Tuesday, October 28, 2008
In Hartford? Want A Wet Book?
Some of the worst possible weather will be hitting the Hartford area today. Rain, cold, winds up to 50 MPH. So we will appreciate it even more if you head over to the West Hartford Library to see my mom and I. We'll be speaking/reading/signing copies of Dirty Water at 7 PM Tuesday. More details here.
Of course, I will have to stop at the site of the Hartford Ball Club Grounds, which I mentioned recently. But there was also a minor league park in Hartford, Bulkeley Stadium, which was around from '21 to '52. After a long search, I found a site that told me it was on Hanmer Street. From a picture of the plaque marking the park's location, I surmised the building in the background was the one you see below: (zoom in to the A, and look just to the left, at the giant, white, Greatest American Hero logo-looking structure.)
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You can tell by those pointy roofs. I even figured out where the plaque was. Go to the far left of the building, and keep going left--right on the corner, before you reach the street. That's the spot. Tomorrow I'll draw a footprint, but it'll be a guess--though I figure the plaque is near where home plate was.
As for this World Series--Jee-zus. We flipped it on, saw all the rain, and I'm telling Kim, "the Phillies need to get out of this. The game's official. Keep the lead and you win the World Series. God, I was rooting for it to end that way, after we had to watch the Rays not move out of the way of our pitches, and benefit from every lousy call in the ALCS. Shortly after McCarver and Buck talked about how the Rays were being "robbed of their game" (by Mother Nature! She's a burglar now!), the stupid Phils let Upton steal second with two outs, and then gave up a hit. Game tied. And MLB, looking to get the series back to Tampa, brings out the tarp. So shady. Then they call it. Game to resume at some point. Doesn't look good for tomorrow, and I've heard from a completely unreliable source it will resume Wednesday at 1:45. Whenever it is, wrap it up, Phillies!
Of course, I will have to stop at the site of the Hartford Ball Club Grounds, which I mentioned recently. But there was also a minor league park in Hartford, Bulkeley Stadium, which was around from '21 to '52. After a long search, I found a site that told me it was on Hanmer Street. From a picture of the plaque marking the park's location, I surmised the building in the background was the one you see below: (zoom in to the A, and look just to the left, at the giant, white, Greatest American Hero logo-looking structure.)
View Larger Map
You can tell by those pointy roofs. I even figured out where the plaque was. Go to the far left of the building, and keep going left--right on the corner, before you reach the street. That's the spot. Tomorrow I'll draw a footprint, but it'll be a guess--though I figure the plaque is near where home plate was.
As for this World Series--Jee-zus. We flipped it on, saw all the rain, and I'm telling Kim, "the Phillies need to get out of this. The game's official. Keep the lead and you win the World Series. God, I was rooting for it to end that way, after we had to watch the Rays not move out of the way of our pitches, and benefit from every lousy call in the ALCS. Shortly after McCarver and Buck talked about how the Rays were being "robbed of their game" (by Mother Nature! She's a burglar now!), the stupid Phils let Upton steal second with two outs, and then gave up a hit. Game tied. And MLB, looking to get the series back to Tampa, brings out the tarp. So shady. Then they call it. Game to resume at some point. Doesn't look good for tomorrow, and I've heard from a completely unreliable source it will resume Wednesday at 1:45. Whenever it is, wrap it up, Phillies!
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I'm with you.
Go Phillies!
I was kind of glad to see the Rays tie the game, tho. I thought that game needed to be stopped but knew there was no way in hell they would do so with the whole series on the line. I didn't hear the quotes from Selig about not shortening a Series game until this morning, but I just knew he wouldn't let the series end on a shortened game. I had been watching since I got home in the 3rd inning and kept telling Cathy that they needed to stop the game before they the 5th. When they passed that mark I called my son and said "They're screwed now. They HAVE to keep playing unless Tampa ties it. Then they can stop it and continue later". I didn't know that Bud had already decided trhey would complete the game no matter what. I also didn't know they had changed the rule about reverting to the end of the last inning. If not for that they still would have had to finish the 6th still in a tie before they could have stopped it. By rule that is. This morning it appears that Bud had already decided to forget the rules, they would finsh the game no matter what.
Regardless - GO PHILLIES!
(he says with almost NO enthusiasm)
Go Phillies!
I was kind of glad to see the Rays tie the game, tho. I thought that game needed to be stopped but knew there was no way in hell they would do so with the whole series on the line. I didn't hear the quotes from Selig about not shortening a Series game until this morning, but I just knew he wouldn't let the series end on a shortened game. I had been watching since I got home in the 3rd inning and kept telling Cathy that they needed to stop the game before they the 5th. When they passed that mark I called my son and said "They're screwed now. They HAVE to keep playing unless Tampa ties it. Then they can stop it and continue later". I didn't know that Bud had already decided trhey would complete the game no matter what. I also didn't know they had changed the rule about reverting to the end of the last inning. If not for that they still would have had to finish the 6th still in a tie before they could have stopped it. By rule that is. This morning it appears that Bud had already decided to forget the rules, they would finsh the game no matter what.
