Some thoughts on the All-Star Game tonight:
Bernie Miklasz (St. Louis Post-Dispatch) has some thoughts on the game tonight, worth the 5 minutes reading time. Check it out either in print, or over at the online version of Bernie Bytes: Can the NL finally win?
Some things he left out, (unfortunately), and others demanding amplification
Will Obama pay another visit to this game, throwing the first pitch, and occupying the announcing booth for an inning like he did in St. Louis last year? (And no, I still haven't forgiven him from ruining The Man's moment in the sun...)
Can the National League FINALLY win home field advantage in the World Series? Last time the Senior Division took the win was back in 1996. That was FOURTEEN years ago! Thinking that the "Visiting" team will bring home the win tonight may actually be a dream. Stranger things have happened!
Amen to Griffey, Jr. Even if he doesn't play, a curtain call is well deserved.
Let's see what happens. I'd love the road to the championship end up where it belongs -- Busch Stadium!
Play ball! -- Greg
Showing posts with label baseball. Show all posts
Showing posts with label baseball. Show all posts
13 July 2010
Requiscat in pace Mr. Steinbrenner
Good afternoon, y'all:
Yesterday, I posted about the theory of playing baseball "the Cardinal Way." Gutsy, tough play based on fundamentals, strong pitching, running out singles, all that stuff we learned playing Little League baseball or from our parents as we watched the game when we were young. A friend of mine (originally from Nevada) remarked to me how unusual and refreshing that Cardinal fans would stand and applaud players from the other team if they used to wear the Birds on the Bat, or were great and gifted players worthy of respect.
Today is no exception.
Granted, I'm not a Yankees' fan, so I wasn't overwhelmed with sorrow, sadness and grief at hearing the news of George Steinbrenner's death earlier today at the age of 80. (Come to think of it, I think there may be a few fans of the Bronx Bombers that may not be too upset as well, but I digress...) But, like the men that take the field or step into the batters box, Mr. Steinbrenner deserves a moment of applause.
Since he took over control of the Yankees, they've gone from a shadow of the team that once had its uniform on the likes of Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra, Whitey Ford, and countless other legends to what can be legitimately called as one of the premier teams of Major League Baseball. Seven of the 27 flags representing World Series Championships came under his reign. He's put together a team that, for much of the 37 years, has been a perennial contender. Ranging from Reggie Jackson, Jim "Catfish" Hunter, to Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez, the Yankees have typically represented the best money can buy. (FYI -- Steinbrenner at first saw free agency as something that could destroy baseball!) "Lead, Follow, or Get Out Of The Way" was more than a plaque on his desk -- it represented the management style of the man appropriately nicknamed "The Boss." Demanding the best was one thing, hiring and firing manager Billy Martin FIVE times takes it to a whole new level. Regardless of everything else, the man led the Yankees' back to prominence, back to success, and back to "leading," instead of following or getting out of the way.
Sadly, Steinbrenner's death comes one day after Bob Sheppard, "The Voice Of Yankee Stadium," who long served as stadium PA announcer of the Yankees. His voice and delivery is just as legendary as the players he announced coming to the plate. His voice last graced the stadium three years ago, but the standard he set is as solid as the legacy of any other Yankee honored in Monument Row. Sheppard was 99.
For more information -- From the websites of the Yankees', the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (good stuff there!)and MLB:
On Bob Sheppard
On George Steinbrenner
Views from St. Louis sports writers on Steinbrenner
Requiscat in pace, gentlemen. Well done.
Yesterday, I posted about the theory of playing baseball "the Cardinal Way." Gutsy, tough play based on fundamentals, strong pitching, running out singles, all that stuff we learned playing Little League baseball or from our parents as we watched the game when we were young. A friend of mine (originally from Nevada) remarked to me how unusual and refreshing that Cardinal fans would stand and applaud players from the other team if they used to wear the Birds on the Bat, or were great and gifted players worthy of respect.
Today is no exception.
Granted, I'm not a Yankees' fan, so I wasn't overwhelmed with sorrow, sadness and grief at hearing the news of George Steinbrenner's death earlier today at the age of 80. (Come to think of it, I think there may be a few fans of the Bronx Bombers that may not be too upset as well, but I digress...) But, like the men that take the field or step into the batters box, Mr. Steinbrenner deserves a moment of applause.
