R is for Redskins

I also puzzled over the Major League baseball team, the Cleveland Indians, less over the name, and more over what I consider the bizarre caricature of Chief Wahoo.



It’s football season in America – I mean, using the ball to the left, NOT the ball to the right.
When I was growing up, my father and I would watch, on our local CBS-TV affiliate, all the games of the New York Giants of the National Football League, who actually played in New York, not New Jersey, at the time. Their main rivals were, and are, the Philadelphia Eagles, the (hated) Dallas Cowboys, and the Washington Redskins. Even then, I found the nickname of the Washington team peculiar. Most teams were named for animals – Lions (Detroit NFL) and Tigers (Detroit baseball) and Bears (Chicago NFL), e.g. The ones that were named for people tended to be about geography (New York Yankees-baseball) or occupations (Pittsburgh’s baseball Pirates and NFL Steelers). “Redskins” seemed somehow unseemly, and this was long before I’d ever heard the pejorative term “politically correct.”

So, I was a little surprised to read here and elsewhere that the team’s owner had meant it as an honorific. This writer talks about the term’s historical usage, going back to the writings of American novelist James Fenimore Cooper, whose “use of redskin as a Native American in-group term was entirely authentic, reflecting both the accurate perception of the Indian self-image and the evolving respect among whites for the Indians’ distinct cultural perspective, whatever its prospects. The descent of this word into obloquy is a phenomenon of more recent times.”

Nevertheless, for some time, it has been the source of controversy, as American Indian Sports Team Mascots notes. In fact, only last year, the US Supreme Court ruled that the Washington Redskins can keep the team name. “Seven native Americans had sued to force the Washington Redskins to change the team name,” but the Court “let stand a ruling that their challenge came too late.” still, this article explains the issue well.

I also puzzled over the Major League baseball team, the Cleveland Indians, less over the name, and more over what I consider the bizarre caricature of Chief Wahoo. Here’s an article about the Indians’ mascot.

I suppose the Atlanta Braves baseball team name bugs me less than the incessant use of the tomahawk chop, more obnoxious when I heard it in Fulton County Stadium in 1995 than the video suggests.

And what of the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame? This does not seem to be an issue. Then again, everyone’s Irish in America, especially in March.

What thinkest thou?

ABC Wednesday – Round 7

Baseball on PBS

Still, the series may be more enjoyable for those less familiar with recent baseball history, or those with lousy memories. And I have to think that if I watch it a decade or more from now, it’ll become more interesting.

I’ve been watching Baseball recently. Not baseball, which I have viewed from time to time, but the TV “two-part, four-hour documentary film directed by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick,” BASEBALL: THE TENTH INNING. I’m a big fan of the original nine-part series and have even borrowed the expansive coffee-table book associated with it.

For me, I think the problem is that much of the information was a bit too recent, and the conclusions drawn generally unsurprising, which is to say, I noted to myself, “Yeah, I thought that, too.”. I remember watching, in real-time, the Braves vs Pirates NLCS, 1992 game 7 with former Pirate Sid Bream beating the throw from left fielder Barry Bonds. I recall well the 1994 strike, and how it almost destroyed the sport.

I remember the 1998 home run race between Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa, which revived the sport; I’m sure I watched, again in real time, probably on FOX Sports, McGwire hit home runs 61 and 62. In fact, when I saw the show, I said, “Number 62 goes right down the left-field line, just over the fence.” I DID forget that at least a sports writer tried to blow the whistle on performance-enhancing drugs, but was ignored; and, of course, I do remember the steroid scandal. Don’t know if I’m projecting, but I sensed a bit of, if not sympathy, then at least understanding about what drew Barry Bonds to steroids. It makes the interesting, if unoriginal point, that by Roger Clemens sullied by the scandal, it made going after Bonds more palatable; Bonds is black, a position player from the National League, and sullen, while Clemens is white, a pitcher from the American League, and at least more civil.

My favorite parts involved, unsurprisingly, the information I did NOT know: the exploitation of the players from the Dominican Republic, and background on Ichiro Suzuki of Japan.

Still, the series may be more enjoyable for those less familiar with recent baseball history, or those with lousy memories. And I have to think that if I watch it a decade or more from now, it’ll become more interesting. Also, for those largely unfamiliar with baseball, the website does contain a great deal of information from the past 20 years. The Tenth Inning will be rebroadcast on November 8 and 15 on PBS.

I did not know this: former Yankees outfielder Bernie Williams has played with Bruce Springsteen.

Speaking of the Yankees, I will definitely have to watch the broadcast of Game Seven of the 1960 World Series between the Pittsburgh Pirates and the New York Yankees, when it will be broadcast on the MLB Network. Film of the game was recently discovered in the wine cellar of the late Pirates’ part-owner Bing Crosby.

Roger Answers Your Questions, Scott and Anne-Marie

DADT is toast; it just doesn’t know it yet. When is that report coming out that’s supposed to assess the impact of openly gay personnel in the military?

