Archive
APRIL’s Greatest Hits!
1) Baseball!
2) 53 Fahrenheit at 2 P.M. 3/30/2024
3) Dietary change to spring feeding which features lots of raw spinach.
4) NBA and NHL getting interesting.
5) Rabbits in the East Fens neighborhood of Boston.
6) “April showers bring May flowers…” Well… we have definitely gotten the showers.
7) Women wearing shorts and mini skirts.
8) Mallard ducks bobbing about in the Muddy River.
9) Kayakers bobbing about in the Charles River.
10) Touching the window of one’s home doesn’t cause a chilly finger.
PASSING: Bud Harrelson, January 11, 2024
Derrel McKinley “Bud” Harrelson passed on January 11, 2024 in his home in East Northport, N.Y. of Alzheimer’s disease. Harrelson was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2016 and went public with his malady in 2018.
At the time of his passing Harrelson was a partner in the Long Island Ducks North Atlantic Independent League, Islip, Long Island based team team he helped to found in 2000. The link below tells the story:
One of my earliest trivia questions for my confounded schoolmates was:
Q: What is Bud Harrelson’s real name?
A: Derrel McKinley Harrelson!
No, Bud Harrelson was not related to Ken “Hawk” Harrelson.
Bud Harrelson was signed by the Mets as a free agent in 1963, before the free agent amateur draft which began in 1965, after a year at San Francisco State.
Bud’s professional career began in 1963 with the Salinas Mets in California League A ball. Bud was called up to The Show in September 1965 where he caddied for Roy McMillan.
That very same year Bud began his 5 year hitch in the National Guard for 1 weekend a month which partially accounts for Bud’s relatively low number of games played.
Fielding statistics give Bud short shrift. During his Gold Glove campaign of 1971 his % of chances to league average was a pretty good but not great. However it must be factored in that during his career Harrelson played behind Tom Seaver, Nolan Ryan, Jon Matlack, Jerry Koosman and Tug McGraw all of whom were fastball/K/fly out pitchers.
https://www.baseball-reference.com
Harrelson had a cannon for an arm and could hurl overhand from deep in the hole, whip sidearm from a set position and “shovel,” as Mets broadcaster Lindsey Nelson would put it to the 2nd. bagger for a 6-4-3 twin killing.
Harrelson had offensive value. After the success of Maury Wills, who finally made it to the Dodgers after 1100 minor league games by embracing switch hitting, speedy infielders such as Harrelson and his contemporary Don Kessinger were made into switch hitters during their minor league apprenticeships. Bud drew a good number of walks long before OBA became obsessional.
I recall a neighbor chortling with delight when Bud, hitting lefty, beat out a push bunt.
The 1973 Mets vs. Reds NLCS saw Harrelson gain national attention when the 160 lb. Harrelson clashed with the 200 lb. Pete Rose. The fracas had been precipitated by some verbal jousting following the Mets Game 2 9-2 victory lead by Jon Matlack’s 9 K complete game and Rusty Staub’s 2 HRs.
My brother and I were watching the game on a 12″ black and white TV perched precariously on the counter of Mr. Washington’s Sherwin Williams Main St, Port Washington paint store on a sunny afternoon…back when an NLCS game was still played in the afternoon!
On a double play ball Harrelson and Rose collided and Harrelson and Rose began throwing punches.
To my surprise and delight Harrelson did not back down and the Shea crowd cheered Bud even as the imbroglio was broken up by umpires.
Interestingly enough, neither player was ejected. This is hard to imagine happening in today’s MLB!
https://youtu.be/K8xKLbn04h)s?si=FbSHUy98PFLGb3Ar
What did happen was that Reds skipper Sparky Anderson pulled his team from the field for 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, the Shea loyalists began shouting that Rose was ingesting fecal material and did not cease until manager Yogi Berra, Cleon Jones, Rusty Staub, Tom Seaver and Willie Mays calmed the crowd.
The ‘Ya Gotta Believe’ Mets shocked the Reds and wound up pushing the mighty 1973 A’s to 7 games before going down swinging…just like Bud!
From 1965 until 1975 the Mets were New York’s team, especially on the North Shore of Long Island where a train from my home burg of Port Washington could travel to Shea Stadium in 22 minutes.
As the 70’s stumbled on my interest in baseball cards, street baseball and live games was supplanted by televised games, SPORTS ILLUSTRATED and Steely Dan’s PRETZEL LOGIC. Embarrassment too played a role as I recall an LRY girl telling me that baseball was “so 6th. grade” so I kept my fandom to myself even while rooting for Bud Harrelson and the diminishing number of players who had played for the Miracle Mets and the Ya Gotta Believe Mets.
