( 7:52 PM )
400 Words or Less....
Over the weekend, I was relaxing poolside having a deep, thoughtful and very adult conversation with a fellow inhabitant of the Falls at Marina Bay. The conversation touched down on numerous topics: alternative energy, our best presidents (with Yours Truly throwing out the name James K. Polk just for shits and giggles) and political party affiliation. My friend identified himself as a fiscal conservative – to which I could only say: “there is no such thing.”
Politicians, too, define themselves as fiscal conservatives. Republicans usually dominate this category: "I'm socially liberal and fiscally conservative," but Democrats, in a fury to shed the old "tax and spend" label, also define themselves this way. One only has to look at what this Republican Congress is passing and what the Republican President is signing to see that the words fiscal conservative are as Homer Simpson said, meaningless, just like the phrase: "give peace a chance."
The Republican Congress just passed the largest and most expensive public works bill in history, a $288 billion dollar Department of Transportation Appropriations Bill. The President, who also calls himself a fiscal conservative all the while creating new government bureaucracies like the Department of Homeland Security and the multi-trillion dollar Medicare expansion, has signified that the veto pen will remain safely tucked away, and he will sign the bill. In fact, the President has said that this bill is "fiscally responsible" even though it came in some $30 billion above what he requested.
The problem is, we need fiscal restraint when it comes to government spending. The Concord Coalition, which lobbies for fiscal restraint and is far from the "radical left" that Bill O'Reilly rallies against, recently said that deficits may still amount to $5.7 trillion over the next decade. This rush of government over-spending is all on the GOP's head. As reported in the Chicago Tribune, since Bill Clinton left office, "federal outlays, under a GOP-controlled Congress, have risen from 18.5 percent of gross domestic output to 20.3 percent.
It's time to put fiscal conservative, in the same bin with "compassionate conservative" and "mission accomplished" as another empty, meaningless phrase used by the President in order to get votes.
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( 10:02 AM )
400 Words or Less….
Even though, I'm not certain why CNN cancelled Inside Politics, I am certain that its replacement, The Situation Room is far from the groundbreaking broadcast journalism as advertised. Someone green lights three hours of Wolf Blitzer, yet I can’t find a job. The Situation Room is nothing less than a not-so-cleverly disguised way to keep guys like Lawrence Eagleburger and William Cohen on TV. That 3 pm Baghdad video game segment was, well, scary. There’s got to be more important things to report than a goggled Susan Candiotti busting a few caps into a computer-generated-enemy.
With Fenton Communications in the house, it’s clear that Democrats are using Cindy Sheehan like Republicans used Terri Schiavo…
On PTI, Bob Ryan of the Boston Globe says the Nats are over their rough patch and now have a clear shot at the NL Wild Card. Michael Wilbon thinks a healthy Clemens, Pettite, and Oswalt put the Astros in the playoffs. Kornheiser still thinks the Yanks have life but he’s been on vacation for August and doesn’t know any better. Me, I’m still pulling for the Amazin's (also not knowing any better) but good luck trying to get anyone outside of my Port St. Lucie buddy Linda Cohn to say that. The Marlins? When Brian Lawrence is holding you to two runs, it’s hard to remember that Miguel Cabrera is hitting .341. Sure, Beckett, Burnett, and Willis are as good as any three Houston or St. Louis can throw at you, but after those three you’re relying on guys like Ron Villone to get you to lights out closer Todd Jones.
Been listening to Time Out by Dave Brubeck in the ride for the past three days. Just thought I’d share.
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( 12:11 PM )
400 Words or Less…..
Five years after Florida stops weighing racial diversity when choosing students for its public universities, the percentage of black freshman admitted declined. In 1999, when Governor Bush ordered an end of admissions advantages for minorities, black students made up 18.1 percent of the freshman class. Today, its 16.6 percent. It would be nice to hear Florida lawmakers talk about this lack of diversity with the same passion they’ve displayed on whether Florida State is being insensitive by its continued use of the name Seminoles. Blind devotion for a washed-up program is one thing, blind devotion for a washed-up program starting a third string QB is another, that’s babies on the terrorist watch list stupid.
Inclusion is also for Raphael Palmeiro today. Into the Hall of Fame that is; home of alcoholics, racists, and domestic abusers. Haven’t we taken this steroid thing too far? Convictions. Perjury. Credibility for Jose Canseco. Both “your boy” JA Adande and Jay Mariotti said they wouldn’t vote for Palmeiro. Sports Weekly survey of eight writers reveals five give Palmeiro the great big no. Jon Heyman of Newsday showing his North Shore sensitivity says plainly, “I will never vote for Rafael Palmeiro for the Hall of Fame. Never. Ever. Period.” It’s going to be at least five years before anyone has to make a decision on Palmeiro and the Hall of Fame, and time will become his best friend. Time will help heal, time will help discover and more importantly, time will help us forget. Think Clinton early days Lewinsky.
For dessert, we're also lobbying to place 400 Words… on the whole ‘Blogroll’ thing Arianna has going on at Huffington Post. Certainly this space has the credentials: Alternet. The Baseball Diaries. Pop & Politics. Not to mention a little thing called the Daily Feed, which was wise-ass and progressive back when Joe Trippi returned phone calls. This space is less scary than the pro-Bush ramblings of that Balloon Juice character, and gives you more content than the Zagat's job postings that Chelsea Peretti calls a blog. Plus, if I have to, I'll pull a Buggin' Out. That's how strong I feel about the subject.
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( 12:33 PM )
Double Duty
Joe Trippi had a conference with liberal bloggers the other day. Hey Joe, just in case my contact data is in your other phone, I'm at gjoseph@2walls.com. I shouldn't be surprised though, I'm still waiting for Trippi to return my phone calls from June.
The big talk among the Internet crowd is Gail Sheehan, who lost a son in Iraq, and is now camped herself outside of Bush's Crawford ranch demanding an apology from The President. Liberals love her, conservatives hate her, and the real people who actually decide and participate in elections, they're too busy shuffling their kids off to school for the first time in months, and coping with record high gas prices, which hit $2.53 in East Greenbush, New York.
Mugger could care less. Russ Smith writing in this week's New York Press opts to talk about the whining coming out of, as Smith calls them 'Generation Grand Theft Auto' over too much homework and demanding school and social schedules. Last week, Smith took John Podhearst to the woodshed over his laughable characterizations about the game of baseball. Now, I happen to agree with all of what Smith wrote in both columns. We're not talking about a matter of content here. However, with moderate Republicans facing tough choices over Roberts (ads linking Bush's nominee to abortion clinic violence recently began airing in Maine and Rhode Island; home to two moderate Republicans) and with the lukewarm reception moderates have been getting as they test early 2008 GOP primary waters, why is one of the best moderate Republican columnist out there writing about two non-issues?