My good buddy Scott, who I’ve never met, the blogger at Scooter Chronicles, has several questions:

1. Now that the baseball playoff teams (except for the NL West) are pretty well set, who do you see getting to the World Series and who wins it?

I can’t help but think the teams will be from the East. But which teams? Minnesota has been hot, but I think they can be beaten; likewise the Rangers. So I’m saying Tampa and the Yankees in the ALCS. I’ll pick the Yankees, but I’m by no means certain.

Look for Cincinnati to get to the NLCS, and lose to the Phillies. Yankees over the Phillies. Or Tampa over the Phillies. Whoever wins the AL EAST over the winner of the NL EAST.

2. How long have you been reading/collecting comics?

Well, I’m pretty much not anymore, though I pick up some on Free Comic Book Day in May, and inevitablty buy SOMETHING. I started in 1971 – it was his fault – and sold my collection in 1994. but I still have some collections, and even bought some Marvel Masterworks just this year.

3. If you still read them often, is there a new series that really interests you?

Well, no. But I would recommend to you Saga of the Swamp Thing collection by Moore, Bissette, and Totleben, and not just because Steve Bissette is my buddy who I HAVE met. I know you just read The Watchmen. This is a different thing, of course, but very good.

4. Of the comic book superheroes, who do you think has the coolest logo?

Well, Superman’s is iconic, of course. I’ll pick Green Lantern because it’s…green. And because even I could draw it.

5. What do you think the eventual outcome will be for “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and the DREAM Act?

DADT is toast; it just doesn’t know it yet. When is that report coming out that’s supposed to assess the impact of openly gay personnel in the military? The Republicans need political cover to overturn it. If the report comes out before the election, it could be overturned after the election. If not, it’ll be more difficult, but it WILL happen.

Whereas I just can’t see the DREAM Act passing at all. The GOP won’t touch it because it rewards “bad behavior” of children, CHILDREN (were they supposed to stay home without their parents?) who came to the United States illegally, want to be productive members of US society through college and/or the military. It’ll happen only when we have a “comprehensive immigration policy” and THAT’S not going to happen anytime soon.

6. If you could go back in time and choose a different career, would you and what would it be?

There was nothing else I’d do as well. I thought I wanted to be a lawyer, but I hated my pre-law course, which really did throw me off for quite a while.
I always wanted to be a Pip. Background singer. Don’t like singing melody, but love singing harmony.

7. A bit cliche, but I can’t remember anyone asking this before, if you could have dinner with three other people, whether they are currently living or have already passed on, who would they be and why?

Jesus, Mohammed and Thomas Jefferson. The first two because I’d be curious about what they thought of things being said in their respective names. Jefferson because he was an interestingly complicated dude who wanted freedom, owned slaves and apparently slept with one, was a theist but not in the traditional sense, and was a book guy. BTW, have you seen Tea Party Jesus, which was described in the Huffington Post a couple months ago. It puts “The words of Christians in the mouth of Christ.” Well, purported Christians, anyway.

Picture from Tea Party Jesus. Used by permission.
The words above describe some politician I described here.


Anne-Marie with a Dash from Montreal – I need to go back there someday – asks:

When should someone retire from a job? Should we wait till we are physically too tired to perform or retire early while we still have some life left in us?

The great philosopher Neil Young once said, It’s better to burn out than fade away. This is a complicated question, based on your economic situation, your prospects and training for another position, your interest in something else.

That said, I think life is too short to work until one is too tired to perform. You do yourself a disservice, your employer and customers a disservice. I wrote on Thursday about leaving a job – I didn’t have one to go to, but it just was time to go. But I was single then, living in an apartment; I’m married with a child and a mortgage now, and probably wouldn’t make the same choice. Your situation will mitigate your decision. But you need joy in your life.

You and your husband are in a small apartment in Qatar right now; I’m guessing that it might be lucrative being there. But you don’t seem to love, or even like(?) being there; it’s too hot except at night, you probably don’t get enough sleep and I’m guessing you’re tired constantly. Short of working nights, if that were possible, I’d leave if at all feasible.



SamuraiFrog gave me an award, and all I have to do is pass it along to 10 others. Well, I can’t give it to SF, obviously, or to Jaquandor, because SF gave the award to him.

Berowne
Witch Reviews
Witch Blog
photowannabe
The Pedalogue (Leslie, not my sister)
Anthony North
Mrs. Nesbitt’s Space
peripheral perceptions (Lisa)
Bringing Up Salamanders (Nydia)
Rose DesRochers – World Outside my Window

Talk Like a Pirate Day

Those Hall of Fame Pirates must be rolling over in their graves.

Yeah, it’s Talk Like A Pirate Day. And fans of the team have reasons to go arrrrgh!


