Baseball Stadiums I Have Visited, Part 2

Working in New York City between 1982 and 1984 afforded me the opportunity to visit two more major league stadiums (well, in this instance, the term major league is very relative). Frankly, one of the reasons I took a job in New York was to have access to big league games (along with the museums and libraries; after all, I was something of a nerdy academic, even before going to graduate school).

4. Yankee Stadium (New York Yankees)

I have a clearer memory of my first visit to Yankee Stadium than almost any other baseball going experience (at least of those more than a few years past). I remember buying the tickets at an outlet in Union City, NJ (the town adjacent to where I had my apartment in Weehawken); I remember thinking through what other team I wanted to see (the Minnesota Twins, because they had a bunch of up-and-coming young talent at the time: Hrbek, Brunansky, Gaetti); I remember the subway ride up to the Bronx, and getting off to walk around the stadium; I remember coming up the passage to the diamond and being entirely stunned by the greenness of the field, the whiteness of the railing spread our above the outfield, and the rich orangey brown of the infield dirt. I had a seat directly behind home plate maybe ten or twelve rows back (I sprung for a pretty expensive ticket, though about half way through I moved to the upper deck to get a different view, and ended up liking that better-- I couldn't ge tused to looking through the netting used to protect fans close-up from foul balls). I do not remember who won, but I really enjoyed the atmosphere there, as I did everytime I went to Yankee Stadium (probably five or six more times altogether over those two years). On another occasion, I went up to see Carl Yastrzemski's last game in NYC, and that was pretty cool, given the longstanding rivalry between the Yankeees and Red Sox. I should mention that I consider myself a Yankee hater, mainly because of Steinbrenner, but I always liked going to see them play at home. It really was a special experience, and you can count me among those who think it's a travesty to tear the place down. I can't imagine the new park holding any of the magic of the House That Ruth Built.

5. Shea Stadium (New York Mets)

Shea Stadium was something altogether different, and considerably less worthwhile. I always considered myself a National League guy, but the long train ride out, uncomfortable seats with poor sightlines, crummy food, and a then-dismal Mets team (the tail end of the Kingman years, pre- Gooden and Strawberry) made it hardly worth the effort. I think I only made the trip twice when the Braves were playing (and they were actually enjoying some good times as Dale Murphy emerged as an MVP). My primary memories are so different from what I experienced at Yankee Stadium-- mostly being hot, uncomfortable and bored. In my experience, one of the two worst stadiums I ever visited. The new stadium the Mets'll be playing in this year can't help but be much better.

One post-script: I remember one incredibly hot day in 1984 when I was planning to go and catch the Yankees game. I came into Manhattan early to do a little shopping first and by noon, the heat was so unbearable, that I couldn't imagine sitting in the hot sun through the afternoon. So instead, I ducked into a movie theatre that prominently promised air-conditioning and saw Ghostbusters. I enjoyed myself immensely (not the least for being cooled off so completely), but always wondered if I made the right decision to skip the game. As it happened, I ended up moving back to Buffalo shortly thereafter and haven't been back to Yankee Stadium since.

Part 3 should be up tomorrow or the next day.

Question for My Readers (Well, Some of Them)

After reading the above Baby Blues strip this morning (by Rick Kerkman and Jerry Scott) , it made me wonder, is Emma walking yet? I'm sure somebody reading this will know the answer, and be willing to share an update in the comments section.

Confucius Says...

I've been giving short shrift to the Asians with the Philosophy, so here's a golden oldie from the most influential Chinese thinker, Confucius:

"Tsze-kung asked, saying, 'Is there one word which
may serve as a rule of practice for all one's life?'
The Master said, 'Is not Reciprocity such a word?
What you do not want done to yourself,
do not do to others.'"

Baseball Stadiums I Have Visited, Part 1

In a comment related to my previous post about the start of Spring Training, Lil Sis asked which major league parks I've visited in all my years as a fan. So herewith begins a series in which I identify them all, along with what (to me at least) are some pertinent comments about the respective experiences I associate with each. The list will be more or less in the order that I visited the various parks.

