Lee Lowenfish

"I always thought I was the guy sitting in my chair on home wanting to experience this," Brian Snitker, manager of the world champion Braves, told Hazel Mae, a Blue Jays' TV reporter,  just moments after Atlanta won the World Series.  

 

For a fellow who said he was "numb," Snitker sure expressed himself beautifully.  Smelling the roses after 45 years in the same organization, usually at the important but rarely-recognized lower levels, his is a very nice story. 

 

Here are a few more:

**Southpaw reliever Tyler Matzek virtually unhittable throughout the post-season. Signed to a big bonus by the Rockies, he was in the 2015 starting rotation for Colorado until his wildness led to a deep slide to baseball's underworld, including a year without playing at all.  

 

Through the help of a former player turned sports psychologist, Matzek made the slow climb back through independent leagues.  As he told Scott Miller in the Oct 27 NYTimes, he ultimately chose to "fight" over "flight" or freeze." 

 

**Closer Will Smith finished every one of the World Series victories and others throughout the three rounds of playoffs.  Originally a KC Royal, then a Brewer and a Giant, Smith lost 7

games in regular season but was flawless in the playoffs.

 

We can put to rest the home run he served to Dodger catcher Will Smith in last year's playoffs that contributed to Atlanta's narrowly missing the 2020 World Series.

 

**The NLCS MVP Eddie Rosario and World Series MVP Jorge Soler were both late additions at the trade deadline.  Their slugging, and Rosario's remarkable catch of A. J. Pollock's line drive late in Game 4, will be forever etched in Braves lore.

 

**Here's to Max Fried who with Ian Anderson restored some glitter and glamor to the still-important craft of starting pitching.  With veteran Charlie Morton knocked out with a broken leg suffered early in Game 1, they rose to the occasion in Games 5 and 6. 

 

Even if Anderson was taken out after 5 no-hit fairly stressful innings and Fried had a shutout going after 6. The days of the complete game may be gone forever but sure was

nice to see starters getting at least into the 5th and 6th. 

 

**Here's to the great infield of the Braves.  Two of them are essentially local boys,

third baseman Austin Riley from Hernando, Mississippi and shortstop Dansby Swanson from nearby Marietta, Georgia.  

 

Shortstop Ozzie Albies hails from Curacao - he struggled at the plate until Snitker dropped him to 7th in the order in Game 6 and he relaxed and sparked two rallies. 

 

Last but certainly not least is Freddie Freeman the slugging first baseman from SoCal, the longest tenured Brave.  How fitting that the last out of 2021 was your basic 6-3 from Swanson to Freeman.

 

If the Braves don't sign Freeman as he enters free agency, it will be a blow not only to their fan base but to those of us, however naively, still believe in the old adage, "The grass is not always greener on the other side of the fence." 

 
Let's not forget Astros manager Dusty Baker who plans to be back next year for a third try at his first World Series title.  He remains the only manager to take FIVE teams to the playoffs and is a surefire Hall of Famer in my opinion especially if you add in his fine playing career.  

 

For some reason Cooperstown's Hall of Fame does not consider a person's record as both player and manager.  Which is why Gil Hodges is still outside, something that could change in the next Veterans Committee voting released next month. 

 

Astros pitching coach Brent Strom won't be returning in the same role.  The 73-year-old Strom is tired of the travel, but he may help out their impressive young pitchers in both

majors and minors at some point next season.

 

Strom did a fine job with the young Astro starters but the loss of their ace before the Series, Lance McCullers Jr., ultimately proved too much to overcome.

 

Now it's time to see if the warring sides of players and owners can hammer out a new collective bargaining agreement so spring training and the regular season start on time

in 2022.  Expect saber rattling on both sides, but at a juncture in our history when baseball is losing fans, another work stoppage would be ill-advised, to understate the issue.

 

AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT:

There have been some notable passings in the arts recently that need mentioning.

 

**Satirist Mort Sahl, 94, in Mill Valley, Calif. on Oct 26.  I attended probably Sahl's last NYC performance in 2004 at the now-defunct B.B.King's blues club in Times Square. 

 

The iconoclastic Sahl, who became famous as a social critic during the Eisenhower years of the 1950s, claimed that Ronald Reagan was the last US President to have a sense of humor.  

 

Before the Soviet Union fell, according to Sahl, Reagan told a joke about a man in Russia who buys an automobile and asks when it will come. 

"Ten years," he is told.

"Morning or afternoon?" he inquires.

"Why do you want to know?"

"Because the refrigerator is coming in the morning."

 

**Classical conductor Bernard Haitink, 92, on Oct 21 in London, England. Leading Amsterdam's Concertgebouw Orchestra from 1956 to 1988, its principal conductor from 1963, he was well known around the world for his no-frills but passionate musicianship. 

 

I attended an all-Beethoven Haitink Carnegie Hall concert late last century.  The stirring

opening bars of the "Eroica" Symphony #3 had just begun when all of a sudden Haitink stopped and whirled around, pointing his baton at people talking in a box in the second tier.

 

The audience gasped, the clueless dolts hushed, and the concert resumed. A moment never to be forgotten. 