By 1977 the residue of the Miracle Mets and Ya Gotta Believe had been washed away by the dispatching of Dave Kingman, the auctioning off of Tom Seaver, the passing of Mets’ matriarch and majority owner Joan Payson and the resurgent Yankees who had returned to the Bronx and the 1976 World Series.
From 1977 on the Mets would remain mired in the sub .500 mire of the old N.L. East; absorbing countless pummelings from the Pirates and Phillies until re-emerging as contenders in 1984 under the ownership of Nelson Doubleday.
Fans were few and hostile.
A brief digression…
Anyone who thinks that Joe Torre is a great manager should look at the winning %s of the Mets during his reign. And while this is not entirely Torre’s fault, the dis-invested ownership of Linda DeRoulet, Joan Payson’s sister, surely played a major role, Torre’s management of the careers of Dave Kingman, Joel Youngblood and especially Lee Mazzilli says nothing good about Torre’s talent judgement.
In 1977 my brother and I jumped into a packed Port Washington LIRR car for Tom Seaver’s return to Shea as a Red. It was not lost on me that Harrelson had been Tom Seaver’s roommate and that Bud and Pete Rose had been combatants.
When Seaver took the mound an ovation erupted such as nothing I have heard before or since. Seaver stepped off the mound and tipped his cap, which only lengthened the ovation.
Jerry Koosman toed the slab for the Mets. Harrelson, Ed Kranepool and Jerry Grote were penciled into the lineup by Brooklynite Joe Torre.
Of course Harrelson got a hit, of course Ed Kranepool launched a sacrifice fly that proved to be the only run tallied by the Amazins’ and of course Jerry Koosman took the loss.
…but you already knew that…
During spring training in 1978 Harrelson was dispatched to the Phillies for “prospect” Fred Andrews. Harrelson spent 1978 and 1979 with the Phillies spelling the defensively challenged Dave Cash.
In 1980 the Phillies released Harrelson making him a free agent who wound up playing out the string with the Texas Rangers.
As a Ranger Harrelson returned to short where he platooned with the immortal Pepe Frias and played alongside fellow Flushing refugees Rust Staub and Jon Matlack before retiring…but not before hitting his 7th. HR in 5515 PAs!
Harrelson was far from done with baseball and re-emerged as the Mets 1st. base coach and occasional TV commentator for WWOR 9.
In 1984 Bud piloted the short season, 75 games, Little Falls Mets, to 1st. place with a squad featuring future Mets Kevin Elster, Shawn Abner and David West, to a 44-31 record and being named New York-Penn League Manager of the Year.
Harrelson at this point was still on my radar screen as Bud morphed into a company man for the Flushing fiefdom.
1985 found Harrelson at the helm of the of the South Atlantic A ball Columbia Mets which featured future phenom Gregg Jefferies while earning a 79-57 record. During the season Bud bounced to Flushing where he replaced Bobby Valentine who moved to Texas on Davey Johnson’s coaching staff.
1986 saw Harrelson as the 3rd. base coach chasing Ray Knight to home plate in Shea Stadium in the epochal Game 6 of the 1986 World Series.
…Please go to the home page for this blog enter ‘A Night to Remember’ in the Search function for my account of Game 6 while managing Our House in Allston, MA…
Q: Who is the only Met to be in uniform for both the 1969 and 1986 World Series champions?
A: Bud Harrelson!
Sure it is a bit of a trick question but I was still in my 20s!
In 1990 Harrelson replaced Davey Johnson who had gone 20-22 42 games into that season and got the Mets to 91 wins, their 7th. consecutive winning season, although not enough to catch the pre-wild card Bonds, Bonilla, Drabek Buccos of the Jim Leyland era.
1991 saw a near total collapse as Darryl Strawberry went to the Dodgers while Frank Viola and Dwight Gooden failed to repeat their respective 20 and 19 win seasons of 1990 respectively.
As loyal readers of the NEW YORK POST knew there was a significant public dust-up with David Cone that accompanied this plunge. With 2 weeks left in the season and a 74-80 record Harrelson was relieved of his duties and replaced by Mike Cubbage.
At that point Harrelson fell from my radar screen although he was a partner in the Wilmington Blue Rocks, an affiliate of the Kansas City Royals.
Harrelson began blipping again when USA TODAY announced that the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball had placed a team in Islip, Long Island on the footprint of the old Islip Speedway whose Figure 8 track Demolition Derby was featured frequently ABC’s Wide World of Sports. to be called the Long Island Ducks; not to be confused with the Long Island Ducks of the American Hockey league who played for many years in Commack at the Island Arena. Harrelson was the manager as well as an owner for the Ducks maiden voyage.
