It was an interesting game, and ultimately the Brewers won 5-4 (the baseball score that sounds like a Supreme Court decision) — on a big home run from Rickie Weeks (rhymes with "WikiLeaks").
I hadn't been to a baseball game since the 1970s, when I went to some Mets games and a couple Tigers games with my ex-husband. He grew up in NY, hence the Mets, and we lived in Ann Arbor (technically Ypsilanti) the summer Mark Fidrych was a sensation, and that's why we went to see the Tigers.
Last night's game was chosen because Meade has been a Reds fan since he moved to Cincinnati in 1974. I couldn't really tell which team I was rooting for, so I mainly drifted back and forth, between Meade's team and the home team. I tried to examine the nature of my allegiance. Sometimes I felt like I had a tendency to favor whoever was winning (because they were doing well and therefore deserved to win) and sometimes it seemed that I had a tendency to support the underdog (because I felt sorry for them or because if they gained ground it would make the game more exciting). Sometimes I focused on individual players and would favor them based on a combination of factors — for example Nyjer Morgan, who sported the traditional knee-breeches-and-stockings outfit and also made a great catch. That link goes to an interview he did last June that's seems a bit viral. Wait... here's the catch. See? The catch... and the stockings.
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142 comments:
I used to listen to Detroit's Ernie Harwell and Paul Carey in the early 80s on WJR at night, just for the rhythm of the broadcast game.
I liked the sound against the crickets while working on something else.
I got to see the Brewers play the Twins up here on Sunday. My first time at Target field, a pretty nice place. Unfortuantely, the Brewers blew a lead and lost. Good game though. Attending baseball games has really changed since I went to County stadium. I like Miller Park,nice mix of the old and new. The music is too loud at Target field, but I guess they've got to get the kids interested somehow...
Did the two of you like the ball park? It's beautiful. It's 300 miles for me to go, and it's nice to know that if I drove that far, the game won't be rained out.
"It was an interesting game, and ultimately the Brewers won 5-4 (the baseball score that sounds like a Supreme Court decision) — on a big home run from Rickie Weeks (rhymes with "WikiLeaks")."
You're such a blogging lawyer. :)
Fidrych lived down the street from me, in Northborough, Massachusetts, where he died in a tragic farm equipment accident. I realize that sounds like a bad Jeff Foxworthy joke, but that's what happened. It doesn't sound like you actually got to see him play, which is too bad because he was entertaining as well as being a great pitcher. He retired after struggling with rotator cuff problems, which would keep in on the DL for a couple months as he recuperated from surgery if it had happened today.
Thanks for inadvertently steering me down memory lane.
Nice seats, hope you enjoyed the game and will come back again.
So who won the sausage race?
Thanks for the shout out for Ypsilanti and our wonderful water tower.
Fab seats. I always do that also, right behind one of the dugouts. I get my tickets from Stubhub.
Another thing to experience, at least once, is right behind home plate. It's "Diamond Club" in Seattle (something else in Milwaukee). $400 per ticket with a "free" restaurant and bar right below the seats, private entrance, etc. Very nice experience. Just once. Otherwise, it's a big waste of money.
AllenS, Miller Park has a retractable roof. No rain outs. I've only seen games with the roof open, so I don't know what it's like to watch a game with it closed. I assume that it's better than the Metrodome, but that doesn't take much.
When I was a kid, I had to decide whether I would listen to the Brewers on the radio, or CBS radio Mystery Theater. Always a toss up. Still fun to hear Bob Uecker, although he isn't quite at the top of his game.
His name is Nyjer??
Great looking ballpark - I have been to Dodger stadium, KC, ATL, Balt, old NYY, Fenway, PNC, Cleveland, Candlestick, Toronto and Phils of course. I look forward to seeing Miller Field soon [have not been to WI yet either].
Totally misread AllenS comment. Sheesh.
I'm a Cubs fan but live about a mile from Miller Park. I go simply to watch baseball. When I was in Madison I used to watch legion games in the evening.
Miller park is a great place to watch it...sufficiently small to get close to the action, but without all negatives of older parks like Wrigley or Fenway. Much prefer being there with the roof OPEN!
wv: fibly In the manner of Illinois residents...
I'm with you.
Baseball players should be required to wear knickers. They just plain look sharp!
I've not been to Miller Park, but I spent a couple very cold April mornings at County Stadium in the '80s, watching Yount and Mollie and Gumby. I think it was in the 40s one day, with a wind right off the lake. Meanwhile, Kenosha was 70. So close.
