baseball Archives - Page 18 of 23

Traditions of baseball, comic books, and film

I hadn’t read the Comic Buyer’s Guide regularly since 1994, but I would usually buy a copy on Free Comic Book Day each May, just to check out what was new

I lost a dollar this week. A blogger I know bet that no one would be elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, and regrettably, he was right. Even allowing the “punishment” of those who allegedly took performance-enhancing drugs, there were plenty of qualified candidates (starting pitcher Jack Morris, the totally undervalued reliever Lee Smith, for two). This was an unfortunate outcome, and not so incidentally, will be lousy for tourism in Cooperstown this year.

Now, ironically, baseball will be expanding its drug-testing program.
***
To my surprise, I was quite sad to read that Comics Buyer’s Guide is folding in March. The usual reasons were stated: “decline in advertising and free content online.”

CBG was “started by Alan Light as The Buyer’s Guide for Comic Fandom [in 1971], publishing monthly at first, then twice a month, then weekly…” By the time the newsprint magazine was acquired by Krause Publications in 1983 and changed its name, it had become the bible of the industry. It was like Variety was for entertainment or Billboard for music. Especially under Krause, the level of professionalism increased tremendously.

I started collecting comics in 1972, and when the Crystal Cave comic book store opened c. 1975 in New Paltz, I would buy the publication, scouring the ads for the best prices in back issue comics. That’s also where I first saw the classic comic renderings by my friend-to-be, Fred Hembeck.

When I started working at FantaCo in 1980, and we started publishing comic-book-related material, including material by Hembeck, we would dutifully mail our press releases to Don and Maggie Thompson. Sometimes they would use it, but often they would not. This was discouraging to some in the store, but it made me more determined to keep sending more and more info to them. Eventually, we became so “legitimate” that they would almost always report on our publication schedule. Indeed, I think that’s generally a lesson in dealing with the media: keep trying.

There was a lovely editorial written by Michael T. Gilbert shortly after Raoul Vezina, the artist who worked at FantaCo, had died in late 1983. I have that somewhere in the attic.

I hadn’t read CBG regularly since 1994 when I sold my collection, but I would usually buy a copy on Free Comic Book Day each May, if a copy could be found, just to check out what was new. It won’t be around for the next FCBD, though.

Mark Evanier has his own recollections.
***
I start my quixotic attempt to see most of the films nominated for an Academy Award in the major categories. I’ve seen three of the nine nominees for best picture: Argo, Les Miserables, and Lincoln. Beasts of the Southern Wild came and went, and I don’t know if Life of Pi is still around.

Almost certainly, the next film we’ll see will be Silver Linings Playbook, which would take the count of best actor, best supporting actor, and best supporting actress nominations I will have seen from two to three each; best director from one to two; and best actress from zero to one.

Baseball Hall of Fame in the Steroid Era

Who WILL get in, I really don’t know, though I’ll guess Piazza, Schilling, Bagwell, and Morris.

The ballot for the 2013 inductees to the Baseball Hall of Fame has been announced. Two of the greatest players ever, outfielder Barry Bonds and pitcher Roger Clemens, are on the ballot for the first time; both have been implicated as users of performance-enhancing steroids. Sammy Sosa, a great home run hitter, is also in this category.

These are the other first-time nominees: Craig Biggio, Curt Schilling, Mike Piazza, Kenny Lofton, David Wells, Julio Franco, Shawn Green, Steve Finley, Roberto Hernandez, Jose Mesa, Mike Stanton, Sandy Alomar Jr., Jeff Cirillo, Reggie Sanders, Jeff Conine, Royce Clayton, Ryan Klesko, Aaron Sele, Woody Williams, Rondell White, Todd Walker.

The following players received between 5 and 74 percent of the BBWAA vote in 2012 and have appeared on no more than 14 previous BBWAA ballots, making them eligible to return to the 2013 ballot: Jeff Bagwell, Edgar Martinez, Don Mattingly, Fred McGriff, Mark McGwire, Jack Morris, Dale Murphy, Rafael Palmeiro, Tim Raines, Lee Smith, Alan Trammell, Larry Walker, and Bernie Williams.