Harrelson was a Vice President, owner as well as the manager in the Ducks’ 2000 inaugural season and remained as a coach until his 2016 diagnosis of Alzheimer’s Disease. Harrelson retired from baseball in 2018.
Many times Harrelson referred to the founding of the Long Island Ducks as his proudest accomplishment. During his time with the Ducks Harrelson resided in East Northport in Long Island’s Suffolk County where he was well know for being neighborly and his many charitable doings.
Bud Harrelson’s passing effected me far more severely than the passing of Tom Seaver via dementia although both passings were sadly foreseeable.
Bud Harrelson’s saga almost perfectly matched mine…
Baseball cards…getting to The Show…the Miracle Mets…the Ya Gotta Believe Mets…baseball is so 6th. grade…the decline of the Mets franchise from ’77 through ’83…the triumph of Harrelson chasing Ray Knight home with the winning run in game 6 of the 1986 World Series…the maddening ’90’s…minor league management…founding and owning the Long Island Ducks…and passing from Alzheimer’s.
…Bud Harrelson will missed by this narrator for as long as I have left to go...
BASEBALL: Los Wepas(Woo Sox) vs. Scranton Railriders, 8/18/2023
Minor league baseball has always occupied a niche in my mind, even before my brain became partially digitized.
As a youth I pored over the fine print in the back of STREET and SMITH’S BASEBALL 1970 detailing the exploits of the Mets AAA Tidewater team and pondering whether Ed Kranepool would make it back to Flushing? Yes.
Would Rod Gaspar would make it back to Flushing? No.
This was a stark contrast to the NBA and the NFL, I followed football at the time, where the “minor leagues” were the larger universities.
I have paid 2 visits to Pawtucket, R.I. to see the Paw Sox in both the original and renovated McCoy Stadium.
2012 and 2013’s summer breaks from work enabled me to see the Brooklyn Cyclones, the Mets short season A ball, 70 game season, at MCU park at Coney Island. (The Cyclones now play a 140 game season in long format A ball).
The 2022 Woo Sox had better than 70 players on their roster during the course of the season. Being “sent down” or DFAed/Designated For Assignment is an occupational hazard of the lower reaches of MLB. Sure enough Christian Arroyo, who lost his spot in the Bo Sox lineup with Trevor Story returning from the IL, is now a Woo Sox and playing shortstop; playing multiple positions being a part of player development and a way of keeping the rust from getting too rusty.
Old friend Franchy Cordero was in the lineup for the New York Yankee AAA affiliate Scranton Railriders, continuing his career ping-ponging between MLB and AAA.
The Woo Sox were Los Wepas tonight, Spanish for “energetically happy” for this Latin Night. Along that line attendees were greeted with a Jumbotron video on the career of Roberto Clemente. On that note it has been 50+ years since Clemente’s death and there more than a few Clemente jerseys worn by fans. Polar Park’s sound PA system was up to the task of amplifying Pirate announcer Bob Prince’s commentary.
Polar Park is a 70 minute trip from Back Bay Station via commuter rail and this newly minted senior citizen…AARP..! happily took advantage of the 1/2 price, $12, round trip fare. There were more than a few Woo Sox fans on board once we traveled west of Natick.
Union Station in Worcester is a twin turreted 1911 structure that originally served the Boston and Albany line and is now on the national Register of Historic Places. The repurposing of the station houses 2 restaurants both of which were busy on my 5:25 arrival time.
This enabled a brief wander through the Canal District of Worcester which boasts some early 20th. century architecture and some abandonment.
Independent specialty coffee shops nestled next to Vietnamese eateries are true diversity.
Polar Park rises up with an almost yellowish, greenish, bluish kind of glow. Walking towards the lights and hearing the crowd buzz is a feeling that I have never tired of…and I attended my very first game in 1966!
A Wormtown dedicated beer bar is among the 1st. attractions before the ticket entrance. I chose to get my pre-gaming on ASAP and happened into a gentleman who had the same idea. He asked if I had been here before and I replied in the affirmative.
“Let me buy you one!”
I gladly accepted and did the tipping, $5 on $28, The Summer Brew has a malty feel with a touch of citrus.
Friendly fans are always the best part of baseball!
Good drinking and I am not just writing that to please my non-sponsor.
Following the requisite pat-down and bag search, my 9″ x 5″ shaving bag containing a notebook passed muster I entered Polar Park’s blue industrial themed seating.
Polar Park is a 2 tier stadium. 329′ to LF, 402′ to CF and 320′ to RF.
