Benjamin Franklin proved that confession was not only good for the soul, it was good politics.
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March 28, 2012
In case you missed it, the 2012 Major League Baseball season opens today, with the first of a two game series between the Seattle Mariners and the Oakland Athletics at the Tokyo Dome in Japan.
Japan?
Why not.
You remember baseball.
At one time, there was only one America's Pastime.
No confusion.
Baseball back then was more than just a sport; it was a cultural touch point. If you found yourself standing next to a stranger at the bus stop, you could always talk baseball.
No, Abner Doubleday’s game (and there’s even some dispute about whether he invented the game) isn’t perfect — not that it ever was.
At one time the baseball season ended the week after Labor Day so it doesn't overlap other sports.
Not anymore.
For another thing, there are too many teams qualifying for playoffs.
Teams play the entire season to see who has the best record, but it clearly doesn’t mean anything, since with a glut of playoffs, anything can happen and usually does.
So the best teams rarely win the World Series.
It used to be the Yankees won every year so you knew everything was right with the world — and at least, non-Yankee fans had someone they could hate.
Made for orderliness.
Still...
There is a certain optimism on opening day, even if it is miles away in a different time zone.
Cub fans can still dream.
As Herbert H. Paper in the Cincinnati Enquirer said:
“It is well to remember that a Martian observing his first baseball game would be quite correct in concluding that the last two words of the National Anthem are: PLAY BALL."
I went to a game in Yokohama once - left nearly deaf from the enthusiam of the fans. It was a gre...
Mar. 28, 2012 1:06 PM
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Brings back o' such fond memories -- many, many swings of the bat ago -- when we would mow a lawn or do some other odd job to earn a few coins so we could get on our bike and pedal to the ball park and sit in the knot hole section and eat a hot dog and have a Coke and maybe some peanuts and, for a few hours, escape into the wonderful world of baseball.
Play Ball Indeed!
I was hoping to throw out the first pitch. Maybe next year.
Rangers in Six.
We ought to hit the C note today, lotlot, especially once those Cubs fans wake up and tell us how this is going to be the year. There is a joke in there somewhere.
Will those Cubs fans ever wake up? I'm done. I've hit for the cycle.
Why not Japan ???
Abner Doubleday left the Official Rules of Baseball open to interpretation ...
It is rumored that the Yankees are going to have three Midgets in the LineUp ... to bring the Strike Zone down, since most Pitchers last year were putting every other pitch in the dirt anyway .......
Certainly would give a whole new meaning to a, "Ground Rule Double" .......
Seems to me the ShortStop will be most affected .......
Sometimes I ask myself:
What have I accomplished today?
Sometimes the answer is:
I relaxed.
I rested.
Baseball helps me do that.
Then, relaxed, rested, I can go on and achieve in other ways.
paolos, think you are exactly right.
A "C" note it is.
The topic of baseball surely will bring out a sellout crowd of Village posters.
Especially when you consider the incalculable number of posts about ballpark food.
Sort of a grand slam in the ol' Eye ballpark.
I could swear that the glove in the photo above is the first glove I ever owned.
Where did you find it, Mr. P.?
I see in the papers that the Texas Rangers are gonna offer a two-foot-long hotdog this season for $26.
Why, a couple of those and you've gotta meal.
lotlot: Peterman makes Wallets out of Old Gloves ......
Painting took place upstairs yesterday. I slept down on the couch where the breathing is a little better to be awakened by high winds and cold temps… almost like March.
bebe ~
I channel only the nicest people. Have a good day!
Ummgawa ~
Great, thanks. Looking forward to your book.
Baseball: it pretty much is what it has always been and you can't say that about many things.
Baseball makes the sun shine.
Stranger in a foreign land - two days in a row of all American topics. I know nothing about baseball. In the UK, people in bus queues talk about the weather.
While feeding my iron horse her liquid oats this morning, the topic reminds me of my hero Whitey Ford and his famous mighty spitball that I tried to copy when I played for the Davis Mills Reds. I hocked up a mother o' pearl when I turned away and threw one of my WP's and when the catcher took it out of his mitt I could see the slime dripping off the cover. Umpire wiped it off and scolded me. Made me gulp and almost swallowed my Bazooka Joe bubblegum. Play Ball!
Headlines about Jet Blue Incident- "This is your Captain Freakin'"- frightening but an isolated incident. Now Captains will never carry guns to the cockpit. Gas up 9 cents overnight in MI- We have issues.
Miss Haze ~ I know next to nothing
about half of this stuff either, but that doesn't keep me from jumping in feet
first. Perhaps it should, perhaps it should.
