God Bless Take Me Out to the Ballgame

When I was a kid, I read a good book (the name of which I’ve forgotten) about an American boy growing up in China and going to an English school. He didn’t want to sing “God Save the Queen,” but not doing so got him in trouble. His father pointed out that he could instead sing, quietly, “My Country ‘Tis of Thee,” which shared a melody with the British anthem.

It will no doubt cheer BRPA2004 readers to learn that, while watching the White Sox win the World Series on Fox, those in attendance at the Rocketship realized that, while “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” and “God Bless America”–two songs whose relative importance in baseball history Bud Selig seems to have confused–do not traditionally share a melody, there is, it turns out, no reason that they shouldn’t.

That’s right: “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” can be sung–flawlessly–to the tune of “God Bless America.” (And vice-versa, I suppose, but, well, yuck. Why do that to America?)

Try it at home. Try it at your favorite ballpark the next time the PA guy demands a show of religious-themed patriotism rather than a celebration of what you’ve actually chosen to do with your day.

Or wait until I get Jim to sing it and post the MP3.

As the caption to a photo at the Neo-Futurarium of a boy flipping off the camera said, “See–everything in the world’s not made of toilet.”

Let that be a lesson to you

In the opening segment of last night’s episode of “The Simpsons” — the episode that was incessantly promoted during Fox’s baseball coverage — an attempt to speed up a baseball game ends with the entire universe being destroyed, so there.

Actually, the whole thing was completely unbelievable, because it depicted a World Series game, broadcast by Fox, that was not only being played during the day, but also had Harry-Shearer-imitating-Vin-Scully doing the announcing, rather than Joe Buck and Tim McCarver. Come to think of it, if the universe is going to be destroyed anyway, that wouldn’t be the worst way to go out.

Games Brian Giles plays

1) Baseball

2) Touch Marquis Grissom Before He Gets to the Dugout

I knew about #1 from his All-Star appearances, his playoff appearance against the Cardinals this year, and his thousands of home runs against the Cardinals and Cubs in recent years.

But I didn’t know a thing about #2 until Viva El Birdos, in the midst of talking about the possibility of Giles becoming a Cardinal, pointed out that he’s clearly a goofball. From Gaslamp Ball:

“Announcer Tom Hamilton once remarked that when the Tribe defense leaves the field, Grissom would run like a madman for the dugout. Why? Grissom was trying to avoid a little game that Giles played: ‘Touch Marquis Grissom before he gets to the dugout.’ Grissom wanted no part of that, and I can see why after Giles presented Marquis’s birthday cake to him in the nude. Hamilton said, ‘Yes, folks, in the clubhouse, Giles presented the cake to Grissom wearing only his birthday suit…and that’s all I can say on the air.'”

Morganna the Kissing Bandit used to play a similar game, but I’m pretty sure she never tried it with Marquis Grissom.

Don’t you think Morganna ought to have a baseball-reference.com page? It could list her successful kisses and such.

No need to play the games

Now we can get back to Bill James. Using a quick little formula provided in the 1986 edition of the Baseball Abstract, here are the early predictions for 2006:

AL East

N.Y. Yankees (93-69)
Boston Red Sox (91-71)
Toronto Blue Jays (77-85)
Baltimore Orioles (76-86)
Tampa Bay Devil Rays (71-91)

AL Central

Chicago White Sox (90-72)
Cleveland Indians (87-75)
Minnesota Twins (84-78)
Detroit Tigers (73-89)
Kansas City Royals (62-100)

AL West

L.A. Angels (91-71)
Oakland A’s (87-75)
Texas Rangers (82-80)
Seattle Mariners (70-92)

NL East

Atlanta Braves (90-72)
Philadelphia Phillies (86-76)
Florida Marlins (83-79)
N.Y. Mets (80-82)
Washington Nationals (78-84)

NL Central

St. Louis Cardinals (97-65)
Houston Astros (88-74)
Chicago Cubs (82-80)
Milwaukee Brewers (78-84)
Cincinnati Reds (76-86)
Pittsburgh Pirates (72-90)

NL West

San Diego Padres (83-79)
San Francisco Giants (81-81)
L.A. Dodgers (79-83)
Arizona Diamondbacks (72-90)
Colorado Rockies (71-91)

Tampa’s very own Al Lopez, 1908-2005

The hometown obituary.

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At least he got to see “his” Chicago White Sox win a World Series before he died. Now, about the other team he once managed…

The oldest living member of the Baseball Hall of Fame is now Phil Rizzuto. Another Scooter!

Hooray! The animated baseball has been indicted!

Wait, what? Oh, sorry. Wrong

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Scooter.

In the news

In addition to today’s front pages, newseum.org has newspaper front pages from certain historic dates since they’ve been collecting front pages.