 

**Finally, Jo-Carroll Dennison, 97, Oct 18 in the San Jacinto Mtns. east of LA.  She had been the oldest-living Miss America winning the pageant in 1942. 

 

Katharine Q. Seelye's late October obit in the NY Times had fascinating details.  Born in Arizona into a traveling medicine show family, Dennison became during WW II the second most popular pinup girl of servicemen after Betty Grable.

 

Was married to comic actor Phil Silvers from 1945-1950 (before his "Sgt. Bilko" years). Appeared opposite Larry Parks in the "Jolson Story" (1946). Had limited schooling but she got educated on tips from Leonard Bernstein and Ray Bradbury.  

 

Became a feminist long before #MeToo.  Wrote an autobiography in her last years,

"Finding My LIttle Red Hat". 

 

Last but not least, here are some TCM tips for November which is Sydney Greenstreet

month. The John Huston-Bogart-Mary Astor "Maltese Falcon" was already on, but Wed evenings Nov 10-17-24 will feature his work. 

 

Sports pickings are rather slim in November but on Su Nov 21 at 615p there is

"Stealing Home" (1988) with Mark Harmon/Blair Brown/Jodie Foster. It's about a ballplayer who returns home after the suicide of a friend.  Have not seen it so I'm curious.

 

And speaking of Blair Brown, don't let a less than favorable NYTimes review of Simon Stephens' "Morning Sun" keep you away from seeing the three-character play at Manhattan Theatre Club - it's located on lower level of the City Center (on W 55 St between 6-7 Aves.)

 

Blair Brown plays the mother, Edie Falco the daughter, and Marin Ireland the granddaughter in a moving play about the three generations of women in our unsettled times.  It may

start a little talky but as it moves on, thanks to good directing by Lila Neugebauer, you really get into the characters of these women. 

 

Edie Falco is quite a remarkable actress.  She adds Charlotte (Charley) to her formidable resume that includes Carmela Soprano and Nurse Jackie with hopefully many more roles to come.

 

That's all for now as the long off-season of baseball has begun and my rooting is focused on

my alma mater's teams, especially Columbia football and women's basketball and Wisconsin football and basketball.

 

Always remember:  Take it easy but take it, and stay positive and test negative.

"The only problem with baseball is that someone must lose every day," a veteran baseball scout once wisely noted.  I definitely wanted the Braves to knock out the heavily favored haughty Dodgers in the NLCS, and was happy for Dusty Baker that the Astros eliminated the Bosox.   

 

With the glamor teams gone, I now face a quandary. I guess I'll root for six or seven games and may the games be as memorable as a lot of the NLCS and ALCS were. 

 

Both series went six games and each contained plenty of wonderful unpredictable baseball drama.  It looked like the loss of Houston's number one starter Lance McCullers Jr. would doom the Astros and they did fall behind Boston's explosive offense two games to one.

 

Then, their unheralded young starters, Dominican Republic native Framber Valdez and Venezuelan Luis Garcia, flushed from their memory ineffective performances in the first games in Houston and stepped up big time in the unfriendly confines of Fenway Park.

All of a sudden Boston's bats went silent including that of the amazing ex-Dodger Enrique "Kike" Hernandez.

 

Valdez and Garcia were obviously given confidence boosters by manager Dusty Baker and pitching coach Brent Strom, two baseball lifers in their early 'seventies. How can any longtime baseball fans not like these guys?  And what better leaders to guide the team after the sign-stealing scandal of 2017 that wasn't uncovered until two years later.

 

Strom came up with the Mets but never won a game for them.  He went 22-39 in his MLB career, pitching mainly for his home town San Diego Padres.  In 1978 he became the second pitcher to undergo Tommy John elbow surgery but he never returned to the majors.  

 

He has since become a widely-respected coach. This year he has been working wonders with a largely farm-developed staff along with some trade additions like closer Ryan Pressly and set-up man Kendall Graveman. 

 

Manager Dusty Baker, born Johnnie Baker Jr, is closing in on almost 2,000 regular season victories. He has taken five teams to the post-season but this will be only Baker's second World Series adventure as a manager. 

 

A master story teller, Baker recently told AP sportswriter Kristie Rieken that after losing as Giants skipper the hard-fought 2002 7-game World Series to the Angels. Baker's father groused to him that he would never have another chance at a Series win. 

 

Johnnie Baker Sr. was a career military man and a practitioner of tough love. He coached his son in Little League as well as Bobby Bonds, Barry's father. Baker Sr. died a few years ago but Dusty feels he is looking down over him.  

 

So is Henry Aaron who was Baker's mentor when Dusty signed with the Braves in 1967 and reached the majors to stay in 1972.  Aaron promised Dusty's mother he would look over her son and he certainly did.   

 

In addition to Brent Strom. the Astros possess other fine coaches.  Joe Espada, Joe Girardi's bench coach with the Yankees, has the same role in Houston.

  

Former fine center fielder Gary Pettis just came back to the team after extensive treatments for myeloma. He's not ready to return to his third base post, but he will be a presence in the dugout.

