain silent if someone is out on the field performing, because I actually want to listen to their performance. But I do agree that the cheering shouldn't start until the end of the song, no matter how good the singer is at hitting the high note.
Therefore, in case they do instrumental versions of "O Canada" in Toronto and/or Montreal, I want to be sure I have the lyrics down.
On another note, my mother tells me that my cousin is getting married in Connecticut in July. Depending on the exact wedding plans (and the exact wedding location), I may attempt to come up with a scheme to visit New York for a day, a city which is a noticeable gap on the road trip itinerary. The Yankees will be in town that weekend, right before the All-Star break, playing my hometown Devil Rays.
Labels: admin, brpa, devil rays, luke seemann, national anthem, planning, road trip, sandy weisz, yankees
