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Spring Break Training PART I |
Spring Break Training PART II |
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SABRES, PENS, SHOTGUNS & METS |
BILL BUCKNER WAS INNOCENT |
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West Coast Craig
Posts:121
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| 06-23-2008 - SelecA - |
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COOPERSTOWN, NY. Last weekend, when I mentioned Bo Diddley’s passing, I left out another passing that I probably should’ve ran with…if I’d been truly aware of how it came about. Los Angeles is a long way from where I grew up, in Oneonta, New York…which is a hop and a skip away from Doubleday Field in Cooperstown. Since 1939, to draw some attention to the Hall of Fame inductions, Major League Baseball has staged the annual Hall of Fame Game between two Big League teams in this idyllic, pastoral burg on Otsego Lake where the game was supposedly invented. The fact that it absolutely wasn’t, that Abner Doubleday spent about as much time here as he did on the moon, hasn’t ever dampened the enthusiasm for baseball or the synonymous association the town has with it. So it was a terrible blow to the area’s psyche when the MLB and the Player’s Association announced in January that this would be the last year of the Hall of Fame game. Now Doubleday Field isn’t exactly Fenway Park—it seats 9,571 and I’ve seen high school fields that are technically nicer—but it does have some amazing history thanks to this game. Kicking dirt from their spikes in these batters boxes is a list that includes Hank Aaron, Jackie Robinson, Roberto Clemente, Babe Ruth, Hank Greenberg, Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, Brooks Robinson, Mike Schmidt, Ozzie Smith, Duke Snyder, Willie Stargell, and Carl Yastrzemski, to name a few. Ken Griffey Jr. took his sweet swings here twice, as a Mariner and a Red. It was a big deal for kids today, definitely when I was a kid, just as it was when our parents were kids. My buddy’s mom has a Ted Williams autograph from this game from when she was a little girl.
Now, that said, it’s true that the game is a logistical nightmare for major league teams…the nearest airport is in Albany, an hour and a half away (and by winding routes, no major turnpikes lead here). Lou Pinella made his displeasure loudly known last week about his Cubs having to travel from Toronto, through Cooperstown to face the Padres on what would’ve been a welcomed off day, and then straight down to Tampa Bay that night. New Cub Jim Edmonds, however, seemed to take it all well, lauding the great tour he got of the Hall of Fame (which makes one wonder just how few big leaguers could point to the HoF on a map, much less say they’ve ever been there). Pinella, like most managers of the last few decades, planned to stack his line-up with minor league call ups and let only a few of his stars hit once and then take a seat on the splintery bench for the rest. It’s safe to say that the players rarely gave 100%, if even half that…but baseball is baseball, right? It’s hard to imagine once the game started the competitive juices wouldn’t kick in at least a little. There’s an admirable, if doomed, effort to save the game (savethefamegame.com), though for every good reason there is (the best being, it’s simply awesome that two big league teams play in this little park for 10,000 fans who only paid $10 for the privilege), the list of reasons have a lot of reaches and gripes, like pointing out that this smells of a greedy money play. Well, duh—apart from maintaining such a great link to the past, there’s little to gain for MLB and the players themselves from partaking in this—but it’s hard to really argue the point when the very inception of the game was completely promotional in nature, all about hyping the new Hall of Fame and drawing tourists to a town they would never go near otherwise. Unfortunately, while the business of baseball has little to gain, the Hall of Fame Game is a huge economic boon to the area, and a lot of local organizations—from school clubs to senior groups—not to mention the businesses along Main Street, count on this weekend as much as they do the massively packed Hall of Fame induction weekend (which, until 2003, were one and the same).
So baseball had to dump the game, Cooperstown has to eat it…but Mother Nature had the last say, making sure her displeasure was known about the whole thing. The last Hall of Fame game was rained out, first by thunder showers…then by HAIL. In JUNE. While Sweet Lou headed back to Albany Airport ruing the lost day off at his St. Pete home near Tampa, and Jake Peavy suggested the team bus, and all the kids the families brought along, stop at the McDonald’s drive-thru in tiny cow town Cobleskill, the people of this beautiful little place went back about their lives…catering to the dozens of high priced baseball camps that have sprouted up around the outskirts over the last decade. Baseball will continue to thrive here, the promotions of 1939 cemented a lasting legacy and this place is a great caretaker of it. Doubleday Field, even if it isn’t the first place that the rules of our pastime were first put to paper, will continue to be there, playing host to semi-pro squads like the Milford Macs, or the occasional local minor league team like the nearby Oneonta Tigers (which still sounds weird to me, who grew up seeing the Oneonta Yankees—and youngsters like Don Mattingly and, for one season, a conflicted John Elway—play at nearby Damaschke Field. If you all wondered where the Staten Island Yankees came from, you stole them from Oneonta!), and maybe, just maybe, somebody will think of a way to bring big leaguers back someday. Of course, for a small fee, you too can play at Doubleday Field…but you’ll have to ask a certain Matt about that…..
