“(Baseball) is a game with a lot of waiting in it; it is a game with increasingly heightened anticipation of increasingly limited action”
The day is cloudy and fall cool. Later, I am going to put the storm door on the front. I hate to admit it, but the time has come. The days are only in the 60’s at best and the nights are even cooler. I put the comforter on my bed last night because I’ve been leaving the window open. The night air is sweet and still has a few summer sounds so I’ll enjoy it as long as I can.
The ALCS begins tonight. Our heroes play the kitties from Detroit. I get a chuckle out of some of the players on that team. Having an infielder named Fielder seems a bit much, especially a fielder of such girth. I always want to tell him to tuck in his shirt; slovenly is not fashionable even on the baseball field. What amazes me is that these two teams have never faced each other in a playoff but have played almost 2000 games against each other since the beginning of time. Fenway Park, voted the best park in baseball, was opened the same day and year as the Tiger’s park, now torn down. No sense of history in Detroit I suppose. I checked all the predictions and many favor the Kitties in a long series; the Sox are favored for a short series. That’s just the incentive the Sox need. Those bearded wonders love to beat the odds. After all, they came from last to first. Okay, I’ll admit Mr. V is the best pitcher, but the Sox got to him once and maybe are set to do it again. I wouldn’t bet against them. I suggest the Kitties adopt It’s Crying Time Again as their theme song. Go Red Sox!
My sister and I went to an Indian restaurant yesterday in Stoneham, where she still lives and where I grew up. The restaurant is at the site of what was The Children’s Corner. My sister’s memory of that is a bit hazy. She thought the store was in a different part of the square. Our table faced the street so I gave her a run-down of what used to be in the square. She was a bit amazed about the small restaurant, longer than it was wide, and the Spa with its lime rickeys, neither of which exist any more. She remembered Finnegan’s, a men’s store. Members of the same family were also morticians but out of the square, near all the churches. Later she went hunting on-line for a picture of the square and found one with the Children’s Corner and the old police booth. That was my up-town a long, long time ago.
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October 12, 2013 at 11:42 am
WE’RE ALL BEHIND OUR BASEBALL TEAM
GO GET UM TIGERS
WORLD SERIES BOUND AND PICKING STEAM
GO GET UM TIGERS
So here we are again in the ALCS for the third straight year and as Kat points out the rarity of playing the Boston red blouses. I am really looking forward to that Buckner chap at first base and that fellow Big Puffy is always good for a laugh.
Bit of a long ride for the boys after JV pitched his 30th playoff inning against the As without giving up a run. Shame they have to wander in to the decrepit old stadium they call Boston Fields, or something. Still just Saturday and Sunday and they can come home to fabulous Comerica Park.
As we all know, the DETROIT TIGERS are America’s Sweethearts, across our great nation the government may be shut down, but the people want their Tigers. It’s Sanchez to start it off. Park your AMERICAN car, grab an AMERICAN beer, settle in front of your (Japanese) TV and root for your team……Go Get Um TIGERS
It’s baseball, apple pie, hot dogs and Chevrolet (not Honda)
October 12, 2013 at 12:04 pm
My Dear Hedley,
You are living an illusion, a dream. That poem (?) is nothing but false bravado!! It is the third time for the pussy cats in the ALCS but is there a World Series win? I think not?
Buckner was welcomed to Fenway with applause. The Fenway faithful are forgiving. As for Big Papi, did I mention he has the best stats of any DH on the history of baseball?
I agree Comerica Park is lovely but where’s the history? the ivy walls? the generations of fans? It is but a stadium, not a historical park. I didn’t see it mentioned on the top ten list. But what did I sees on the top of that list? It was venerable Fenway!!
The Red Sox have captured the imagination of the country. They have made it to the top without recognizable names. They let their hitting and fielding speak for them!!
October 12, 2013 at 12:05 pm
You struck out this time, Kat. You missed the best tiger song of all time: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4l0LP9i01s
October 12, 2013 at 12:08 pm
im6,
I haven’t ever heard of this song, but i’m going to add it to my files.
Even if I knew this, I probably wouldn’t post it-too nice and too pro-tiger.
OMG, I love this. I can’t believe how provocative for 1959.
October 12, 2013 at 12:17 pm
You’ve most likely heard of April before and didn’t realize it. She and her brother recorded under the name of Nino Tempo & April Stevens and had a big hit with this in 1963:
October 12, 2013 at 12:21 pm
im6,
You are right-this song I know, but I would never have been able to remember who sang it.
That cover is a hoot.
October 12, 2013 at 12:15 pm
And the Blouses are going to feel TIGER FEET all over their shirts……HIT IT MUD !!
October 12, 2013 at 12:24 pm
MDH,
Nope, those tiger feet will slide into the base and be called out! The Sox will feel the feet when they tag those runners, feet first!!
October 12, 2013 at 12:27 pm
I notice there are no songs what mention the blouses! says a lot I guess.
“That’s neat, that’s neat that’s neat that’s neat I really love those TIGER feet”
October 12, 2013 at 12:31 pm
MDH,
Isn’t Blouse a whole group instead of a line in a song?