That was a routine catch. As Crocodile Dundee said about a knife, if you want to see a real catch, see Otis Nixon's.
The Catch has its own web page.
Otis Nixon climbed 10 feet up the wall with spikes going into the soft collision barrier and reached over to bring the ball back in. I saw it in person on July 25, 1992. And it decided a close game.
The fans in the Braves stadium in the early 1990s went crazy for 5 minutes.
Today we are more mature.
I was watching the game, too...from my couch. Anyway, nice seats. Good to see a win, after this last week-and-a-half slide (sheesh).
Almost forgot- I saw the Twins beat the Yankees at the Metrodome before a crowd of maybe 10,000. Bernie Williams struck out to end the game.
Glad you at least picked an exciting game to go to, even if it did take a Reds fan to drag you out to the ballpark.
@MadAsHell - yes, his name is Nyjer...and that video isn't even his most viral; that honor would go to the brawl he started during a Marlins-Nationals series last year. (The Nationals traded him to Milwaukee just before the season started.) Morgan is the type of player that you love...when he's playing for your team.
(Go Brewers!)
I'll be going home to see a Cubs' game soon.
But, that has nothing to do with baseball.
I went to see Mark Fidrych in that glorious year of 1976 against Nolan Ryan.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/DET/DET197606110.shtml
Even though Fidrych won that game, and Ryan got a no-decision, Ryan was simply awesome! Whew! I still don't think I've ever seen anyone throw that hard.
The Tigers had a player, Alex Johnson, a guy who had won a batting title, who looked like he wanted nothing to do with Ryan. Those 100 mph fastballs would get too close...and Johnson would bail!
9K's in only 5 innings...but still no win for Ryan and Big Bird kept racking up the ground balls...and the win!
A critical question from any Brewers game - who won the sausage race?
I feel bad for third tier cities in their baseball teams.
Not really.
Baseball is really only about the Boston Red Sox and the Yankees.
tits.
However, the Cubs do play whatever it is they play in a beautiful ballpark...
Wrigley Field.
I am interested in the food at baseball parks. I don't have a link but their was this fascinating article about all the new foods at the baseball parks.
Boston Red Sox has Legal Seafood, now, natch.
Love that chowdah.
None of the new stadiums compare to Fenway, which is sold out every game.
And Milwaukee is gross.
And, Tight Ass, you can see some really great tits at Wrigley.
Wrigley is famous for its tits!
It looks like you had very good seats for the game.
Like you, I have a hard time understanding my sports loyalties. I grew up in the SF Bay Area and still root for the Oakland A's and Raiders. I've lived in Arizona off and on for close to 20 years and I've become a confirmed Diamondbacks fan (except when they're playing the A's and I feel conflicting loyalties), but I'm not a Suns or Cardinal's fan. I don't root against those teams, but I don't really follow them with interest.
Instead, of being a Suns fan, I follow the Utah Jazz. What's up with that? I can explain my reasons for being a fan of "my" teams, but I'd have to admit those reasons would only make sense to me.
Things are more confusing when it comes to college sports. I am, of course, a huge fan of BYU (where I went to school). But, I'm also a fan of BYU's biggest rival, Utah -- except, of course, when the two schools play each other. Then, I hate Utah and everything associated with it (including the state and city where I was born). Unlike my feelings for pro teams, I cannot even explain to myself my Jekyll and Hyde feelings toward U of U athletic teams. Nor can I explain why I follow with interest the teams from a host of schools from across the country. Schools I've never attended, but I happen to like.
Maybe that's why the root word of "fan" is "fanatic". It's not supposed to make sense.
I saw the Twins beat the Yankees at the Metrodome..."
Gawd! The last Metrodome Twins game I was at had maybe 2000 people. If you coughed, you could hear it echo around the dome. That was early 80s though.
Although, I think his name is Braun, from the Brewers is really hot. His eyes are fierce.
Prince Fielder (which sounds like a porn name) is not attractive.
Watching grass grow.
At least it looks like there's a roof covering the field ... but then where do homeruns go?
Is the grass Astroturf?
Did professional golf teach the world about green grass that doesn't look real?
"It doesn't sound like you actually got to see him play, which is too bad because he was entertaining as well as being a great pitcher."
Of course we saw him play. That was the reason we went. The crowds were much much larger when he pitched that summer, and the traffic jams around the stadium were like a party with everyone yelling about "the bird."