The ones in italics above won’t get the 5 percent to get on the ballot next year. Sandy Alomar could be on that list too, though his brother was a Hall of Famer and that might help him just hit the threshold. Julio Franco (played a LOT of years), Shawn Green, Mike Stanton, and Steve Finley could go either way. I think the others will get at least 5% including David Wells, if only because he once pitched a perfect game.

Here’s some information on all the candidates. If I were voting, I would not vote for any of the steroid suspects in the first round, but might in subsequent rounds.

My ballot:
Mike Piazza- one of the best hitting catchers of his time
Curt Shilling – pivotal in World Series wins for two different teams (2001 Arizona, 2004 Boston)
Craig Biggio and Jeff Bagwell – I like the idea of two of the Houston Astros’ Killer B’s getting in together
Mark McGwire – he’s also been tainted by the enhanced performance brush. But it wasn’t banned until afterward. And it’s his 7th time on the ballot, so yes.
Larry Walker – my bias against playing in a mile high stadium where the hit ball carries better (Denver) has been overcome by his decent play away from home
Lee Smith – a one-time career saves leader; should have been in years ago

Now I have to think about the last three. As a Yankees fan, I’m biased against former Yankees Mattingly and Williams, because their predecessors were so great. Edgar Martinez was primarily a designated hitter, and I STILL hate the DH rule. But I might vote for all of them down the road. I’ll pick three players who’ve been on the ballot a long time: Alan Trammell (12th year on the ballot); Jack Morris (14th, and I would have voted for him before); and Dale Murphy (15th and final shot).

Who WILL get in, I really don’t know, though I’ll guess Piazza, Schilling, Bagwell, and Morris, two first-timers, and two who’d been up before.

There’s also a separate ballot for the Pre-Integration Era, six players, three executives, and one umpire from the origins of the major leagues through 1946. I’d pick:
pitcher Tony Mullane, who “won 284 games in 13 major league seasons from 1881-1894”
St. Louis Cardinals executive Samuel Breadon, who “created the blueprint for the modern farm system with minor league clubs owned or controlled by the parent club. Presided over nine pennant winners and six World Series championships”
executive Jacob Ruppert, who owned the New York Yankees from 1915-1939, with his teams winning six World Series titles and nine American League pennants during his ownership.” He purchased Babe Ruth’s contact from the Red Sox, and “led the construction of Yankee Stadium”
Hank O’Day, who was major league umpire “from 1888-1927, officiating 10 World Series, tied for second-most in history. Was selected to umpire the first World Series in 1903. Also played and managed in the majors, as a pitcher from 1884-1890”

The announcers’ awards are also out, but I have no opinion.

One of my Facebook friends wrote: “I’m going to argue that before any of these guys get in, how about considering inducting John R. Tunis, Charles Schulz, and the guy who invented Little League“; that would probably be Carl Stotz. “It’s about time that some of the people who used their talents to promote baseball also get their due in the Hall.” Last I was there, a Peanuts cartoon exhibit WAS in the Hall.

Baseball union leader Marvin Miller died recently. I agree that he belongs in the Baseball Hall of Fame as well.

Curiouser and curiouser: 20 questions

Donald Trump, because he’s a twit. Planned Parenthood, because it’s constantly under attack.

There’s this website Curious as a Cat, and it asks one to three questions each week. Here are some from 2006 and 2007 I deigned to answer.

1. What is the one experience in your life that has caused the most pain?
Physical pain. Tie between a broken rib and oral surgery. Emotional, surely an affair of the heart.

2. If you had to pick one thing, what would you say is the single thing that can destroy a soul?
Telling so many lies that you start thinking it’s the truth.

3. What one thing always speaks deeply to you, to your spirit, no matter your mood or what else is going on in your life?
Music, always. I hear it all the time. Sometimes it’s something I’ve heard recently, but more often it’s a tune suitable for the moment.

