With all these holiday poems kickin' around, I remembered a great poem I read a few months ago, which I forgot to mention here. It's by Barry Hoberman, and it's about the greatest holiday of all. It features the names of a lot of old Sox players. That's what always gets me right in the tear ducts--hearing all the names of the past, and thinking back to when they played, and all the happiness they provided us with, amidst the overall sadness of never winning the World Series. I think of Dwight Evans innocently cacthing a ball in 1982, and I wonder what I'd say to him if I could go back. I'd probably just grit my teeth and say, "Go get 'em, Dewey," knowing he'd never get a ring--as a player, anyway. Kind of like that Quantum Leap episode when Sam goes back in time and wants to sing "Imagine" to some little girl before it was written, but Al's like, "Don't do it, man." I think he did it anyway. Terrible job, Sam. Also, Scott Bakula doesn't sing very well.

Read the poem here.

My favorite part:

Leslie Sterling--she was heady;
Worcester's Gedman--he was Geddy.

How cool is that? Gedman gets paired with Leslie Sterling. She was Fenway's (and the American League's) first female public address announcer, who went on to be a minister or something. It's very hard to find info about her on the web, which is a shame.

This is from my 1987 tape. You may remember the jingle. May have been Tri-State Area only, though. But you really should recognize the dude. Clue: Anti-Dentite. Is he extra-fond of that carpet or what?

Labels: movies

Patriots' Day game to probably start at 10:05, instead of 11:05. Was I the only one who noticed this news already came out when they announced the Sox Pax. It says "10 AM" right on there. (Neither the Mets nor Yanks play in New York that night, so if anyone wants to repeat my feat of going to two major league games in two different cities on one day, you'll have to do Boston and Philly. You've got an extra hour, though...good luck!) Wait a minute, you could just do New York and Philly on any day where one plays at 1:00 and the other plays at 7:00. You don't even need an AM start time on one of the games. Why didn't anyone tell me that? Oh well, I guess my specific feat was seeing a game in New York and Boston on the same day.

Ken Griffey broke his hand, and they're not saying how. Any guesses?

Dontrelle Willis peed in the street.

Besides my usual Red Sox stuff listed in the post below, today, on my way too and from work, I've also seen: 1 Sox hat (female), 1 BC hat (female), 1 Fairfield sweatshirt (male), 1 Nantucket sweatshirt (female), 1 old-school Pats logo hat (male). I think the holidays bring out the New England in New Yorkers.

Red Sox-related things I see every single day on my 20-minute walk to work:

1. David Ortiz ad for that sports drink, on door of convenience store.

2. Red Sox sign at Boston-based ice cream store that they keep right above all the ice cream.

Gold.

Here's a story about new Red Sox radio announcer Dave O'Brien. I love that he once got direct advice from Ken Coleman. And look at this:

The O’Briens plan to move back to New Hampshire soon from their home in West Palm Beach, Fla., but their 14-year-old daughter Samantha is already an avid Sox fan. A mural of Fenway Park covers the back wall in her bedroom. For Christmas last year, Samantha received a life-sized cut-out of her favorite Red Sox player, Johnny Damon. Unfortunately, just a few days before Christmas, Damon signed a $52 million deal with the Yankees. Samantha kept Damon’s cut-out, but taped dollar bills all over it, put a Yankees cap on it and allowed her friends to use it as a dart board.

Some more Drew non-news: Surprise, surprise, Boras says everything's fine with his client.

Somebody let me know when something actually happens. (Especially if Drew turns into Trot Nixon.)

Saw some old Red Sox for the third night in a row. While flipping by the Hell No network, I noticed old (gulp) friend Byung-Hyun Kim on the mound at Yankee Stadium. I noticed the score was tied in the ninth with the bases loaded. The first pitch I saw was grouded toward Todd Walker, and as it rolled, I remembered exactly which game this was. When this play happened live, I was on the pay phone at my old job in Danbury, listening to my mom give the play by play. Walker would bobble and throw wild to home, as the winning run scored. As I recall, Steinbrenner wept after this game for no good reason.