1. Exhibition Stadium (Toronto Blue Jays)

When the Blue jays (along with the Mariners) joined the American League in 1977, they became my de facto home team, since Toronto was only 90 miles away from Buffalo. My friends and I would go up to see the Blue Jays play two or three times a year in what was easily the worst park to watch a game I've ever experienced (at any level). Exhibition Stadium was built for football, and the sightlines were terrible unless you were seated immediately adjacent to the infield (the right field seats were the worst of a bad lot). Since we didn't have a lot of money, and the team was pretty popular, especially as they got good in the early 80s, we often got stuck out in those right field seats. I remember one home opener in particular, where the seats were crummy, the weather was terrible (Toronto in April is a pretty iffy proposition in that regard) and it seems like we (my brother Nick and my friend Jeff were with me as I recall) spent most of our time huddling around cups of hot chocolate under the stands. But we also saw a lot of great games, and some fine young players (Jesse Barfield was a particular favorite) as they came of age. Oddly, by the time the Blue Jays were really good (and winning World Series), they were playing in the modern Rogers Center, and I never found the time to go see them play there. There was something about the rinky-dinkiness of Exhibition Stadium that made it charming, and I always saw the newer stadium as kind of cold (in atmosphere, not temperature-- it has a dome) and so of little appeal. maybe this year, when I'm back east I'll think about giving it a try.

2. Three Rivers Stadium (Pittsburgh Pirates)

The second major league stadium I visited was with Nick in 1979. We drove down to Pittsburgh for a doubleheader between the Pirates and Braves. During the game, there was an announcement that the Pirates (then a very good team) had adopted the Sister Sledge song "We Are Family" as their theme song. Led by an aging but still effective Willie Stargell that team would go on to win the World Series that year. The Braves (who I was really more interested in seeing) were a bad team, but Phil Neikro did win one of the games, confounding the Pirate sluggers with his knuckleball. Another announcement during the game was that the following night was dollar night-- with general admission seats all going for a buck. We had planned to drive back to Buffalo after the doubleheader, but instead went to visit our cousins in Johnstown to see if any of them wanted to come back the next night with us. I don't believe any of them took us up on the offer, but we were back the next night sitting in the left field bleachers for another Braves loss. I remember that Dale Murphy, a highly touted Braves prospect, looked really bad over those three games (though later he'd develop into a two time MVP), but I was glad to have had the opportunity to see him in person nonetheless.

3. Atlanta Fulton County Stadium (Atlanta Braves)

My senior year in college, I got it into my head that I should pursue a career in public relations for a major league ball team (I was a communications major, and the other options weren't all that exciting). So I wrote a letter to Wayne Minshew, who handled p.r. for the Braves, and he graciously wrote back inviting me to visit if I were ever in Atlanta. So naturally, I made the arrangements to fly down as soon as I could. I met Mr. Minshew and he showed me around the team offices, giving me a rundown on what he and his staff of one did. The Braves first round draft choice that year, pitcher Ken Dayley, was also on the premises that day, though I didn't get to meet him. Mr. Minshew was very hospitable, but in the end, they just didn't have any openings. I stayed for the better part of a week, at a hotel right across the street from the stadium, and saw four games against the Reds and Mets (if I recall-- I don't have my friend Jeff's memory for those kind of details), again all Braves losses except for the one started by Phil Neikro. Those were the wilderness years for the Braves, and I haven't been back to the city in the summer since, so haven't checked out Turner Field, though it's definitely on my to-do list.

That's part 1-- the next installment should be posted tomorrow or the next day.

Classic Smothers Brothers

I tend to think its somewhat forgotten today just how great the Smothers Brothers were in their prime. They're justly remembered for the strong stand they took against the censoring of material they wanted to portray on their late sixties variety show, but before they were free speech heroes, they were incredibly funny performers (and I suspect they still are). Here's one of their classic routines from, I'm guessing, the mid 1960s.

President's Day Philosophy

I'm not sure that anyone would agree with all of the comments collected below (or even that they all constitute philosophy), but it seemed worthwhile to produce such a list for the President's Day holiday. Like all the philosophical posts, they are offered up as a prompt for further thinking, in this case about the role played by the executive in our system.