Since he took over control of the Yankees, they've gone from a shadow of the team that once had its uniform on the likes of Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra, Whitey Ford, and countless other legends to what can be legitimately called as one of the premier teams of Major League Baseball. Seven of the 27 flags representing World Series Championships came under his reign. He's put together a team that, for much of the 37 years, has been a perennial contender. Ranging from Reggie Jackson, Jim "Catfish" Hunter, to Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez, the Yankees have typically represented the best money can buy. (FYI -- Steinbrenner at first saw free agency as something that could destroy baseball!) "Lead, Follow, or Get Out Of The Way" was more than a plaque on his desk -- it represented the management style of the man appropriately nicknamed "The Boss." Demanding the best was one thing, hiring and firing manager Billy Martin FIVE times takes it to a whole new level. Regardless of everything else, the man led the Yankees' back to prominence, back to success, and back to "leading," instead of following or getting out of the way.
Sadly, Steinbrenner's death comes one day after Bob Sheppard, "The Voice Of Yankee Stadium," who long served as stadium PA announcer of the Yankees. His voice and delivery is just as legendary as the players he announced coming to the plate. His voice last graced the stadium three years ago, but the standard he set is as solid as the legacy of any other Yankee honored in Monument Row. Sheppard was 99.
For more information -- From the websites of the Yankees', the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (good stuff there!)and MLB:
On Bob Sheppard
On George Steinbrenner
Views from St. Louis sports writers on Steinbrenner
Requiscat in pace, gentlemen. Well done.
24 October 2007
Commentary on Walt Jockety -- This is a great compliment...
Read this guest commentary as I was perusing the website of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, www.stltoday.com. As I was reading it, I couldn't help but tell myself -- this is a great sort of goal to aim for, and achieve.
Of course, Jocketty was with the Cardinals. The same class outfit that gave us Stan Musial (who keeps giving and giving to Cardinal nation. And Schoendist, and Smith, and Pujols... So it shouldn't surprise me too much.
Enough intro. If it's still on the stltoday.com website, it'll be here. Otherwise, it's below.
-----
CHICAGO
Last week, my brother-in-law called at the steakhouse where I work on Wednesdays to tell me the Cardinals had fired general manager Walt Jocketty. I was stunned. Team chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. and president Mark Lamping had kicked to the curb the person most responsible for assembling the talent for one of the most successful eras in St. Louis baseball history. I thought it was a slap in the face to a man who deserved better treatment.
Jocketty's record speaks for itself. Let the baseball experts, columnists and fans in the sports pages, blogs and chat rooms ruminate on it. Yes, I mourn Jocketty's firing for on-field reasons, but I regret more deeply the loss of someone I thought was not only a tremendous baseball man, but also a tremendous man, period.
I'm a native of southern Illinois who lives in Chicago and, who, thankfully, has retained my passion for the Cardinals. Like many others pursuing careers in acting and writing, I have supplemented my income for years by working in restaurants.
Over the last decade or so, I happen to have worked in places frequented by members of the Cardinals organization. That has allowed me to serve and talk to and get to know people I worshipped as a child. I mean, listening to Mike Shannon, Red Schoendist and long-time Cardinals traveling secretary C.J. Cherre tell baseball stories and getting paid for it? On days when the Redbirds have been in town, I've sometimes felt as though I were attending a kind of baseball fantasy camp.
These people have indulged my questions and love of the team, but no one ever has asked to be seated in my section more times than Walt Jocketty — even though he had to know I was going to talk his arm off.
I don't know about the reported behind-the-scenes divisiveness in the Cardinals front office, but I do know what I've experienced personally: Walt Jocketty is one of the most decent and classiest people I've ever encountered.
At the restaurant few years ago, Jocketty asked me if was planning to come down to St. Louis anytime soon and invited me to be his guest for a game at Busch II. I casually mentioned that my next trip to St. Louis was going to be for an extended-family reunion in conjunction with a particular baseball game, so I'd have to take him up on his offer some other time. He said he'd call me anyway.
No big deal, right? It would be easy enough for him to leave me a couple of tickets.
Not long afterward, a package arrived from him in the mail: 12 tickets to a private suite and six more tickets behind home plate, four rows up. He had given me the use of his family's luxury box, the whole thing, for a night. It was a night the members of my family will remember for the rest of our lives.
Who does that kind of a thing for a guy he knows only casually, a guy who waited on him in a restaurant maybe a dozen times? And who does that while trying to run a baseball team in the middle of a pennant race? The same person who was dumped unceremoniously last week by his employer: "Thanks for the nice run, Walt. There's the door."