How about we downgrade the CAFTA 15 to 14? You know how this space feels about Ed Towns, but we can’t be so quick to glaze over the name William Jefferson. The last time Yours Truly saw the Congressman from Louisiana, we were taking in a trumpet battle between Irvin Mayfield, Maurice Brown, and Christian Scott, in a club high above the NOLA streets. Jazz musicians, like manufacturing jobs, are in high demand overseas. Let’s consider Jefferson’s support of homegrown jazz artist as his commitment to keeping US jobs on US soil.
And, I guess we're still looking for smart media consultants who just won't throw an ad on the air because the check didn't bounce. Whoever green-lighted the spot linking Supreme Court nominee Vanilla Ice Cream Roberts to clinic violence, not only: 1) solidified Roberts seat on the bench; 2) needs to sit down with Dan Carol so they can see the proper way to prove a negative true. Trying to link Roberts to violence that occurred seven years AFTER he authored the brief in question, is low. Karl Rove low.
But in an all-out effort to prove that one shouldn't get so comfortable on the moral high ground, it has been revealed that the Republican National Committee has been paying the legal bills for the New Hampshire GOP. Seems the NHGOP got caught jamming phones and have counted on the RNC for close to a million dollars to defend themselves. If the RNC really had "zero tolerance" for voter suppression, than why are they trying to save the NHGOP from these charges. Oh, I guess this is zero tolerance, Miles Brand-style.
T.O. - Man, I'm glad I hate the Eagles. Why are talking about T.O. when baseball is full with interesting subplots? The Angels and A's are battling for first? The NL Wild Card is anyone’s guess. David Wright went 4-5 with 6 RBI's Wednesday, and on Tuesday made one of the best catches of the year. (Don't tell me you saw Kevin Mitchell do the same thing, because you didn't. Mitchell's ball was a towering fly, not a dying quail, and Mitchell didn't have to make the catch over-the-shoulder) And, don't forget the Yanks could actually be dead and out of the playoffs for the first time in almost a decade, especially if they're relying on people like Aaron Small during these dog days of August.
Speaking of sports. Theodore Ratcliffe, who had one of the best sports nicknames ever passed away yesterday at the age of 103. "Double Duty" as he was dubbed by sports writer Damon Runyon, because he caught Satchel Paige one game, and then strapped on the "tools of ignorance" to catch the second game of a double dip. "Double Duty" once called Jackie Robinson his roommate, was chosen as an All-Star 6 times: three times as a catcher and three times as a pitcher. Plus, how can you not love a guy who ate lunch at the same Memphis joint everyday for decades.
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( 1:15 PM )
The Bronx Comes to Boston
ESPN staying with the action after the top half of the first inning just they could show the reaction Kenny Rogers got from the Fenway faithful. Wonder if Papa Bush, who was in attendance and took a wicked one off the shins from a 59 footer thrown by wife Barbara, gave Rogers the Bronx cheer.
CEO Selig showed visible signs of being human, appearing quite upset with the fact that Rogers reduced was suspension at the hands of the arbitrator. Yeah, short-sighted decisions that aren't good for the game do suck, but the guy who created inter-league baseball has no right to complain. But since he did speak, I hate to say I agree with Selig. After beating up an unprovoked cameraman, Rogers shouldn't be allowed anywhere near a baseball stadium. It was funny, Rogers kept yelling at the cameraman that he's "trying to do his job," yet while beating up the cameraman was preventing him from doing his. If a fan ran out on the field, and unprovoked beat down Kenny Rogers, he would quickly find himself in "county-blues" as Ice Cube said. Plus, he would never allowed back in the ballpark. The penalty for Rogers should have been just as severe. Playing baseball doesn't give you the right to ignore basic human rights and our laws Unless you're the 86 Mets, playing baseball doesn't give you the right to ignore basic human rights......
If anyone can explain the ending of L'Auberge Espagnole to me, please email here: gjoseph@2walls.com. One minute you're studying marketing, and the next you're writing the great French novel. Sorry, don't buy it, but still give the flick a thumbs-up.....
You know progressives are getting pissed when they start giving out names like The Dirty Dozen when they're trying to fire up environmentalist over Congressional polluters. Now, in an attempt to fire up the barely breathing labor movement, progressives have gone back to the drawing board, coming up with and calling for the head of the CAFTA-15.
If you're cooler than me, you have no idea what or who the CAFTA-15 are. Their names, congressional districts, and phone numbers are below, and all we need to know for now, is that these 15 members of Congress, by virtue of voting for Central American Free Trade Act, have become targets to their own party. Among this 15, this space is really only concerned about Edolphus Towns, who escaped my wrath in 1998, but has always remained in my cross hairs. When Towns shows up to vote (and trust me that's not very often) its so he can side with the chemical and tobacco companies. With Barry Ford the product of a smear campaign, this space is hoping a few good people, who lean progressive, to step up and take a shot at representing folks who need a stronger, more reliable voice. If you know any community heroes at there: email me at: gjoseph@2walls.com
The CAFTA-15
Melissa Bean, Illinois (8th District): 202-225-3711,
Jim Cooper, Tennessee (5th District): 202-225-4311
Norm Dicks, Washington (6th District): 202-225-5916,
Henry Cuellar, Texas (28th District): 202-225-1640,
Ruben Hinojosa, Texas (15th District): (202) 225-2531
William Jefferson, Louisiana (2nd District): (202) 225-6636
Jim Matheson, Utah (2nd District): (202) 225-3011
Gregory Meeks, New York (6th District): 202-225-3461
Dennis Moore, Kansas (3rd District): (202) 225-2865
Jim Moran, Virginia (8th District): (202) 225-4376
Solomon Ortiz, Texas (27th District): 202-225-7742
Ike Skelton, Missouri (4th District): 202-225-2876
Vic Snyder, Arkansas (2nd District): 202-225-2506
John Tanner, Tennessee (8th District): (202) 225-4714
Edolphus Towns, New York (10th District: (202) 225-5936
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( 12:38 PM )
Best of Summer
Guess, it was something in the air that drove me to Blog this afternoon. That's the only way to describe how a few minutes outside in the Florida heat, has led me to this website, jotting down these thoughts.
It's been a long time since I left evidence on this site, so long that it took me three attempts to successfully log-in. The days of spring training baseball are long gone but just in case you were wondering, yes, I still do keep in touch with my favorite Starbucks employee, Amelia, and no, I never really did end up buying one of those: 'What Would Paris Do?" t-shirts.