Here’s a list of players (with links) who played most or all of their careers with the Pittsburgh Pirates and who are now in the Baseball Hall of Fame:
Jake Beckley
Max Carey
Fred Clarke
Roberto Clemente
Ralph Kiner
Bill Mazeroski
Willie Stargell
Pie Traynor
Arky Vaughan
Honus Wagner
Lloyd Waner, pictured right
Paul Waner, pictured left

The Pittsburgh Pirates, a team with a long and storied history, has had 18 losing seasons – in a row. During that stretch, the Pittsburgh Penguins won the Stanley Cup and the Pittsburgh Steelers won the Super Bowl -twice.

The team has long used the excuse that it is a “small market” team that needs to keep its payroll down, and indeed, the Pirates do have the lowest payroll in Major League Baseball. But look at the next lowest team, San Diego Padres, who spent only $4 million more and are fielding a competitive team.

This article explains it all: Joe Sheehan: Don’t blame the Pirates, blame MLB’s revenue-sharing system (08.25.2010)
There’s nothing wrong with a baseball team turning a profit. What is wrong is a baseball team that cries poor while posting 18 consecutive losing seasons turning a profit. This difference is why the Pittsburgh Pirates, whose financial data from 2007 and 2008, the 15th and 16th of those seasons, was made public on Monday, are the target of such recrimination. While positioning themselves as the victim of “the system” and trading away an entire starting lineup, the Pirates have been one of the most profitable teams in MLB, pocketing $29.3 million in 2007 and ’08 combined, years in which they cashed revenue-sharing checks for a whopping $69.3 million.

The fans have rightly charged ownership with malfeasance for failing year after year to field a competitive team. If I were in Pittsburgh, I’m not sure I would continue to support such an organization. Those Hall of Fame Pirates must be rolling over in their graves; well, except Kiner and Maz who ae still alive.

B is for Baseball Tour

Babe Ruth, Jack Nicholson and a cast of others.

Because she loves us, my wife purchased trolley tour tickets for her father and me with the Albany Aquaducks on Sunday, June 27, the week after Father’s Day; no we didn’t go in the water. The tour was to touch upon the baseball highlights of the area.

We were instructed to meet at Joseph L. Bruno Stadium in nearby Troy, NY, generally called “The Joe”, named for the former State Senate majority leader, who was convicted of a couple of counts of corruption (though a subsequent Supreme Court ruling may end up nullifying the charges).

It IS a very nice stadium.

Here’s the peculiar thing, though: at the appointed hour of 2 pm, there were 17 people registered, and apparently paid, to go on the event. Yet the only people present were the driver, the woman from the Aquaducks, our tour guide, my father-in-law, and me.

Our guide was Rip Rowan, for a time the sports guy for WTEN-TV (Channel 10 in Albany), later doing work with the now-defunct Albany-Colonie Yankees, then the Tri-Cities Valleycats, who play in the Joe, until Rip retired in 2009.

Rip and the tour guide were on their cellphones trying to find out where the other customers were. In the meantime, Rip and two ValleyCats employees gave us a tour of the stadium, including the press box, which was air-conditioned, a particular perk on such a hot day.

Back to the vehicle, still with no additional customers, we drove around the area to the former site of Hawkins Stadium in nearby Menands:
New York Yankees play the Albany Senators at Hawkins Stadium before 7,000 fans. Babe Ruth hits three homers in batting practice. In the third inning, Ruth hits the longest homer ever in the city’s history. Ruth plays first base. Lou Gehrig plays left field. (August 9, 1929).

The odd thing is that the backstop is still nearby, 50 years after the stadium was demolished, and in reasonably good condition at that.

We then drove over to Ristorante Paradiso in Albany. Paradiso Owner Matt Daskalakis, who played with the Albany Senators in the 1950s, told his impressions of the sport in the 1950s versus now. It was clear he had practiced his talk with a greater number of participants in mind, but he told his interesting stories to the two of us anyway.

(Paradiso was a set for the Jack Nicholson/Meryl Streep film about a fictionalized Albany, Ironweed, based on the novel by noted local author William Kennedy. I actually saw Nicholson and Mike Tyson backstage at an Anita Baker concert in 1987.)

Next stop, Bleeker Stadium, only about eight blocks from my house, yet I didn’t know, until my father-in-law told me, that Albany now has a team in the New York Collegiate Baseball League. It is a summer (June/July) wood bat development league for professional baseball. The local team, Albany Dutchmen, are in their second season, and were between games of a doubleheader – against two different teams, one game being a makeup game of a rainout. A spokesman told us about the team and the league.

Finally, back to The Joe to watch the Valleycats, a Houston Astros farm team, play against Lowell, a Red Sox farm team. The home team lost but we had fun, eating hot dogs and chips, and drinking our sodas, all part of the package deal.

A story about the 2009 tour, which was somewhat different.

It has occurred to me that my father-in-law likes going to ball games with me because I enjoy baseball so much, whereas his sons are/were more or less indifferent. It took me longer to realize that I enjoy going to the games with him, because he knows the game so well, certainly, but also because it was something I used to do with my dad.
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Ball Park Reviews, a website devoted to documenting in words and photos both major and minor league baseball parks across the United States and Canada.

ABC Wednesday – Round 7

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