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A TWOFER
The title to this essay is a phonetic one as spoken by Americans. Its real derivation comes from baseball. If a hitter gets two hits in his four or five at-bats, he will announce that he had a “twofer.” (If he was hitless in his times at bat, he would mournfully say, “I had an…
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GIVING A (Insert Adjective) RAT’S ASS
In 1942, we were at war with the Axis powers of Germany, Italy, and Japan. In the summer of that year, I joined or enlisted in the American Army. During that period dating back to 1940, there was a draft system in place which compelled young men to submit to military discipline in, most likely,…
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O BEAUTIFUL FOR SPACIOUS SKIES
The week ending on October 8 was an eventful week which may have consequences for every American as we travel down the road toward prosperity. Three events took place, one involving a baseball decision and two others having local consequences. But let us deal first with the baseball decision. As you may be aware, the…
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THE BRAIN OF JUNIOR SEAU FINALLY REST IN PEACE
I am not an obsessive follower of professional football. The fact of the matter is that there are millions of other people who follow professional football stories with avid interest. As it turns out, there was a recent development having to do with one of the premier linebackers of recent memory. His name was Junior…
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MAYBE LILLIE WAS RIGHT ALL ALONG
The Lillie in the title of this essay is my mother, to whom you have been introduced before. Lillie was born in Pope County, Illinois on the banks of the Ohio River in a community called Lusk. It was not a town at all. It was simply a landing spot for the folks who traversed…
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TO GIVE ONE BIG FAT RAT’S ASS
Over the years I have been a big consumer of sports news. Specifically, I have followed the fortunes of the New York Mets and before that the St. Louis Cardinals. When the fall and the winter came, I followed some of the St. Louis college teams but after the war, I was much interested in…
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EIGHTY-FIVE YEARS
[Quick note from Kevin: We’re now officially foraying into 2011. Think I’d start with a piece or two written about one year ago exactly. Enjoy!] As I have reported to you on more than one occasion, my first memory of anything occurred in October of 1926. Prior to that time, the New York Yankees had…
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A FIVE-STAR QUINELLA
For a number of years, I have kept two dictating machines on a table near my desk. On the left side, there is a machine that I use to dictate what I hope is the final product for Mrs. Baker, the transcriber. On the right side, there is a machine that keeps notes for titles…
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THE REVERSE LAYAWAY PLAN AND OTHER INDIGNITIES
As I was showering this afternoon, some bizarre thoughts entered my mind. It is fairly clear to me now that as we advance into old age, a role reversal becomes more apparent. Let us take the example of major league baseball players who are performing at a plateau of considerable excellence. When that excellence begins…
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SO ENDETH THE LONG NIGHT
As you know, baseball is played largely in the summertime. The greediness of the owners has extended the baseball season until November arrives. I deplore all of that. But to get to the point of this monumental essay, it has been the better part of four or five months since a Major League Baseball game…