So, what have I been doing since my last post in April? A lot of nothing. Watching the good looking women parade in and out of the Starbucks, shuffling the 5,000-plus songs on both my I-Pod and I-Tunes, and trying not to sing out loud when a song like: 'The Catch' off 'Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me' by the Cure plays over my headphones. It's been years since I've heard that song: "I use to try to catch her, but never really caught her name."
I've also been tring to organize all these random thoughts and ideas into something concise and bounded, with a hardcover that will probably set you back a $15 bucks, if you're so inclined,
I've also been reading. So far, the summer reading list has including: 'Pillar of Fire' by Taylor Branch; 'Live from NY: An Oral History of Saturday Night Live; 'Kitchen Confidential' and 'Ladies and Gentleman; The Bronx is Burning' which is the best book I've read this summer. I did see Episode 3 and hated it. That was the first and last movie I've seen this summer.
The best meal I've had all year took place at W.A. Frost in St. Paul, MN. It was 9-coures, and featured three of the best bottles of wine I've ever had.
The live show I've seen this summer had to be G. Love and Special Sauce at Jazz Fest. A close second goes to Ozomalti at the Howlin Wolf and Big Sam's Funky Nation at the Fais Do-Do stage at Jazz Fest.
Best Nights were spent at The Rendezvous, a great marina-side bar and restaurant in Ft. Lauderdale, partially owned by former All Pro, NE Patriot Bruce Amstrong. It was a great summer knocking back Bass Ales with Stacey, Matt, Leah, Shane, NJ, Robin, Pedro, Jonathan, Steve, Janette, and of course, Bob, who has the best trivia questions these ears have ever heard.
Biggest surprise, outside of Ms. Chantel, is that we haven't had a major hurricane hit South Florida yet. By this time last year, it felt like we've had three already.
Favorite music this summer: 'Outre Mer' by Garage a Trois and 'In Between Dreams' by Jack Johnson. The new songs by Julian Velard rock but he says I can't burn them for friends and well-wishers. I guess that makes me one of the cool kids to have his stuff before the rest of "America" does. And speaking of music, wait until you see Raina Moore. She just may be the most beautiful woman in the world. Of course, its not hard to look great standing next to Webb and Orcutt.
The Day of Infamy returned angrier and now 16 year old. I missed their show in Ft. Lauderdale but as a consolation prize, I did get to see Mo Vaughn exiting the Delano in South Beach. This Met fan asked him if he's coming back, to which he said, in that Big Mo way: "Nah, man, I'm done." The only other celebrity sighting this summer was Vlade Divac, and wouldn't you know, I went to shake his hand and he flopped to the ground.
Summer TV. Don't get me started. Being so far away from my Mets, it makes summer TV even worse. A few things that caught my eye on the tube this summer. Florida Marlins baseball. Exiciting team with the best double play combination in baseball, West Wing Mondays on Bravo. Never liked this show until a few months ago. Now, it has replaced former guilty pleasure Law & Order; Kathy Griffin's Life on the D-List, let's just chalk this up to over saturation on the Bravo airwaves. Just be thankful that I've still never watched Queer Eye or Being Bobby Brown. And Entourage, which is the best use of Kevin Dillion since Platoon.
On the media front, we said goodbye to Inside Politics and Judy Woodruff from CNN. We said goodbye to Bill Hemmer and Jack Cafferty on American Morning. Suzanne Malveaux is no longer convering the White House, the only surprising thing about that is CNN was the last to know she couldn't handle the gig. MSNBC is still on the air and Countdown is still the best show it has to offer. ESPN is going Hollywood - as long as they stay away from the made-for-TV movie business, they can sit on the Supreme Court for all I care. Woody Paige deserves his own show before Steven A. Smith does.
On the political front, we're getting ready for a fight in September over the Supreme Court. Actually, don't expect so much of a fight. Democrats don't like to get sweaty. Roberts - good choice if the goal was nominating a big scoop of vanilla ice cream. This is America, can't we at least get sprinkles. Is Roberts the best we can do. I feel like Bruce Willis in Armeggedon, after he hears NASA's plan involves him drilling a hole into the astroid. "Is this the best the government can do? Lastly, when Karl Rove instructed Scott McCellan, White House Press Secretary to tell the press corps (or as we like to call them, the American people) that it was absurd to think Rove had anything to do with the CIA blown cover story, it was a senior White House ofificial, knwoingly lying to the American people.
And we can't talk summer until we talk about Rafael Palmeiro. What is it about DC that leads people to wag the finger? OK, you got steriods in your system. Let's say we knock off 1,000 hits, and 100 home runs. In my book, 2,000 hits and 400 HR's stil lmake you a Hall of Famer. It's time to cast this man's head in bronze and for MLB owners and fans to stop pretending like they didn't know about the juice.If owners are that upset about the tainted records, then give back all that cash you made off us suckers who came to see Brady Anderson hit 50 HR's.
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( 12:46 PM )
Baseball Diaries
Chain O’ Lakes Stadium: Winter Haven, Florida
Detroit Tigers vs. Cleveland Indians
3/31/05
For the first time on this trip, I’m having a beer at the game. I’m not much of a drinker at ball games. This is largely due to the fact that I don’t find it pleasurable to watching a pitchers duel while littering my body with Bud Light. Yes, I’m one of those beer snobs. I can’t tolerate bad beer and being at the ballpark doesn’t change that.
But today it’s hot. Real hot. I don’t have a temperature yet, but it feels like August. My fourth row seat along the Indians dugout is smack dab in the sun. The woman behind the ticket booth asked me if I wanted to be in the shade and I declined. It’s an hour before first pitch and shutter at the thought of having to pass the time in the burning Florida sun.
When I approached the concession stand my thoughts were originally focused on some of that fresh lemonade that every park sells. But then I saw what looked like a Stella bottle. I didn’t think it could be.
This was Winter Haven, not Tampa or even Port St. Lucie. Despite its appealing name, half of the residents of Winter Haven are not locking up their houses in the next week, as you overheard in Vero Beach. Winter Haven is the place where Shoney’s sets up shop. Where Domino’s rules the pizza market.
But as I got closer to the counter, I could see as plain as day that it was Stella, and that changed everything. I mean, why not knock back a few beers? It’s one o’clock. It’s Thursday. And they’re selling one of my favorite Belgium lagers at a spring training facility in Polk County, Florida.