Foul territory is commodious in back of the plate and up until the dugouts with virtually no foul territory beyond 1st. and 3rd. bases. This favors power hitters who foul into the outfield sets. In this sense Polar Park is very much like architect Janet Smith’s other parks; Camden Yard in Baltimore and Progressive in Cleveland.
The outfield is festooned with signage from Polar, Wormtown Brewery and Table Talk pies all of which reside in Worcester. This is in contrast with Fenway Park and most MLB parks which display as much national as local advertising.
I paid $25 on line at the Woo Sox site to get an 11th. row box seat. For $30 you can buy a padded seat in the first 10 rows. Contrast this with $61 for a Reserved Grandstand Section 16 seat at Fenway.
Likewise the official program was $5 for a 184 page volume that, although stuffed with ads for Polar Soda, Wormtown Brewery and Table Talk pies, offers a history of the franchise, surprisingly detailed biographies, former BoSox catcher Rich Gedman is a Worcester native and the hitting coach of the Woo Sox; of all of the players, a scorecard and the current roster of the Scranton Railriders.
The game began promptly at 6:45, a practice that MLB would do well to emulate as it enables attendance for kids and those with 8 A.M. jobs.
RHer Kyle Barraclough took the hill for the Los Wepas although none of his 290 MLB appearances has been as a starter. Barraclough throws from a 1 o’clock slot with a slight corkscrew of his upper body. His fastball had righties leaning back while the ball zipped down into the lower right quadrant of the zone. Foul balls went into the netting behind home plate.
If you ever in the mood to watch a game carefully note where the foul balls go.
Few balls went anywhere on this evening as Barraclough went 6 2/3 while King 11 to progress to 9-0 for his combined record in MLB and MiLB 2023. If the Sox fall out of the wild card chase I would expect to see Barraclough get a look during the last week or so of the season. Predicting anything in baseball is always tricky, especially the futures of pitchers but at 33 Barraclough could almost certainly help someone in MLB…or Japan.
As always screaming 10 year olds provided in house entertainment and screamed “WOO” after each strikeout.
In the 2nd. old friend Bobby Dalbec weaseled out a walk and Emmanuel Valdez boomed his 10th HR of 2023 deep into the LF berm setting off frenzied pursuit by screaming 10 year olds.
In the 5th. Railrider Andres Chaparro took out a Barraclough heater to LF. The nest 2 Railriders skied out to left center prompting the couple behind me to talk.
“Why don’t they take him out?”
“Because its the minors and I guess they figure he’ll learn a lesson.”
At this I turned around and asked, “Yeah, all of those balls were hit hard to left center. Do you come to a lot of games?”
The gentleman answered “I do.” while the woman smiled.
As always, friendly fans are the best part of the game.
In the 5th. Andres Chaparro put the RailRiders on the board with a screaming HR to LF.
I visited the concession stands and saw the long lines so I went to The Market where I bought, via debit card, a Polar Orange Dry and a bag of peanuts for $9.63
However, in the 5th. Los Wepas’ Dave Hamilton stole 2nd. and 3rd. in the same at bat followed by Wilyer Abreu’s single to add on an insurance run.
Hamilton also stole a base in the 8th. when the Woo Sox tried to tack on 1 more but was left stranded.
Like MLB MiLB has expanded the bases from 15″ to 18″ to encourage running and it has had a pleasing effect.
AAA players always run. This is in stark contrast to the nonchalant efforts of many Red Sox. Yes, I mean you Rafael Devers.
Polar Park’s infield dirt is dirtier than that of MLB’s as MLB added a higher % of crushed brick in 2023 to accommodate HD TV.
Perennial prospect Zac Houston was the opener for this bullpen game and pitched the first 3 innings, allowing all of the Los Wepas runs.
Houston was followed by the side-arming southpaw Josh Maciejewski’s 2 clean innings and the 35 year old Zach McAllister who each tossed 2 clean innings while Aaron McGarity allowed 1 run in his 2 innings.
Barraclough’s 1 run, 11 K outing was followed by Joe Jacques and Justin Garza’s combined 2 1/3 scoreless innings.
The PA announcer’s game summary was overwhelmed by screaming 10 year olds screaming “WOO!”
Following the game Uni Bank’s 70s Serenade featured 20 minutes of pyrotechnics. The Bee Gees’ “Night Fever” never sounded righter.
Ambling back to Union Station there were more than a few fans. it is a good sign that the 8,633 at the 9,051 capacity Polar Park made this their destination on a Friday night.
Wormtown Summer Ale, friendly fans, screaming 10 year olds and a …win!
I”ll be back.
Woo!
Negro League Baseball Museum, “Barrier Breakers” at 118 Boylston St, Boston, through August 4, 2023
Negro League baseball has been an interest of mine for over 50 years.