4. What is the least appropriate thing to pray for?

Actually, the harm of someone else. But I get most irritated when sports figures seem to think that God was on THEIR side after a victory; I was reading a Guideposts magazine article recently, which said, and I agree, “God doesn’t care.”

5. If you could remove one of the current Supreme Court justices based on their moral positions, whom would you choose?
Tough. Clarence Thomas is SO awful, and ought to be impeached for ethical violations. But Antonin Scalia (pictured) tends to steer Thomas’ voting compass, so I guess I’ll say him; he ought to be checked out, too.

6. Name one event that changed your relationship with your family the most.
I think it was the rapprochement of my two sisters in the past few years, who used to argue a lot. They would (especially one of them) call me up and vent about the other. Now that that’s no longer the case, I get fewer calls.

7. If you were to make a collage to describe yourself to others, what sorts of pictures or symbols would you include?
Clearly, it would have a picture of red sneakers; I used to have a Christmas ornament of red sneakers, but it broke. A racquetball racquet, the picture of me as a duck, the cover of the Beatles Revolver album, the cover of a Howard the Duck comic book, a caricature of me singing several years ago, the front cover of the World Almanac, a picture of my two sisters and me when I was a kid, a picture of my parents, a picture of my wife & daughter & me.

8. Which year was the best of your life? How old were you? Would you want to live it again?
1978, when I moved to Schenectady, got a job I liked, had my first steady girlfriend in over two years. I was 25. Absolutely not.

9. What is your favorite way to travel?
By train. I like the light rail in San Diego a lot as well.

10. What spiritual concept, from any religion, is the hardest for you to understand? Is it something you have studied, or something you have only observed from the ‘outside’?
I think Christianity has a lot of difficult concepts: the virgin birth, the resurrection of the dead. But nothing seems to mystify as much as the notion of the Trinity, God in three persons. I’ve studied it a lot, but couldn’t explain it adequately if I tried. St. Patrick used to say it’s like the three-leaf clover, three flowers in one, but that falls short for me.

11. What is your earliest memory? Why do you think you have remembered that particular event or thing?
Trip to the now-closed Catskill Game Farm when I was three, which I remember because there were pictures. So it may be the pictures I recall, not the trip.

12. What position in any team sport is the hardest to play? Why? Have you played that position?
Catcher in baseball, and yes, I played it in a pickup league.

13. Imagine you could redesign your hands. Whose hands would you remodel yours to resemble?
Or would you keep the hands you’ve got?
I like my hands. I like the length of my fingers, the shape of my fingernails. I do which they didn’t have the vitiligo on the back.

14. What bothers you most in other people, generally?
Impatience. People four cars back beeping because the line isn’t moving, and it isn’t moving because some considerate driver’s actually letting an older pedestrian cross. Or the surge of shoppers at the front door on Black Friday openings, which is why I avoid that day like the Plague.

15. What one thing have you done that pleased your parents the most?
Graduating from college. Took five years. My one sister and I actually graduated on successive weekends, she from SUNY Binghamton and me from SUNY New Paltz, and my parents, who were by then living in Charlotte, NC, came up to both.

16. You have to choose one rich person to be forced to give all their money away to a cause or charity. Whom would you choose, and to which cause or charity will the money go?
Donald Trump, because he’s a twit. Planned Parenthood, because it’s constantly under attack.

17. Is there an emotion that you think has gotten stronger as you’ve aged? If so, why do you think that has happened?
I’m more of a sentimental sap, where songs or TV movies might make me a bit misty-eyed. I think it’s a function of the experiences, and the fragility, of life.

18. What kind of cowardice do you most despise?
Lack of conviction. I may hate Rick Santorum’s politics, but I believe he believes what he says (and that’s scary.) Whereas I think Mitt Romney will say just about anything to appeal to whomever he is speaking at the moment.

19. If the U.S. had to give up one state, which one would you pick? Why?
Texas. It was briefly its own country and still acts like it.