Speaking of $26 hotdogs, are they
still serving up those gold leaf encrusted burgers in NYC? I’ll be there
tomorrow. Anyone know of a good place to
eat?
TT ~ One might think it, but that’s
not why they called him Slick.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKdnTz7hfLE
I think I mentioned it once before, The Last Boy by Jane Leavy is a good
read about Mickey. It can fill up some
air travel time.
How appropriate PAOLOS coupled with your trip to NYC! You know who knows really good restaurants in NYC? Stoney! Have you been to McSorley's or Pete's Tavern?
My daughter recited Casey At the Bat at my Dad's funeral. My Aunt Phyllis whom I rarely saw almost fell off her pew. Later she said to me, your father recited that every single morning in the Spring (I know).
HAZEL- I thought of you first thing when I saw the topic! Oh no...I thought...2 in a row on particularly Yankee things. Speaking of the Yankees.....
CD ~ I have not. I'll be on the upside of midtown and probably won't make it into the lower 48.This will be a down year for the Yankees without George. Who will provide the kick 'em in the motivation?
On it "p"- not available as iBook...
***Somebody turn off that mic! (in Russian)
Had Sushi at an Angels game once-
-couldn't make it fit in the 7th Inning Stretch sing along
Okay, I love you. Bye, bye.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vlnIKk5Pfoc
Wasabi and a Bud.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZk7-1uGmc4
I went to a game in Yokohama once - left nearly deaf from the enthusiam of the fans. It was a great game and the vendors walking around the stadium had shots of Scotch and edame instead of beer and peanuts. I love Saturday afternoon with a game on the television - especially when the game is so slow that I can take a nap on the couch. But I also love it when the game is really exciting and I can't leave the room for fear I'll miss something. And best of all a game in ballpark - because even though we all thought it was heresy to have night games under the lights - the way the lights illuminate the grass and the glow off the home team's white uniforms - is really something special.
more on the honor rolllast year there was a move affot to limit beer sales at the "Friendly Confines"....seems the adjacent neighbors didn't appreciate the 'extra' watering of their lawns and shrubs....
July 1909 first baseball game under the lights. Cincinnati, Ohio.
May 1935 first major league game under the lights.
Cincinnati, Ohio.
Last team to sweep the Yankees in a World Series. Cincinnati Reds.
I know it's not much but it's something.
Night games heretical? Jennifer, you must be from
Chicago. Cubs fans are the best in the
world.
They are still being punished for not putting lights up soon
enough.
No Beer at wrigley? well, the Cubs did lose the opener..... . that was the joke for maaaany years (before there were pop-top cans.....)hahaha
I recall waaay back when Ted Turner owned the Braves at the old Fulton County Stadium wearing the pale blue uniform and generally stinking up the joint on a multi-weekly basis.
I recall when Mr. Turner, as a publicity stunt, offered fee admission, hot dogs, cokes and chips if you'd just attend and until the Bravo's won another game. The losing streak, as I recall, was "Mendoza Line" quality and it made for decent entertainment for myself and a select few of my friends. Hey, free food and cokes and the ability to see some great players from other teams got the daily attendance up to almost 1,000 souls at a high point during the losing streak. At one point there was a "businessman's special" meaning a game at 12:30 pm during the week and I and my other three amigos were in attendance. Here's the best part:
The Super Station played the game on the fledgling station. the attendance was so low ( I mean under 150 people ) The announcer asked the entire crowd to hide so he could say "Attendance at today's Braves game is....ZERO!" with the camera panning the stadium and no one in sight.
Cool.
I am going to tuck a C note under Floyd's collar. If anyone
wants in on the world series pool, here is how it will work. Pick a team for a C note,
tuck the C note under Floyd's collar. If your team wins you get the C
notes under Floyd's collar. If your team is the Cubs and the Cubs win, you get
to keep the C notes and Floyd along with Stoney recording the voicemail message
for you on your cell phone. Because I am providing the Ceed money, I will
not participate and someone else can pick the Reds to win it all. Only one
entry per villager, teams can be selected on a first come first served basis. If someone swipes the money from Floyd's
collar between now and October, don't worry because I'm certain the FDIC will
insure everything.
Disclaimer
This World Series Pool is not sponsored or validated by Mr.
Peterman or anyone else for that matter. It is a virtual fantasy pool, a phigment
of your imagination. It does not exist
and I’m almost certain that once Mr. Peterman hears about it, I will at worst
be banned for life from this village and major league baseball and at best be
serving detention again in the Last Chance Department.
Hello & welcome JenniferR
I have no idea what 'you guys' are talking about. We did have a game at school called rounders which involved a hard ball and a baseball baton thing ..... 'till I got hit in the face by said hard ball and needed expensive and painful dentistry - the school changed the ball to a tennis ball.