Wisconsin paid too much but they did get one of the nicest ball parks I've ever been in.
Last night's attendance: 34,102. Hey, Althouse and Meade put it over the 34,100 mark!
I looked and looked but didn't see a single blue unionista fist or "Recall Walker" sign. It was like a huge political demonstration without the politics. Just a lot of people demonstrating their love of a good game.
I love Wrigley Field and I love tits.
Is Rolly Fingers (another porn sounding name) still alive?
I am also interested in what pro athletes do AFTER they retire from their sport.
Their careers tend to be very short and some of them have fucked up bodies after they are done.
I like to hear if they own a restaurant, are an alcoholic, beat their wife, turn gay, etc.
Or in Billy Bean's case he turned gay and owns a restaurant.
You saw the Twins beat the Yankees? That's a rare one. The metrodome is an awful venue. Seems every time I went to see a game there, the weather would be beautiful. Those days are too rare in MN for indoor baseball. Of course, that didn't have to mean we need a taxpayer financed stadium.
Althouse needs more baseball threads. Can't you do something about that Meade, even if you are a Reds fan?
I saw a Packer game at County Stadium, when the Packers played there.
It was cold and everyone was drunk and fat.
"It looks like you had very good seats for the game."
Yes, we were in the 3d row above the Reds' dugout. We bought the tickets maybe 3 days before the game. I said, buy the most expensive seats, because I almost never go to a game and we drive an hour and a half each way to get there. We spend the same amount of money to eat at a restaurant sometimes. That was my reasoning! $200 for 2 tickets. If you want to spend that much you can get great seats even a few days before the game. That game, anyway.
"A critical question from any Brewers game - who won the sausage race?"
I was at the game too. The Hotdog won.
"None of the new stadiums compare to Fenway, which is sold out every game."
Fenway is gross. The Brewers have the best attendence per capita in baseball, and a much better record per dollar spent than the Red Sox. (Not that I'm complaining about the Yankees/Red Sox and their absurd payrolls. I know there's more parity in MLB than in NFL even with its salary caps. BTW, our football team is better than yours outright in both ability and popularity, even if you don't control for market size or payroll).
My favorite thing about Nyjer Morgan is his fake twitter account: http://twitter.com/#!/Tony_Plush
"Althouse needs more baseball threads. Can't you do something about that Meade, even if you are a Reds fan?"
There are 2 baseball threads today!
The whole point about baseball (well, for this spectator anyway) is that you get to sit outside on a droning sunny summer afternoon half-asleep at an essentially boring game. This is lost at some covered big league stadium with an overactive scoreboard and hyper-music assault. Which is why minor league is the way to go.
"The Hotdog won."
Yes, and as far as I could tell, no one whacked the wiener.
Now your talking.
Isn't interesting how AJ has memories of a Yankee loss instead of a Philly win.
They just don't happen that often.
At least he has his priorities right.
I tried to examine the nature of my allegiance.
Every time you mention your previous life with the father of your children - especially doing the things you used to do with him - I feel a sting. How you can follow that with discussing your allegiance to a baseball team is wild - what is your allegiance to the human beings on your team?
It's like women have the emotions of insects. They can trade off their mates, take their money, kill their kids, you name it - they just aren't "human" as I understand the word.
And no, I don't mean "all" women, but this is what I understand as an adult.
I couldn't drag The Blonde to a ball game at gunpoint. Glad Meade talked you into going to one, although I agree an hour and a half drive is a bit much.
Ann Althouse said...
I couldn't really tell which team I was rooting for, so I mainly drifted back and forth, between Meade's team and the home team. I tried to examine the nature of my allegiance. Sometimes I felt like I had a tendency to favor whoever was winning (because they were doing well and therefore deserved to win) and sometimes it seemed that I had a tendency to support the underdog (because I felt sorry for them or because if they gained ground it would make the game more exciting).
Oh, boy, that really is a stereotypical woman's view.
/ducks
PS $200 for a restaurant? Just the two of you?
Well, you know what Epictetus would say. What, you don't?