20. When were you most moved by a ceremony?
I’m often moved by ceremony – communion, weddings, a US naturalization. The funeral of a 20-month old, though…

No One Could Talk Like This Pirate

In celebration of the greatest athletic achievement by a man on a psychedelic journey…

It’s another Talk Like a Pirate Day. All I want is for the Pittsburgh Pirates, a baseball team with a proud tradition going back to the 1880s(!), to finish above .500 again. Is that too much to ask? They have not had a winning season since 1992, when the Atlanta Braves (and former Pirate) first baseman Sid Bream made the ugliest slide at home plate, just beating the throw from left fielder Barry Bonds, back when he was skinny. The Pirates are, last I checked, only 2 games over .500, yet are still in the hunt for a wild card to get into the playoffs. So there is hope. But not so long ago, they were 14 games above .500, so there is great concern as well.

Meanwhile, one of the oddest sporting events ever, 41 baseball seasons ago:
In celebration of the greatest athletic achievement by a man on a psychedelic journey, No Mas artist James Blagden proudly presents the animated tale of Dock Ellis’ legendary LSD no-hitter. This features the late pitcher’s actual retelling of this peculiar feat.
***
Actual pirates now have form letters. Bizarre.

Joe Kubert, and the Olympics (again!)

Fortunately, America, some of the Olympics items you missed can be seen here.

Joe Kubert, a comic legend best known for his DC war comics, died Sunday morning at the age of 85. Read this piece by Christopher Allen with links to other articles. Here’s a piece by Mark Evanier, plus ADD’s controversial take.

Steve Bissette, who was a student at the Kubert School, writes To Joe, With Love: A Sad Farewell to the Man Who Opened All the Doors. He also wrote on Facebook:
“If you want to do something to express your feelings or help, donations can be made to the Multiple Myeloma Foundation in Joe Kubert’s name; sympathy cards or notices can be sent to the Kubert family c/o the Kubert School, 37 Myrtle Avenue, Dover, NJ 07801. In all ways, be kind.”

This story depressed me thoroughly: Father performs “Let it Be” to raise funds for his 11-month-old’s cancer bills.
“No parent should have to bare their grief to the world, no matter how beautifully, to beg for money to cover the life-saving medical treatment their baby needs. As you see the beauty, be mindful of the injustice in our health care system this represents.”

Fact-checking the Romney-Ryan “60 Minutes” interview. On the other hand, someone (I forget who, fortunately) noted that they have really nice hair, best hair since the Johns Kerry and Edwards in 2004.

Helen Gurley Brown, longtime editor of Cosmopolitan magazine and author of Sex and the Single Girl died at the age of 90. She had as much to do with the sexual revolution of the 1960s, however you think about that, as anyone aside from the makers of The Pill.

I’m not a Boston Red Sox fan, but I always liked Johnny Pesky, who was a great team ambassador for the baseball team for a lot of years.
***
I thought I was through mentioning the Olympics, I really did, though you might want to read the pieces by Shooting Parrots, the last of which is HERE. Now, Jay Smooth did provide a sarcastic tribute to NBC’s coverage, and that was BEFORE the Closing Ceremonies, which NBC royally screwed up:
“In addition to editing out selected portions and allowing the insipid Ryan Seacrest to host, they broke away before the big finale and the Who to show the pilot of a new sitcom where the big joke was a monkey in a lab coat. There’s a reason NBC is the last network. Even in those rare (once every four years) instances when they get viewers, they manage to royally piss them off. Don’t they realize that interrupting the Closing Ceremonies with a sitcom is the same as flashing a half-hour pop-up ad?”
Fortunately, in America, some of the Olympics items you missed can be seen HERE.

A non-NBC piece about a recent piece criticizing American Olympic silver medalist Leo Manzano for waving his native Mexican flag alongside the U.S. flag following his performance in the men’s 1500-meter finals.
***
PSY – GANGNAM STYLE (강남스타일) for your own aerobic exercise.