I just looked it up on retrosheet.org, and they, terribly, call it a night game. (It was July 7th, 2003--a duel between Pedro and Musina.) If the fact that I was at work at a 9-5 job as the game ended doesn't prove it was a day game, this preview from Yahoo showing a 1:05 PM start time will. (I'll write to retrosheet and let 'em know. Trust me.)

That game seems like proverbial yesterday. Doesn't seem like this blog didn't exist yet at the time.

What did Jere use to sign the Freedom Tower beam?

Hopefully that'll be the headline soon, when Jim Rice gets the call telling him he made the Hall of Fame. People think this is a bad year for Rice's chances, what with Ripken and Gwynn going in. But the cosmos are pointing to it: I've seen him on TV the last two nights. I recently found amongst my crap, and prominently displayed, one of those old Topps bigger-than-postcards from, like, 1980, of Jim Ed with a big afro. MLB.com sites have a little Hall montage which quickly shows Rice giving a curtain call. (When is it from? Anyone know? Has to be pre-'80.)

So maybe he'll sneak in. If my friend Casey gets a vote, I know he'll do anything to take attention away from Tony Gwynn. I'm guessing he doesn't have a vote, since he's not in the field of sports journalism. But he could be writing threatening letters to and/or planning the kidnapping of voters as we speak.

The New York-area has seen a lot of the Red Sox these last two nights. Monday it was the '86 World Series, Game 6, on SNY. Last night it was the '78 playoff game on Hell No. Much like Game 6, I have no problem watching much of the Bucky Fuckin' Dent game. I love seeing the shots of Fenway from when I was three years old. And, of course, I sit there rooting for the team, as if the result of the game might change all these years later. (Contradictions: I've previously said I can now "stare it in the face," meaning I can watch the old sad moments, knowing what ended up happening in 2004. However, when given the choice, like last night, to watch or not watch the Dent "homer," I'll choose "not watch." I've also said how the past losses make 2004 that much sweeter. That's true. And though I root for Remy's ball to get past Piniella every time, I know deep down that it was all meant to be, and I wouldn't go back in time and change the result of that game if I could.)

Anyway, I hadn't seen the very early innings of that game too many times before. So I got to hear Frank Messer (also in the booth with Rizzuto and White) talk about how great it was to hear the Fenway fans "back on Yaz' side." He promptly homered to delight and repay them. Rizzuto's call: Crack!"That's gann!" (He subscribed to the "make your prediction right away, then worry about what actually happens on the play later" method of announcing. He turned out to be right on this play.

It's also weird, much like in the Buckner game, to watch Bucky Dent earlier in the game, mere hours before his entire persona would change.

The bleacher crowd was very shirtless, despite that it was a late-day start in October. Yet the announcers talked about how there was a nip in the air.

I also noticed some kid in the Red Sox dugout with a yellow football-type jersey on.

And I love the basic, white graphics on the screen. They were more like updates. As Yaz was circling the bases, the number of homers the Sox hit that season popped up.

I'd like to see the ABC version of that game, called by Keith Jackson. And I've never seen TV-38 footage of it, having lived around here all my life.

And I'm still trying to find the mystery person from that day.

Obstructed seats for ALL games (that were already on sale) on sale now at redsox.com. All the way around the grandstand, and RF boxes that are obstructed by Pesky's Pole. Good way to get four together, to any game. You just have to lean over your friends and/or loved ones. It's weird how they're doing this. It's like the behind-a-pole seats are getting their own separate unannounced sale. Something to think about later when the summer games go on sale.

Check this out. From an older version of the Ghostbusters script I saw online:

"Final Shooting Script Last revised October 7, 1983"

STREET PUNK
Hey, Mister! Can I see those guns?

SPENGLER
They're not guns. They're particle throwers.

STREET PUNK
Yeah, yeah. I just want to see 'em.

SPENGLER
I couldn't do that. You might hurt someone.

He turns away.

STREET PUNK
Wait! Wait! Let me ask you something. If
you like shot Superman with those guns, would
he feel it or what?