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Bayside
Posts:227
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| 06-23-2008 - SelecA - |
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Not to steal the thunder from WWC's fine editorial but we've just learn George Carlin died. That's a big loss for all fans of his ribald and profane humor.
"Why do they lock gas station bathrooms? Are they afraid someone will clean them?" |
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Dude
Posts:528
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| 06-23-2008 - SelecA - |
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| nice nod bay, a sad day indeed. In his honor carlin's suggested rule changes to the major sports should be implemented for at least one game. These include for baseball: batter hit by pitch, batter out. landmines in the outfield. for football: leaving the injured on the field. for basketball: a 2 second shot clock and a ring of fire at midcourt. a sad day indeed, you will be missed george. |
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Sam's-a-fan
Posts:693
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| 06-23-2008 - SelecA - |
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| Sadly all the comics in the world have just moved up one spot. |
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TheMatts
Posts:1444
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| 06-23-2008 - SelecA - |
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| WCC: It is a tad difficult to get to C'Town but we feel it adds to the charm. One must traverse the scenic New York State countryside to get to the little gem of a town on the totally awesome Lake Otesaga - 8 miles round... We will be there next weekend, in fact, playing some ball on the hallowed/disputed grounds - disputed because Hoboken, NJ claims to be baseball's birthplace... Suffice to say, we'll be poking our noses into this controversy. |
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Janet
Posts:187
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| 06-23-2008 - SelecA - |
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| Why are all the public people I like passing away? John McKay, Tim Russert and now George Carlin... It just sucks... At least they didn't suffer and had good lives. We should all be so blessed. |
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ROY HOBBS ON STEROIDS??? |
MEAGHAN & JAKE: COOLEST FANS |
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Nobody Remembers The Loser |
Giant/Super Tuesday |
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MATTS-MATICS: Hockey Nuts Go At It |
See us on: "Law & Order" |
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MATT FACTS:
Chad Pennington is NOT a Brett Favre fan... Hillary Clinton and Don Nelson have never been seen in the same place... Jerry Manuel is not related to Charlie ManuelJerry Manuel is not related to Charlie Manuel... Somebody namd Michel coaches the Pittsburgh Penguins... Tiki Barber quit the Giants. The Giants then won the Super Bowl... The New England Patriots only lost ONE game out of 19!!! Aaron Heilman was actually funny in re to Eli and Plaxico Burress helping the Mets as a pitcher and outfielder, respectively. Repeat, Heilman was funny... Jessica Simpson would rather date Tom Brady - trust us... Eli Manning is better than Archie - now... Alyssa Milano is a Met fan. RRRRR... Rickey Henderson speaks in the 3rd Person... Shawn Green has big ears... Howard Johnson likes to stay at the Holiday Inn, ironically... Sandy Alomar, Sr. is the youngest of 9 kids. That's why he was quick around the dish. Jiminy Cricket was the Philly Phanatic in a previous life…Fred Wilpon is pals with Sandy Koufax... Mike Ditka is a really tough guy.. Buffalo has a Triple A baseball team. They are NOT called The Snowballs... Chan Ho Park has people thinking of naming a ballfield after him - it would be called Chan Ho Park Park... John Maine has never been, oddly enough, to Maine... Curt Gowdy, Jr. has never been to Yellow Knife, Canada... Kevin Mitchell played 6 positions for the Mets in '86 and, according to Doc Gooden's book, didn't like cats... John Olerud & Wayne Gretzky have never been seen in the same place... Kevin McReynolds now makes his living doing laugh tracks for sit-coms... Tony Gwynn is nearing 300 lbs... Carlos Beltran has Mercedes Benz dealerships named for him in Barcelona, Spain... Willie Montanez was called Guillermo by Lenny Randle... Rusty Staub beat Jeff Kent in a race – TODAY... Jay Horwitz is a dynamite Cricket players – somebody said... Jeff Wilpon was a decent minor league catcher... Ziggy Palfy lives in Slovakia and is a big Met fan... Superman Returns, yet still can’t hit Billy Wagner... David Wright will win the Triple Crown – on a horse... Omar Minaya is Tobey McGuire’s stunt-double in Spider Man 3... Hilary Clinton has Mr. Met pajamas – we think... Albert Einstein was a HUGE Met fan... The Metropolitan Opera House was named for the Mets after their 2nd season in ’63... Wally Backman, ’86 sparkplug, considered changing his name to Wally Back-Matt... Neil Allen and Mike Stanton, former Mets, have Allen & Stanton Streets on Lower East Side named for them.
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