Robert Peterson’s ONLY THE BALL WAS WHITE captured the attention of this 12 year old Mets fan upon its publication in 1970. The Carrie Palmer Weber Junior High of Port Washington N.Y’s librarian Ms. Futter always had a smile upon seeing me take out ONLY THE BALL WAS WHITE for perhaps the 4th. time.
As my youth coincided with the civil rights era so my prepubescence was simultaneous to the awakening of casual fans to Negro League Baseball whose last generation of homegrown players, Henry Aaron and Willie Mays, were MLB’s greatest stars of my youth.
My folks were a tad taken aback, neither of whom were fans, but Mom bought me a copy of Satchel Paige’s MAYBE I’LL PITCH FOREVER featuring Satch,s tales of history, discrimination, fun and total fiction that somehow coalesced into quite a read.
My 2014 visit to the National Baseball Hall of Fame(NBHOF) in Cooperstown N.Y. was partially prompted by my interest in seeing the Negro Leagues’ exhibit ‘Pride, Passion and Prejudice.’ I was delighted to find not some little dusty niche but a thoughtfully curated exhibit. Best of all the many visitors to the NBHOF showed real interest, lingering long enough to read the history and marvel at the photos and equipment.
Yes, players from the Negro Leagues enshrined in the NBHOF, such as Satchel Paige and Josh Gibson, have their plaques, in the cathederalesque setting of the NBHOF’s main room.
The Negro League Baseball Museum’s(NLBM) Twitter site posted notice regarding the ‘Barrier Breakers’ exhibit at 118 Boylston St. in an Emerson College building located about 150 yards away from employer.
I walked in and was greeted more than kindly and signed the Guest Books.
‘Barrier Breakers’ is a collaborative venture of Emerson College, the Boston Red Sox and the Negro League Baseball Museum dedicated to the wave of post World War II players following Jackie Robinson breaking the color line.
Not that Jackie Robinson is absent; far from it. His dedicated niche describes his significant career at UCLA where he started as a running back in the Rose Bowl and earned letters in tennis and basketball as well.
Indeed, it is certainly worth speculating what Jackie Robinson night have done in the NFL.
https://footballfoundation.org>sports
or NBA
Of interest in the Jackie Robinson section of the exhibit is the mention of Robinson being court-martialed and acquitted for defying segregationist seating while in the Army.
But make no mistake; this is about far more than just the breaking of the color line in MLB; it serves to illustrate the erosion of de facto segregation prior to the legal aspect of the civil rights movement.
The Cleveland Indian’s Larry Doby gets his often unacknowledged entrance as the American League’s first black player.
Monte Irvin’s, I have a Monte Irvin t-shirt, role as an early player whose career was split between the Negro Leagues and MLB, display emphasizes that the 30 year-old rookie of 1949 had enough going to lead the National league in RBI’s in 1951. During my youth Mr. Irvin worked for the Commissioner’s Office of MLB.
The display of ‘Barrier Breakers’ is guest friendly with large sepia toned photos and text with serifs resembling that of my Mom’s 1949 Royal typewriter.
One of the many educational aspects of Barrier Breakers is the inclusion of Latino players such as Minnie Minoso and Martin Dihigo and who played in the Negro Leagues as well as in Cuba, Mexico and Puerto Rico.
Lesser lights than the above, such as Bobby “Rope” Boyd nicknamed for his line drive hitting and Harry “Suitcase” Simpson for his size 13 cleats, not his well-traveled resume as I had assumed, feed the compulsive fans quest for more.
The very stylish uniforms of the Kansas City Monarchs and Newark Elite Giants are represented by replicas and worth the visit in and of themselves.
As a museum buff it is not only what is displayed but the thoughts inspired that move the heart and mind.
By 1954 the Negro Leagues were fading as young stars Willie Mays of the Birmingham Barons and Hank Aaron of the Indianapolis Clowns undeniable talent inspired the New York Giants and Milwaukee Braves MLB teams to sign them without compensating their original teams draining both talent and $$$ from the Negro Leagues.
Along that line, was Bill Veeck’s signing of Negro League stars such as Satchel Paige, Hank Thompson and Willard Brown was an attempt to capitalize on those players’ fame as Kansas City Monarchs to fill the empty Sportsmen Park of the St. Louis Browns? Bob Watson of the Yankees as the 1st. black General Manager in MLB is genuinely historic although not of the time frame depicted.
On a more serious note Barrier Breakers represents an era after WW II and prior to when most white folk were aware of civil rights.