Here are the newspapers in the U.S. that ran a front-page news photo relating to the White Sox’s win today, October 27, 2005 (as opposed to a photo used in a referral box at the top of the page or down the side): Arizona Daily Star (Tucson); Los Angeles Times; The Record (Stockton, CA); San Diego Union-Tribune; Ventura County Star; Denver Post; Rocky Mountain News; Hartford Courant; The Ledger (Lakeland, FL); Augusta Chronicle (Georgia); Chicago Sun-Times; Chicago Tribune; Daily Herald (Chicago); Peoria Journal-Star; Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL); Rockford Register-Star; The Times (Munster, IN); Quad City Times (Davenport, IA); St. Louis Post-Dispatch (with the special added bonus of Weatherbird wearing a Sox shirt); Las Vegas Review-Journal; The Press (Atlantic City, NJ); New York Times; Albany Times-Union; Columbus Dispatch (Ohio); The Morning Call (Allentown, PA); Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; Jackson Sun (Tennessee); Abilene Reporter-News; Austin American-Statesman; Corpus Christi Caller-Times; Dallas Morning News; Fort Worth Star-Telegram; Houston Chronicle; Rumbo (various Texas cities); San Antonio Express-News; San Angelo Standard-Times; Deseret Morning News (Salt Lake City); USA Today; Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; and The Post-Crescent (Appleton, WI).

Now, here’s the list for the Red Sox from Thursday, October 28, 2004: Anniston Star (Alabama); Anchorage Daily News; Daily News (Los Angeles); Los Angeles Times; Oakland Tribune; Record Searchlight (Redding, CA); Sacramento Bee; San Diego Union-Tribune; San Francisco Chronicle; Fresno Bee; The Press-Democrat (Santa Rosa, CA); Ventura County Star; Rocky Mountain News; The Gazette (Colorado Springs); The Day (New London, CT); Hartford Courant; Norwich Bulletin (Connecticut); Record-Journal (Meriden, CT); Republican-American (Waterbury, CT); Washington Post; Charlotte Sun (Florida); The Ledger (Lakeland, FL); Miami Herald; The News-Press (Ft. Myers, FL); El Nuevo Herald (Miami); Palm Beach Post; St. Petersburg Times; Bradenton Herald (Florida); Augusta Chronicle (Georgia); Honolulu Advertiser; Idaho Statesman (Boise); Chicago Sun-Times; Chicago Tribune; Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL); Times-Picayune (New Orleans, LA); Portland Press-Herald (Maine); Sun Journal (Lewiston, ME); The Sun (Baltimore, MD); Boston Globe; The Enterprise (Brockton, MA); The Patriot Ledger (Quincy, MA); The Sun (Lowell, MA); Kalamazoo Gazette; Pioneer Press (St. Paul, MN); Springfield News-Leader (Missouri); St. Louis Post-Dispatch; Las Vegas Review-Journal; Reno Gazette-Journal; Concord Monitor (New Hampshire); The Telegraph (Nashua, NH); Union Leader (Manchester, NH); The Press (Atlantic City, NJ); The Star-Ledger (Newark, NJ); Albuquerque Journal; Buffalo News; Hoy (New York, NY); New York Sun; New York Times; Post-Standard (Syracuse); Poughkeepsie Journal; Times Herald-Record (Middletown, NY); Albany Times-Union; Charlotte Observer; News & Observer (Raleigh, NC); News & Record (Greensboro, NC); Winston-Salem Journal; Cincinnati Enquirer; Columbus Dispatch (Ohio); Dayton Daily News; Plain Dealer (Cleveland, OH); Oklahoman (Oklahoma City, OK); Beaver County Times (Pennsylvania); Tribune-Review (Greensburg, PA); Philadelphia Inquirer; Morning Call (Allentown, PA); Providence Journal; Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN); Abilene Reporter-News; Al Día (Dallas, TX); Amarillo Globe-News; Austin American-Statesman; Beaumont Enterprise; Dallas Morning News; Fort Worth Star-Telegram; San Antonio Express-News; The Monitor (McAllen, TX); Times Record News (Wichita Falls, TX); Deseret Morning News (Salt Lake City, UT); Salt Lake Tribune; Rutland Herald (Vermont); Culpeper Star-Exponent (Virginia); Free Lance-Star (Fredericksburg, VA); News Leader (Staunton, VA); Richmond Times-Dispatch; USA Today; Olympian (Olympia, WA); Spokesman-Review (Spokane, WA); Columbian (Vancouver, WA); Charleston Gazette (West Virginia); Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; and The Post-Crescent (Appleton, WI).

I had a point, but after typing all those in, I forget exactly what it was. Something about the Red Sox list being longer and it being evidence of what a well-publicized “curse” can do for you. Oh, and I also want to note that both the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times used the same front-page headline for the White Sox victory (“Believe It!”) — so now that they’ve both used that, what do they do when the Cubs win? Actually, there may not be such a thing as newspapers by the time the Cubs win.

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…

  • 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?