Lee Lowenfish

It's been a while since I posted to you dear readers and I have to say it has been a rather eventful few weeks in both baseball and American history.

On July 20th, the day after I finished my stimulating class on baseball culture at Chautauqua, former president Trump narrowly missed assassination. 

 

A few days after that, President Biden wisely decided to give up his re-election campaign, and surprisingly with little of the Democratic Party's typical awkward chaos, current Veep Kamala Harris has picked up the mantle of a presentable Presidential candidate. 

 

At least in the early going she has clearly galvanized the Democratic base. Since I believe that most Americans don't take or should take an election seriously until after Labor Day, no more word on politics from me until then. (Or to be more accurate, until the end of this blog.)

 

As I post before the first games of the first full weekend in August, the Orioles and Yankees are in a flat-footed tie for AL East supremacy with the Red Sox still in the hunt only 5 games behind and the Rays only 3 games behind Boston. 

 

The Oriole injury bug is very serious with infielders Jordan Westburg and Jorge Mateo out until late September at the earliest. The closer situation is very unsettled with aging Craig Kimbrel in his second "reset" of the season.  The offense remains inconsistent.

 

If I felt truly comfortable playing the role of the Prince of Paranoia, I would have entitled this post, "Where Is Aaron Hicks Now That We Really Need Him?"  The scapegoat for Yankee failures in recent seasons really helped the Birds last summer with big hits, good defense, and veteran presence, but after being cut by the woeful Angels in late April this season, he has not resurfaced in the majors.

  

I will try to take the long view that the Orioles are still a young team and because of the infield injuries, they now have promising but raw rookie Coby Mayo getting a chance at third base and the ballyhooed still only 20-year-old Jackson Holliday getting another chance at second base. 

 

What I cannot abide though are the continuing injuries to pitchers.  It's an epidemic that affects every organization, including the best ones. 

Satire may be the only way to deal with it. 

 

Dan Bern, the gifted and prolific folk-rock singer/guitarist/composer, has given me permission to quote from two of his trenchant songs about the situation. 

 

"27 Pitchers Gettin One Out Each" begins: 

"I ran into Dave Roberts

The Dodgers manager

He had a faraway look in his eyes

I tell you sir

He said I'm lookin forward to my winter

On the beach

Dreaming of 27 pitchers getting 1 out each 

27 pitchers getting 1 out each" 

 

 A later verse laments:

"The pitcher's mound used to be an all-day chore

But now it's lookin more like a revolving door

Sandy Koufax used to throw all nine or more

That kind of ball has gone out with the dinosaur"

 

A few years ago, Bern penned "Tommy John Surgery" with this acerbic verse:

"Get your kid's tommy john surgery whee 

Before they know their abc's

Jump-start the process do it for your kid

You will not be sorry you did."

(You can hear more of the music and lyrics of Dan Bern, a native of Iowa with a national and international following, on Spotify and other

platforms listed at danbern.com) 

 

The sports world suffered a tremendous loss on July 17th with the passing of Pat Williams at 84 in Orlando, Florida, where he made one of his basketball successes as the founding general manager of the NBA's Orlando Magic.  He brought Shaquille O'Neal and Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway to Orlando where they made two championship finals before Shaq moved to the golden riches of LA. 

 

Earlier, Williams made a success with the pre-Michael Jordan Chicago Bulls but he had a a great love of baseball, too.  Scouts still talk reverently about his success at building a fan base for the Carolina League Spartanburg Phillies, a job that brought Pat the 1967 Sporting News Minor League Executive of the Year award.

 

At the time of his death, Pat was trying to put together a group to either bring the Tampa Bay Rays to Orlando or create an expansion franchise. 

His energy, vision, and genuine support for those like myself outside the loop of the entrenched power structure in sports will be sorely missed.

 

My closing thoughts come from Richael Greenberg's 2003 Tony award-winning play "Take Me Out" that recently enjoyed a NYC revival.  The speech near the end of the first act delivered by Mason, the player-agent who is falling in love with both baseball and the baseball player Darren who is preparing to come out as gay (thus the title of the play), reads in part: 

"Baseball is better than democracy - at least democracy as it is practiced in this country - because, unlike democracy, baseball acknowledges loss.  While conservatives tell you, 'Leave things alone and no one will lose,' and liberals tell you, 'Interfere a lot and no one will lose,' baseball says,

'Someone will lose.' Not only says it, insists upon it."   