Entertaining and educational Barrier Breakers is an enlightening visit. The show is free and will be at 118 Boylston St. Boston until August 4th.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ONLY THE BALL WAS WHITE, Robert Peterson, ISBN 97080548811242, 1970
MAYBE I’LL PITCH FOREVER, ISBN 9781938545191, Satchel Paige, John Holway, David Lipman, 1962
THE NEGRO BASEBALL LEAGUES, Bob and Byron Motley, ISBN 978-1–68358-400-1, 2012
All of these books are available on Amazon.
The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, curated by Roberto Perez on Twitter is a wonderful site.
Woo Sox! Woo Sox vs. Syracuse Chiefs(N.Y. Mets AAA affiliate), Polar Park, 9/23/2022
AAA baseball is the bestest!
I had been wanting to visit the Woo Sox at Polar Park in Worcester, MA since the facility opened in 2021 replacing the Paw Sox at McCoy Stadium in Pawtucket, R.I.
Worcester is a scenic 70 minute trip from Back Bay Station to the historic, turreted Union Station rail/bus station for $24 round trip. There were quite a few Woo Sox fans who got off for the game, likewise the buses. It is a circuitous 10 minute walk from Union Station to Polar Park.
Game time was 6:45 which enables screaming 10 year-olds with mitts to see games. MLB take note.
Polar Park is a 2 tier facility with a relatively large foot print compared to MCU, the home of the short season A ball Mets affiliate Brooklyn Cyclones on Coney Island
Admission were mostly via smartphone but your retrograde correspondent’s $39.99 Obid Voyage doesn’t read or generate QRs so my downloaded hard copy entitled me to a $22 Upper Box seat which featured a ledge for my Polar Diet Orange Dry and 2 bags of cashews.
The entrance to Polar Park has a kids’ playground with swings made of baseball gloves and a t-ball set-up where boys, and more than a few girls, hacked away amidst the Polar bears.
Lots of 50+ folks, screaming 10 year olds with mitts and more than a little Spanish being spoken on the Concourse.
Beauty is the word that describes the thrill of walking up the ramp and seeing the crescent of green and brown, calling to mind racing ahead of my parents on the boardwalk from the Port Washington line of the L.I.R.R. and entering Shea Stadium better than 50 years ago.
This alone justifies the price of admission.
I immediately bought a 16 oz. Polar Diet Orange Dry and began my sugar free slaking. I paired my diet Orange Dry with 2 bags of Planter’s Cashews which were $6 for a 3 oz. bag that sells for $2. at my 7-11.
Ouch!
For yeast lovers the Worcester micro-brew Wormtown is available at all concession stands and has a dedicated beer bar which I did not partake of.
It is interesting to note that here in the 21st. century independent brewers have proliferated while independent soda companies are an endangered species.
Polar Park is in its 2nd year of operation and still has that new ballpark smell. 330′ to RF, 405′ to CF and 330′ LF. CF is straight across and the power alleys are curvilinear.
There is about 20′ from home plate to the backstop but there is virtually no outfield foul territory.
Polar Park’s infield dirt is considerably browner than that of MLB as MLB has put more crushed brick into the infield since 2003 for the optics of HD television.
The wind blew from LF to RF.
The lighting was bright, without shadows and the bright green batter’s eye enables hitting.
Polar Park resembles PNC Park in Pittsburgh although it does not have the 21′ high Clemente wall in RF.
Additionally, the interior is similar to PNC in that concessions, bathrooms and the team store are equidistant and boast monitors so there is no need to miss any action. Everything is still pretty squeaky cleany and not yet marred by graffiti. I made a point of visiting 2 of the Men’s Rooms and both of the facilities had an attendant with a squeegee for the floor and mirrors.
The concourse is wide enough to accommodate 6 folks across and is a far cry better than that of McCoy Stadium in Pawtucket.
One of the better features of McCoy Stadium was the outfield berm where a family can bring a blanket and spread out. Polar Park has kept this feature. Lots of Moms and Dads encircled by screaming 10 year-olds with mitts. Some things never change.
The Woo Sox were playing the Syracuse Chiefs the AAA team of the New York Mets which made for a certain comedic element as folks wearing Syracuse Chiefs and N.Y. Mets gear wandered about.
Ironically enough Syracuse was the Yankees AAA franchise during my long ago youth. Go figure.
The biggest difference between MLB and AAA is that not all of the players are known to casual fans. Some years I follow AAA but 2022 flew under my radar.
The Woo Sox starter was Nathan Eovaldi on a rehab stint from the BoSox; a sentence that was also served by erstwhile ace Chris Sales who succeeded in breaking his hand while “rehabbing.”
Other familiar Woo Sox included 2B. prospect Jeter Downs; a tough name for Sox buffs, and Jaren Duran whose nonchalant chase-down of a fly ball lost in the bog enabled the Blue Jays’ Raimel Tapia to hit an inside-the-park grand slam.
