- That is why it breaks my heart, that game--not because in New York they could win because Boston lost; in that, there is a rough justice, and a reminder to the Yankees of how slight and fragile are the circumstances that exalt one group of human beings over another. It breaks my heart because it was meant to, because it was meant to foster in me again the illusion that there was something abiding, some pattern and some impulse that could come together to make a reality that would resist the corrosion; and because, after it had fostered again that most hungered-for illusion, the game was meant to stop, and betray precisely what it promised.
Baseball is easily my favorite sport, and this is one reason why. It marks the beginning of spring, and the end of summer, and takes a hold on me that no other sport does. Plus, can we just talk about how crazy this postseason has been!?
Meriadoc, flagamuffin, lil, think the three of you would like this read.
DUDE we should have a Hubski meetup at a baseball game flagamuffin Meriadoc thenewgreen lil b_b
I'd be totally willing to go to Detroit for a 2015 Tigers-Blue Jays match. Could do Yankee Stadium in summer 2015 too. After the last Blue Jays vs Yankees game, the t-shirt of note said: 1 BJ is better than a Yank. Note to young Galen, it is a rude/crude sexual referemce. I'll keep my eye on the #baseballmeetup link when spring 2015 rolls round.
That would be great. We can watch insomniasexx's brother play some minor league ball here soon.
Come spring, he should be playing in some little town in Virginia, which is a very nice halfway point between northeast and southeast. I know the buses run from NC -> DC and NYC/Boston/etc -> DC. From there, I think we just split a party bus and play "what happens in some little hick town in Virginia, stays in some little hick town in Virginia."
You happened to reply to this as I was talking to my mom. Nothing is certain yet, but apparently he may be playing in Hagerstown, MD (pop: 40k). wikipedia Which is about an hour and a half from DC. Depending on rosters, how he does, etc, he may also play in Woodbridge, Virginia (pop: 4k) at some point. wikipedia That's about 30 minute drive OR THERE IS A TRAIN!
And arguewithatree will have a car in a few weeks so it won't matter either way! Plus Steve mentioned a potential official meetup in DC in November again waaaaaay back. What's the deal with that??
What would you say the best essay in Baseball's history is? I love reading these types of things.
http://www.baseball-almanac.com/articles/hub_fans_bid_kid_adieu_article.shtml As someone who has studied Ted Williams to the extent of near-madness, this essay perfectly captured what I consider damn near the greatest moment of his career. Ted Williams was a legend, the greatest hitter of all time, a war hero, and Boston's fans and media treated him like shit for twenty years. If he had acknowledged the cheers on that cold day in Boston it would have been an admission of defeat. And he never did, nor was there even the slightest chance he would. It's the perfect baseball story.Like a feather caught in a vortex, Williams ran around the square of bases at the center of our beseeching screaming. He ran as he always ran out home runs—hurriedly, unsmiling, head down, as if our praise were a storm of rain to get out of. He didn't tip his cap. Though we thumped, wept, and chanted "We want Ted" for minutes after he hid in the dugout, he did not come back. Our noise for some seconds passed beyond excitement into a kind of immense open anguish, a wailing, a cry to be saved. But immortality is nontransferable. The papers said that the other players, and even the umpires on the field, begged him to come out and acknowledge us in some way, but he never had and did not now. Gods do not answer letters.
For a more modern answer, this has always been a favorite. Anything from Joe Posnanski. Roger Angell, another great, though an oldie. Bill James' early work essentially invented and popularized sabermetrics, though none of it stands out on literary merit per se. And then of course this. The list goes on and on. I don't know. Baseball is a game of people, and moments, and history and wonderment. Giamatti captures only part of the story: heartbreak.
Still somewhat active, though.Roger Angell, another great, though an oldie.