All posts filed under: Baseball

Baseball in America (Academic Edition)

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I have found a place in America where February baseball lives! For the Presidents Day holiday, I’m in Southern California for Family Weekend at Claire’s college.  We’re new to this whole Parents/Family Weekend deal, but if today is any indication I could definitely get use to these trips! This morning, I visited two political science classes that were very interesting.  One compared the works of Luther and Calvin; the other focused on the U.S. Congress.  Claire joined me for lunch at her favorite dining hall  (most of her classes – of the science variety – weren’t open to parents).  But as she prepares for the conference championships this weekend for her swim team, I’ve found myself with choices for how to spend my time that are entirely up to me. Which takes me to Baseball in America. That’s the title of the class I attended after lunch.  It was a synopsis of a fall semester interdisciplinary class that was designed to introduce freshmen to the rigors of college-level writing.  Taught by a life-long Dodgers fan …

Best Month of Baseball – Ever!

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The period from September 28 – October 28, 2011 is already being proclaimed the  best month of baseball in the history of the game. But like the Greeks, who add two months that don’t exist to the calendar so they can pay workers higher wages and claim to stay within monthly pay limits, I want to add a few days and take the personal view that September 25th – October 28th is the best month of baseball – ever! I go back to the 25th of September, because that’s when our Washington Nationals wrapped up their own surprising September and closed out the home season with a thoroughly satisfying win over the Atlanta Braves.  On that day the Nats – rather than playing out the string – took the rubber game of a three game series from the Braves and did their part to help the World Champion St. Louis Cardinals even make it into the playoffs. Then of course, there was the ridiculous night of September 28th when within minutes of each other the …

World Series Game - October 25, 2019

Church of baseball: Part three

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This post…to follow-on the last two and last evening’s crazy night of baseball…will be even shorter. Joe Posnanski wrote one of the best columns about last evening’s games, baseball and life, that I’ve read in a long time.  Do yourself a favor — pull up a chair and read it.* It begins with this thought: “Baseball, like life, revolves around anticlimax. That, in many ways, is the beauty of it. I realize that’s a hard thing to explain to someone who doesn’t love baseball. No, more than hard, it’s an impossible thing to explain, because many people want sports to be more than life. They follow sports to jolt them out of the steady rhythms of the shriek of alarm clocks, the monotony of morning meetings, the rush to get the kids to soccer practice by 4 p.m. They want sports to be bigger than life. What’s the point, otherwise? There is nothing in baseball as jarring as a blind-side hit, as jaw-dropping as a perfect alley-oop, as tense and heart-pounding as a breakaway. And …

Church of Baseball – Part Two

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The River Styx and one chance in 278 million.  Baseball writers are amazing, but they go to a whole ‘nother level when you have nights like last evening. The baseball gods must have loved my last post, because we were all rewarded with the most improbable and dramatic final day of the season.  It was so incredible even Bud Selig couldn’t screw it up.  Three of the four games critical to the wild card races in each league were on our local cable system – conveniently located on channels 41, 42, and 43.  The only one we couldn’t watch was the least dramatic:  the Cards drubbing of the Astros.  But for five delicious hours, Candice and I sat by the television, switching between games almost on a pitch-by-pitch basis in the last two hours, to watch the monumental collapse of not one, but two proud franchises (Boston and Atlanta), and the incredible comeback of the Tampa Bay Rays from too many near-death experiences to count. Baseball writers will opine about this evening for some time …

The Church of Baseball

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“I believe in the Church of Baseball.” So begins Annie Savoy’s opening monologue in the movie Bull Durham.  And after going through all the religions she has tried, comparing baseball to sex, and talking about bad trades (“Who can forget Frank Robinson for Milt Pappas for God’s sake”) she ends up with: It’s a long season and you gotta trust. I’ve tried ’em all, I really have, and the only church that truly feeds the soul, day in, day out, is the Church of Baseball. Today I needed the Church of Baseball, and it didn’t fail me.  Oh, I did get up and go to the 8 a.m. service at my other church…especially since we were meeting our new rector after an interminable period of transition.  But I’ll freely admit that I went to the cathedral at Nationals Park today to feed the soul. The Nationals have been on a tear.  Heading in to the home finale, they had won 11 of 14, including sweeps on the road of the Mets and the Phillies.  Tom …

So How Did Your Summer Go?