Yes, I booed Duran.
The Chiefs had the suddenly svelte Dominic Smith who lost his Mets role with the fine recent play of Mark Canha and perennial backup backstop Mike Perez, still wearing a Pirate cap on his Jumbotron pic, and former Sox backup backstop Deven Marrero who was playing 2B for no apparent reason.
Gotta love AAA!
Eovaldi gave up a towering blast to Dominic Smith faster than my butt could warm my Upper Box seat.
I was seated next to 2 women who chatted through the game about the game itself.
After the 1st. inning I intruded a little and offered that they knew the game.
“Oh yeah, we played high school softball together and I played park league ball for years.”
One of the true measures of live sports is meeting someone you have something in common with and nothing in common with at one and the same time.
Yes, they did know the game.
I lent them my binoculars for 2 innings.
In the 2nd. inning with Mike Perez of the Chiefs on 3rd Perez took too much of a lead and got caught in a rundown. Woo Sox catcher Ronaldo Hernandez chased Perez back to 3rd.
In the 2nd. inning with Mike Perez of the Chiefs got caught in a rundown between 3rd. and home with Woo Sox backstop Roberto Hernandez correctly chasing Perez back to 3rd; when Jake Mangrum began doing a little dance around 2B...
No!!!
…both of the women screamed as Hernandez has now left home plate abandoned while looking down Mangum which gave Perez the window of an unguarded home to slide into.
Hernandez hung his head in shame, not just for his mental gaffe, but for the fact that his 1st. inning HR had been nullified.
“Gratifying” comes to mind to see that my sister fans, and many others in the park, saw what was happening and it makes me smile to know that there are fans who know what they are watching.
The bestest part of the AAA is seeing players jet out of the batter’s box every single time.
Large player salaries do not bother me. It does bother me when players do not play hard…that means you, Ronald Acuna.
Baseball is a game defined by failure, If Lebron James or Giannis Antetokounmpo shot for a .333 percentage they would be at the Y in a “shoot to play” game.
In baseball if you can go 1 for 3 long enough you will be in the Hall of Fame.
Baseball truly is like life.
Pitch clocks will be coming to MLB in 2023 and have been used in AAA for 2 years. I never thought I would write this but the 9 seconds for pitches with the bases empty and 15 seconds for runners on base works for me. I am looking forward to the implementation at the MLB level next year.
MLB’s problem is more with the pace of the game, rather than the length of the game. My game took 2 hours and 20 minute, ending at 9:05, thus enabling working parents to bring their kids.
The current MLB game time is 3:04:
https:///mlb.nbcsports.com>mlb-average
Hurlers intimidated by the frequency of HRs spend all too much time stepping off, spitting and rubbing up baseballs.
This pacing problem is compounded by the batters, I’m looking at you David Ortiz, who walk all the way to Newton between pitches while grabbing themselves and spitting.
The pitch clock needs to be accompanied by a regulation limiting batters to stepping out once per appearance unless the umpire permits it.
No, I do not want an official game clock.
It is worth mentioning that AAA does not have the endless commercial “time outs” of MLB. Yes, I am looking at you MLB Network.
Ks at Polar park are accompanied by a PA of “Woo” that many of the fans, 8,913 in 9,500 seat Polar Park; and all of the screaming 10 year-olds take part in.
Fans stuck it out to the end of the Chiefs 5-4 win as the Woo Sox had runners on base in each of the last 3 innings to no avail, leaving 13 stranded for the game.
Friday night is Fireworks Night at Polar Park but with the next train back to Boston at 10:42 and the mercury sliding to 50 F I trotted over to the station as the detonation of fireworks commenced.
A good time. A cool home run, a major boo-boo, screaming 10 year-olds and smart fans sitting next to me.
Polar Park is a fine venue.
I am looking forward to 2023.
AAA is the bestest!
HAIKU 5*7*5* Dying baseball cards
Farewell, Bob Locker
My baseball cards are dying
It is no shocker
CHANGE 2022: 10 Signs of Aging
1) Your age is 448 in dog years.
2) The toenail of the big toe on your left foot that broke a year ago will not grow back…ever.
3) You understand the Federal budget deficit and the national debt and the difference between the two.
4) You are about to become a ‘great uncle’, at least in the chronological sense.
5) Ibuprofen before a shift is a sound strategy.
6) Cash is your preferred medium of exchange.
7) You remember when the Hynes stop on the Green Line was Auditorium.
8) You are proud of your earnings in the biz.
9) You don’t curse.
10) Let’s Go Mets!
HAIKU 5*7*5* Fruit flies and baseball.
