Lee Lowenfish

Dear readers:  I get high and get by with a lot of help from my friends is a running theme in my life story. One of my dear friends recently sent me a new book of baseball poems, "The Ball Dreams Of The Sky." It more than lives up to enthusiastic blurbs from such notable baseball writers as Ira Berkow, Tims Kurkjian and Wiles, John Thorn, former MLB outfielder Shawn Green, Bobby Murcer's widow Kay, and many others. 

 

"Ball Dreams" is the first collection by Henry Schipper, a veteran Hollywood writer and profilic producer of documentaries. Like all good poetry books, it will reward many re-readings. Schipper, raised in Holland, Michigan outside Detroit, is the son of Holocaust survivors and several of the poems deal poignantly with his family history.  He always comes back to his love of baseball as mystery and consolation. 

 

It is hard to select a particular favorite because they are all so thoughtful. I must say that his conversation poems, "Bat to Ball" and the bawdy "Bat and glove talking about a ball" are particularly memorable.  So is his meditation on baseball's inevitable downer, "Slump". Schipper tosses us a nice curve when the title of his collection is not the title of a poem, but the closing lines to "Body and Soul":  

"Both bat and glove dream of the ball;

the ball dreams of the sky."     

 

A simple love of baseball is also conveyed in "Eephus," a sleeper indie hit by first time director Carson Lund.  The setting is small town Douglas, Massachetts, south of Worcester and an hour west of Boston. The time is probably the early 1990s when the local Soldier's Field will be torn down after the season to be replaced by a school.

Anyone who has played softball with aging ardent players will relate to the competition.  The mastery of Lund's direction is that we don't take sides for either team - it is just the game we are following as the autumn leaves are falling and watchers - not really fans - come by to observe. Lund has chosen his actors well, no names recognizable except to cineastes.

 

Bill "Spaceman" Lee does pitch a late inning as the tied game heads towards a climax.  Lee is very good playing himself.  (I'd like to believe he apologized to his onetime Red Sox manager, baseball lifer the late Don Zimmer, who he lampooned and nicknamed the Gerbil - I don't think he did.)  A pleasant surprise is Joe Castiglione, recently inducted Hall of Fame Red Sox broadcaster, who does a convincing turn as a world-weary food cart driver.  My only criticism of the film is that it drags in the later stages. It is one thing to experience as a player oncoming darkness on a field with no lights. As a moviegoer, there is nothing dramatic about approaching darkness.

 

I predict that Schipper's poems and Lund's film will stand the test of time. As for predictions for the upcoming MLB season, I don't have many.  With so many injuries on so many teams, I remain an ardent Joaquin Andujarist.  The late MLB pitcher memorably said: "There is only one word to understand baseball - 'Youneverknow!'"        

I will say that I expect former Oriole outfielder Anthony Santander will hit well in his new uniform for the Blue Jays.  Toronto plays the Birds seven times in the first weeks of the season - including later today Th Mar 27. The revenge element can never be ignored as long as the player sticks to his mechanics and doesn't try to do too much.

 

As for surprise teams - there are always a couple because of the long long season - I think the Athletics - temporarily in Sacramento until their move to Las Vegas by the end of the decade - will be improved. They have spent some money on experienced players and their youngsters played well in the last half of 2024.  I do hope that when and if that new stadium in Las Vegas opens, they will have made room for a visiting team's bullpen - at last glance, such a "little thing" had not been included in the plans.

 

FINAL NOTES ON COLLEGE BASKETBALL: 

*NYU'S Division III women Violets repeated as National Champions and their winning streak is now 62.

*NYU men's team lost its final to Trinity CT by 4 points.

 

*Coiumbia's women's team beat U of Washington in the First Four of Division I March Madness and lost to West Virginia by 19 in the second round.

 

*Wisconsin men cagers lost 91-89 in the second round to Brigham Young as all-Big Ten forward John Tonge could not get off a full shot because of superior defense by

Mawot Mag, the Australian graduate transfer who previously played at Rutgers.

**Wisconsin athletic pride was restored when the #1 seeded UW women's hockey team rallied from a 3-1 late deficit to beat Ohio State in OT. 

 

Here are some closing TCM tips:

F Mar 28 12M (Sa Mar 29)  "The Asphalt Jungle" (1950) John Huston directs a classic noir with Jean Hagen/Sterling Hayden/Sam Jaffe.  Based on the W.R. Burnett novel. 