 

Gary's son, Dante Pettis, plays for the New York football Giants and threw and caught a pass from Giant QB Daniel Jones this past Sunday in what turned out to be a rare easy victory for the 2-5 Giants over the Carolina Panthers.

 

I love these connections in sports.  One of the Astros' hitting coaches is Troy Snitker, 32, the son of Braves manager Brian Snitker.  Brian, 66, is another baseball lifer who is impossible to dislike. He was hired by Hank Aaron when the Hammer was the Braves farm director.

 

Snitker's base coaches, Ron Washington, 73, and Eric Young Sr. (the former Rutgers and Dodgers infielder-outfielder), are brimming with passion for teaching the game.   

 

The NY Times reporter Scott Miller wrote a wonderful story over the weekend about Washington's teaching infield fundamentals via pepper, the oft-forgotten drill that keeps players on their toes by having someone batting balls to them as they gather closely together in a circle.  

 

It is hard to recall two better collections of infielders than the ones we will see in this Series. The Astros feature at the corners Alex Bregman and Cuban Yuri Gurriel, the NL batting champion.  The double-play combo is Carlos Correa and Jose Altuve.

 

The Braves have two MVP candidates at the corners, young Austin Riley at third and Freddie Freeman at first.  Dansby Swanson at short and Curacao native Ozzie Albies are superlative at their positions, and all eight of them can really hit, too.

 

There was a touching moment before Game 1 of the NLCS when Atlanta's former star center fielder Dale Murphy went to the mound to throw out the first ball.  Arriving wearing his #3 jersey, he suddenly took it off to reveal underneath the late Henry Aaron's #44. And beneath that, he displayed Austin Riley's #27.

 

One important question about the coming World Series will be:  Can Houston's Yordan Alvarez, another Cuban who was signed as a teenager by the Dodgers, and Atlanta's Eddie Rosario from Puerto Rico keep up their fantastic hitting?  Both hit over .500 in the previous series and were rightly named MVPs. 

 

Another interesting side story is how will LSU's Alex Bregman, a shortstop in college, fare against Vanderbilt's Dansby Swanson.  They went 1-2 in the 2015 amateur draft and Bregman wears #2 as a motivator because Swanson was the number one pick in the country.  

 

I hope the starting pitchers carry good enough stuff to go at least into the

sixth or seventh innings. Series opener Charlie Morton and the youngsters Max Fried and Ian Anderson may be capable of doing it.  Ditto Houston's Valdez and Garcia.  

 

It will be intriguing to see if Will Smith the Braves' lefthanded closer who excelled against

LA can keep up his good work against Houston.  He is known to get into jams. 

 

Can the other lefties in the bullpen, AJ Minter and Tyler Matzek, keep up their fine work?

 

It is not just 20/20 hindsight to say that LA lost the NLCS when they made the odd choice of calling on Mexican Julio Urias, baseball's only 20-game winner in 2021, to try to save Game 1 in Atlanta. He hadn't pitched in relief all season and he couldn't hold the lead. 

 

Max Scherzer, the trade deadline acquisition and likely future Hall of Famer, never fully recovered from his saving the game that eliminated the surprising Giants in the earlier divisional series.  He made only one start in the NLCS and couldn't answer the bell for Game 6.  

 

Kudos to Hall of Fame pitcher Pedro Martinez, a onetime LA Dodger, who in the pre-game show on TBS before Game 6 expressed his fervent wish that the Dodgers' analytics department will have to answer to their strange decisions on turning starters into closers and turning over entire crucial games to "openers" and "bulk relievers".

 

I just hope we see memorable baseball in the climactic week of the season. If there are no rain postponements, the Series will shift to Atlanta for the three weekend games after an off day on Thursday.  If games 6 and 7 are needed in Houston, they will be on Election Day Tuesday and Wed Nov 3.  All games starting after 8p EDT.

 

I will grit my teeth and try to blot out the political grandstanding that already is happening in the state of Georgia and probably soon in flamingly red state Texas. 

Before the final game against the Dodgers, the Braves hired country singer Travis Tritt to sing the National Anthem despite his outspoken opposition to vaccine mandates. 

 

It must have been a deliberate slap by Braves management of baseball commissioner Rob Manfred who had ordered the All-Star Game out of Atlanta because of Georgia's passage of voter restriction laws. Manfred has also demanded strict enforcement of Covid protocols since the virus broke out.   

 

All the games will be on Fox TV which means there will a lot of superficial comment from Joe Buck,  forced laughter from the pre-game trio of David Ortiz, Alex Rodriguez, and Frank Thomas, and only an occasional insight from Buck's sidekick John Smoltz.

 

And now here is one closing baseball quote.  Daisuke Matsusaka, 41, the former Red Sox pitcher, retired last week, pitching one inning in a planned goodbye in his native Japan. In his farewell statement, Dice-K wrote, "I want to thank my wife, my kids, my parents, everyone who was part of my life, even opposing fans who hated me."   

 

That's all for now.  Next time some more as the NYC cultural scene comes back to life with live performances.  In the meantime, always remember:  Take it easy but take it, and

Stay Positive, Test Negative!