Red Sox hit pop flies
A sign of Opening Day
Sugar brings fruit flies
Baseball and fruit flies both have the lifespan of the equinox.
COVID-19 Stella Quattro
- You have washed your hands so often your fingers are webbed.
2. The Dirt Devil Scorpion Max purchased for $37.99 at Mass. Ave. is my new best friend; just behind my Black & Decker Toast R Oven and just ahead of my Farberware 10 Speed Master blender. The extension empowers me to thin the herd of dust cattle residing behind this monitor and the brush attachment sucks up the dusty felt from the blinds and ceiling fan. The detritus swirling within the transparent collection cup is more entertaining than the 2020 Red Sox.
3. Van Halen binge.
4. A FALSE SPRING is a great read…and re-read. This autobiography by Pat Jordan details the rise, frustration and ultimate failure of an 18 year-old who had signed for a $35,000 bonus, a princely sum in 1959; with the Milwaukee Braves of the National League of MLB. A FALSE SPRING details Mr. Jordan’s circuitous route through small town minor league baseball in towns such as Davenport, Iowa and Eau Claire, Wisconsin with less success at every juncture. Ultimately, Mr. Jordan finds himself washed-up at 22 with his dreams eroded by the very real fact that his “talent” has deserted him permanently. Mr. Jordan had a wife and 3 children when his baseball “career” ended. Pat Jordan eventually became a respected journalist writing for THE NEW YORK SUNDAY TIMES MAGAZINE, G.Q, ESQUIRE and SPORTS ILLUSTRATED. Most sports books are the story of triumph. A FALSE SPRING is unique in that it looks upon athletic failure from the vantage of adult journalistic success. Intense and distant at the same time. A FALSE SPRING is a worthwhile read and re-read…and at my age re-reading is a luxury.
ISBN 1-886913-22-6
PASSING: CHADWICK BOSEMAN, 11/29/1976- 8/28/2020
Chadwick Boseman the star of the 2013 biopic 42, passed on August 28, 2020, the day celebrated by MLB as ‘Jackie Robinson Day’ in this truncated season, from the colon cancer that Mr. Boseman had been diagnosed with 4 years prior.
42 was produced by MLB and my expectations were modest. Sports movies are difficult to cast in that they require acting skills and athleticism.
(Robert Redford’s acting in THE NATURAL is superlative, the baseball playing, not so much).
42 was a pleasant surprise. 42 draws largely upon the journalism of Johnathan Eig’s OPENING DAY; itself based upon the journalism of PITTSBURGH COURIER sportswriter Wendell Smith who was Robinson’s roommate throughout Jackie Robinson’s 1947 rookie year.
Chadwick Boseman’s acting skill really comes to the forefront in the Florida scenes during Robinson’s initial spring training. Pride, acquisitiveness, machismo and anxiety all play well on the face of Chadwick Boseman. Suggesting, without ever saying in so many words that it is the mixed emotions within, as much as the segregation that was still legal in 1947, that need to be focused to play baseball.
Here is where Mr. Boseman’s athleticism comes into play. The easy, limber walk to Wendell Smith’s car would be above the aspirations of any athlete and fly below the radar of most thespians.
Likewise, the famous meeting between Jackie Robinson and Brooklyn Dodgers G.M./Partner Branch Rickey where Robinson asks, “Are you looking for a man who doesn’t have the guts to fight back?” and Mr. Rickey responds, “I am looking for a man who has the guts NOT to fight back.”
Boseman’s triumphant moment in 42 comes in the scene in which Robinson and brother Dodger Ralph Branca get to the real problem of breaking MLB’s color line; the sharing of showers.
For those among you who haven’t seen 42…this blog will not spoil the comedic and philosophical center of the film.
The change in facial expressions on Boseman’s face just during this scene is Oscar worthy.
Chadwick Boseman’s athleticism is in full effect in the scene where after being hit by a pitch by Pirate hurler Fritz Ostermueller Robinson hits a HR.
Jackie Robinson was a great all around athlete who started at running back for a Rose Bowl bound UCLA Bruins team, played doubles tennis and scored 16 p.p.g. to lead the Pacific 8 in scoring in an era before the shot clock.
Chadwick Boseman also starred in GET ON UP, the James Brown biopic and BLACK PANTHER. My intent, created by Mr. Boseman’s passing, is to watch these films.
Mr. Boseman, thank you.
OPENING DAY, Johnathan Eig, Simon & Schuster, 2007, ASIN B000OVLIKG
42 is a very worthwhile film, all the more so for having been produced by MLB. 42 is shown often on Bleacher Features on the MLB Network.
Steve Gallanter's Blog 