Category: Baseball

Willie and Monte: Game Called. A New York Kid Remembers

Willie and Monte: Game Called. A New York Kid Remembers

I greeted Monte Irvin at the bar: "Hullo, Number Twenty!" Monte said, "You remember!?" "I yelled hello at you from the outfield stands in the Polo Grounds forty years ago. You hit one out. I rooted for you even more than Twenty-four." (That was Willie). He laughed and said, "Yeah, but he lasted longer." "Maybe so," I said, "but the word was, you got more dates."  Odd how some memories come flooding back. I loved those guys.

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Nats Win! Washington Baseball for New Generations. It’s 1924 Again

Nats Win! Washington Baseball for New Generations. It’s 1924 Again

The great­est thing about the 2019 Nats is that base­ball is again span­ning the gen­er­a­tions in Washington.

Think about it. New York, Philadel­phia, Boston, Chica­go ben­e­fit from six gen­er­a­tions of unin­ter­rupt­ed base­ball. Pitts­burgh, St. Louis, Cleve­land, Detroit—the list goes on. Atlanta, Los Ange­les and Hous­ton have had half a cen­tu­ry or more to build a fol­low­ing: fathers and sons, par­ents and kids. Alas, Wash­ing­ton was with­out base­ball thir­ty-four years. In 1971, the expan­sion Sen­a­tors left for Texas; in 2005, the Mon­tre­al Expos became the Nation­als. A beau­ti­ful ball­park revived a decrepit area of the city, which now resem­bles Wrigleyville in Chicago.…

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God is a Nats Fan: A Kid from New York Remembers

God is a Nats Fan: A Kid from New York Remembers

“God is a Nats Fan” first appeared in The Amer­i­can Spec­ta­tor on 21 Octo­ber 2019. Scroll down to the com­ments for emails with fel­low fanat­ics as the 2019 World Series unfolds.

Yankee Stadium, 1958

When Wash­ing­ton was in town, the drill was always the same: 15¢ for a bus to the Stat­en Island Fer­ry. A nick­el fer­ry ride and 15¢ more for the BMT to Wood­lawn and Jerome Avenues. As the sub­way erupt­ed into sun­light from the bow­els of the Bronx, this kid wear­ing his navy blue hat with its white “W” would con­front the Citadel of Base­ball, proud and aus­tere with its eagle logos, bristling with pen­nants.…

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“If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster”: Charles Krauthammer 1950-2018

“If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster”: Charles Krauthammer 1950-2018

“CK,” Churchillian

The best edi­tor I ever had wrote: “There is noth­ing to be said when a friend dies, even among peo­ple whose trade is words.” Much nev­er­the­less is being said about Charles Krautham­mer. That is fit­ting, and it is what we have the Inter­net for. (Some of the most touch­ing trib­utes are linked below. Fox News pro­duced a very fine trib­ute, “Krautham­mer in His Own Words” click here.)

My edi­tor meant, rather, that for some, words are inad­e­quate against “a big, emp­ty hole where there was once some­one you loved. And all the talk in the world won’t change that.…

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Sir Winston Churchill spoke about baseball? Yes, that too…

Sir Winston Churchill spoke about baseball? Yes, that too…

A cor­re­spon­dent and fel­low devo­tee of the game asks if Sir Win­ston had any­thing to say about Amer­i­can base­ball. Out of fif­teen mil­lion words over nine­ty years? Of course he did!

It may seem odd, since base­ball is not an Eng­lish sport, and its clos­est coun­ter­part over there is rounders. But—ever obe­di­ent to the whims of Churchillians—I offer what he had to say on the matter.

The inter­est­ing pho­to above accom­pa­nied a nice arti­cle, “Churchill on Base­ball,” by Christo­pher Schwarz, which I pub­lished  a few years ago in Finest Hour 163. I sup­plied the fol­low­ing Churchill quotes as a side­bar to Mr.…

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Baseball 2018: But Some of Us Still Remember When….

Baseball 2018: But Some of Us Still Remember When….

“Remem­ber When” was first pub­lished in The Amer­i­can Spec­ta­tor, 18 April 2018.

On the first day of April, a spoof flashed around social media. In hon­or of East­er, all thir­ty Major League Base­ball teams would be wear­ing jer­seys in East­er egg pas­tel col­ors. April Fool! The day dawned, and the teams all wore their nor­mal uni­forms. The cul­prit, Chris Cream­er of SportsLogos.net, said it was all in fun.

Chris’s joke gained cre­dence thanks to MLB’s habit of com­mem­o­rat­ing every­thing from pet dogs to “our troops.” (“Pups in the Park,” who’s gonna clean up that mess?…

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Ty Cobb: Inconvenient Truths

Ty Cobb: Inconvenient Truths

Leerhsen set out with the typical view of Ty Cobb, only to encounter scores of inconvenient truths missed or ignored by earlier biographers, whose work inspired the sick portrait in Ken Burns's documentary, Baseball. Cobb was no saint—Leerhsen documents his flaming temper and readiness for brawls—but most of the other allegations are either vastly exaggerated or demonstrably false. Cobb was 180 degrees from the popular image of a racist, murdering, spike-flying, child-hating misanthrope, who steamed stamps off the envelopes kids sent him for his autograph.

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Washington Nationals: Wait Till Next Year

Washington Nationals: Wait Till Next Year

After playing doormat to the National League East for ages; after blowing a sure Division Series in 2012, we all expected our Washington Nationals to put a stamp on the 90th anniversary of 1924—the last year Washington won the World Series. Why it didn't happen...

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Ryan Zimmerman and the Curse of the Goose

Ryan Zimmerman and the Curse of the Goose

On 23 June 2014 Washington Nationals star third baseman Ryan Zimmerman went out with a hamstring injury that may sideline him for the rest of the season. The effect on the team's play was astonishing. Postscript: he was soon back, and stayed on the roster until he retired in 2021. He was not Goose Goslin, however.

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Moe Berg: “Give My Regards to the Catcher” —Franklin Roosevelt

Moe Berg: “Give My Regards to the Catcher” —Franklin Roosevelt

Who was Moe Berg? Merely a major baseball league catcher who spoke fifteen languages and spied for his country in World War II. He has no brass plaque at the Baseball Hall of Fame, but they display his Medal of Merit.

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