"The President is at liberty, both in law and conscience, to be as big a man as he can." Woodrow Wilson, 1908

"No man can bring out of the Presidency the reputation which carries him into it." Thomas Jefferson, 1795

"A Galileo could no more be elected President of the United States than he could be elected Pope of Rome. Both posts are reserved for men favored by God with an extraordinary genius for swathing the bitter facts of life in bandages of self-illusion." H.L. Mencken, 1949

"One cannot always be sure of the truth of what one hears if he happens to be President of the United States." William Howard Taft

"... a man in his right mind would never want to be President, if he knew what it entails. Aside from the impossible administrative burden, he has to take all sorts of abuse from liars and demagogues.... All the President is, is a glorified public relations man who spends his time flattering, kissing and kicking people to get them to do what they are supposed to do anyway." Harry Truman, 1947

"By the time a man gets to be Presidential material he's been bought ten times over." Gore Vidal, 1974

"I had rather be right than be President." Henry Clay, 1839

"A man can be right an' president, but he can't be both at th' same time." Finley Peter Dunne ("Mr. Dooley"), 1900

"I would rather be in my grave than in the Presidency." Attributed to George Washington by John F. Kennedy.

Spring is Here!

Pitchers and catchers from a number of teams reported today for Spring Training, with most other clubs gathering tomorrow. It's a sure sign that nice, warm weather and relaxing days in the stands are soon to follow. Also, I received a message that my copy of the 2009 Baseball Prospectus (my personal favorite of all the various annuals that forecast what to expect in the coming season) was shipped yesterday. Definitely good reason to start looking at things in a more positive light, even if it is only a game.

Clouds Over the Hotel Lafayette

Yesterday I posted a photo of the great sunset over the Pioneer Mountains in SW Montana. Today, it's the equally striking sky over downtown Buffalo (from a couple summers ago). I think the lesson is, if you look up anywhere, you might see something pretty striking, whether mountain sunsets, or clouds framing skyscrapers (or anyway, what pass for skyscrapers in Buffalo).

Sunday's Philosophical Nugget

Today we have a quote from the writings of Guido Giordano Bruno (1548-1600), who was burned at the stake as a heretic, though I hope no one will hold that against him:

"It is proof of a base and low mind for one to wish to think
with the masses or majority, merely because the majority
is the majority. Truth does not change because it is,
or is not, believed by a majority of the people."

A Favorite Painting 8

Francisco de Goya, The Executions of the Third of May 1808, 1814

This is the kind of painting that a historian is sure to appreciate, symbolizing, in its dramatic depiction of violent retribution, the period often referred to as the Revolutionary Era. The scene took place in Spain when citizens in Puerto del Sol offered some meager resistance to the forces of Napoleon then establishing occupation of the country. In the aftermath, Egyptian troops under French command were ordered to massacre any locals they could find, participation in the resistance apparently not necessarily a consideration. The brutality shocked Spaniards, like Goya, who had thought the French revolution offered a chance of democratic reform as it spread into Spain. The massacre quickly disavowed them of any such notion. The painting is stark in its violence, and although painted several years after the event, conveys the immediacy of the horror, in part through its almost sketch-like quality-- Goya didn't need to strive for hyper realism in style, because the emotional impact required little detail to embellish its power. One of the outcomes of that revolutionary generation was a more broadly commitment to realism in the arts, but it also planted the seeds for a modernism that, stylistically speaking, began to reckon the realism of emotion over that of draftsmanship. I think you can see Goya's work as an early expression of that.

Happy Valentine's Day

Here's one of the all-time great love songs, by Sam Cooke. It's from an old broadcast of American Bandstand and a little scratchy, but that hardly detracts from the song. Enjoy!

Some Valentine's Day Philosophy

This little bit from Friedrich Von Schiller seemed appropriate to the occasion:

"Egotism erects its center in itself; love places
it out of itself in the axis of the universal whole.
Love aims at unity, egotism at solitude.
Love is the citizen ruler of a flourishing republic,
egotism is a despot in a devastated creation."

