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Brethren:
WINTER
MEETING
SET
FOR
SATURDAY,
JANUARY
10, 7
P.M.
Let me
recap
for
you
the
responses
that I
have
received
to my
e-mail
about
holding
our
Winter
Meeting
on
Saturday,
January
10:
Big
Guy:
Unconditionally
in.
Screech:
Unconditionally
in.
Tricko:
Unconditionally
in.
Mouse:
Nonresponsive.
Art-FX
Shipping
Department
(U-Bob):
Unconditionally
in.
Itchie:
In on
the
condition
that
the
championship
apparel
include
a
Blues-monogrammed
jester’s
hat.
SloPay:
Irresponsible
and
unresponsive.
Shamu:
Unconditionally
in.
B.T.:
Conditionally
in
(the
condition
being
that
he is
sober
enough
after
the
NU-MU
hoops
game
that
afternoon).
Possum:
Conditionally
in
(conditions:
no
basketball
game
for
Tay
that
night;
that
Max
not
have a
cribbage
match
to
attend
and
cheer
on;
that
Tracy
not
force
him to
go to
some
snooty
neighborhood
holiday
party;
that
the
government
bailout
include
the
Bridges
Fund;
that
we
allow
him to
draft
first
next
year;
that
he has
had
time
to
take
down
the
Christmas
tree
and
box it
up,
that
all of
the
Christmas
lights
are
down
and
packed;
and
that
the
stars
are
aligned
and
the
moon
is in
the
7th
house)
Tirebiter:
Unconditionally
out
(curious
that
Patty
allows
him to
go on
a
two-week
Elmer
Fudd-like
moose
and
snipe-hunting
– make
that
observing
– trip
to the
mountains
of
Colorado
and
New
Mexico,
but he
can’t
get
away
for
one
night
with
the
boys).
Stretch:
IN
LIKE
FLINT!
So, we
are a
go for
Saturday,
January
10, in
Omaha,
Nebraska,
beginning
at
7:00
p.m.,
with
the
fervent
hope
that
we
will
eventually
hear
from
Mouse
and
SloPay
that
they
will
be in
attendance,
that
B.T.
will
behave
himself
at the
BOB,
and
that
Possum’s
17-point
check
list
of
conditions
will
be
satisfied.
I will
undertake
to
find a
suitable
location
for
our
Winter
Meeting
and
associated
shenanigans,
more
than
likely
a
steakhouse
in
West
Omaha
or
Downtown
Omaha,
but
not
Colton’s,
which
has
closed
its
doors
after
the
damage
wreaked
by the
Hot
Stove
League
in
2008.
BOOK
REVIEW:
THE
BRONX
IS
BURNING:
1977,
Baseball,
Politics,
and
the
Battle
for
the
Soul
of a
City
If
you
want
to
read a
truly
fascinating
book,
one
that
superbly
covers
the
Bermuda
Triangle
of
Reggie
Jackson,
Billy
Martin
and
George
Steinbrenner
during
the
tempestuous
baseball
season
of
1977,
structured
around
one of
the
most
fascinating
years
in the
history
of New
York
City,
then
The
Bronx
is
Burning
is for
you.
This
fantastic
read,
written
by
Jonathan
Mahler
of
Brooklyn,
was
the
framework
for
the
miniseries
of the
same
name
which
was on
television
last
year
or the
year
before.
I
bought
this
book
at the
airport
on my
way to
Seattle
the
week
before
last,
and
simply
could
not
put it
down,
finishing
it off
in two
days.
One of
the
reviews
for
this
book,
included
in the
book
jacket,
says
it
all:
Damon
Runyon,
where
are
you
now?
Mahler’s
rollicking
evocation
of New
York
in
1977
–– the
year
of Son
of
Sam,
the
year
of the
Blackout,
the
year
it
refuses
to
Drop
Dead,
the
year,
dammit,
the
Yankees
take
the
World
Series
–– is
full
of
Runyonesque
characterization,
energy,
and
biting
wit .