October 12, 2013 at 12:18 pm
Have fun! GO ___ !
(Will listen to tiger music later, heading for a Brian Auger concert now…)
October 12, 2013 at 12:25 pm
Thanks, Birgit.
Enjoy the concert!
October 12, 2013 at 12:26 pm
Oooohhhh, I assume no Julie Driscoll ….I will hope for “this wheels on fire” will be there for you
The Detroit Tigers are much admired in Bochum.
October 12, 2013 at 12:34 pm
MDH,
I doubt they even know who the Tigers are in Bochum. If asked, they will probably quote books like Here Kitty Kitty or The Tiger’s Curse.
October 12, 2013 at 12:38 pm
Kat, Kat Kat,
you haven’t heard the Borussia Dortmund fans chanting “go get um Tigers” ?
The Bengals are gigantic in the Ruhr valley
October 12, 2013 at 12:40 pm
MDH,
Sorry but no way was that chant ever chanted. Sadly you have begun grasping at imaginary straws. Alas, poor Hedley!
October 12, 2013 at 6:27 pm
Yup, no Julie Driscoll, no Wheels on Fire, but the band was on fire. Brian Auger and the Oblivion Express, vocals Alex Ligertwood (Ex-Santana), an incredible 2 1/2 hour concert!
Hedley, we love cute little tigers, but never mention Detroit in Bochum!!! Avoid to mention Finland too, but that’s another story.
So many comments here … still reading… has any team won yet?
October 12, 2013 at 7:11 pm
Birgit
It’s a 7 game series that could run until a week from tomorrow, and basically it’s first team to 4 wins. The teams play in boston today and tomorrow and then play three in Detroit
I assume Auger was very much in the jazz idiom, hopefully not too much free form.
thank you for confirming that Bochum loves America’s Sweethearts
October 12, 2013 at 7:55 pm
Hedley, thank you for confirming that I don’t understand baseball at all. Someone please tell me who has won when it’s over whenever it’s over 🙂
Perfect rock concert with a little bit of blues, jazz, funk and Santana.
October 12, 2013 at 8:04 pm
MDH,
You have misread Birgit who understands little and couldn’t care less about who wins. She loves real tigers, the ones on four feet who growl.
Her question Detroit?
October 12, 2013 at 8:22 pm
Here kitty kitty 🙂 Can I go for cute little purring tigers with 4 knitted red socks? Anyway, have fun! Goodnight.
October 12, 2013 at 8:31 pm
Birgit,
That is the perfect compromise!!
October 12, 2013 at 12:18 pm
Go Sox!
Since my team, the Rangers, quietly left the arena in a playoff game with the Rays I am rooting for the Red Sox in the ALCS. Baseball is all about tradition and the best place I have ever seen a game, that still exists, is Fenway Park. Except for Wrigley Field the rest of the baseball cathedrals are all long gone. Many of the old ballparks like Comiskey Park in Chicago were just falling apart and it was more economical to build a new one. I have been fortunate to have seen games in Ebbets Field, the Polo Grounds and the old Yankee Stadium where the monuments were actually in center field. All the new retro classic ball parks just don’t cut it because they are all cookie cutter formulas for selling sky boxes.
On the National League side, the only real baseball where pitchers have to bat, I am conflicted. I was a Dodger fan until they moved west and then I rooted for the Cards because they were the closest team to where I lived. I love that the Cards, without Albert Pujlos, are in the playoffs and the Angels are home watching the game on TV.
And why not Honda, Accords are made in Marysville Ohio and exported around the world 🙂
Today there’s a chance of rain but I haven’t seen a drop yet. It’s just warm and humid.
October 12, 2013 at 12:29 pm
Thank you, Bob.
You are showing good taste in your choice to win the ALCS. I agree that the two cathedrals of baseball are Wrigley and Fenway, and I get an ironic chuckle that they are now trying to build parks which resemble the old parks they were so quick to tear down. Fenway has been refurbished and is still in great shape. Maybe other owners should have looked to that as an example.
There was that giant trade with the Dodgers last year so many former Sox play for them-that would be interesting. If the Sox make the World Series, they will have home field advantage so we’ll see the DH more than not.
I’m hoping you get rain!!
October 12, 2013 at 12:35 pm
Thank goodness that the owners of the Red Sox and the Cubs have not become so greedy as to sell the naming rights to the ball parks. Of course in Chicago they could sell the naming rights to the Wrigley chewing gum company and not change the name. 🙂
October 12, 2013 at 12:39 pm
Bob,
I totally agree. Some things mustn’t change. The Boston Garden is now the TD Boston Garden.
October 12, 2013 at 4:12 pm
At least the Boston Garden part of the name remained. There was a certain charm to the old Garden such as no air conditioning and a too small ice rink for hockey.
October 12, 2013 at 4:26 pm
Bob,
It was built before there was a standard size for a rink which is why it was smaller.
I remember when fog stopped a hockey game at the Garden.