The Indians have called Winter Haven home since 1993. Winter Haven, like other parts of Central Florida, got hit with all three hurricanes last year. Frances last for about 24 hours and caused power outages and extensive water damage to the backfields. Jeanne left about 90 percent of the residents in the county without power. She uprooted trees outside the stadium, trashed the billboard signs along the outfield fence, and two 105-foot high poles were knocked off kilter.
I descended into Winter Haven under the cover of night. Along the drive, even as far south as the Alligator Alley, I was saying to myself that I would make it to my hotel at 12:30am. Little did you know, I pulled into the driveway of the Best Western Admiral Inn at 12:14am
Night driving was helpful in avoiding traffic. No backups heading west through the Alligator Alley. No bumper-to-bumper heading north on I-75. No congestion east on I-4. No standstills on the final leg into Winter Haven on Rte. 507.
The drive was not particularly interesting. I did have some bad coffee in Ft. Myers and listened to the new Beck and Jack Johnson records. Both of which I like, especially that Johnson song: ‘Banana Pancakes’. I hit a top speed of 105 and saw not one NJ license plate.
The hotel was a ghost town when I arrived to check-in and I immediately put on Sportscenter when I reached my room. Linda Cohn says the NL East could be the toughest division in baseball. Later, I find out that Dallas McPherson, a starting third baseman on one of my fantasy teams, will start the year in the minors.
I left my “grown-up” clothes conveniently hanging on my bedroom door. I realized this about 30 miles into the trip, way past the point when remembering isn’t helpful at all. So, in the morning my first order of business was to try and find replacement clothes, so it was off to the Eagle Point Mall, which was about 10 miles from Winter Haven.
It was Thursday morning and the mall had only been open for less than 10 minutes. My I-Pod kicked out ‘Witch Doctor’ by Galactic, ‘Pease Porridge’ by De La Soul, ‘Open Book’ by Cake, ‘’Middle Man’ by Jack Johnson and ‘Moment’s Notice’ by John Coltrane, as I walked past stores not exactly geared at urban hipsters. I laughed at a store called ‘Hip-Hop’ with its Rucker Park jersey’s hanging in the window. I had a cup of Barnie’s coffee that was nowhere close to as good as a Starbucks, nor the servers as delightful as Amelia.
I finally settled into a Dillard’s, which reminds me of the old Alexander’s store which sat on Route 4 in Paramus, New Jersey for dozens of years. You know, a step below department store heavyweights like Bloomingdale’s, Saks, and Macy’s, a step above the Kohl’s and Two Guys’ of the world.
Before I hit the stadium, I also wanted to hit Willie’s BBQ on North 9th Street for lunch. My little shopping excursion took very little time and I wanted to indulge myself on what was considered some of the best BBQ Polk County has to offer.
I drove past the stadium just to get a sense of how crowded it was going to be. I had actually passed Chain O’ Lakes Stadium the prior evening but the high speeds and the cover of night rendered it practically invisible.
Cars were backed up trying to enter the complex to park. I had about a buck twenty, perhaps a buck twenty-five to spare before first pitch. Enough time to get certainly to grab some BBQ and return. However, seeing this many cars set off my concern over the availability of good tickets. Like G. Love said, once you enter the complex “there would be no turning back” and with that in mind, I rationed that another round of hot dogs wouldn’t kill me and abandoned the notion of Willy’s for lunch.
The Tigers put the first four men on base. Brandon Inge, who is also on your fantasy team, has one of those hits. Dimitri Young gets hit with a pitch to drive in a run. Marcus Thames steps in with the bases loaded and goes yard to right-center field to make the score 5-0. It’s the third grand slam that I can remember seeing at a baseball game. I remember seeing Enrique Wilson hit one in Yankee Stadium. And I saw Carlos Beltran as a KC Royal do the same against the Rangers in Arlington.
That Royal versus Ranger game back in 2002 is probably on the of the best baseball games I’ve ever been to. I’m not a fan of either so I was rooting for as much excitement one could get. Aside from Beltran’s grand slam, A-Rod blasted two A-Rod type home runs, the Royals took a lead in the top of the ninth and the three extra innings, and we saw a rookie get his first big league hit. We saw things that you only see on Sportscenter like Hideki Irabu getting taken deep not once, not twice but thrice.
This is the second Tiger game I’ve seen and the still haven’t caught Pudge or Magglio Ordonez in the lineup. Same goes for Jeremy Bonderman, who is on my fantasy team I haven’t seen him pitch and I wanted to see for myself what all the hype is about. Mike Maroth is on the hill for the Tigers today and a non-roster invitee who nobody seems to know is on the hill for the Tribe.
Aaron “Fucking” Boone is playing for the Tribe. He is one of the reasons people are high on the Tribe this year. That “veteran presence on a young team” crap they always tell you but in this case it’s believable. Travis Hafner, Victor Martinez, Ron Beillard and Jhonny Peralta, who will be the first new face at short for the Indians in ten years, is also playing today.
Peralta lit up the International League last year and played well with the big club. In the IL last year, he hit .326, with 44 doubles, 15 home runs and 86 RBI’s. He played on the IL Championship Team and was the MVP of the International League. Peralta’s development was crucial in the decision not to re-sign Omar Visquel.
Brandon Inge walks and has been on twice and that bodes well for the Tigers and of course, for my fantasy team. Inge is the Craig Wilson of 2005, a player who has eligibility at a slew of positions last year. He played 39 games behind the plate, 73 at third, seven in left, and 19 in center. Inge hit .287 last year, had 13 home runs and 64 RBI’s. Another boost was that he only struck out 72 times and held a .793 OPS last year. Not many catchers can pick up those types of stats, and the in the leagues that I play in, guys like Brandon Inge are always available.
By the sixth inning, I’m about five beers in and getting pretty wasted. I strike up a conversation with Cameron who drove down from Savannah for the second year in a row for spring training baseball. He is a Braves fan and we immediately jostle each other over who will win the NL East. Cameron says he’s headed down to Port St. Lucie for the Mets last home game of the spring. I tell him that’s my last stop and the last Baseball Diary of 2005.
Cameron played ball at Clemson and now high school history and coaches the varsity team. His father was a professional tennis player who even though wasn’t well known as Cameron put it, did live an interesting travel life. Paris in the spring for the French Open, the Australian Open in the winter, Stratton Mountain, New Hampshire for the old Volvo Tournament in June.
Cameron and I talked baseball, had a few more beers and dipped Skoal Straight. He told me of some of the great kids he has on his team in Georgia, and that it takes just as long to drive to Winter Haven from Savannah as it does from Savannah to Atlanta to see his Braves. I put David Wright on his radar screen and he tells me about Andy Marte, the Braves’ third baseman of the future. We debate trying to catch the Yankee/Devil Ray game in Tampa, about an hour away and a 7:10 start.