SPENGLER
(with authority)
On Earth -- no. But on Krypton we could
slice him up like Oscar Mayer Bologna.

From a Fox Sports article:

The Yankees' reported pursuit of free-agent first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz might be nothing more than a ploy to drive down the price of Shea Hillenbrand, whose right-handed bat would provide greater balance to their lineup.

The Yankees are already too left-handed, and Mientkiewicz, 32, didn't play after July 31 last season due to a lower back strain. Hillenbrand, 31, offers less on-base proficiency and defensive skill, but more power.

I've been hearing this Minkster-to-the-Yanks rumor a lot lately. If they don't get him, they still could get Hillenbrand. And I saw another article saying the Yanks are looking at Loretta to play first.

George, George, George. No matter how many ex-Red Sox you get, it's never going to get you that 2004 championship. It's over and done with. You choked. Not the Red Sox, the New York Yankees. Are you trying to find the "next Babe Ruth"? The guy who will come over to your side and give you the next 26 championships while we win none? You think that's going to happen again? (No, not "Do you want that to happen again?") Damon didn't bring you to the promised land and he's only getting older. You're never gonna find the next Babe because there isn't one. You try to find the next Nirvana, you end up with Candlebox.

Joe Perry is excited about Daisuke. So we got that goin' for us. No word on how the bass player from Showcase Showdown feels on the matter yet.

Did you know Steinbrenner wants to give Gooden another chance? When does it end with that guy?

Speaking of Doctor coKe, I watched a lot of Game 6 last night on the Mets' channel (the game, not the movie). Some people can't watch that game. I can--and I root just as hard for the Red Sox when I see it now as I did when it happened. Besides, when else am I gonna get to see Barrett, Rice, Evans, and Gedman playing baseball on my TV? It's like transporting myself to the 80s. I think I'm drawn to old Sox games because of that. For most of my life, any "classic" Sox games would end up sad, but I'd still watch, at least the non-painful parts. Especially if it was winter at the time.

Last night, I watched up until there were two outs in the ninth. (God, the way Rice and Hendu catch those two fly balls in tip-toe fashion, one step away from getting to the end of a tightrope over a decades-long canyon. They can see and feel it, but they would never get there. So sad for those guys, still.) Then I switched over to the nearest channel. It happened to be Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Trezel Tarts!

Update: Barbera is dead. Lots of fun in front of the TV because of him. Check out this article about it. Is that the worst headline of all-time or what? It's like reading a Middle School newspaper. And look at the line at the bottom, starting with the word "Basically." What gives, Orlando Sentinel? (Oh, it's the "blog" section of the paper. I guess that explains it.)

[Note: Video is gone thanks to YouTube closing my old account. Maybe someday I'll get it back up. Most of my vids are back up, though.]

This is a pretty good anti-drug commercial from 1987. Nice effects. I like how they always show "drugs" as a variety of different things. As if this kid just sits there choosing a different drug each day like they were candy bars.

The beginning of the clip after that is one of Phil Rizzuto's classic Money Store commercials. I'll never forget the percentage rates at The Money Store: first it was 7 1/2 percent (that's right, 7 1/2 percent!). Then it was 8 1/2. It got as high at "9 and a quawta pa-sent!" ANd I believe it eventually went down to 6 3/4. I didn't know what these rates meant as a kid, and I don't know now. Surely tri-state area people will remember these ads. What an incredible actor that Scooter was.

I can't even imagine how they came up with the "plot" of the one you see the beginning of here. Was there really a dinner that Phil actually attended? Did he bring Cora? And Bill White? And "Seava"? Or did they just come across some stock footage of a car going down the FDR drive in fast-motion, and decide they'd need Phil to "get somewhere," and have him get into his car? But why have him be late? Oh, right, because the footage was sped up. Were we to believe Phil drives at these manic speeds? Or only when there's an important event on the horizon, such as The Money Store's 25th anniversary dinner?

As you can see, many of my chilhood questions remain unanswered. But I never took drugs. (I do like the smell of those markers, though.)

