Letters to the Editor
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It's still Pac Bell to me....
Nice one Joan,
Perhaps you could be the Fem. answer to sports reporting, should you tire of this side job at Salon. My sister also has season tickets in consortium with a group of people. She opted out of the All-Star package (though paid her share)... As she put it: because there are people in our group that care about that game. Your take on the game was about what it was. Inside the park home run... would Barry hit one? and Willy Mays. Anything more.... we might have to comment on why a chick was reporting on the All-Star game...
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A Woman Worth Listening to about Baseball
There is at least one woman sportscaster who is well worth listening to about baseball, Susyn Waldman, who does the color commentary for the Yankees games on WCBS radio. She is intelligent, knowledgeable, articulate, and witty. I am sure there are others, as well, that I am unaware of, but Ms. Waldman is outstanding. It's a shame that she isn't on ESPN or some other national television outlet.
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From Joan Walsh
Normphelps, thanks, I should have mentioned Susan Waldman, at least, but she's not doing national baseball (and she should be); normanx, it's still Pac Bell to me, too. I typed that first and then decided it seemed too ornery.
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Botched tribute
Um, Joan, a word about how to write an essay or review: Provide specific details to support your argument. (Neat idea, huh?)
For instance, you ridiculed the All Star Game's tribute to Willie Mays, but other than a mention of the pink Cadillac and your use of the word "desultory," you didn't give any sense at all of what the Mays tribute was lacking. Okay, so the Ted Williams celebration eight years ago was far more moving, but did you think to point out why? Was it that Williams was obviously dying at the time, whereas Mays is still able to walk, throw to a "catcher," and toss souvenir baseballs to the crowd? Was it something the broadcasters at the two events said or didn't say? WHY was last night's salute "disappointing" rather than "poignant"?
Care to share?
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Bad Call
No, I can't imagine Ernie Harwell behaving this way. Check out the audio link.
http://www.wcbs880.com/pages/425245.php?contentType=4&contentId=47322
"Oh My Gawd!"
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I don't like her any more than you do....
.....but her name is Jeanne Zelasko.
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Baseball's Headfirst Slide Into ... What, Exactly?
Ms. Walsh's take on what used to be a genuine All Star Game is spot on.
My love affair with baseball began in 1953 when the Boston Braves moved to Milwaukee where I lived at the time, when I was a wee tyke, and listened to the games on WEMP all summer long with my grandfather. The love affair has continued unabated for 54 years.
Yet my ardor is no longer being returned. Bud Selig's stewardship of the most elegant game ever invented is appalling. Yes, he's made the sport (and its owners and players) rich as Midas but at the expense of the fan, about whom Selig seems to care not one whit.
The All Star Game is the best example. Not that long ago, it was a genuine match between the game's best players. He has turned it into a glittery, glossy and yet meaningless Cash-A-Palooza that has little to do with baseball and a lot to do with Selig's inept handling of the game he was entrusted to protect.
Where is Kenesaw "Mountain" Landis when we (and the game) really needs him again?
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Mays-Bonds
At age 42 Mays called it a career. That year he had a .211 batting average, a .303 on base percentage, and a .344 slugging percentage..............Bonds turns 43 this month. He's currently .295 batting, .512 on base, and .589 slugging.
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Baseball should keep Barry Bonds away from everything.
Barry Bonds and McGuire should both be kept at an arms length from baseball. They are both cheaters and don't deserve the respect and admiration that someone like a Willie Mays deserves. Were they the only cheaters? Of course not, but if you want to be positive symbol of MLB by being the home run champ and getting all the adulation, you better be ready to be the negative symbol when it comes out you were a cheater.
In the 60s and 70s the evil commies cheated and used steroids in the Olympics and were rightly vilified for it. Now it seems it's fine to cheat as long as it's helping the baseball team you like or helping you to land that big contract.
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Bud Selig is a cancer on the presidency
And another in a long line of complete shithead commissioners were more fascinated with basking in the glow of their own attention than they were in the game. Yeah I'm looking at YOU Ghost of Bart Giamatti. When you replay all of the idiot self absorbed things that Bud Selig has done you really have to wonder if he knows the game at all. True, he's an owner, in violation of his own league's rules about being an MLB executive and and owner (yes I know his daughter 'owns' the Brewers) so he must know something, but it's clear that he hasn't a clue. None at all. I feel like I'm watching a little league committee meeting with all the soccermommies and daddies arguing about whether all the players should wear helmets at all times and whether it's relevant to keep score for the sake of self esteem.
And GO AL 10 in a row. Suck it NL, suck it hard.
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You Can Whine All You Want About Bonds
He still has the most amazing stat in sports history in my book---------He swung the bat and missed the ball 16 times in an entire season.
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Say Hey
Hi Joan-
I agree, last night was sad, but I was at the tribute to Willie at Shea Stadium in 1973, after he announced his retirement, and even though the Mets were playing the Expos, the place was packed. The ovation for Willie was literally deafening for a little kid- all I could hear was that buzzy distortion you get when your ears are overwhelmed with sound- and it went on forever. They gave Willie a bunch of gifts, including a car (not pink) and and he stood out in shallow center with his wife and son, who was in full military dress uniform, and made a rambling, heartfelt speech that he ended by saying, "Willie, it's time to say goodbye to America." The grown man next to me bellowed, "NO!" with tears streaming down his face. And he got his wish-- after the game that night Yogi Berra, the Mets manager at the time, walked by May's locker and said, "I might need you to play tomorrow, okay?" and Willie ended up staying with the team through the playoffs against the Reds (he single handedly stopped the Shea fans from throwing bottles after the Bud Harrelson-Peter Rose fight, just by standing in the middle of the field and putting out his hands), and then the "You Gotta Believe" World Series against the A's. So Willie ended up getting to make his exit in the Bay Area, playing for a New York team in the World Series. And with the memory of a great tribute on the night he almost retired. I'm glad baseball got it right that year, at least.