“Is an hour away according to Mapquest, but at this time of the day, you aren’t getting near Tampa in an hour,” says the Charlie, the older gentleman behind us. He talked Cameron out of it, but me on the other hand, I was still going to try and make it
I could tell that Charlie was in the mood for conversation. You can sense that in people sometime, when they’re just looking for an opening to get into someone’s conversation. The local traffic advice was Charlie’s in and for the next three innings and two more beers, Charlie told Cameron and I a brief history of his springs spent four rows behind the Indians dugout.
Charlie says that Albert Belle was not as bad to the fans as the media would lead you to believe. Charlie’s got grandsons and one day, Belle signed balls for all five of them. Most players, all players refuse to sign anything for adults, even those who say it’s for their kids, but not Belle. Charlie also says that Jim Thome was “kind of an ass”.
Jose Hernandez already had two home runs in the game when he hit another shot over the left field wall. He has accounted for all but one of the Indians 5 runs. The next batter Ben Broussard belts one off the centerfield scoreboard to make the score 6-5.
Urbina who both the Mets and I covet pitches a flawless inning and the game stays tied until the bottom of the 9th, when Bobby Higginson hits a solo home run to tie the game at six. The game would remain tied after one extra inning and as the norm during spring, ended in a 2-2 tie.
I shook Charlie’s hand and did the same to Cameron, telling him I’d keep an eye for him in Port St. Lucie. I found I-4 and headed toward Legend’s Field in Tampa.
The List:
Miles Traveled: 310
Traveling Songs: Beck ‘Guero’, Jack Johnson ‘In Between Dreams’, Aesop Rock ‘Fast Cars, Danger, Fire & Knives’
Snack Bar: 7 Stella Artois
NJ Plates Seen: 0
Celebrity Sightings: 1 (Bob Feller signing autographs in the Indian picnic area before the game)
Hotel Room: 353
Words Fellow 2Walls Writer Mike Webb said to me when I called to inform him that it’s 80 degrees at the stadium that they sell Stella: “Fuck you, Greg.”
Souvenirs: All the good stuff sold out, settled on the: ‘Winter Haven Spring Training 2005: lid.
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( 1:19 PM )
Baseball Diaries
Holman Stadium: Vero Beach, Florida
Baltimore Orioles vs. Los Angeles Dodgers
3/29/05
The ticket taker spies my vintage Brooklyn Dodger jersey and immediately launches into an impression of Red Barber calling a Duke Synder home run. I’ve had this jersey since the days Milli Vanilli ruled the charts. Unlike Spike, I opted not to put Jackie’s name or number on mine. Even without paying homage to the most important player to put on a Dodger uniform, all day all eyes would be on me because this jersey received dozens of compliments.
The players already slated to start the season in the minors and the guys just re-assigned, have assembled on one of the practice fields. They’re talking and joking with each – acting like teenagers and twenty-somethings act. Soon one of the coaches call practice to start the a entire legion of Dodger blue jerseys are stretching out their hamstrings.
I would stay and watch what calisthenics they do but I still need tickets so I head over to the box office. I get on line when a well-dressed man approaches me and asks if I need one ticket. I say yes and he hands me a ticket and says it’s a good seat. As I reach for my wallet, he starts to walk away and says no charge. He had to unexpectedly run and since the ticket was given to him, he would feel bad about selling it.
Having saved myself $14 bucks, I head over to the gift shop. Along with the jersey, I am also sporting the fitted blue Brooklyn Dodger hat I bought when I saw Peavy pitch in Dodger Stadium back in 2003. However, the Vero Beach Dodgers hat has one of those unique minor league baseball looks to it: with the initials VB resting on top of two grapefruits.
The field looks to have more wear and tear than the other fields I’ve seen on the trip. Patches of dirt are intermixed with grass that is slightly darker than typical baseball green. The stadium is the most intimate I’ve been in. There are no roofs on the dugouts and the players basically sit on folding chairs with no real separation from the fans. My seat is Section 17, row 6, seat 2. I’m six rows behind the LA on deck circle. The well-dressed man was right, this is a good seat and as usual for this time of a year, a beautiful Florida afternoon.
I hit the road by 9:45am for once again, encountered traffic around the construction zone in West Palm Beach. Vero Beach is north so I’m once again on I-95. Some days, I feel like continuing north right to back to New York.
The crowd at Vero Beach is decidedly older than the other crowds I’ve been in. At most games, seniors only slightly outnumber other age groups. At Vero Beach, they dominate. You also realize that most of this senior crowd has been coming to Dodger games at Dodgertown for years. In the later innings, when the Florida sun became too much for some folks, you can hear people say ‘see you next year’. Behind me, a woman is having a conversation about closing up her house this weekend. The couple in front of me are headed back to North Carolina after the game.
The snowbirds are taking off.
Brian Roberts, who I’m expecting big things from in my fantasy league this year, is playing today. He promptly does what I drafted him to do, pushes a bunt pass the pitcher on the second base side. Two pitches later, he steals second.
It is only fitting that Daniel Cabrera is pitching for the O’s because just yesterday, I plucked him off the waiver wire in both my leagues, opting to dump Noah Lowry whose fortunes are certain to change now that the Giants are Bonds-less. Cabrera has had a impressive spring. He’s 2-0 has a 1.64 ERA, 15 K’s and has only yielded 14 hits in 22 innings. This spring has built upon the decent finish he had last year. He needs seven pitches to get through the first.
During the Dodger half of the inning, the crowd plays Bingo with the PA calling out numbers after each out. Also, whenever the Dodgers record an out on defense, a gentleman behind home plate dings a bell. After places the first two runners on base in each of the first two innings, the crowd will soon start asking Scott Erickson, ex-Met, for “more cow bell.”
Cesar Izturis drives in the first run of the game. I had Izturis on my team two years ago, back when he was light hitting but an assist machine at short. Now, he has raised his offense, something Rey Ordonez certainly couldn’t do. Izturis’ RBI double is the first hit that Cabrera has yielded.
The Dodger defense is a little troublesome. With Beltre gone the right side has gotten weaker. And Jeff Kent, ex-Met, displays he has lost a little something at second. On bullet throw from left-fielder Jason Repko, which had the runner beat by steps, Kent drops the ball on the swipe. Kent has no exactly won over the Dodger faithful yet. They still view him as a Giant even though he has played with so many teams its hard to pin him down to one.