I'll continue to be a Cardinals fan. I can't help it. It's in my blood. But with $6 beer, legal in-house ticket scalping, the radio fiasco and that shop behind the bleachers that sells used game balls and bases at outrageous prices, I've started wondering how much the current ownership group considers its average fan base.
Right now, I'm thinking about this extremely nice guy who worked for the team until last week, someone who showed kindness and consideration to ordinary people who love those birds-on-the-bat. He was incredibly successful, too — maybe the best at his job in the business. And he was a really good tipper.
Thanks for all of it, Walt.
Paul Turner is an actor and writer who lives in Chicago. He was born in Cairo, Ill., and immediately was whisked off to St. Louis as a medical precaution. He has returned to the city as often as possible ever since.
Article is (c) 2007, by www.stltoday.com, and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, L.L.C. All rights reserved, and used by permission.
Of course, Jocketty was with the Cardinals. The same class outfit that gave us Stan Musial (who keeps giving and giving to Cardinal nation. And Schoendist, and Smith, and Pujols... So it shouldn't surprise me too much.
Enough intro. If it's still on the stltoday.com website, it'll be here. Otherwise, it's below.
-----
Reaching out to ordinary fans
10/08/2007
CHICAGO
Last week, my brother-in-law called at the steakhouse where I work on Wednesdays to tell me the Cardinals had fired general manager Walt Jocketty. I was stunned. Team chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. and president Mark Lamping had kicked to the curb the person most responsible for assembling the talent for one of the most successful eras in St. Louis baseball history. I thought it was a slap in the face to a man who deserved better treatment.
Jocketty's record speaks for itself. Let the baseball experts, columnists and fans in the sports pages, blogs and chat rooms ruminate on it. Yes, I mourn Jocketty's firing for on-field reasons, but I regret more deeply the loss of someone I thought was not only a tremendous baseball man, but also a tremendous man, period.
I'm a native of southern Illinois who lives in Chicago and, who, thankfully, has retained my passion for the Cardinals. Like many others pursuing careers in acting and writing, I have supplemented my income for years by working in restaurants.
Over the last decade or so, I happen to have worked in places frequented by members of the Cardinals organization. That has allowed me to serve and talk to and get to know people I worshipped as a child. I mean, listening to Mike Shannon, Red Schoendist and long-time Cardinals traveling secretary C.J. Cherre tell baseball stories and getting paid for it? On days when the Redbirds have been in town, I've sometimes felt as though I were attending a kind of baseball fantasy camp.
These people have indulged my questions and love of the team, but no one ever has asked to be seated in my section more times than Walt Jocketty — even though he had to know I was going to talk his arm off.
I don't know about the reported behind-the-scenes divisiveness in the Cardinals front office, but I do know what I've experienced personally: Walt Jocketty is one of the most decent and classiest people I've ever encountered.
At the restaurant few years ago, Jocketty asked me if was planning to come down to St. Louis anytime soon and invited me to be his guest for a game at Busch II. I casually mentioned that my next trip to St. Louis was going to be for an extended-family reunion in conjunction with a particular baseball game, so I'd have to take him up on his offer some other time. He said he'd call me anyway.
No big deal, right? It would be easy enough for him to leave me a couple of tickets.
Not long afterward, a package arrived from him in the mail: 12 tickets to a private suite and six more tickets behind home plate, four rows up. He had given me the use of his family's luxury box, the whole thing, for a night. It was a night the members of my family will remember for the rest of our lives.
Who does that kind of a thing for a guy he knows only casually, a guy who waited on him in a restaurant maybe a dozen times? And who does that while trying to run a baseball team in the middle of a pennant race? The same person who was dumped unceremoniously last week by his employer: "Thanks for the nice run, Walt. There's the door."
I'll continue to be a Cardinals fan. I can't help it. It's in my blood. But with $6 beer, legal in-house ticket scalping, the radio fiasco and that shop behind the bleachers that sells used game balls and bases at outrageous prices, I've started wondering how much the current ownership group considers its average fan base.
Right now, I'm thinking about this extremely nice guy who worked for the team until last week, someone who showed kindness and consideration to ordinary people who love those birds-on-the-bat. He was incredibly successful, too — maybe the best at his job in the business. And he was a really good tipper.
Thanks for all of it, Walt.
Paul Turner is an actor and writer who lives in Chicago. He was born in Cairo, Ill., and immediately was whisked off to St. Louis as a medical precaution. He has returned to the city as often as possible ever since.
Article is (c) 2007, by www.stltoday.com, and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, L.L.C. All rights reserved, and used by permission.
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