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Gentlemen: Because of a "misunderstanding"
by Brother Magpie about who was to do the newsletter this week –– we will
take him at face value on this –– there will not be a guest column for
your enjoyment this week, and we will revise our schedule of guest
authorship as follows:
Week 22 (next week) Tricko
Week 23 Stretch/B.T.
Week 24 SloPay
Week 25 Skipper
Week 26 Skipper
But as long as I have your attention, here are the standings through 21
weeks:
STANDINGS THROUGH AUGUST 29,
WEEK 21
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1. |
Wahoos |
8097.0 |
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2. |
Redbirds |
7967.0 |
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3. |
Skipjacks |
7942.5 |
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4. |
Senators |
7852.0 |
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5. |
Tigers |
7841.5 |
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6. |
Reds |
7591.0 |
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7. |
Irates |
7291.0 |
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8. |
Cubs* |
7212.0 |
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9. |
Bombers |
7153.5 |
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10. |
Chiefs |
7079.0 |
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11. |
Blues |
6940.0 |
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12. |
Tribe |
5305.5 |
And the weekly point totals for last week:
WEEK 21 POINT TOTALS
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1. |
Wahoos |
489.0 |
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2. |
Redbirds |
470.5 |
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3. |
Irates |
463.5 |
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4. |
Cubs* |
402.0 |
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5. |
Reds |
400.0 |
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6. |
Senators |
393.0 |
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7. |
Tigers |
383.5 |
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8. |
Skipjacks |
373.5 |
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9. |
Chiefs |
350.0 |
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10. |
Blues |
320.0 |
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11. |
Bombers |
282.0 |
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12. |
Tribe |
190.0 |
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AND MORE
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We are posting this week an updated and
corrected summary of the Hot Stove League trips, beginning in 1985 and
running through this year’s trip to San Diego. The running total is
now 20 trips, 19 cities, 23 ballparks, 27
teams, and 50 games, including the 1998 All-Star Game in
Denver. Wow. What a record! [Linda's note: The revised
summary will be posted on Friday. I forgot the revisions at the
office.] |
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Who can guess the three major league
teams that we have not yet seen play on an official HSL trip? Hint:
Two of these teams are in the National League, and one of them is in
the American League. Post a message on the Message Board if you have a
guess. |
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As aforesaid, our Hot Stove League
sojourns have now taken us to nineteen different cities to view
baseball. The nine current major league cities that remain on our list
are: Miami (maybe when they replace Joe Robbie with a real baseball
park); Minneapolis (I’m never going back to the Baggie Dome); Montreal
(soon to be removed from the menu); Oakland; Philadelphia; Phoenix;
San Francisco; Seattle; and Tampa Bay (never, ever, again). There is
talk about heading to the City of Brotherly Love for next year’s trip,
which would be great, but one of these years we need to think about a
San Francisco/Oakland/Seattle triad. If it’s logistically doable, this
would be a pretty awesome trio of ballparks to hit on one trip.
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I think most of us agree that PETCO Park
really grew on us as our weekend in San Diego progressed, and that
while we did not have our socks blown off by our initial walk-up to
the stadium, the more we saw of it, the more we liked it. Personally,
I am still trying to figure out where Bark Park fits in my ranking of
the thirty current stadiums. I jotted down a new list of rankings
during our flight home, and am now in the process of fine-tuning it.
PETCO does not crack the top five, but I am pretty sure it will end up
in my top ten. I know you will all be breathlessly waiting to find
out. |
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Lastly, let me provide my ringing
endorsement for the terrific book The Teammates by David
Halberstam, which explores the relationship between Red Sox teammates
Ted Williams, Dom DiMaggio, Johnny Pesky and Bobby Doerr. It is a
short, fast, and very entertaining read. My favorite story in the book
is about an event that happened in the mid-1950s when Pedro Ramos, a
rookie pitcher with the Washington Senators, struck out Ted Williams,
which was a large moment for Ramos. As the story goes:
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He rolled the ball into the dugout to
save, and later, after the game, the Cuban right-hander ventured into
the Boston dugout with the ball and asked Ted to sign it. Mel Parnell
was watching and had expected an immediate explosion, Ted being asked
to sign a ball he had struck out on, and he was not disappointed. Soon
there was a rising bellow of blasphemy from Williams, and then he had
looked over and seen Ramos, a kid of 20 or 21, terribly close to tears
now. Suddenly Ted had softened and said, "Oh, all right. Give me the
goddamned ball," and had signed it. Then about two weeks later he had
come up against Ramos again and hit a tremendous home run, and as he
rounded first, he had slowed down just a bit and yelled to Ramos,
"I’ll sign that sonofabitch, too, if you can ever find it."
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Anyway, this is required reading for the
Hot Stove League. You will love it. |
Skipper
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