. .
.
The
bases
are
loaded
and
Mahler
smokes
it.
~Harold
Evans,
author
of
The
American
Reader
This
book
includes
the
fascinating
account
of the
1977
New
York
City
mayoral
race
between
the
incumbent
Abe
Beame,
Bella
Abzug,
eventual
winner
Ed
Koch,
and
Mario
Cuomo,
in a
classic
battle
for
Gracie
Mansion.
It
covers
the
city’s
crippling
fiscal
crisis.
It
provides
a
fascinating
account
of the
blackout
of
July
13,
1977,
caused
by a
lightning
strike
and
the
staggering
incompetence
of the
management
team
at Con
Edison.
It
provides
horrifying
details
of the
looting
which
ravaged
the
Bushwick
neighborhood
in
North
Brooklyn,
and
chronicles
many
of the
3,776
arrests
which
were
made
in the
aftermath
of the
blackout.
Mahler
expertly
recounts
the
terror
caused
by
mass
murderer
David
“Son
of
Sam”
Berkowitz,
and
his
eventual
capture
and
arrest.
It
relates
how
Mayor
Beame,
in an
effort
to
boost
his
popularity
during
the
heated
mayoral
race,
erroneously
reached
to
shake
the
hand
of
Berkowitz
during
a
prearranged
press
conference,
mistaking
him
for
the
brave
officer
who
captured
Son of
Sam.
Mahler’s
tour
de
force
covers
the
gentrification
of the
Soho
District,
the
birth
of
Studio
54,
and
the
phenomenon
of
“The
Summer
of Our
Discotheques.”
Probably
my
favorite
story
from
The
Bronx
is
Burning
is the
interviewing
of
Reggie
Jackson
after
Game 5
of the
American
League
Championship
game
against
the
Kansas
City
Royals
in
Kansas
City,
in
which
Reggie
Jackson
was
benched
for
Paul
Blair
because
of his
pathetic
hitting
performance
in the
first
four
games
of the
series,
and
the
prospect
of
facing
lefty
Paul
Splittorff
of the
Royals,
who
was
death
to
Jackson.
Before
the
game,
Billy
Martin
was
afraid
to
even
tell
Reggie
that
he was
benching
him,
and
instead
sent
Reggie’s
roommate
to
deliver
the
news.
Reggie
stewed
on the
bench
throughout
the
game
until
he was
called
to
pinch
hit in
the
top of
the
8th
for
Cliff
Johnson,
the
designated
hitter.
Coming
through
in the
clutch
as he
would
later
do in
the
World
Series
against
the
Dodgers,
Reggie
stroked
a
single
off
Royals
closer
Paul
Byrd,
knocking
in a
run to
close
the
gap to
one
run.
The
Yankees
eventually
took
the
lead
in the
top of
the
9th by
virtue
of
players
other
than
Reggie
Jackson,
and
held
on to
win
the
game.
In the
locker
room
after
the
game,
most
of the
reporters
surrounded
the
heroes
of the
game,
but a
couple
of
scribes
chose
to
talk
with
Reggie.
As
described
by
Mahler:
A few
lockers
away
Reggie
ended
his
short
lived
experiment
with
stoicism.
“Can I
explain
what
it
means?”,
referring
to his
bloop
single
in the
8th
inning
to a
few
writers.
“I
can’t
explain
it. I
can’t
explain
it
because
I
don’t
understand
the
magnitude
of
Reggie
Jackson.”
Now
that,
my
friends,
is an
ego.
That
statement
summed
up
Reggie
as
well
as
anything
could.
Anyway,
if you
haven’t
already
read
it, I
highly
recommend
The
Bronx
is
Burning
to all
of
you.
You
will
love
it.
That’s
it for
now.
Back
at you
in
December
or
early
January
with
more
details
about
our
Winter
Meeting.
Skipper
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