Don't be prideful with any excellence that is not your own. If a horse should be prideful and say, " I am handsome," it would be supportable. But when you are prideful, and say, " I have a handsome horse," know that you are proud of what is, in fact, only the good of the horse. What, then, is your own? Only your reaction to the appearances of things.
and
It is not necessary for you to appear often at public spectacles; but if ever there is a proper occasion for you to be there, don't appear more solicitous for anyone than for yourself...abstain entirely from declamations and derision and violent emotions. And when you come away, don't discourse a great deal on what has passed, and what does not contribute to your own amendment. For it would appear by such discourse that you were immoderately struck with the show.
I clicked on your "baseball" tag, and I must admit, I underestimated the number of baseball posts. As an added bonus, many of them (after very brief perusal) are quite interesting, even if only tangentially related to baseball.
I hereby retract my demand for more baseball (especially if it deals with sad accidents like last night's in TX).
Once again Titus is right.
Baseball is all about the Yankees and the Red Sox.
The rest is meaningless.
First game I ever attended was the Brooklyn Dodgers vs the dreaded Stan Musial St. Louis Cardinals. Cardinals were ahead 4 to 2 in the top of the ninth. Bottom of the ninth Dodgers got two on with two out. Gil Hodges hit a hard line drive that just made the left field stands. Dodgers win 5 - 4. Being a kid I had no idea how lucky I was to see that classic ending. Now the LA Dodgers are bankrupt. Revenge served cold is suweet.
I will be at Wrigley Field, my pilgrimage to the church of baseball, on July 19. I Would love for my family to meet you and Meade there, if you can, it's Cubs/ Cardinals.
The NY Yankees is to baseball as the Green Bay Packers is to football.
Writeoff...Who did Epictetus play for?
That hurts, Meade, but I suppose you're right.
I agree on the knickers. Some players wearing the "long" style look like they are wearing pajamas.
While on the subject of baseball, I should take this opportunity to recommend a book: The Last Days of Summer, by Steve Kluger. A great book, very quick read, and it's about baseball in the way that some of Althouse's "baseball" posts are about baseball. It's in more than the background, but it's not about baseball. It's about a kid, and the kid's lack of a Dad. Kid sort of latches on to his baseball hero who plays 3b for the New York Giants. I probably gush too much about it, but I read it a few times a year. Buy it through Althouse's Amazon portal to encourage more baseball threads!
I invite Althouse and Meade to Comerica Park....and maybe Greektown.
Tiger Stadium is now, like most of Detroit, a patch of nuthin'
What? Their best player was a fat guy who loved hot dogs and whores?
Their best manager was a fiery Italian? Their fans are universally considered unbearable assholes?
I don't see it.
"Baseball is all about the Yankees and the Red Sox. The rest is meaningless."
This strikes me as pretty ignorant about baseball. Are they the two best teams? Probably, but to no more signficant degree than any good franchise in any sport. There's TONS of parity in baseball. Over the past decade, 14 (out of a possible 20) different teams have made it to the world series. The Yankees have 3 appearances. The Red Sox have 2, but so do the Giants, Cardinals, and Phillies.
MarkG:
That metrodome was an ugly place when it only has 10,000 people.
Little trivia re Twins- when I went back to my hotel after the game, the Twins announcer [former pitcher & gopher ball expert ] was on the same elevator.
A month or so later, I was am walking thru a casino in Atlantic City and who do I see playing a slot machine- the same old Twins pitcher!
Dannynoonan- you have to excuse Trooper - he is a dedicated Yankee ball washer.
And also a dedicated regular Althouse ball-buster par excellence.
Or go back another decade and the Yankees look even better. They have 7 WS appearances. Red Sox.... still just 2, now tied with the Giants and Cardinals, as well as the Marlins, Indians and Blue Jays. The Phillies have 3 in the last 20 years, and the Braves have 5.
So are the Yankees dominant? Yeah, they're pretty awesome. But the Red Sox? Meh, not really.
I agree on the knickers. Some players wearing the "long" style look like they are wearing pajamas.
You know who looked good wearing those pajama bottoms? Zack Cozart, scoring from 1st after getting his first major league hit to get aboard. His mom seemed to especially enjoy that play.
Trooper, do you still miss the Dodgers? Or do the Yankees have you, heart and soul?
I was in San Fran when the Giants where in the series in 2002 and I was staying in the Mark Hopkins hotel. This guy got on wearing a world series field pass. I go to him "So what are you doing...covering the game?" "No I work for MLB. Are you following the games?" "Nah. It's not a real World Series" I said as I got off on my floor. "What to you mean it's not real?" "The Yankees aren't in it so it don't count." I left him suppering as the door closed.