 

Next time you are subjected to a screamer on talk radio going ballistic, think about this speech and the essence of our great game. 

 

Thanks all for now.  My mantras remain:  Stay Positive Test Negative and Take It Easy But Take It.

 

 

 

Going to baseball day games at Yankee Stadium is not exactly becoming a habit, but on the Fourth of July I journeyed via swift air-conditioned NYC

Transit Authority buses to see the Yankees lose for the second time in three Thursdays. (I took my June 27 birthday off to enjoy a fine meal at Amor

Cubano, a fine restaurant in Spanish Harlem.) 

 

What I had never seen before was that after the first pitch of the July 4th game, a routine 6-3 grounder to short, Cincinnati manager David Bell protested that Yankee shortstop Anthony Volpe had started the play on the first base side of second base (a no-no since the infield shift was banned a few years ago). The protest was turned down and the Reds lost their right to challenge calls for the rest of the game. 

 

As it turned out. they didn't need it as they led all the way in an 8-4 victory and a 3-game sweep of the slumping Yankess who for the time being are in second place behind my Orioles - lots of baseball to play, I remind myself.

 

I saw another rare occurrence later in the game.  With a 5-2 lead in the bottom of the 5th, Manager Bell brought the infield in with a Yankee on

third base and one out.  "The baseball book" - which the late Earl Weaver scorned and most of today's analytics people do, too - says you don't bring the infield in with a lead so early in the game. It can lead to a big inning if infielders are moved much closer to home plate.

 

Maybe if you have on your side sensational shortstop (and promising switch-hitter) Elly de la Cruz, you can tempt fate. Because he threw out a Yankee runner at home plate on a hot grounder and the Reds never were threatened again. 

 

Cincinnati is one of those teams that though under .500 still has playoff aspirations in the 12-team tournament coming up in October. They have a positive run-differential (meaning they have scored more runs than they have given up.) Pitching and defense will tell the story and they are youthful and athletic. 

 

If you haven't noticed, the Astros, Cardinals, and Red Sox already have soared over .500 after bad starts.  It will make the trading deadline of July 30 very interesting (and nerve-wracking for fans and unsettling for players who will have to change employers and residences with little say in the matter).

 

Here's a word of caution on that deadline. It will be a big media story throughout July, but rarely does a trade make a huge difference in the outcome of a pennant race.  I still believe knowing your own farm system and rewarding those who can help the parent club is the best way to build a winner.

Let's call it IBP - Improvement By Promotion, OK? 

 

Yet like everything in baseball, there are no guarantees.  The Orioles thought that Jackson Holliday could make the jump to MLB as a 20-year-old,

but they had to send him back to the minors.  He's doing OK but not sensationally. He is learning a new position, second base, because it seems that Gunnar Henderson will monopolize shortstop for the foreseeable future.

 

Fortunately, the tandem of veteran Jorge Mateo and rising young star Jordan Westburg has handled second base very well for the Orioles with another veteran Ramon Urias now and then filling in. It is hard for even the Prince of Paranoia to criticize the decisions of GM Mike Elias (so far). 

 

He surprised a lot of people by bringing back both Mateo and Urias in 2024 and they have both contributed, especially speedy and savvy Mateo who alas will never be a consistent hitter but he can turn a game around with his legs.  I am also enjoying whal it seems will be the last Oriole season of Anthony Santander, who like Mateo was signed as a teenager - Anthony out of Venezuela by Cleveland and Mateo out of the Dominican Republic by the Yankees.   

 

I love it when players persevere to become key contributors. And I recently read that Anthony and Jorge, who incidentally the Padres also gave up on, have become chess-playing buddies in the clubhouse!  

 

Baltimore obviously needs a more consistent relief corps and another reliable starter, but so do most contenders. Meanwhile, Oriole rookie southpaw Cade Povich - a native of Omaha, Nebraska and not related to Shirley or Maury Povich - has been a godsend.  I repeat again - it is so easy to root for someone you've developed from day one after the draft . . . and rescued from the waiver wire and other areas of the baseball scrap heap. 

 

For example, 34-year-old Venezuelan starter Albert Suarez who has stepped up to become a fairly reliable member of the rotation after several years playing in Korea and Japan.  I love that manager Brandon Hyde is challenging his starters  to work deep into games because - this is not original but it is so accurate - THE BEST BULLPEN IS A STARTER THAT GOES 7 INNINGS.   