[If you're looking for Dick in a Box, click here.]

From Ian Browne's current "mailbag" on redsox.com:

I am planning on going to Spring Training. I would like to know what the date is of the first day of Spring Training.
-- Dave O., New Bedford, Mass.

Is this fishy to anyone else? This guy is internet-savvy enough to know how to get to Ian Browne's mailbag on redsox.com, but doesn't know when spring training starts? To know how to get to the mailbag, you must be pretty familiar with the team site. Did he not see the headlines? "Spring Training Info HERE". "Spring Training HUGE Deal Nowadays". "Get Your Spring Training Tickets By Clicking Here, This Means You, Dave O., We Know You Want To Come Down".

I mean, my god, look at your tickets, man. The date of the game you're going to should be provided, possibly toward the top of the ticket. Possibly in bold print. Maybe a good answer to this would start, "Dude, if you don't know..."

Okay, maybe he just wanted the actual date when players start arriving. (Again, it's reported ad nauseum on the very site where he found the mailbag and figured out how to send in his question.) But even in that case, does the guy just go down to check out the workouts? The pitcher covering first over and over? And he was waiting, hoping against hope that his question, one of thousands, I'm sure, gets answered soon enough for him to book hotel and airline reservations?

Doesn't make sense. Either way, it's good to see something online about New Bedford that doesn't involve shooting up a bar. Maybe the town board paid off Ian Browne to let the world see that there are some very, very innocent people in New Beige.

Now on to the next question. Billy Q. from Waco, Texas writes...

[Update, 12/19: I had looked at the Yankees' mailbag to see if the "spring training guy" had been planted in all the mailbags. Nothing there, but then I came across this by chance when doing a news search. From Phillies.com:

When do the Phillies arrive at Bright House Networks Field and start playing Spring Training games?
-- Robert B., Carbondale, Pa., and Largo, Fla.

Oh! Getting creative with the town names over there. "It must be a real letter! Who would say they're from two towns unless they really were?" And I like how this perfectly real person conveniently mentioned the exact, full name of the park. That really worked out for the Phils.]

Inside the 96th Street subway station. Click on each pic to improve your witnessing experience. Today, I had planned to get my niece a Christmas present which could only be obtained at a certain store at South Street Seaport. But I heard they were allowing the public to sign the first beam of the Freedom Tower (I'm not a big fan of that name), which goes into the ground this week, so I went there as well. Here are some pictures from my journey.

You'll notice what's left of Fiterman Hall is still standing. I've talked about this building before, after my March trip to Ground Zero. The Deutsche Bank building is also still up, but supposedly both will come down soon.

People signing and reading the beam. They had a time before this for victims' family members to sign. I walked all around Ground Zero before I finally saw a little sign on a random door saying the beam would be a few blocks up from there.

Here's what I wrote. Since it would certainly appear that mystery person, aka my girlfriend, and I will be Red Sox fans forever, this should ensure this new building will stand that long. I tried to be respectful to the other people there, writing my thing small as to not take up too much space, and taking my picture quickly, so others could get their message in. Of course, these will all be hidden soon. But it's be cool to know that we'll be a permanent part of New York City.

And this way, if any of the more heartless Yankee fans out there are rooting for me to stop being a Sox fan, then they're rooting for the Freedom Tower to fall. I'm talking about people like the guy who
commented here recently, when I mentioned the Sean Bell killing. Here's what he wrote:

I heard that the unarmed man was wearing a Bo Sox cap though...maybe the pro test has to do with not enough shots being fired then!

Yeah, a hole like that would have no problem rooting for terrorism. Or thinking "protest" is two words.

Anyway, it was kind of sad to see some people holding hands in some type of prayer circle, and reading the other notes written by family members.

Inside the Winter Garden, looking out the window at Ground Zero.



More shots from inside the Winter Garden. When you go around Ground Zero, you end up passing through here. Those are real palm trees! (I've actually seen another palm tree in New York--outside some random apartment building in the 30s or 40s, I think.)