Ann, this needs a "men in shorts" tag.
wv: warth. The Warth of Kahn?
The Red Sox perform a vital function.
Much like the Washington Generals or the Buffalo Bills.
I was never a Dodger fan.
Only the Yankees have my heart ever since 1961 when my dad took me to a game and I saw Johnny Blanchard hit two home runs.
It was the old/old Yankee staduim and we had to sit behind a Pole.
That freaking Polack farted beer and peanuts the whole game.
After the game on Friday and Saturday nights, the Tigers put on an awesome fireworks display. One of the best I've seen. Worth the price of admission and makes the trip to Mogadishu West tolerable.
Michelle Dulak Thomson said...
Ann, this needs a "men in shorts" tag.
No, but she might have to start a "men in bloomers" tag.
...we had to sit behind a Pole.
Polish farts are the worst.
Biggest baseball star I've ever seen play? Hank Aaron.
That probably won't change.
"Every time you mention your previous life with the father of your children - especially doing the things you used to do with him - I feel a sting. How you can follow that with discussing your allegiance to a baseball team is wild - what is your allegiance to the human beings on your team?"
Why isn't it better that I speak well of him and have no rancor about that part of my life (which ended *a quarter of a century ago*? You don't know what happened, so your opprobrium is free-form and disconnected to real events, and it would be ethically wrong for me to respond to your criticisms. You ought to take that into account.
"The Red Sox perform a vital function. Much like the Washington Generals or the Buffalo Bills."
The Yankees perform a vital function too. Much like the Galactic Empire. They make a great antagonist, which is why true baseball fans all love to hate them.
But if you feel a sting, it's about you. It's you reflecting on what happened to you, and you do carry a tremendous amount of resentment and bitterness. It is possible to get beyond that. I recommend it.
Meade said,
"You know who looked good wearing those pajama bottoms? Zack Cozart, scoring from 1st after getting his first major league hit to get aboard. His mom seemed to especially enjoy that play."
I was at US Cellular and saw a White Sox/ Tigers game some years ago. Great seats between the Tigers dugout and Home, about 10 rows back. The kids got Pudge and Curtis Graderson autographs, and Granderson's mom was there (they're from Chicago). We talked to her for a good while, very nice lady, bursting w/ pride. He wears the knicker style. Who knew he would become the Homerun hitter he has become (most homerun hitters seem to wear the pajama style), certainly not the Tigers, to Trooper's glee I'm sure.
ricpic said...
...we had to sit behind a Pole.
Polish farts are the worst.
The wurst.
Just imagine the Polish farts at a Brewers game after kielbasa and cheese churls and about ten Old Milwaukee's?
All genuine human beings hate the Yankees. Eons ago there was a great sports cartoonist whose work appeared in the now defunct New York Journal-American and he always pictured the Dodgers as bums, what else? but the Yanks as machines not men. Which they were. And are. Only those who were brainwashed when very young cannot escape the grip of the Yankees on their helpless minds - you know who I mean, mister - the rest of us raised in freedom know what the Yankees are and loathe them accordingly.
"The Yankees perform a vital function too. Much like the Galactic Empire."
The Yankees are like the American empire. An empire that all third world hellholes should admire and copy. They are the epitome of class, honor, tradition and patroitism. All the other rag tag bands of rag-a-muffins are mere and when they win....it is as if the terrorists have won.
Some people revel in their misery. Rather than root for a winner they would prefer to pick at their scabs and persist in their folly.
Little trivia re Twins- when I went back to my hotel after the game, the Twins announcer [former pitcher & gopher ball expert ] was on the same elevator.
Bert Blyleven? I look like him, only much more handsome. Some Puerto Rican dude told me that two days ago. No, I'm not gay, but everyone's free to tell me I'm handsome.
Being a Yankee fan is taking Marilyn Monroe to Toot's Shore's saloon for a steak dinner.
Being a Red Sox fan is having your head cut off and put on a tuna fish can in a frigidare.
Being a Brewers fan is getting a dry handjob from Laverne DeFazio behind the bottling machine.
Hate will eventually eat you up, ric. Instead, rise above and let it go. Here's what we did in Cincinnati in the 70's: we built our own machine. In 1976 we took our good big red machine and crushed the evil Yankee machine. We bathed in Yankee tears and now and forevermore we are happy and free.
That's Toots Shor. Sorry.
The Big Red Machine had to be the team with the best lineup that won the fewest World Series.