 

This will probably be my last post until after I return from teaching my almost-annual class in Baseball and American Culture at the Chautauqua Institution in the southwestern corner of New York State near Jamestown NY which is now the home with the National Comedy Center.

 

My theme this year is "Baseball Fandom" and I've been delving into a bevy of different sources.  New Oriole owner David Rubenstein is certainly

making his mark as the Delirious Fan Owner - DFO another acronym I've just coined. 

 

Rubenstein has splashed with Dr. Splash in the outfield bleachers at Camden Yards - Splash is a fanatic fan bringing back memories of Wild Bill Hagy in Section 34 of Memorial Stadium, the last time Orioles had a genuine contender over 40 years ago.  Rubenstein has also danced on the dugout with the Bird mascot during the 7th Inning Stretch.  (I just hope in the off-season he will ante up the shekels for both Santander and staff ace Corbin Burnes, but the Prince of Paranoia will wait until after the season to deal with that anxiety.) 

 

In addition to discussing in my class the writings of Rogers Angell and Kahn, Wilfred Sheed, and sharing the lyrical excerpts from Richard Greenberg's play "Take Me Out", I want to show the wild taxicab ride that Harold Lloyd takes Babe Ruth to Yankee Stadium in the 1928 classic "Speedy". 

(For more info on my class, running July 15-19 from 330-5P in the heart of the campus in 201B Hultquist - google Chautauqua Institution Special Studies Week 4 Classes.) 

 

And now we've come full circle because here's the info about the bus ride I took to the Stadium:  M4 or M5 bus to Broadway/157th St.  Cross street to west side and walk a curved half-block to Morgan Place stop of Bx6.  It takes you past the old Polo Grounds site, across the bridge over the Harlem River into the Bronx and the famous address of River Ave and E 161 Street.  Bus runs about every 12-15 minutes and is nicely air-conditioned too.

 

Here are some TCM Tips for much of the rest of July:

M Jul 8 230P - "Sapphire" (1959) rarely shown.  Basil Dearden directs a searing murder mystery about a British woman who had been "passing" as white.  

M July 8  8P "Scarface" (1932) Howard Hawks directs Paul Muni/Ann Dvorak in a pioneering gangster movie - too mannered for me but classic.

M July 8  1030P "The Roaring Twenties" (1939) Raoul Walsh directs Jimmy Cagney, Bogart in supporting role, classic last line by Gladys George

         

And now the sports-related films:

F July 12 1015P  "Slap Shot" (1977)  George Roy Hill - "Butch Cassidy", "The Sting"  - directs Paul Newman as minor league hockey coach

 

Sa July 13 8P  "Elmer the Great" (1933) Mervyn Leroy directs Joe E Brown in Brown's favorite baseball movie - opening scene draws you in.

Sa July 13 8p "Eight Men Out" (1988)  John Sayles directs an earnest, well-acted though not very accurate Black Sox Scandal movie

 

Su July 14 two classic noirs back to back:

 8P "The Killers" (1946) based on Hemingway story - Robert Siodmak directs young Burt Lancaster, Ava Gardner among others 

10P "Criss Cross" (1949) R. Siodmak directs Lancaster and Yvonne DeCarlo among others

 

Th July 18 8P  "36 Hours" (1964)  George Seaton directs James Garner as WW 2 POW with amnesia who Germans are brainwashing

1015P "Grand Prix" (1966) John Frankenheimer auto racing movie with James Garner and Eva Marie Saint who plays brainwasher in "36 Hrs"                    

Su July 21 8P "Chariots of Fire" (1981) deserved Oscar-winning film about British Olympic runners of early 20th century

1015P "Jim Thorpe-All American" (1951) Michael Curtiz directs Burt Lancaster in one of his better roles

 

M July 22 945P "Boys Town" (1938)  Spencer Tracy as Father Flanagan saving Mickey Rooney from delinquency

 

Tu July 23 8P "Slippery When Wet" (1958)  documentary on surfers in Oahu

 

Th July 25 8P "The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming" (1966)  Norman Jewison directs a hilarious satire from a more irreverent time

    of our history with Carl Reiner, Alan Arkin, and Eva Marie Saint (TCM's Star of Month, Thursday in July)

 

That's all for now.  And here's a different closing line.  THE ELECTION OUTCOME IS NOT FOREORDAINED.  MAKE SURE YOU ARE REGISTERED

TO VOTE AND DON'T LET MASS MEDIA LEAD YOU TO TOTAL NEGATIVISM AND COMPLETE CYNICISM.