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Shortly after Memorial Day I wrote a post entitled Got Plans for the Summer? where I outlined ten things I hoped to accomplish during the Summer of 2011.  Well, Labor Day is here – and we’ve reached the moment of reckoning. While I was not a perfect ten-for-ten, I can explain. 1.  Play more music with friends – It is bad when you come up short right out of the box, but this was one item where I failed miserably.  We had a very busy summer, and this one just got away from me.  Luckily, playing music with friends isn’t bound by season…so I’ll try and schedule some fall play dates. 2.  Summer in New England – Technically, this was completed.  I did spend two days in Portland, Maine in early June and I’ve just spent 8 days in New England…but it wasn’t the vacation we planned.  To cut to the chase, Candice fell when we came here to Providence to drop Andrew off at school and she’s been in the hospital this week dealing …

What’s wrong with sports

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Sports Illustrated had an online article this Friday that in one sentence encapsulates what’s wrong with the modern sports-entertainment complex. In writing that “It’s time to get rid of Wrigley,” Richard Rothschild quotes a Chicago Sun-Times columnist who says the following: “There’s still rust, the concourses still resemble dark alleys and people still have to elbow their way to their seats. … It’s a great park when you look at the field from your seat. It’s not so great on the way to and from your seat.” Isn’t the purpose of the ballpark to look at the field from your seat!?  Can I tell you how many BAD ballparks I’ve sat in where the view of the field was lousy; but hey, we have an arcade to distract the kids (they shouldn’t have to suffer and watch an entire game!), we offer a wide variety of sushi, and we have television screens in the bathrooms and team stores so you don’t really have to go sit in your seat. Jeez! Wrigley Field doesn’t need to …

Got Plans for the Summer?

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My colleague Sarah has a great blog that – like More to Come… – covers her range of interests outside of work.  So I was thrilled when I saw her recent post on top ten things to do this summer at the top of the “best blogs” on Word Press earlier today. Sarah took the idea from The Daily Post.  Her plans looked like such fun that I decided to try my hand at making a list that had an equal smile-inducing factor.  You can be the judge in determining if the DJB list for the summer of 2011 passes the test. 1.  Play more music with friends.  I’ve found a group of guys that I enjoy playing roots music with, but we tend to let it slide over the summer.  I get such joy out of playing with them that I’m going to work on getting everyone together between songwriting and guitar camps.  (Yes, these guys are good!) 2.  Summer in New England.  I’m cheating on this on as I was just in Portland, …

Play Ball!

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My iPod is a genius.  It always knows my moods. Today, as I was unlocking my office door and finishing up the commute to work, what do you think came on the iPod (in shuffle mode, of course)?  Why, none other than Wayne Henderson playing Take Me Out to the Ballgame. Opening Day!  What could be more perfect!! Wayne is a die-hard Red Sox fan, and I’ve included a photo I took of him at Merlefest a couple of years ago to prove it.  If you don’t know about Wayne, check out the book Clapton’s Guitar. I’ve also attached the video of Wayne playing Take Me Out to the Ballgame for all those fans supporting teams today where hope springs eternal.  Go Nats! Enjoy. More to come… DJB

Sign Adam Dunn

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I returned home last evening from the last “Back to School” night of my parenting career in time to catch the last half of a swiftly and beautifully played game between the Philadelphia Phillies, Champions of the National League East, and our home-standing Washington Nationals. There was great pitching between Roy Oswalt and Jason Marquis.  Rookie Danny Espinosa showed once again why he’s becoming a regular in the web gems highlights with a great pick and throw at second base. But the best was saved for last.  On a night when fans received a “Mr. Walk Off” T-Shirt with Ryan Zimmerman’s name down the arm (it was long-sleeved), Adam Dunn did the honors, with a blast as the first batter in the bottom of the ninth to break a 1-1 tie and send everybody home happy. Please tell me why it has taken the Nationals so long to figure out that Adam Dunn can be a great part of their future for the next 3 or more years?  He’s only second in home runs, has …