I wonder what cap he’ll wear when he’s inducted into the Hall. If his career ended today I would say a Giant, but lets see what other milestones Kent breaks before we start picking out his Cooperstown wardrobe.
Through four innings, Erickson has give up seven hits and one run. Cabrera’s line so far is one run on one hit. This makes me feel I have a steal on my team. If he can keep his ERA under 3.5 and with the offense the O’s have, Cabrera can win 15 games this year.
Larry Bigbie goes down swinging and he’s certainly not taking what I told him a few weeks ago to heart. Earlier this spring, before I had decided to make this trip, I took in an O’s/Mets with seats where I had three people: Johnny Miller, Lee Mazzilli, ex-Met, and Tom Trebelhorn, sitting in front of me the whole time.
With these great seats and one fantasy draft being less than 24 hours old, I told Bigbie that I drafted him in the 24th round yesterday. I also told him that I was mocked for doing so. I told Sammy this when he came to the on-deck circle but this was before we all knew Sammy was inflicted with that horrible disease where he can’t speak or understand English in the month of March.
Hee Sop Choi who is also on my fantasy team this year does yard work on a 2-2 fastball from Cabrera. This gets the crowd, which is silent up until this point, excited. A few words about the crowd, they’re not silent because the Dodgers are losing, or because this is a boring game. Dodgertown just makes you silent, makes you feel content just watching. It’s almost serene. Outside of the Bingo numbers called out and the bell, there is almost no noise in the stadium. No annoying songs like ‘YMCA’ or the chorus of ‘Day-O’ coming heard. No vendors even. No screams for beer, hot dogs or peanuts.
The guy next to me wears a Don Drysdale jersey. He and his wife are newlyweds. They wed two days ago right here on the pitchers mound. Like everyone, I’ve seen this kind of thing a million times but never actually met someone who has done something like that. Its like sitting next to the woman who was just proposed to on the scoreboard.
Mike Venafro enters the game for the Dodgers and quickly loads up the bases while getting nobody out. The newlywed screams to Venafro as he is pulled, ‘Next stop Vegas’ and that gets a laugh out of all who can hear it, which is a lot. With bases loaded, Bigbie again gives me that Moneyball feeling, with a single that drives in two. The O’s take a 4-2 lead on their 14th hit of the game.
Jorge Julio enters the game for the O’s, He is key to the season as well. It is vital to him to pitch well because he gets you to B.J. Ryan, who I’ve seen once this year. I asked Mazzilli back in Ft. Lauderdale if I’d get a chance to see Ryan and he said yes. When I asked when, he said when do I want to see him. I told him I’ll leave all those important decisions to him. He bought him in the 7th.
I was going to say that.
Jason Respo singles as a cop hands me another compliment on my jersey. Respo was just awarded the Mulvey Award this afternoon for having the best spring of all the minor leaguers. The award goes back to the 60’s and of all the great Dodgers to take up residence here at Dodgertown for a spring in Vero Beach, only Mike Piazza has won the award twice.
Julio gives up a run and the O’s lead is one when Yhency Brazoban enters the game to pitch the 9th for LA. I’ve kept my eye on his for two years and he is still a year away. But he succeeded where Venafro failed and that gets the attention of the newlywed. ‘Dump Venafro’ he yells. Brazoban gets through the 9th on eight pitches.
No B.J. Ryan today, as John Parrish enters to close it out for the O’s. Parrish makes it exciting, bringing the winning run to the plate with only 1 out. But he gets a key double-play ball and the O’s deal the Dodgers a loss in their last spring home game of the year.
The List:
Miles: 260
Traveling Songs: Donald Byrd: ‘Blackbird’, Bright Eyes ‘I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning’, Los Hombres Caliente ‘Volume 3: New Congo Square’
NJ Plates Seen: 7
Snack Bar: Two-Foot Long Dodger Dogs
Cabrera Final Line: 6 IP, 2 runs (one earned) on two hits. 2K’s, 1BB
Shop Visited at the Vero Beach Outlets: Calvin Klein.
Ex-Mets: 4 (Mazzilli, Kent, Erickson and Melvin Mora)
Souvenirs: Blue Fitted Vero Beach Dodgers cap ($25)
Attendance: 4,205
Best T-Shirt: “I eat fastballs for breakfast.”
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( 11:06 AM )
Baseball Diaries
Joker Marchant Stadium: Lakeland, Florida
Houston Astros vs. Detroit Tigers
3/25/05
Construction on Rte. 19 leaving Clearwater notwithstanding, I find I-4 headed east. I am a mere 45 miles from Lakeland. I may not make first pitch but I won’t be pulling up in the second inning like I did for the early game.
As expected, traffic is heavy. I drive through Tampa, passing the Big Sombrero, Legends and Tropicana Field along the way. I also see signs for Pinellas Park, Florida, home to Terri Schiavo and more recently about two hundred members of our esteemed press corps.
Passing through Pinellas Park had weighted on my mind since I left Ft. Lauderdale 8 hours ago. On my stops along I-75, I made it a conscious effort to pick up some local papers, to see exactly what Floridians are thinking.
The Lakeland Ledger, like the Port St. Lucie News and The Press-News, run NY Times or the Washington Post Op-Ed’s. Certainly not a “blue state” perspective and not what I’m looking for. After tossing aside many numerous papers, I finally came across an Op-Ed in the Naples Daily News by Betsy Hart.
Showing off her social conservative credentials, Hart bashes Terri’s husband Michael writing: “Whatever his own motives, whatever the law, Michael Schiavo chose to effectively end his marriage when he moved in with another woman and essentially became a husband to her, and so he no longer has he moral right to act as husband. If he could not bear to keep his vow of “in sickness and in health” then he should have lawfully divorced Terri, moved on with his life, and allowed her parents to become her guardians. If he wanted to act as her husband and make decisions on her behalf, then he should have continued in faithful marriage to her, however hard that would surely be. Morally, he has no right to do both. As a culture, we should have forced him to choose one or the other.”
Simplistic as her take is, Hart does have a valid point. It has nothing to do with the underlying case of a persons right to die without the state and federal government all in your business. Michael Schiavo hasn’t been Terri’s husband for years and there is a case to be made that he shouldn’t be able to inject himself into this important decision.
Outside of Tampa, the traffic lets up. The Black Honda Accord gets up to 90 in the fast lane, and shortly I’m in Lakeland. More construction. It’s among the tractors and the orange cones, that I see signs pointing me toward Tiger Town. I can see the ballpark lights off in the distance and I immediately get excited. The Tigers have a rich tradition here in Lakeland, calling this same spring training home since 1962.