A Ground Zero shot I didn't get last time: from the northwest corner, looking south.

It was such a nice day for December, I was able to casually make my down the west side, taking the long way, basically around the southern tip of Manhattan, over to South Street Seaport on the east side. The sun was so bright, it was hard to get shots of Miss L. No matter how far I walked or how long I waited, it seemed like that sun was right over her head, making it almost impossible to get what would've been great shots.

This seemed like a throwaway, but then I thought about how cool it is that Statchie McGee's shape is recognizable, even when blurred and far away. This is from Battery Park.

Something about this struck me, the way that tiny stand is in front of the endless row of tall buildings. This pic is taken from the spot where I once got a shot of a big number 6 with a sunset behind it, only this one is facing back toward the city.

The Stock Exchange likes to get all Christmas-ed up, so no one will think about the people inside methodically slaughtering ol' Moms & Pops everywhere.

At one point a woman standing on the sidewalk made me take a little detour or else I'd be "in frame." That's right, folks, it was the daily occurrence of something being filmed in the city. I walked along side the action: people rubbing a car with a towel non-stop, while others waited for direction. I asked the third dude to remind me not to use my flash what was going on. He said it was a Chevrolet (?) commercial. When they called for action, a bunch of men started taking off their shirts and dancing around to some song. I think it's supposed to be funny, as one man is clearly out of shape at the right. So, look for that commercial, I guess.

What is this? I'll assume it's a tribute to Ted Williams until someone tells me otherwise...

The Brooklyn Bridge from South Street Seaport.

And another shot of the bridge, with the rare direct side view of the west tower. The granite used to build the bridge came from just south of Augusta, Maine. Brooklyn, now one of the five boroughs of New York City, was its own city until 15 years after the bridge's 1883 opening. And those are your fun facts for today.

Sun setting near Statue of Liberty. You can actually see a little part of the pink ball that gives us life (but, ironically, will ultimately destroy us). The sun appears to set in the south here, because of the fact that Manhattan actually runs northeast to southwest, plus the fact that it's about to turn to winter here in the northern, or awesomest (to second-awesomest), hemisphere, meaning the sun sets as far to the south as it ever does.

Lower Manhattan, just to the right of the shot above it. You can also see Lady Liberty in this one if you look closely.

This whole area I walked around today is so different than anywhere else in Manhattan. This was the orignal New York, before they (smartly) covered the rest of Manhattan with a nice, neat grid. But down there you get the skinny, curvy, hilly, sometimes cobblestone streets. Those combined with the seaport make it a lot like that whole Quincy Market area of Boston.

Then I got home and saw that L-girl was doing anagrams, so I joined in. She was looking for one for her blog's name, "We Move To Canada." I came up with a pretty gold one: "A. Wood: A VT menace." (Her partner's name is A. Wood and he's from Vermont. You know him better as redsock or The Joy of Sox.)

Bonus coverage: My dad took this shot when my parents were in Hawaii. It was still on the camera, which I'm borrowing from him, so I thought I'd post it. Nice job!


FIN

I saw this on SNL last night. Samberg with host Justin Timberlake. This and the last one that Timberlake hosted were really funny episodes. Last night, he reprised the "Omeletville" guy, as well as doing the "Barry Gibb Talk Show skit with Jimmy Fallon again. Some of the weirdest people end up being awesome at hosting that show. The Rock, Alec Baldwin, Bob Dole... people you wouldn't expect to have a sense of humor.

Update: I guess I'll put the name of the clip in this post so people can find it here when searching it. It's Dick in a Box.

Yesterday seemed like some kind of secret ticket sale at redsox.com. Did you notice? Have you been following my teachings?

All the single games that went on sale last Saturday had more tix to grab yesterday. That whole first week, right up through the weekend had lots available, and now that we've got Dice "I'm not Alice, I'm" K, I decided to pretty much guarantee myself I'd see his first start at Fenway. (Unless he pitches Opening Day, in which case I'll see his second start.) Then again, I could win the Opening Day lottery or something.