Rounders, dear Hazel, is the
predecessor to Baseball. We did not invent the game of baseball any more
than we invented the English language. We just adopted and claimed it as our
own. Just as we did with the North American Continent. It is
difficult to keep from being king, when it is in you and in the situation. Robert
Frost said that although some Englishman probably said it first.
Thanks, dear paolos~ I thought it was the same sort of thing 'tho how you on the North American Continent have evolved rounders into such a big deal mystifies me.
AND you don't speeak English, you speak Amercan!
No argument here. Y’all
talk funny.
O yes, we serpently do!
Bull Durhamism from Annie- "Sometimes when I've got a ballplayer alone, I'll just read Emily Dickinson or Walt Whitman to him, and the guys are so sweet, they always stay and listen. 'Course, a guy'll listen to anything if he thinks it's foreplay. I make them feel confident, and they make me feel safe, and pretty. 'Course, what I give them lasts a lifetime; what they give me lasts 142 games. Sometimes it seems like a bad trade. But bad trades are part of baseball - now who can forget Frank Robinson for Milt Pappas, for God's sake? It's a long season and you gotta trust it. I've tried 'em all, I really have, and the only church that truly feeds the soul, day in, day out, is the Church of Baseball." Who's on first?
Wore my J Peterman Sleeves shirt to work today. It's opening day even if its being played in Japan. Go Cubs!!!! It's the Cubbies year this year, really it is..... wait where are you all going?.. How come the club car door is locked?......
My charriot is about to turn into a pumpkin and my glass slippers are killing me, so nos da, dear people. x
If you want to know baseball, ya gotta understand all the hand signals and signs.
They are used to orchestrate the pitcher's selection of pitches to the weaknesses of the hitter, position the outfielders, tell the guy on base to hold or steal, and most importantly,..... To let the vendor know how many hot dogs to pass your way.
Not about all of the scratching in the nether regions. This is nothing more, nor nothing less than getting away with enjoying yourself in front of 40,000 fans in the stadium and millions on TV....and it being ok. It's just one of the perks of our national pastime...
Saaaawiiinnnnggggggg batter,batter,batter,batter......shahwing batter, batter, batter.
I bet the vines at Wrigley are almost green. I still miss Ron Santos' voice announcing the games. He's playing somewhere else now.... Outdoors and no rain delays.
Peace out
Rings.....we are Cub fans through and through. We don' t need no stinking' trophys. Bits all about the game one the cubbies playing it. Every pitch, catch, at bat brings new hope.
When I was a little girl, I thought the World Series meant the Yankees played. It came as a big shock to me once I was older to find that other teams did occasionally play.
Rings ~ Are you backing that up with a C note in Floyd's collar? Stoney or PL might go halfsies with you.
C note on my hometown boys....yup, the Yankees.
Now we're cooking!
My first chew of Beechnut on a hot July day and at first base I felt that initial euphoria aka buzz played out as infield chatter, then spitting a lot and swallowing a little and then feeling a little sickly, actually "green" before rushing behind the bleachers to visit Sgt. O'Rourke as the girls I was trying to impress laugh. Manliness can be fragile.
Ken Burns has a great documentary series on baseball. After I watched that, I feel like I paid my dues and could go for the men in tights, beer and salted peanuts. "The 2002-2006 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) is the first to include a
section on uniform regulations. The CBA has no fewer than seven regulations
regarding pants, limiting the pant length to be no lower than the top of the
shoe heel and discouraging the baggy-pants look." Go CBA!
Cool lid, Miss Penn.
Thank you, Mr. P and the Big Editor In The Ether. For days and days (and days) I was denied access to The Village. Beseeching letters did no good, nor did repeated attempts. Nor did "Did I do something wrong?" Silence the only response. The mood must have altered: I am admitted.
Something there is about baseball that makes it uniquely American. My city is feverishly cleaning and scrubbing and planting, readying for the thousands who will descend next week for the Masters Golf Tournament, yet baseball is what everyone talks about. Makes me want to see (for the third time) "Bull Durham," one of my favorite movies. It says more about minor-league baseball than any film I've seen. Favorite moments include the manager's walking to the outfield to see why several players are in a huddle. They're discussing what to get another player for a wedding gift; how to get a good-luck chicken for an Hispanic player, several other unrelated-to-the-game important subjects. Another: The Tim Robbins character learns he'll go to the big time, and on the bus the more experienced player (manager? perhaps...told y'all I need to see it again) is seriously advising him what to say in interviews with media reps. "We just take it one day at a time...get out there and give it our best...so grateful just to be part of the team..." and other cliches we've heard a thousand times and still love.... We'd be disappointed if we didn't hear them.