 

Su Mar 30 1215A, 10A  Noir Alley debuts "Count The Hours" (1953) Don Siegel directs Teresa Wright/MacDonald Carey - Talk about relevance:  "A lawyer defends a migrant work in a sensational murder trial"

 

Su Mar 30 10PM "The Lady In Question" (1940)  Charles Vidor directs Glenn Ford & Rita Hayworth six years before their memorable tussles in "Gilda" 

 

Always remember:  Take it easy but take it, and stay positive test negative (at least for as long as RFK Jr allows it)

 

As readers of my blog know, I love sports quotes that have meaning transcending inspiration for athletes. The title for this post comes from Dick Bosman, once a no-hit pitcher for Cleveland, later an esteemed pitching coach for Orioles-Rangers-Rays and author with Ted Leavengood of the informative DICK BOSMAN ON PITCHING (Rowman and Littlefield, 2018):  "Yesterday is history, tomorrow is mystery, today is a gift - that's why it's called the present."

 

Like most memorable quotes, Dick doesn't know where it came from. Perhaps from that mysterious multicultural androgynous Anon Ymous?  It doesn't matter - it's the thought that counts as in this observation:   "It's amazing how much good can be done if you don't care who gets the credit."

 

With March winds howling and temps changing violently here in the Northeast, this remains an exciting and hopeful time of year with college basketball playoffs nearing and baseball spring training in full flower.  Yesterday (M Mar 3) during an Oriole-Pirate spring training game in Sarasota, reliever Jose Bautista threw a perfect inning with two strikeouts in his first appearance in a game since August 2023 when he left the mound in Camden Yards soon headed for Tommy John surgery. 

 

Oriole manager Brandon Hyde says he will utilize Bautista conservatively, never pitching him for more than an inning and never on back-to-back days.  Nicknamed The Mountain for his imposing stature of 6' 8" 290 lbs, he needed years deep in the minor leagues and overseas before he developed command, control, and a consistent release point.   It's way too early in spring training to make any predictions about how the long season will play out, but it was a heartwarming sight to see The Mountain back on the mound. Tears of joy poured from his teammates, coaches, fans at Ed Smith Stadium and all over the Oriole universe.   

 

In yesterday game, switch-hitting catcher Adley Rutschman hit his first homer of the spring, another hopeful sign. He is more of a line drive hitter than a power bomber, but  in the last half of 2024, Adley endured the first slump of his storybook career.  He was mum about whether a hand injury affected his swing but if he is healthy again, his

presence in the lineup and behind the plate will be a definite asset for the Birds.  Waiting in the wings for perhaps a mid-season callup is the impressive Dominican backstop Samuel Basallo, barely 20 years old.  I saw him in the minors a couple of times and he is a commanding presence who reminds me of a left-handed hitting Orlando Cepeda. 

 

Another pleasant development was the announcement that the Orioles and Washington Nationals have settled their dispute over coverage of the teams on the MASN

stations (Mid-Atlantic Sports Network).  As it should be, the Nats will soon be on their own promoting the team on the air waves.  Previous Oriole owner, the late Peter Angelos, drove a very hard bargain and didn't accept prior arbitration settlements of the dispute.

 

David Rubenstein can now enter his second year as Oriole owner with this contentious dispute settled. He certainly brings to the table a fascinating background not common to ownership in any sport. Prominent as head of the Carlyle Equity fund, he is also a philanthropist with a genuine interest in history. On recent Mondays at the New York Historical Society on Central Park West, I heard him interview first Jeh Johnson, Secretary of Homeland Security during President Obama's second term, and then Ken Burns, the indefatigable documentary filmmaker. (These interviews are available on line.)  Rubenstein is also often heard interviewing people on Bloomberg TV.  He was the chairman of the board of the Kennedy Center in Washington until he and others on the board were fired last month by President Trump.  

 

I won't make spring training myself this year but of course, I'll be following Oriole developments closely.  In this turbulent and perilous time of American history, it will be nice to follow one's team with a sense of hope. Maybe more moves should have be made to replace Anthony Santander, their 44 HR, 100+ RBI man and ace pitcher Corbin Burnes.  Santander is now a Blue Jay and Burnes a Diamondback but O's still have a world of young talent waiting to blossom.  Like young second baseman Jackson Holliday, not ready to shine last year after enormous hoopla.  And Heston Kjerstad, who can now even put more distance from his scary heart ailment of a few years ago. He seems to have a good baseball head on his shoulder.  At U of Arkansas, he said that he always makes his goals for any season extremely high knowing that he cannot achieve them.