In those June championship games with the old Celtics, the place as dismal with the heat. One time they had oxygen tanks so they could keep giving some to the players. It got close to 100˚ at a few games.
October 12, 2013 at 4:31 pm
The new Boston Garden can’t be as good as the old. They would’t let Red Auerbach light up his cigar after a Celtic win 🙂
RIP Red!
October 12, 2013 at 5:15 pm
Bov,
For Red the rules might have been broken!!
October 12, 2013 at 12:48 pm
Soon, I have to roll my American car over to Romeo to watch the Prince try to emulate his very famous Uncle in his flag football game. He was unlucky enough to draw a personal foul last week for a very solid tackle that did not involve a flag.
This house is on the countdown to first pitch at Dumpway Park.
October 12, 2013 at 1:05 pm
My Dear Hedley,
My nephew’s son is now playing soccer and his grandparents are there ( my sister and her husband). Ryder emulates his dad who had a full scholarship to Oregon State to play soccer.
We too are counting down the time until the game starts at America’s favorite and most venerated ballpark!
October 12, 2013 at 1:07 pm
Excellent, ENGLAND are one win away from the World Cup, something for everyone at KTCC to look forward to in 2014, but first America’s Sweethearts
October 12, 2013 at 1:19 pm
MDH,
I’ll give you the World Cup, but that’s where I stop. How could you even think a team from Detroit would be called America’s sweethearts?
October 12, 2013 at 1:02 pm
Hi Kat,
I love the peripheral data of post season baseball. Where else would I have heard that the Tigers and the Sox have played 2000 whatever games since the beginning of time but have never faced each other in a playoff?
The weather up here is cold and dreary. It looks like it should rain but it isn’t going to. I did turn the heat on for a bit because it’s chilly damp.
Rocky and I went to the lake for a walk this morning. There was a crab apple tree that was blossoming again. It had blossoms, buds and fruit on the same branches. Crazy.
I don’t remember much about Stoneham square but I think I know approximately where that Indian restaurant is. The reference to the police box pins it. 🙂
Enjoy the game and the rest of the day.
October 12, 2013 at 1:08 pm
Hi Caryn,
I know-all these facts are great fun. Both teams go back to the beginning which is why the number is so high.
Same weather here-it is nippy as my mother would say. I just finished washing and then putting the storm in the front door.
If the police box were at your back, the Indian restaurant is in front of you on the corner. I had a shrimp dish which was out of this world as were the appetizers.
Thanks!
You stay warm and cozy!!
October 12, 2013 at 2:05 pm
We’ll get frost again tonight and the sky is clear so I can see all stars and the moon. Warm and nice indoors though since a fire is burning in the stove and I just killed a moose fly walking on my kitchen table. I sort of felt good inside doing that 🙂
My soccer team will survive but just barely this year, my hockey team sort of just falls down and will sonn be in big troubles but Sweden won against Austria yesterday evening in Soccer. We might still manage to reach a place in tehn Soccer world championships.
I’ll see if I can find any photos of my old neighborhood on the internet.
Have a great day!
Christer.
October 12, 2013 at 4:30 pm
Christer,
I don’t think we’re even close to that. My sister in Colorado did have 28˚ the other night so they’ve already had cold. We are still in the midst of fall.
The US had made it, but I don’t know anything about that. My Colorado branch is the soccer group in our family.
My sister found the exact picture she wanted which showed the store I had been talking about.
October 12, 2013 at 4:41 pm
Right, the Prince came up with a gigantic interception in front of some humongous kid. NFL draft pick circa 2027.
Heading to St John Fisher Chapel to hear what the Big Guy has to say about America’s Sweethearts.
October 12, 2013 at 5:13 pm
MDH,
The big guy is a football fan-he favors the Saints!
October 12, 2013 at 7:08 pm
Well certainly his flock were distracted UofM at Penn State and then Bengals…the congregation were ……clearly living in Michigan
October 12, 2013 at 7:46 pm
MDH,
The congregation moved away years ago!!
October 12, 2013 at 5:59 pm
Mr. V the best pitcher in baseball? That is so last year (or possibly last game)! He’s not even the best pitcher on the Tigers this year.
s
October 12, 2013 at 7:03 pm
Scott, when it’s show time, who do you dial up ?
Max has had a fabulous year and deserves enormous credit but he also had huge run support which Verlander did not. I hope you saw JV in game 5 in Oakland, he was lights out.
October 12, 2013 at 8:00 pm
MDH,
Max is an odds on favorite for the Cy Young Award which makes him the better pitcher. No question in his last start, Verlander was in the zone.
October 12, 2013 at 8:07 pm
Verlander was excellent in September ….when the bell rings, I would always pick JV
Gracie go to the (other) dump today ? Here we go
October 12, 2013 at 8:09 pm
MDH,
No dump run today. I sneaked and went the other day when I had a bunch of errands. It was too hot for her to wait in the car.
October 12, 2013 at 8:20 pm
Hedley – you did note I said ” … or last game.”?
Verlander is way more hittable this year. We’ll see.
s 😀