Sunday 6 PM: Since this post began as a praise to baseball for keeping me sane, let's stick with this post through the end of the Series....even with peregrinations to college rivalries (?) and uniform numbers and love of La Belle Province. My dirty new little secret: I couldn't watch Games 3 and 4 because I cannot stand the two Fox guys. They display no wit, no change of pace. In the day hours, my baseball lunch companions have been conducting a web seminar in scoring, fielding, analytics pro and con. Anyway, I am on for Game 5 Sunday evening -- and any ramblings that may ensue. GV ![]() While waiting to see if the United States can save itself on Election Day, I needed something to fill my socially-distanced time.
Once again, baseball has come through – with a 60-game mini-season that allowed me to have a familiar sense of angst and rage about the Mets. Now there is about to be a World Series – with any luck, as taut as the two league series, seven games preferable to four – something to occupy house-bound fans like me. My first hope is that the network types will stop bombarding us with “post-season” statistics. First of all, give the computer a rest. Enough with the arcane stats. Second, we are about to enter what used to be called the World Series but now seems to be morphing into “the finals,” like the other endless post-season “playoffs.” True, the title “World Series” is a bit pretentious, even now with Latino and Asian players everywhere, but the title is baseball’s throwback to the days of two separate leagues that produced one champion each, to meet in early October. The leagues were different. Starting in 1947, the National League got a head start with the majority of Black superstars, and the American League had the Yankees stomping on their supine league rivals. Then, more likely than not, the Yankees won the World Series. Now baseball has blurred the rivalry between two leagues, but the separate identity of the World Series needs to be protected – including separate World Series statistics and achievements as homage to history, going back to 1903. So much else has changed in baseball. The recent series confirmed that the age of great starting pitchers has been terminated. Pitchers are interchangeable parts, no longer expected to go long. As Tyler Kepner pointed out, a pitcher can have a 3-0 lead in only 66 pitches and still be replaced by the parade of relievers, as Tampa Bay’s Charlie Morton was Saturday evening. That’s the way the Rays roll – right into the World Series. Most managers seem wired into the dictates of the analytics hordes in some bat cave under the ballpark. Hitters are encouraged to swing for a launch arc, not putting the ball in play in some open sector of the field. Something’s been lost. But I watched. And watched. As an alternative to endless sightings of a dangerous fool on the loose. And when the league finals came around, I found things to like about all four teams. I fell in love with Houston a few years ago, because of their charismatic players, before we knew the organization was systematically stealing signals. Now the Astros have become the team people love to hate. Did you see James Wagner’s great piece about the fan who hectors the Astros at high decibels? I get it -- the antipathy toward the Astros -- but Dusty Baker, age 71, a good human being who surpreisingly got to manage the Astros after the housecleaning, and I want him to win a World Series one of these years. Plus, I loved how Carlos Correa made clutch hits and showed leadership by lecturing his pitcher who was about to blow his top. I could not hate the Astros. However, the Tampa Bay Rays played the Mets late in the regular season and I acquainted myself with a willful group of mostly interchangeable parts, managed by Kevin Cash. Some of them could even steal bases and hit for contact, not distance – a throwback to real baseball. FAVORITE MOMENT AS SOME FANS WERE ALLOWED IN THE JUST-CONCLUDED SERIES: Justin Turner of the Dodgers picked up a foul ball -- and lobbed it to a fan in a distant seat. A sweet little custom, now revived I couldn’t choose between the Dodgers or the Braves, either. The Dodgers are the team of my youth, in Brooklyn. I love the uniforms and colors, although I have trouble seeing newcomers in blue Dodger trim. (Wait, why is Kiki Hernandez wearing Gil Hodges' No. 14?) The Braves are the retooled power in the same division as my second-tier sad-sack Mets, and I am jealous about their talent and leadership. The Dodgers had Mookie Betts making plays in the outfield. The Braves had Freddie Freeman, surviving an ominous case of Covid-19 and earning MVP honors – and chatting up any “opponent” who stopped at first base, including Cody Bellinger, the Dodgers’ star who would win the pennant with a home run late Sunday evening. (And dislocated his shoulder giving high-fives in the tumult.) Now the two survivors are going to meet in what sportswriters used to call “the old autumnal classic.” (And I just did it again.) Somebody, please tell the network yakkers: it’s the World Series. 10/19/2020 11:36:14 am
So true that there was more to like than dislike in all four teams. None deserved to lose though Braves bad base running was fatal. Good games in October brought back to me some sense of normality.Even seeing the Dodger blue unis with red number on front. We won't ever see a 60 (not 50) game again but glad we had it and here's to an absorbing World Series.