Driving Back From Butte II

I spent most of today visiting my friend Jim up in Butte. Driving back, I was treated to a pretty nice sunset, which I thought I might share. Somehow, the photo doesn't quite capture how cool it looked in person, but you get the idea anyway. As a transplanted eastern suburbanite, I don't know if I always appreciate all that Montana is supposed to offer. But the sky is pretty regularly amazing.

Friday Philosophy

Something short, but sweet from Ralph Waldo Emerson:

"If you put a chain around the neck of a slave,

the other end fastens itself around your own."

Friday Family Quiz

OK smart guys (I mean that in the gender neutral sense ;-)-- my recent quizzes have proven to be no challenge at all, but I think I may have stumbled across a stumper. Where was the above picture of Natalie and Ben taken? Let's just see how smart you are!

As for last week, the first contest asked you to identify an infant held by Natalie, and wouldn't you know it! The first guess, by Lil Sis was correct: Joseph Banning (though there was a bit of confusion regarding his nickname). Kudos to Lil Sis.

The second contest, more of a creative enterprise, asked you to identify the masked Theresa's superpower. There were several good guesses, but I have to pick Theresa's own "able to leap small children in a single bound" as the best. Congratualtions to all the players! Let's see if this week I can finally foil you!

More Friday Family Blogging

Here's a good one of Dad in his workshop:

Let's test your creativity (not the official weekly quiz): what do you suppose he was working on? He seems to be lining something up on the table saw. Throw your guesses intot he comments section.

Friday Family Blogging

Let's start off today's family stuff with another of my favorite pictures, of Natalie, Ben and the now sadly departed Ernie.

I can't think of a question to pose about this one; I just hope you like it.

Political Comment

Yesterday I saw a Congressman (I think his name was Price) from Georgia on C-Span being interviewed about the current debate over economic stimulus. His basic position seemed to be (and this is a paraphrase): "we don't need the government to get us out of this mess; we'll get out of it because we're Americans." Now, it seems to me that, yes, as Americans we have the capacity, and hopefully the will, to do what's necessary to get out of this mess-- but in what way does that invalidate using the government and its resources to help accomplish that job? Is he suggesting the government isn't American? If it isn't, then what is he suggesting about the Constitution, which after all not only defines the nature of our government, but also the freedoms we all enjoy and would presumably use to make things better?

George Packer has written in the New Yorker that this debate is ultimately not about economic recovery. Here's a quote from a recent piece:

"The two parties are pretending to argue about the efficacy of the stimulus bill. They’re really arguing about the role of government in our society and economy, in the middle of a crisis and after decades of neglect. They’re arguing about whether health care, education, energy, and infrastructure are necessary areas for substantial federal spending and oversight. That’s why the stakes in this argument are higher than the final price tag on the stimulus package."

I can understand why there would be (and should be) some suspicion of government-- especially after the past eight years-- and I'm not saying they deserve a blank check with no oversight (again, that hasn't worked out too well recently). But if we don't believe that we (and, more to the point, our ancestors) created a system that can be employed in the service of the people in time of crisis, then what is it about our system that we are clinging to (and trying to export to other parts of the world, like the Middle East)? There seems to be an inherent flaw in the argument that the government is the enemy, at least as an absolute statement of principle.

A Favorite Painting 7

Umberto Boccioni, Charge of the Lancers 1915

When I was posting photos from my Italy trip last fall, I mentioned that I was anxious to see the futurists exhibited in the National Gallery of Modern art in Rome. This painting is an example of the style, though not part of that collection. It embodies a type of "action painting" long before the term was applied by Clement Greenberg to the abstract expressionists. I find the fluidity and coloring most engaging, and while there's a martial component that might normally put me off, it's offset by the collage element of the newspaper backdrop, conveying a sense of reportage (and history) as opposed to some kind of celebratory mythologizing. No doubt Boccioni was influenced by the cubists, but this work seems to hint at the coming revolution in cinematic montage with its dynamic thrust so evident on a static plane. Truly an exciting picture.

Thursday's Philosophizing

Here's a thought from the eminent American thinker, Lewis Mumford.

"A day spent without the sight or sound of beauty,
the contemplation of mystery, or the search
for truth and perfection, is a poverty-stricken day;
and a succession of such days is fatal to human life."