The Reds got lucky that one time. It was sort of like the Vietnam War.
Trooper York said...
"The Yankees perform a vital function too. Much like the Galactic Empire."
The Yankees are like the American empire. An empire that all third world hellholes should admire and copy. They are the epitome of class, honor, tradition and patroitism. All the other rag tag bands of rag-a-muffins are mere and when they win....it is as if the terrorists have won."
I see you are the typical Yankee fan. I would call Yankee fans "patriotic", being mostly NE Liberals, just sayin. Anyway, went to Yankee stadium last Summer. Beautiful place, plenty of arrogance all around, but hey what's sport if there's no one to hate!
What real American could root for a team of "Reds."
I think they have Vada Pinsons body under glass like Lenin.
I mean I give Cedarford a pass since he used to date Marge Schott but that's no excuse for any red blooded American.
That's WOULDN'T call yankees fans patriotic. Sheesh
"I see you are the typical Yankee fan. I would call Yankee fans "patriotic", being mostly NE Liberals"
Wrong Mick. Liberals are Red Sox fans. Yankee fans have lots of money to pay for tickets so we are hard working tax paying conservatives. And we all have our birth certificates in order.
What the Tigers did to the Bird was an outrage. They knew he would sell out their ballpark so they skewed the rotation so most of his starts were @ home. He had one big season and then was burned out. That shit wouldn't happen today. Owners did the same thing w/ Satchel Paige but the Lord blessed him w/ a rubber arm
Mark G:
Yes that's it -Bert Blyeven. For some reason, I can never rememeber his name. He is one of their announcers right?
That's Bert.
Real Yankee: Mickey Mantle.
Real Red Sox: Johnny Pesky.
Real Red: Saul Alinsky.
Just sayn'
"PS $200 for a restaurant? Just the two of you?"
Sometimes. Mostly we cook at home, and when we go out to eat, we usually spend more like $30.
Hey! Baseball cured Mick of natural-born-citizenitis!
Ann,
Why isn't it better that I speak well of him and have no rancor about that part of my life,...
It's also "better" to smoke rocks at home than to drive drunk but that doesn't mean either one is good or right. Both may make you feel good, too, but that's no argument in favor of them either.
Though you will try to pin this on me, I keep coming back to how this issue isn't about you. I know - I have no leg to stand on, in any discussion on any topic, as long as someone can throw my divorce at me - not even math. ("2+2=4" "You're divorced, and your wife left you - that's your problem.") But, sorry, I still don't think being able to speak well about wrong makes it right.
Just as Anthony Weiner will always drum up double entendres, re-marriage will always open trap doors when allegiances are mentioned. That's not my fault, or based on what happened to me, but the nature of the beast. To expect different is a delusion - or to demand others share in such a delusion. That, all by itself, is as unreasonable a request as Anthony Weiner demanding we ignore the ramifications of his name at this point.
It simply can't be done.
Real Yankee: Hector Lopez
Real Red Sox: Jimmy Piersall
Real Red: Carrot Top
Ann Althouse said...
"Hey! Baseball cured Mick of natural-born-citizenitis!"
Very dear to my heart, probably only a temporary respite though.
So how about meeting us at Wrigley July 19!!
I don't bite (and I won't talk about nbc, unless you want to of course). You should really speak to that subject at some point. I mean, if it turns out that Obama takes a fall for that you will have been left behind. I did appreciate the Federalist #68 post.
Real Yankee: Bill Dickey.
Real Red Sox: Bill Buckner.
Real Red: Bill Ayers.
No one has ever seen Ted Williams birth certificate.
As far as baseball teams go, I'm a Reds fan also. Always have been. My Dad grew up in Hamilton, OH, home of former Reds announcer and play, Joe Knuxall. My uncle was a friend of "Knuxie"'s all his life. Knuxall was the youngest person to ever play MLB.
I say "as far as baseball teams go" because I find baseball boring. I go about once a year when I happen to get free tickets at work or from a friend.
we built our own machine. In 1976 we took our good big red machine and crushed the evil Yankee machine.
Sports Illustrated name the 1976 Reds the best team of the 20th century. Eat that Yankee fans. ;)
Trooper York said...
"No one has ever seen Ted Williams birth certificate."
They probably did when he went into the army. But anyway, if you have followed along, I could care less about Obama's BC. His ineligibility is already apparent (born British).
We love our Brewers like we love our children. Not because they're good, but because they're ours.