George Vecsey
10/19/2020 02:53:31 pm
Lee: you're right about the Braves running themselves out of the game. Between outfielders turning the wrong way on fly balls and runners looking like headless horsemen, I think there was a lag in what Keith Hernandez calls "Fundies!" The interrupted spring training kept players' habits and minds from ever achieving mid-season sharpness.
George Vecsey
10/21/2020 08:47:09 am
Lee, I fixed it. Now 60. It just seemed like 50. Over so soon.
Tom Schwarz
10/19/2020 12:43:11 pm
"As an alternative to endless sightings of a dangerous fool on the loose" GV strikes again!
George Vecsey
10/19/2020 02:56:07 pm
Tom: you know my mantra -- recited dozens of times a day: "There's a horse in the hospital." Courtesy of John Mulaney.
ED MARTIN
10/21/2020 12:58:14 pm
The last half of the horse is in 1600.
Marty Appel
10/19/2020 01:56:27 pm
Larry Ritter told us at lunch that he hates the owners, hates the players, hates the stadium atmosphere, hates the announcers, hates the overload of stats, hates the playoffs.....but loves baseball. I think you carry Larry's wisdom forward.
George Vecsey
10/19/2020 03:08:55 pm
Marty: thanks., There must be some announcers we needn't hate -- but collectively? Of course, I used to like the ballpark atmosphere -- I can remember when fans talked baseball -- but now (not counting the pandemic) fans are out of control -- taking selfies, flyin' high, the central figure in their own play. As for broadcasters, I have great respect for local announcers, Babbitry aside. They generally know the game and know their team -- Mets have a great bunch, Suzyn W knows the game. But the game announcers during playoffs are (as Mario Cuomo's mom called Walter Mondale, "polenta.") And the stars in the pre and post-game circus suffer from over-testosterone-itis. BTW, you know who knows the game? Jessica Mendoza. She refers to herself as a left-fielder (Olympic softball champ) who knows a hook from a slice -- and she keeps getting better.
Altenir Silva
10/19/2020 04:06:08 pm
Dear George,
George Vecsey
10/21/2020 08:49:49 am
Altenir: I appreciate your point. I love the "new" teams in the WS -- Red Sox finally winning, then Cubs, plus that nice KC team, over too soon, and then the Astros with their garbage can. There's a moral to the story about the dangers of commitment. You could write a play about it. GV
ED MARTIN
10/19/2020 07:30:37 pm
George, Only one correction. It is properly called the “Serious.” As in “ “whirl serious.”
George Vecsey
10/21/2020 08:51:24 am
Ed, is that Long-Island-ese?
ED MARTIN
10/21/2020 01:00:20 pm
Too many games at Ebbets, Section 8
Gene Palumbo
10/20/2020 10:16:25 pm
The comments about the announcers got me recalling an All-
George Vecsey
10/21/2020 08:54:59 am
I've done that a few times -- but no Scully these days, plus the radio and TV are a second or two off, which can be confusing, GV
Randolph
10/21/2020 07:05:35 am
George,
George Vecsey
10/21/2020 08:57:52 am
Randy: listening to radio in the Appalachians can be tricky. I got attached to the Reds when we lived in Louisville....but the Reds' broadcast shifted from local station to local station as I drove through E KY and WVA. Young feller named Al Michaels. Wonder what became of him? Big Red Machine in Beckley or Whitesburg.
Hillel Kuttler
10/21/2020 09:18:47 am
This comment co-sponsored by Crayola and UnderArmour.
ED MARTIN
10/21/2020 01:06:20 pm
Was “The Lip” number 2 as MGR? Vague Memory.
ED MARTIN
10/21/2020 01:44:08 pm
GV, gang. Forgive my several popups, as ideas, memories strike. Remember I have been mostly secluded since March. I usually share “Bon Mots” with Peggy, who is reading, but the Sheriff has just texted me a “Cease and Desist Order! “. So--
George Vecsey
10/21/2020 03:49:49 pm
Ed: Rizzuto was No. 10 for the Yankees.