 

Turning to college basketball, Columbia's women Lions continue to impress.  They have earned for the first time the top seed in the Ivy League tournament this year to be held at the Pizzitola Center on the Brown U campus in Providence.  Penn will be their likely opponent on Fri Mar 14 at 430P with Harvard and Princeton battling it out in

the second game.  The final will be on Sat Mar 15 at 5P televised by ESPNNews.  Over this past weekend, seniors Kitty Henderson and Cece Collins each had a triple double - Kitty in the win over Brown and Cece in the triumph over Yale.  If I were running the PA system, I would have found a recording of Irving Berlin's "Anything you can do, I can do better" from "Annie Get Your Gun".   

 

Meanwhile down in Greenwich Village at the Paulson Center on Mercer Street, NYU, winners of 56 in a row, will open its defense of the Division III title against Gallaudet from Washington DC F Mar 7 at 730P.  At 430p U Mass-Dartmouth faces Trinity from Hartford CT.  The winners meet at 5P on Sat Mar 8.   The NYU men, losers of only one game all season, play Cortland State in York, PA at 730P after Cleveland's John Carroll plays host York at 430P.  Winners meet on Sa Mar 8 at 5P.  On the Big Boy front, St.John's, now ranked #6 in the country, won the Big East regular season and enter the Big East tourney at MSG with high hopes of another big March Madness run under septugenarian coach Rick Pitino. 

 

My Wisconsin Badgers came up short against Big Ten leader Michigan State this past Sunday but it was a hard-fought game.  If they bounce back at lagging but

gritty Minnesota on W Mar 5 830P on Big Ten Network and on Senior Day against Penn State on Sa Mar 8 1P on Peacock, they should enter Big Ten tournament at Indianapolis with some momentum. 

 

I read earlier today online a very moving story by Greg Stiemsma about how retired Badger athletic trainer Henry Perez-Guerra basically saved his life.  Now an Badger assistant coach with a new title of Director of Player Development, Stiemsma endured a tough period as a young Badger frontcourtman from tiny Randolph, Wisconsin.

He was not doing well in school and felt he wasn't playing well either.  He was close to suicidal when an early AM knock on the door from Perez-Guerra essentially saved his life. A long talk began his hard road to recovery.  Greg went on to a NBA and overseas career and now a prominent role on the Badger coaching staff. Kudos to Greg for being courageous to share his story and to Henry for being there to help. 

 

In conclusion, here are some upcoming TCM movies with sports themes: 

Th Mar 6 245P  "Tennessee Champ" (1954)  Keenan Wynn is boxer battling with crooked manager.  Shelley Winters presumably helps him. 

 

F Mar 7 a lot of movies with horse racing themes:

6A "Sporting Blood" (1931) Robert Florey directs Clark Gable/Madge Evans

730A "Glory" (1956) David Butler directs Margaret O'Brien/Walter Brennan/Charlotte Greenwood

915A "The Story of Seabiscuit" (1949)  Butler directs Barry Fitzgerald with some help from Shirley Temple/Rosemary DeCamp

*6P  "A Day At the Races" (1937) Sam Wood directs a Marx Brothers classic 

 

Tu Mar 11 6A  "Three Ages" (1923) a Buster Keaton classic with Wallace Beery. A caveman baseball scene especially notable.

615P "The Cameraman" (1928) even more notable, Keaton's baseball pantomime at an empty Yankee Stadium

 

(Non-sports films to be noted:  Sa Mar 8 12N "Hard Day's Night" (1964) early Beatles that reminds me of a Marx Bros. film at their best

M Mar 10 545A "The Apartment" (1960) probably Billy Wilder's last great film with Jack Lemmon/Shirley MacLaine/Fred MacMurray.)

 

 

Coming up on Sa Mar 22 10P "Angels in the Outfield" (1951) - the underappreciated original with uncredited James Whitmore as the

unseen but powerfully heard Angel Gabriel.  Paul Douglas in the lead as crusty manaager Guffy McGovern domesticated by Household Hints

journalist Janet Leigh with underappreciated Bruce Bennett as veteran pitcher Saul Hellman.  More in the next blog.

 

For now, always remember:  Stay positive, stay healthy, stay sane, and take it easy but take it.