And..no one has seen Ted Williams death certificate because the head is still viable.
There's a Ted Williams Tunnel in Boston and a Ted Williams Expwy. in San Diego. There's a Joe D park in SF. What's bears Mickey's name..the ale?
Being a Brewer's fan means having to settle for signing Sixto Lezcano when you should have signed his much more talented brother Sevento.
The thing on top of every fireplace in American is named after Mickey.
Hank Aaron is now a local Atlanta investor and owns pieces of businesses with his name on them.
I got to talk with him for an hour once while waiting for others to show up. Hank is very personable and not arrogant at all.
His hands are about twice the size of a normal man's hands.
Trooper said:"The Yankees are like the American empire. An empire that all third world hellholes should admire"
Trooper's American empire is strangely 66% Latin, many drawn from actual 3rd world hellholes:
Cervelli: Venezuala
Cano: Dominican Republic
Nunez: Dominican Republic
Pena: Mexico
Teixeira: USA
Gardiner: USA
Jones: Curacao
Swisher: USA
Posada: Puerto Rico
Maybe it's a FUTURE American empire you had in mind?
But credit where due, those scrappy 3rd worlders and the hired-away-from-the-Brewers-by-big-cash pitcher CC Sabathia did lay a whooping on the Brewers in the game I went to last week.
"But credit where due, those scrappy 3rd worlders and the hired-away-from-the-Brewers-by-big-cash pitcher CC Sabathia did lay a whooping on the Brewers in the game I went to last week."
Oh, I know. I'll refer back to my above comment. Also, the season ain't over yet.
"Hank Aaron is now a local Atlanta investor..."
Part of Hank Aaron's early career was spent in Eau Claire, WI as part of the Northern League, where he won a pennant with the EC Bears before going on to the Milwaukee Braves. There's a statue of him at the park.
DannyNoonan said...
We love our Brewers like we love our children. Not because they're good, but because they're ours.
I feel the same way. I love baseball and it's great when the Brewers are on a winning streak, but if they're not, well, I'm still a Brewers fan. It's the game that's important.
Althouse, what did you think of the costumes?
Calypso hard working immigrants who find the American Dream are what are country is all about.
Viva el Yanqui beisbol!
It has been berry berry good to me!
Cause everybody loves Mickey!
If you want to be a real American.
And of course Joltin Joe!
And the the Babe!
He was king of all them all.
Where's all those Reds song there bub?
@ann- It is not possible to root for more than one baseball team. Your team is a central part of your soul, usually from about age 5 until either full senility or death. I have told my family that my ability to watch/ and or listen to a baseball game and understand what is happening is the deciding factor on when to pull the plug! My wife calls it an obsession, but obsessions can change or end. Not so with this game. Think back to the crescendo of excitement as Week's home run rose and headed for the fence. It is quite a rush for the home fans and an, "Oh Shit!" moment for the visitors. In a visiting ballpark, the home run is greeted by groans and silence. Go to more games! It will grow on you!
You know what's the best about baseball? It's the perfect sports game to listen to on the radio. Nothing like it. Once I retired, I've tried to listen to every matinée game that the Brewers have played.
I agree with you 1000% AllenS. I always have the game on in the backyard while I am grilling dinner.
The velvet tones of John Sterling and the insane cackling of Susyn Waldman lull me to sleep as I listen with half an ear to my transistor radio to the late night game as I lay in bed with my kindle slowly dozing until I suddenly start when I hear .....THE YANKEES WIN....TTTTTHHHHEEEEE YYYYYYAAAANNNNKKKKEEEES WWWWWWINNNNNNN!!!!!!!
I bet them there Brewers game are very nice too.
Hey there is a Cincy Reds song....Paint the Town Red by the Johnnycakes.
I think that was Vito Spatafore favorite band.
Announcers don't get any better than Bob Uecker, Troop.
Bob Uecker is a horrible announcer. He can be funny @ times, but he's a disgrace as an announcer. However, I know you provincial Cheeseheads adore him and won't be swayed. But, if you ever listened to real radio guys[Mel Allen, Red Barber, Bob Prince, Harry Kalas, Bob Murphy[shut up Trooper], Vin Scully, Ernie Harwell, Denny Matthews, Jack Buck] you would know what good really is.
"...so your opprobrium is free-form and disconnected to real events, and it would be ethically wrong for me to respond to your criticisms."