GV
10/21/2020 03:39:24 pm
Hillel: great points. Having seen my first game in 1946, age 7, I can remember players of the post-war/JR42 era:
ED MARTIN
10/22/2020 11:06:39 am
GV, about numbers, here’s one, not mentioned—32, perhaps the greatest Dodger of all.
bruce
10/21/2020 11:41:22 am
george,
George Vecsey
10/21/2020 03:58:37 pm
Bruce: If you keep using the spelling "centre," as a tipoff to your Canadian status, you will be on The Fool's list of Enemies of the People. Just warning you.
bruce
10/21/2020 05:08:49 pm
george,
ED MARTIN
10/21/2020 07:33:21 pm
Last one, I promise, (until tomorrow,). Bruce, Peggy and I have been summering on Lac Memphremagog, 75 miles east of Montreal. I saw several games there at Olympic Stadium back in the day.
bruce
10/21/2020 08:09:14 pm
ed,
bruce
10/21/2020 11:24:48 pm
ed, 10/22/2020 09:12:10 am
Great memories about sports announcers. Although a Yankee fan from age four in 1934, I have always preferred listening to “Red” Barber over Mel Allen. Phil Rizzuto was very refreshing.
bruce
10/22/2020 10:54:38 am
alan,
bruce
10/22/2020 10:23:47 am
alan,
ED MARTIN
10/22/2020 10:36:28 am
Bruce, when Peggy and I moved to Florida, we found the summer too hot for outdoor activity, and headed north, mostly to New England and The Cape where had vacationed. We decided to go to Quebec City, (K-bec), I had been there once as a kid, Peggy, never.
bruce
10/22/2020 10:49:12 am
ed,
George
10/22/2020 03:11:00 pm
I once heard Frank Robinson, when he was managing, in a dugout, pre-game, say that to him the most amazing career stat was Joe DiMaggio’s 361 homers and 369 strikeouts. He shook his head in profound admiration. 10/22/2020 06:09:31 pm
Joe DiMaggio had a reputation for having a good eye at the plate and never obviously questioning the plate umpire's ball/strike calls. Once, when he turned to look back at the umpire on a close call, the umpire remarked, "honestly Joe, it was a strike".
bruce
10/22/2020 06:15:10 pm
alan,
bruce
10/22/2020 03:15:32 pm
george, 10/22/2020 06:26:00 pm
Bruce, here is a good book on old baseball stories.
bruce
10/22/2020 07:05:36 pm
alan, 10/22/2020 07:33:12 pm
Yes I have, it was Moe Berg.
bruce
10/22/2020 08:16:31 pm
ed,
ED MARTIN
10/23/2020 11:56:01 am
Alan, piggy backing on Bruce to reply to you. 10/23/2020 04:37:41 pm
Ed-There may have been many valid and/or mental reasons for for my current state, but the water along The Grand Concourse.
bruce
10/22/2020 08:22:24 pm
alan, 10/23/2020 04:26:58 pm
Bruce, here is the link.
bruce
10/23/2020 05:52:31 pm
alan,
ED MARTIN
10/23/2020 02:18:24 pm
I am reading a true spy story, Agent Zigzag, the most amazing espionage story I have ever read, true or fiction. A young British thief, escapes to Chanel Islands, which were invaded by Nazis. No more details. Read Moe Berg’s story years ago and enjoyed it and appreciated him. Agant Zigzag is Major League! 10/23/2020 04:52:41 pm
Ed-Agent Zigzag is a fantastic book. You might want to join a monthly History Study Group that I host now that we are online through Zoom.
George Vecsey
10/23/2020 06:21:39 pm
Two books about women excelling in wartime:
ED MARTIN
10/24/2020 01:50:58 pm
Alan, will keep it in mind. Right now book is not available online from our library, but will check around. Meanwhile, I have an idea, lets both hate Lafayette, that should work!