Regardless - GO PHILLIES!
(he says with almost NO enthusiasm)
There's absolutely no way that MLB would ever declare a World Series game official and end it after only 5 1/2 innings, particularly not the elimination game. Nor should they; it wouldn't be fair to either team.
Which is not to say that MLB didn't completely screw up in about 5 other ways last night. For one thing, they knew just what a dire weather forecast it was for later in the evening, so they should have thrown Fox's bullshit 8:37pm start time out the window, and kicked things off right at 8pm instead. The even more ridiculous thing was playing the top of the 6th knowing that they were going to have to stop play at some point regardless. The rain was coming down far too hard by that point...it was pretty clear that Cole Hamels was having major trouble gripping the baseball and controlling his pitches. I'd be very pissed about that if I were a Phillies fan. On the other hand, the home plate ump was completely screwing over Kazmir with some god-awful calls earlier in the game, which led to at least one of the Phils' runs.
It will be interesting to see how the teams re-schedule the pitching for the balance of the Series. I guess now Hamels will likely be available for a game 7. If I were Maddon, I might let Price pitch the next three innings of game 5.
Which is not to say that MLB didn't completely screw up in about 5 other ways last night. For one thing, they knew just what a dire weather forecast it was for later in the evening, so they should have thrown Fox's bullshit 8:37pm start time out the window, and kicked things off right at 8pm instead. The even more ridiculous thing was playing the top of the 6th knowing that they were going to have to stop play at some point regardless. The rain was coming down far too hard by that point...it was pretty clear that Cole Hamels was having major trouble gripping the baseball and controlling his pitches. I'd be very pissed about that if I were a Phillies fan. On the other hand, the home plate ump was completely screwing over Kazmir with some god-awful calls earlier in the game, which led to at least one of the Phils' runs.
It will be interesting to see how the teams re-schedule the pitching for the balance of the Series. I guess now Hamels will likely be available for a game 7. If I were Maddon, I might let Price pitch the next three innings of game 5.
It is official, by the way, no game until at least Wednesday. My "source" was somewhat right.
Like Buck said, though, there's no special rule for the WS. A game's official or it isn't based on the rules of baseball. If they hadn't scored, either the WS is over now, or, they just kept playing despite the rain in an attempt to be "fair," though you're right, they shouldn't have been playing in the first place.
I totally want to drive down to Philly tomorrow and see the Phils clinch. Am on the lookout for cheap tix.
Like Buck said, though, there's no special rule for the WS. A game's official or it isn't based on the rules of baseball. If they hadn't scored, either the WS is over now, or, they just kept playing despite the rain in an attempt to be "fair," though you're right, they shouldn't have been playing in the first place.
I totally want to drive down to Philly tomorrow and see the Phils clinch. Am on the lookout for cheap tix.
I should have been more precise; yes, technically this became an official game, but there's no way the umps or MLB would ever declare a WS game over after five innings. There's no rule or obligation that forces them to do so; a rain delay can last as long as long as they want it to. The 'official game' definition just provides the umps with a framework. It makes sense to utilize it during the regular season, when there's only a limited amount of calendar flexibility to complete the schedule. But during the WS obviously the greater priority is playing all games to at least nine innings. To further expound upon the 'fairness' comment, consider if the umps had called the game over and awarded the WS to the Phils. It would have been unfair to TB for obvious reasons, but it would have also been unfair to the Phillies and their fans to not even get to celebrate the final out on the field....it certainly would have been anti-climatic and unsatisfying to be handed a championship in that fashion. I certainly wouldn't want that for the Sox.
AJM - Good point about the celebration. I hadn't even thought about that. That would indeed have been very chintzy. After all, some of our most enduring images of the W-S victories are those of Bot in his goggles and the bedlam at the mound when the last out was made in 04.
If I was more than a temporary Phillies fan I would be very PO'ed that they kept playing in that crap long enough for TB to tie it. The game should have been stopped in the 3rd or 4th, or maybe not even started. I wasn't home for the first 2 or 3 innings so I don't know what it was like at 1st pitch.
Oh well, I stated before, somewhere, that I always watch the series regardless of who's playing because there is always "stuff" that happens, and in the series that "stuff" is more historic - gimpy home runs, curving barely fair homeruns, balls thru legs, bloody socks, etc.
I guess this year it's the "slip and slide game"
If I was more than a temporary Phillies fan I would be very PO'ed that they kept playing in that crap long enough for TB to tie it. The game should have been stopped in the 3rd or 4th, or maybe not even started. I wasn't home for the first 2 or 3 innings so I don't know what it was like at 1st pitch.
Oh well, I stated before, somewhere, that I always watch the series regardless of who's playing because there is always "stuff" that happens, and in the series that "stuff" is more historic - gimpy home runs, curving barely fair homeruns, balls thru legs, bloody socks, etc.
I guess this year it's the "slip and slide game"
You know what would be a good ballpark to look for? The one(s?) that housed the Providence Grays! Which, contrary to what you would expect, were actually a national league team in the 1800s.
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