None of which explains why Georgians are loyal to the Braves no matter how they perform.
But can you even imagine us without The Game? An uncle played minor league baseball for years, running a service station as well. A catcher, he'd had every one of his fingers broken more than once. The team for which he played was forty miles away; too, he was Catholic and his small town had no other Catholics, so for mass he traveled in the other direction to yet another small town.
He loved The Game.
Gonna be a fitty cent post day. Expected mo'.
69 Season with The Pilots, Jimmy B. Ball Four.
Stoney & PL - will you all cover a C note for me? Paolos - I still have 2 of Kidneys will one of them work instead? PL - I agree with you Cubs fans win every year, we at least upset the other temas at least once & make a difference in the standings when it counts. How can one NOT love that...
btw I loved "Moneyball" with Brad Pitt. Did anyone else notice that his character was eating in every scene? It was a great baseball flick I thought.
Rings, I got us all three of us covered. Gave Floyd a three hot dog special for a tip.
The cubbies remember that it is, after all, a game to be played like one. That is why they say 'play ball', and not " get back to work "..., n
I agree that baseball is American fun and a great sport to follow....but.....if they cancelled the entire season it would not impact my life at all.
The Braves of Atlanta are on the TV every time they play, and sometimes I watch them, but as for it being a major event....NO.
There are so many other issues in life that are more important that I cannot get excited about the baseball season. We are living with a crazed man, probably a Muslim, for President, and nuts like Pelosi and the Dem leaders who are scuttling our Constitution, so the baseball season pales in comparison.
I am working with my local Tea Party to do all I can to see that BO is not reelected...Nuff said. Throw the ball, steal bases, or hit a homer and I cannot really care.....There is more to life than major league baseball.
Rings ~ I have always said that the Cubs fans are the world's best. If Floyd's happy I'm happy. Save those kidneys for the Super Bowl.
Yes, I saw and enjoyed Moneyball.....and that is what all major league sports are....MONEYBALL. So many zillions of $$ out the door for sports....seems ludicrous compared to the needs of people who are out or work, needing food or medical help, and other worthwhile issues. As a teacher, I was told by students in high school that they would make more than I would and they would be cooking for Ryan's int he kitchen!! How does that stack up for values in America, gang!!??
Let the celebs and sports idols rack up the millions, and let the middle Americans keep working and holding the nation together with good values and work ethic. The richest celebs have more sway with the media than anyone, yet they support the Democrats who have made a career out of keeping poor people poor! Why is corruption so rampant in Chicago and large cities?? Can you say payoffs and money talks? It is discouraging.
Have not seen it, Chef Deb, it will go into the
queue. Thanks.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkKCNXbtmcY
Miss MooseL ~ Think about the peripheral economy.
Someone produces the balls, the bats, the gloves, the uniforms, the concessions,
the programs. Much of it paid for directly by the fan (some by the taxpayer)
but most of it paid for indirectly through the advertisers. What would you have
in its place? It is more than entertainment, it is an industry. If this were
the best of all possible worlds...Outside of the necessities of food,
clothing and shelter, everything else is discretionary. Don't be discouraged, put a Cnote on the Braves before Ummgawa beats you to it.
two corn dogs,please,and a bag of peanuts...(notice there are no people worried about peanut allergywarnings at the ball park? maybe they should play more baseball at schools, and fewer peanut allergies would result...
Baseball! Go Brewers! My husband is a bigger baseball fan than I am and he is a Yankee fan through and through.
I moved to Northern IL in the 1990's expecting to become a Cub fan. I grew up in NJ and watched the Miracle Mets in 1969. I lived in MN and watched the Twins win the World Series. I just never got the Cubs fever. I think it was my old boss--I didn't like him and he was a Cubs fan. Back then it was just so cool to go to Cub games, drink a lot, I don't know. The whole cachet bothered me. It seemed to be more about the party than the game. Now I'm all for having fun, kicking back some beers and enjoying myself at the ballpark, but the Cub fans of the 1990's just ruined it for me. God forbid that I become a White Sox fan--the horror! So, I was very happy when I moved to Milwaukee and became a Brewer fan. I like supporting the home team. And the Brewers have improved a lot in the 8 years I've lived up here. So, go Brewers. And Cub fans? You're always welcome to come up here and enjoy the game at Miller Park, AKA Wrigley North.
Corndogs, hotdogs, Fenway, the beauteous one came out of retirement to pitch in his intense, tormented, and lush lipped way; what's not to love???????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
STONEY....................thank you for that, this old girl was feeling crummacious & that was a lovely little boost!