It would be ethically wrong. It's also none of anyones business what happens in the confines of someone else's marriage.
Harry Carey and Bob Murhpy reminisce.
ndspinelli said...
But, if you ever listened to real radio guys
So, Uecker isn't a real radio guy? What is he, a fake radio guy? Should I leave little Star Prairie and travel to distant cities to listen to real radio guys? How would I know if the radio guy was real? Would he be real because he was on the radio someplace outside of hick Wisconsin? Is there a chart that I could measure, a sliding scale that rates announcers that I could access? Who does these ratings, you?
Ann: You do know that you are, when we get right down to it, a girl. Rooting for the winning team because they are winning, and then rooting for the losing team because you feel sorry for them? A girl!
Traditional Guy: I once heard, or read, Hank Aaron as saying that he didn't have coaching as a kid, and learned to bat with his hands in the "wrong" position. Once he got some coaching they switched his hands into the "normal" position, but the "damage" was done: he had lightening quick wrists. The Dodgers were once having a team meeting before playing the Braves, and they discussed how to pitch to Aaron. Drysdale's suggestion was to pitch to him with the bases empty.
As for Ann Althouse said...
But if you feel a sting, it's about you. It's you reflecting on what happened to you, and you do carry a tremendous amount of resentment and bitterness. It is possible to get beyond that. I recommend it. Ann: I think you worded your first comments, and these, nicely. My hope is that in retelling tales of my ex-wife I can make it sound like a story without a lot of emotional baggage: this is what happened, no judgment, just a story.
My favorite World Series was in 1968, Detroit and St. Louis. I see I can purchase broadcasts of all 7 games, complete with commercials. I think that might be a need, and not a want.
Allen S, Your reaction is pretty much the same amongst Brewer fans and many baseball folks. But, like your hero, Harry Caray for the last 10-15 years of his career was horrible, and he was revered. There are others. Baseball is the consummate good old boys club..if you're in you can suck..just glad hand, drink a few beers w/ the boys, and you're great. I only ask this, Allen S. Listen to a Brewer game and try to determine just what the fuck is going on when your guy is announcing. Oh...and count the "err..err..err for 9 innings..have a fucking calculator handy!
Allen S, In my opinion the greatest football announcer of all time was Ray Scott..a Wi. guy. And, the current Packer announcer, Wayne Larivee is exponentially better nuts and bolts than your hero. I want to like your guy, and I promise I will...when he fucking retires! Hopefully, they don't bring back that horrible Pat Hughes from the Cubs when your guy does retire.
Nice seats! My most recent games have all been at the Yankee Stadiums (old and new) when visiting my brother in New York, and we were in expensive seats in the upper deck.
The last time I was that close to the action was several years ago in spring training when I went to some games with a friend who had season tickets right behind the Red Sox dugout, here in Fort Myers. You have to stay alert down there, because the netting that protects people behind the plate from foul balls doesn't extend to the dugouts. One cold miserable rainy day, a group of us went, and they all bailed after the first inning. I was made of sterner stuff, but when the drizzle turned to rain, I moved up to the concourse between the box and reserve seats, since there was a roof overhanging it. I was up there for a few minutes and the rain started to slack off, so I began to head down to my seat. The game was still going on, despite the rain, and all of a sudden the batter slashes a liner foul into the seats, that hit the seat that I had been sitting in with a noisy thud; if I'd been there, I would have been injured, without a doubt. I walked down to it and the guy sitting in the seat behind me said, "That was your seat, wasn't it?" And I said, "Yeah," and then I decided that I didn't need any more hints. My guardian angel (if there is such a thing) had saved me once. I was outta there.
Best Yankee Ever: Jim Bouton
Since he's the only Yank ever who knew how to write something other than an autograph.
Just sayin
Thanks for that video clip, Troop. Hadn't seen that.
Argh...two painful nights in a row. Brewers are tough to beat at home. We'll get em tonight.
Milwaukee said...
"Ann: You do know that you are, when we get right down to it, a girl. Rooting for the winning team because they are winning, and then rooting for the losing team because you feel sorry for them? A girl!"
Yeah. I like her that way.
A hilarious girl.
And cute to boot.
ken in sc said...
Weekends in the summer in the 50s. Dizzy Dean on the radio. St. Louis Cards, the closest major league team to Tuscaloosa. Falstaff beer commercials. BTW, Falstaff was a fail-safe beer. Most teenagers could not drink more than three without throwing up.
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