Like always, parking is $5 bills, but unlike all the other stadiums, my spot tonight is close to the stadium. I scalp a $15 ticket from a guy outside and I’m surprised when I reach my seat that I’m two rows behind the visiting dugout. It is by far the best seats I’ve had on my trip and being so close to the Astros, I have to call the Feed, who is the biggest Houston fan I know.
The Feed tells me he’s jealous and why shouldn’t he be? I’m two rows behind the visiting dugout. Between innings I’m chatting with coaches Cecil Cooper and Jose Cruz. He gets even more jealous when I tell him that this is my second game of the day and that the weather is hovering around 75 even though the sun has gone way down. The Feed is in Philly and like the rest of the east coast he has experienced a brutal winter.
It’s already 3-0 Astros who have Brandon Backe on the mound. The few Tigers I want to see hit, Pudge, Magglio and Brandon Inge, are not in the game. The Tigers I want to see pitch, Urbina and Jeremy Bonderman won’t get any work tonight. But, hey, Rondell White is in the house. The Astros, with no Bagwell, Berkman, or Biggio, surely don’t have their Game 6 team on the field either.
The couple next to me were also at the Phillies game. The left before extra-innings, so I filled them in on the score. A guy in the front row wore an Al Kaline jersey. A guy behind me kept telling his buddy on the cell phone that he’s “sitting three rows behind the Asteroids dugout.” His says this three times, yet his buddy fails to correct him. We’re so close to the dugout that Morgan Ensberg (also not playing) may come out and drill it into him.
Omar Infante and Carlos Guillen get on base for the Tigers and they have something going off Backe. Rondell White has runners in scoring position with no outs. If he were in a Yankee uniform he would have struck out. Here, White walks and that brings Dmitri Young to the plate. Young drives in a run and I immediately wonder if he is available in my fantasy leagues. Backe is getting wild, and he walks Bobby Higginson to make the score 5-3.
Vance Wilson, ex-Met strides to the plate and I remember that I still haven’t figured out who he was traded for earlier this year. A single would tie the game and you remember how many times you’ve said that as Wilson strode to the plate in clutch situations for the Mets. He seldom delivered, tonight he did. Wilson crashed one to right-center to clear the bases. In all his years as a Met, I don’t remember Vance Wilson hitting a base-clearing triple. That would be the only hit the Tigers got all inning. Five runs on one hit.
Both of these teams have an all-star roster of coaches. In addition to the aforementioned Cooper and Cruz, the Tigers sport Lance Parrish, Juan Samuel, ex-Met, and Kirk Gibson. Luke Scott puts the Astros back in the lead with a three run home run. Jason Johnson is on the mound for the Tigers and like Backe, he is not faring very well. Scott’s home run travels well over the 340 sign in right field and with that pitch it’s the end of the line for Johnson, and its not a pretty line: 3 1/3 innings pitch, 8 runs and 10 hits. And here I thought Victor Zambrano was bad.
I head out to grab some food and see what the souvenir goodies look like. Joker Marchant Stadium, like the franchise, is old but its age is where its charm is. This stadium, like the others, have the handwritten lineups posted on tunnel into the stadium. The vendor’s nametags have their name with the added touch of which Michigan city they hail from.
As I’m trying on Detroit lids trying to find the right size, the sky opens up over Lakeland and dumps a steady rain over the stadium. People flood to the tunnels in droves to fine shelter under the roofed concession area. The rain last less than 4 minutes and other short blast comes less than 20 minutes later. I wait that one out at my seat, watching Kyle Farnsworth trying to regain his past glory.
Farnsworth was on my team last year because I needed middle relief who was lights out. Farnsworth throws gas but he throwing that gas got him hurt last year and disposable in Chicago. If Farnsworth can regain his dominance, adding him to the mix with Urbina and Percival, give the Tigers one of the deeper and experienced pens in the league.
The guy in the Al Kaline shirt is telling the groovy mom next to me how great ‘Five for Fighting’ is. Kaline is well into his 50’s, yet he seems to be on top of today’s music. I tell him to check out Bright Eyes selling him on Conor Oberst’s Dylan comparison.
Another treat for us pitching obsessed fantasy owners Brad Lidge starts the 6th. Last year, Fish beat me to Lidge. This year, with closers devalued, I didn’t make much of an attempt to at drafting the NL’s best closer after Gagne. Troy Percival pitches the 9th for the Tigers and I’m hoping he does well this season. The better he does, the more inclined the Tigers may be to do away with Urbina. The Mets could use Urbina, the one middle relief pitcher we didn’t see this evening.
By the time I get to the Black Honda Accord, Spartans had beat Duke, so at least one team from Michigan won this evening. The plan is to overnight in Lakeland, so I start scouting for a hotel. I spy the Holiday Inn and they’re advertising free Wi-Fi. Done.
Too bad the Holiday Inn had no vacancies. Their other hotel, five miles, had plenty vacancies but no Wi-Fi. I didn’t bother trying to find another hotel with Wi-Fi, nor did I spy advertised on any marquees during my five mile drive. I do see a Starbucks and that’s a good sign. One would think.
There is no Wi-Fi at the Starbucks in Lakeland and the Elvis Costello fan behind the counter tells me that T-Mobile doesn’t plan on putting a router in the store anytime soon. She tells me that the demand for it just isn’t there. She says Lakeland is a small town despite its 100,000 residents. We chat more as my Grande White Chocolate Mocha is being made. She loves New York City history and I tell her, if that’s the case, she needs to read the ‘Power Broker’ Robert Caro’s biography of Robert Moses. She tells me if I’m headed near Sarasota, I should seek out Siesta Key. She’s about to transfer schools and is studying education. She wants to be a teacher. I like teachers. When she brings me a free slice of chocolate cake, I like her even more.
I open the iBook G4 and jot down some of the notes I took at the game, and flip through the Friday New York Times, which the Lakeland Starbucks does have. I guess there is a demand for Frank Rich runs rampant in Lakeland. They throw me out at 11pm and I return to my hotel just in time to see the Knicks take the Sonics into overtime on a Tim Thomas three.
I’m fast asleep before the five-minute overtime is over.
The List:
Miles: 45
Traveling Songs: Maceo Parker: ‘Live @ The Chicken Box, Nantucket, Mass, 8/1/03’, Mudville: ‘The Glory of a Man is Not in Vogue’
NJ Plates Seen: 3
Hotel Room Number: 214
Ex-Mets: 3
Name of Starbucks Employee You Had Friendly Banter With: Amelia.
