Today's blog is going to be about baseball a combination of sentimentalism and sarcastic raving.
I, like all kids of my era, was addicted to America's game. Playgrounds and sandlots were busy places. In those days you would have to be there early, or risk not getting into the game. This of course was also true for football, hockey and basketball. But baseball was favored. I think the main reason it was so popular was, that unlike other sports, size was not a factor. Plus the fact that pro baseball was heads and shoulders ahead of all other sports. I would say that next in line was boxing followed by pro hockey and college football.
I had a morning paper route (It was expected that paper would be on stoop by 6 a,m,) that introduced me to my life long love affair with box scores. In those days Boston had eight daily newspapers (yes I remember the names of them all). Most games were played in the afternoon and where ever you went you heard the familiar voice of Curt Gowdy calling the game on WHDH radio.And of course Ilene Hennessy saying "Hi neighbor have a gansett".
Every spring,Henry Meyers who was the druggist and owner of the Ryal side drug store would ask the local kids for their predictions for that year's American league pennant race. He would then write the picks on the wall in back of the comic book rack. He would spend the rest of the season needling us about our picks. We had of course all picked the Red Sox, because as everyone knows all ten year old kids are optimists.
My first memories of Fenway park, came from the generosity of the Beverly Mass. recreation department. Every summer they would herd all of the playground kids on to buses and take us to a major league baseball game. Always an extremely hot day, and the competition was always one of the league doormats. But to a baseball junky it was utopia!.
I had many Fenway park experiences when I was young. And I am not going to bore you with a long narrative about them.
But as an example of how times have changed. I want to tell you about opening day April 11, 1969. It was a very cold drizzling, windy day. Four or five First National buddies and I had been talking about attending for weeks. So when the day dawned cold,wet and ugly it did not slow us down one bit. I remember Johnny O'Connell and Buster Goodrich being with me.But for the life of me,I cannot remember who the other guys were.
But the point I started out to make was the announced crowd of 10,277. I feel safe to say that was an inflated figure. In this day and age, there is that many people hanging around outside of the ball park. All hoping to buy a ticket from a scalper. The Sox lost to Kansas city,and I froze my butt off. Little did I know the serenity of Fenway park and all of pro sports,would in the next couple of years dive head first into the toilet!
I still get all out of sorts, if I some how miss my daily box score fix. But as far as everything else about baseball and all pro sports goes, I have became extremely jaded. Again I place the blame on the media. But in fairness to them,we are a society that would follow the pied piper into the ocean.
I will admit that I was a fan of the first sports talk shows.Guy Mainella, Clif and Claf and Eddie Andelman. The formats were humorous, enlightening and brief. Now I refuse to even consider watching or listening to any of the garbage that is aired to day. ESPN is with out a doubt the biggest piece of dog shit on the airways today.Not only do they deal in deceitful rumors. They some how manage to hire one sex deviant after another. If Chris Berman and his ilk are a disgrace nationally, then locally WEEI and the big fat blowhards led by Glen Ordway are a close second. They bring buffoonery and ignorance to a new level.
The way major league baseball and Fox broadcasting handle the world series is a complete joke. Not only are they saying tough shit!, to the people in the northeast who have to work for a living. They are practically eliminating the kids from their audience all together. What they should do is start the games an hour or so later. I hear a lot of people on the west coast are upset because the games are starting when they are usually having happy hour. Why not, they don't care that the kids they are eliminating with late starts, won't give two squats about baseball, when they are old enough to buy all the cars and beer they are shilling.
So the old Red Sox jingle which I use to croak to Lisa and Becky "I'm a Sox watcher" still holds true. It's just does not feel the same anymore.
Trivia Question
Which athlete played for three different Boston pro sports teams?
I, like all kids of my era, was addicted to America's game. Playgrounds and sandlots were busy places. In those days you would have to be there early, or risk not getting into the game. This of course was also true for football, hockey and basketball. But baseball was favored. I think the main reason it was so popular was, that unlike other sports, size was not a factor. Plus the fact that pro baseball was heads and shoulders ahead of all other sports. I would say that next in line was boxing followed by pro hockey and college football.
I had a morning paper route (It was expected that paper would be on stoop by 6 a,m,) that introduced me to my life long love affair with box scores. In those days Boston had eight daily newspapers (yes I remember the names of them all). Most games were played in the afternoon and where ever you went you heard the familiar voice of Curt Gowdy calling the game on WHDH radio.And of course Ilene Hennessy saying "Hi neighbor have a gansett".
Every spring,Henry Meyers who was the druggist and owner of the Ryal side drug store would ask the local kids for their predictions for that year's American league pennant race. He would then write the picks on the wall in back of the comic book rack. He would spend the rest of the season needling us about our picks. We had of course all picked the Red Sox, because as everyone knows all ten year old kids are optimists.
My first memories of Fenway park, came from the generosity of the Beverly Mass. recreation department. Every summer they would herd all of the playground kids on to buses and take us to a major league baseball game. Always an extremely hot day, and the competition was always one of the league doormats. But to a baseball junky it was utopia!.
I had many Fenway park experiences when I was young. And I am not going to bore you with a long narrative about them.
But as an example of how times have changed. I want to tell you about opening day April 11, 1969. It was a very cold drizzling, windy day. Four or five First National buddies and I had been talking about attending for weeks. So when the day dawned cold,wet and ugly it did not slow us down one bit. I remember Johnny O'Connell and Buster Goodrich being with me.But for the life of me,I cannot remember who the other guys were.
But the point I started out to make was the announced crowd of 10,277. I feel safe to say that was an inflated figure. In this day and age, there is that many people hanging around outside of the ball park. All hoping to buy a ticket from a scalper. The Sox lost to Kansas city,and I froze my butt off. Little did I know the serenity of Fenway park and all of pro sports,would in the next couple of years dive head first into the toilet!
I still get all out of sorts, if I some how miss my daily box score fix. But as far as everything else about baseball and all pro sports goes, I have became extremely jaded. Again I place the blame on the media. But in fairness to them,we are a society that would follow the pied piper into the ocean.
I will admit that I was a fan of the first sports talk shows.Guy Mainella, Clif and Claf and Eddie Andelman. The formats were humorous, enlightening and brief. Now I refuse to even consider watching or listening to any of the garbage that is aired to day. ESPN is with out a doubt the biggest piece of dog shit on the airways today.Not only do they deal in deceitful rumors. They some how manage to hire one sex deviant after another. If Chris Berman and his ilk are a disgrace nationally, then locally WEEI and the big fat blowhards led by Glen Ordway are a close second. They bring buffoonery and ignorance to a new level.
The way major league baseball and Fox broadcasting handle the world series is a complete joke. Not only are they saying tough shit!, to the people in the northeast who have to work for a living. They are practically eliminating the kids from their audience all together. What they should do is start the games an hour or so later. I hear a lot of people on the west coast are upset because the games are starting when they are usually having happy hour. Why not, they don't care that the kids they are eliminating with late starts, won't give two squats about baseball, when they are old enough to buy all the cars and beer they are shilling.
So the old Red Sox jingle which I use to croak to Lisa and Becky "I'm a Sox watcher" still holds true. It's just does not feel the same anymore.
Trivia Question
Which athlete played for three different Boston pro sports teams?
The organ player whose name escapes me now.
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