Posted on 04/07/2010 9:12:36 AM PDT by JLWORK
In 1954 the New York Giants swept the World Series from the vaunted Cleveland Indians in four games. By that time I had fallen in love with the game of baseball then the National Pastime. I was seven years old. Willie Mays made a spectacular, over-the-shoulder catch of a ball hit by Indians first baseman Vic Wertz to deep center field at the Polo Grounds. It is one of the greatest plays ever filmed. Dusty Rhodes, a left-handed pinch-hitter for the giants, hit three home runs in that Series. He became a hero of mine until I heard my dad talking about Mickey Mantle.
In 1956 I was nine. My father took us one warm Spring night in May to see the New York Yankees play against the Indians at Municipal Stadium in Cleveland. Mickey Mantle (pictured above on Time magazine cover) hit two home runs that night, one against the Indians starting pitcher Bob Lemon, and the second one against the great Hall of Famer Bob Feller. The first homer went so high that we temporarily lost sight of it as it soared above the stadium lights before it landed about twenty rows back in the right field seats. I can still name the starting lineups for both teams, and for several of my favorite major league teams thereafter.
Yesterday President Barack Obama, who claims to have become a Chicago White Sox fan when he moved there in the 1980s, (click the next link for the video and subsequent audio) threw out the first pitch in Washington, D.C. then went to the broadcast booth for an interview. Asked by the announcer to name one of his favorite White Sox players, Obama dodged the question.
(Excerpt) Read more at newsrealblog.com ...
I think Dibbs felt bad for him. I was actually embarassed for the fascist.
A’s fan, ey? How about Reggie Jackson? He could have gone so many different directions with this.
Geez, ask him a question he can answer, who is is favorite crack dealer in Chicago?
Oakland was the team in the 70’s when Obama was growing up.
Also, it’s near Berkeley. I’m sure his commie mom had something to do with his affection for the Bay Area.
It's only a big deal because 0bama demonstrated that he was not being honest, one has to question why. It is traditional for the president to throw out the first pitch on Opening Day, it matters not if he is a fan of any MLB team, he doesn't even have to like the game. It would have been perfectly okay for 0bama to show up in a Nationals jacket or cap and not be a fan of theirs, but he is the one who wore the Sox cap. He ought to have known someone was going to be asking him about it, the hem and haw, umm-ing, wrong pronunciation of the ballpark, it just adds up to the phoniness of the situation.
He would garner no ill will if he just showed up for the first pitch, told Dribble he loves to watch a game when he is able to catch one, maybe even elaborate, "... and especially at the park, it's a better game when you see it that way." There is no reason whatever to pretend to be a fan of a particular team, especially when the chances of being caught at it were so high.
And I can’t bee-leeve I just did that entire pompous post and made the Dribble typo! I didn’t even see it in preview!!
Rob, I most heartily apologize for misspelling your surname.
He’s not one of us...
Boy, those White Sox have really classy fans. /sarcasm
Even the President is a White Sox fan. /extreme sarcasm
Now here is a President that new how to pitch. And I bet he could name most of the players on his favorite team the Rangers
This is an amazing little film.
President Bush Visits Yankee Stadium Game 3 2001 World Series
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evb489N11Q4&feature=related
Our GI's tripped them up w/ questions about baseball players.
Hmmmmmmmmmmmm
My favorite Sox players (some were castoffs from other teams) like Greg Luzinski, Carlton Fisk, and Lamar Hoyt. If he were a real fan, and not just a fake one, he woudl remember.
Harold Baines too.
OK
Mine was Luis Aparicio — but now I’m dating myself.
As a die-hard Mets fan, I followed Tom (Terrific) Seaver’s career and remember his stint with the Chisox.
Dont forget Carl Yastrzemski.You sure you didn't mean Carlton Fisk? Yastrzemski never played for anyone but the Red Sox. (He could have, but didn't.) Fisk went to the White Sox after then-Red Sox general manager Hayward Sullivan---none too thrilled that Fisk and other pending Red Sox free agents called for getting paid what they deserved to be paid, whatever it was (something that had fallen through the Red Sox cracks after longtime owner Tom Yawkey died)---tried to stick it to Fisk by mailing him a contract offer timed to reach Fisk the day after the contract deadline in 1980. That made Fisk a free agent in the first place.
Not that Fisk didn't take his screwing from the White Sox in due course. He was dumped just a few days after he set the major league record for games caught. Not only that, the White Sox barred him from the clubhouse door when he tried to come congratulate his now-former teammates after they bagged the American League West.
If you want to talk about the Cubs from a few years before, I can even tell you the backup players like Paul Popovich, who did a credible job at 2nd when Glenn Beckert was injured during that heartbreaking 1969 season, and pitcher-turned outfielder Willie Smith who helped hold down that third outfield position with Al Spangler, Jimmy Qualls and others. It was the only really weak spot on that great team.You forgot the real weak spot on the 1969 Cubs---the manager's office. Even a Met fan (as I've been since the day they were born) could appreciate that the biggest reason why the Cubs blew the 1969 National League East was Leo Durocher. And it only began with burning out his regulars by the time the real meat of the stretch arrived and the Mets were re-heating to stay. The Yankees were stupid enough to fire Yogi Berra the day after the 1964 World Series (that story should have been a scandal in itself) after a) he'd lost the Series in seven thrilling games; and, b) he'd managed to overcome a clubhouse revolt to shepherd a staggering stretch drive surge to get them there in the first place. The Cubs should have fired Durocher after the 1969 season for mismanaging the team out of a clean shot at the National League East at least.
He’s a sham and a flim flam man!
either a total liar or was on heavy drugs during that time.
Or both - I think the 0 was both.
Ah yes ... Leo “The Lip”. He was a piece work wasn’t he.
It is said that to err is human; to forgive is a Mets fan. Let’s go Mets!!
A Kenyan-Indonesian-Hawaiian dual citizen, Marxist invader with a redacted past.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.