Snack Bar: Italian Sausage, free chocolate cake.
Souvenirs: Detroit Tiger Fitted Baseball Hat ($22)
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( 12:25 PM )
Baseball Diaries
Bright Field House: Clearwater, Florida
New York Yankees vs. Philadelphia Phillies
March 25, 2005
It’s 3-2 by the time I arrive at my seat. I can see Carl Pavano on the hill for the Yanks and I’m immediately reminded of an encounter I had with Pavano last fall.
I had been shopping for CD’s in some soulless Ft. Lauderdale strip mall and walking back to car I passed a Sprint Store. A handmade sign outside the store said ‘Meet Marlins Pitchers Carl Pavano and A.J. Burnett Today 3pm’. It was 2:50 and probably 3 people inside. It was the beginning of the free agent season and I wanted to ask Pavano if he had any interest in joining the Mets staff.
Both arrived separately and late. Pavano is a big boy. If he had handle, he’s tall enough to run the point. The crowd had not swelled and you could see the disappointment on their faces. Hey, it’s Florida and its football season. Fans hadn’t given up on the Dolphins yet and the Canes were still in the BCS hunt.
I had a copy of Bill James Baseball Abstract in the car and I figured I could get them to sign it. I handed the book over to Pavano and the idiot starts to sign his name on the front cover. As if he were Bill James. I stopped him and turned to a blank page for him. As I was doing that, Burnett leaned over to him and said: “You don’t sign the front cover of the book.”
It’s the top of the second and Jeter is leading off for the Yanks. Jon Lieber is pitching for the Phillies and gets Jeter to fly to right. A-Rod isn’t playing and Matsui is hitting in the two slot. He singles to right and before I can get the camera out to snap a picture of him on first, he’s pitch run for. Jorge Posada drills a single and the Yanks have runners on first and second with two out. Ruben Sierra laces a shot into center and drives in a run, giving the Yanks a 4-2 lead.
I’m in Section 105, Row 5, Seat 10; five rows behind the Yankee dugout. Slightly to my right people are looking over the fence down on the tunnel leading from Yankee dugout to the clubhouse. They probably caught a glimpse of Matsui headed to the showers. Later, I would spy an in uniform Yogi Berra headed to the clubhouse.
Jimmy Rollins leads off with a single and I’m lucky to get a shot of him before he steals second. Pavano’s next pitch gets by Posada, Rollins takes third and the Phils have a runner on third with no outs. A good sign for the Yanks occurs next, as Pavano retires the next three batters, including striking out Bobby Abreu, Chase Utley, and getting Pat Burrell to chase a bad pitch that he lazily flies to Sierra in right.
In the sixth inning, they prop a six-year old girl atop the Phillies dugout to give today’s trivia question. This is by far the hardest question I’ve heard at any baseball game and I didn’t even get the answer because they neglected to flash the name on the centerfield scoreboard.
The question was who is the only player active the year Babe Ruth retired and the year Hank Aaron was a rookie?
If you happen to know the answer, email me at: gjoseph@2walls.com.
Tom “Flash” Gordon starts the 6th and promptly strikes out the first batter he faces. You can hear chants of ‘Flash’ from the crowd and all around me, I see a sea of Yankee hats, jerseys, t-shirts, windbreakers, sun visors, socks, and baby bibs. I even saw a Yankee tattoo on the ankle of a woman as I’m leaving Bright Field House later that afternoon.
I sporting the Philly cap I bought at their new ballpark when I saw the Mets beat them on a late inning Todd Zeile home run. Fish and I had drove down from the city for a 7:05 game and had a hell of a time finding Geno’s after a couple of beers.
The Phils get something going against Gordon with back-to-back singles by David Bell, who made a beautiful backhand stab the inning before, and Mike Lieberthal. Burrell redeems himself for his missed RBI chance earlier and does “yard work” over the left-field fence to tie the game.
The Yanks go quietly in the top of the inning but the crowd rises to its feet as they trot on the field, as former Philly and more importantly former Teaneck Highwayman, Doug Glanville strides into right.
I try to get Glanville’s attention but my entire section is calling him “Douggie” the same name we called him when he played for Community Bank in Teaneck Little League. I shout ‘Teaneck’ as loud as I can, but he’s locked in and giving nothing high-fives to his teammates.
The attendance for today’s game is 9,117 and it’s a record crowd, the second one I’ve been a part of on this trip. Bright Field House is by far the biggest facility I’ve been in but it’s just as intimate as the others.
The Yanks take a one-run lead in the 9th but the Phils get one right back in the bottom of the ninth and we’re headed for extra-innings. This is best thing and the worse thing.
More baseball is always a good thing but today, I’m trying to do a double dip. Catching this 1:05 game in Clearwater and hopefully making it over to Lakeland for a 6:05 in Tiger Town. It’s 4:05 now and Friday rush-hour traffic, plus game traffic are likely to be encountered along the way.
Mike Bascik, ex-Met takes the mound for the Phils in the 10th. He’s throwing to Todd Pratt, ex-Met, which makes this an all-Shea battery. He shuts down the Yanks in their half of the inning and the Phils immediately get something going in the bottom half, as Chase Utley, who is due, according to the guys behind me, leads off with a single.
It’s at this point where I must be honest with you. I’m not sure who drove in the run for the Phillies because it was an extra inning spring training and all sorts of substitutions took place between the 5th inning and now. I do know that walk-off hits are exciting whether they come in spring, summer or fall.
I make one last ditch attempt to get Glanville’s attention to no avail. I lean over the fence but all the Yankee starters are long gone. I see a parade of faces I’ve never seen, carrying equipment Gary Sheffield hasn’t carried in 17 years. I check the souvenir stand but I’ve already got a Phillies hat and the cap for the minor league team isn’t really doing it for me.
By the time I get to the car, its 4:23. I’m about 62 miles from Lakeland. I got a full tank of gas. It’s not quite dark yet, but I’m still wearing sunglasses.
The List:
Miles: 424
Traveling Songs: Sugar ‘Copper Blue’, The Meters ‘Anthology. Volume One’, Lauren Fine ‘For the Breaking’, Chris Van Cott 'Gold Like the Sun'
NJ License Plates Seen: 9
Alligators Seen Driving Along Alligator Alley: 1 (I admit, this was disappointing)
Top Speed: 113 mph
Bad Blues Brothers References: 1
Ex-Mets: 3
Best T-Shirt: Seen entering the Stadium: “WWPD: What Would Paris Do?”
Best Billboard: Along I-75 between Sarasota and Tampa: ‘My Apprentices Never Get Fired - God.’
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