Ed martin
10/23/2020 06:21:33 pm
Alan, I realize Lehigh was not a liberal arts school, mostly slide rule crowd, but the Grand Councourse reference is poetic license implying Yankee fans, as you know they were called by their cult followers as the Bronx Bombers, not the Upper West Side Orphans. Besides Muhlenberg was Muhlenberg when Lehigh was a pup. 10/24/2020 02:31:58 pm
Ed, I must show more respect as Muhemberg was founded in 1848 and Lehigh in 1865. I believe that both began as religious institutions, but with little effect on either of us. 10/24/2020 07:49:48 am
Thank you very much for sharing this article on your blog. You have shared a nice information on your blog 10/25/2020 03:54:08 pm
I did not watch the game, the the replay of the winning run was a short comedy of errors. The outfielder struggled with the ball before finally throwing home in time for a play. However, the ball escaped the catcher's mitt several times before the runner finally reached home plate.
bruce
10/26/2020 09:46:18 am
george,
Randolph
10/27/2020 07:31:45 am
George,
bruce
10/27/2020 08:41:03 am
randolph,
Randolph
10/27/2020 09:19:49 am
Bruce,
bruce
10/27/2020 09:29:34 am
randolph,
George
10/27/2020 11:53:38 am
Randy: It could also have been John Cage or Erik Satie.
bruce
10/27/2020 02:33:05 pm
george, Comments are closed.
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QUOTES
Measuring Covid Deaths, by David Leonhardt. July 17, 2023. NYT online. The United States has reached a milestone in the long struggle against Covid: The total number of Americans dying each day — from any cause — is no longer historically abnormal…. After three horrific years, in which Covid has killed more than one million Americans and transformed parts of daily life, the virus has turned into an ordinary illness. The progress stems mostly from three factors: First, about three-quarters of U.S. adults have received at least one vaccine shot. Second, more than three-quarters of Americans have been infected with Covid, providing natural immunity from future symptoms. (About 97 percent of adults fall into at least one of those first two categories.) Third, post-infection treatments like Paxlovid, which can reduce the severity of symptoms, became widely available last year. “Nearly every death is preventable,” Dr. Ashish Jha, who was until recently President Biden’s top Covid adviser, told me. “We are at a point where almost everybody who’s up to date on their vaccines and gets treated if they have Covid, they rarely end up in the hospital, they almost never die.” That is also true for most high-risk people, Jha pointed out, including older adults — like his parents, who are in their 80s — and people whose immune systems are compromised. “Even for most — not all but most —immuno-compromised people, vaccines are actually still quite effective at preventing against serious illness,” he said. “There has been a lot of bad information out there that somehow if you’re immuno-compromised that vaccines don’t work.” That excess deaths have fallen close to zero helps make this point: If Covid were still a dire threat to large numbers of people, that would show up in the data. One point of confusion, I think, has been the way that many Americans — including we in the media — have talked about the immuno-compromised. They are a more diverse group than casual discussion often imagines. Most immuno-compromised people are at little additional risk from Covid — even people with serious conditions, such as multiple sclerosis or a history of many cancers. A much smaller group, such as people who have received kidney transplants or are undergoing active chemotherapy, face higher risks. Covid’s toll, to be clear, has not fallen to zero. The C.D.C.’s main Covid webpage estimates that about 80 people per day have been dying from the virus in recent weeks, which is equal to about 1 percent of overall daily deaths. The official number is probably an exaggeration because it includes some people who had virus when they died even though it was not the underlying cause of death. Other C.D.C. data suggests that almost one-third of official recent Covid deaths have fallen into this category. A study published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases came to similar conclusions. Dr. Shira Doron, the chief infection control officer at Tufts Medicine in Massachusetts, told me that “age is clearly the most substantial risk factor.” Covid’s victims are both older and disproportionately unvaccinated. Given the politics of vaccination, the recent victims are also disproportionately Republican and white. Each of these deaths is a tragedy. The deaths that were preventable — because somebody had not received available vaccines and treatments — seem particularly tragic. (Here’s a Times guide to help you think about when to get your next booster shot.) *** From the great Maureen Dowd: As I write this, I’m in a deserted newsroom in The Times’s D.C. office. After working at home for two years during Covid, I was elated to get back, so I could wander around and pick up the latest scoop. But in the last year, there has been only a smattering of people whenever I’m here, with row upon row of empty desks. Sometimes a larger group gets lured in for a meeting with a platter of bagels." --- Dowd writes about the lost world of journalists clustered in newsrooms at all hours, smoking, drinking, gossipping, making phone calls, typing, editing. *** "Putting out the paper," we called it. Much more than nostalgia. ---https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/29/opinion/journalism-newsroom.html |