Having spent Sunday at a Brooklyn Cyclones game, I got my "Brooklyn" back.
Posted on 07/01/2002 11:33:06 AM PDT by wallcrawlr
EVERY time you think the lords of baseball cannot become more callous, greedy and inhumane, they go and prove you wrong.
The other day they slipped a fastball by us. They quietly announced the Mets' June 4 rainout in Atlanta will be made up as a split doubleheader at Turner Field in September. Not just any September day, but 9-11, 2002.
One year to the date that the Twin Towers were destroyed by terrorists and 3,014 people were brutally murdered, the Braves and Mets are going to play a split doubleheader - meaning there will be two separate gates for the two games - at Turner Field.
Does anybody look at these things?
Does baseball care that it is being doubly greedy on what will be a sad, solemn day throughout America and the saddest day of all in New York? Are our tears supposed to turn to cheers once they yell, "Play ball!"?
Every other day of the season baseball can help heal the wounds, but not on this day. This Sept. 11 is not a day for fun and games.
In New York, the Yankees will play hosts to the Orioles. Do you really think people will want to watch a baseball game that night?
The Yankees and Mets should not have been scheduled to play this season on 9-11. It's that simple.
"I agree," Mike Piazza said last night before the Mets' 3-2 win over the Twins. "Right from the start they dropped the ball. As an employee I'll play, but I definitely think there should be some type of day of remembrance. What's the big deal if the season is backed up one more day?"
Baseball was part of the healing process last September and October, but can't one day be set aside for remembering and honoring the dead? Kate Smith's shortened rendition of "God Bless America" being played in the seventh inning is not my idea of paying homage to so many fallen heroes.
And I'm not just talking about the 350 members of the FDNY, the 23 New York cops and the 37 Port Authority police officers who died that day. I'm talking about everyone who died that morning in New York, in Washington at the Pentagon ( news - web sites), and in that lonely field in Pennsylvania, where United Airlines ( news - web sites) Flight No. 93 out of Newark fell out of the sky with 45 aboard. They were all heroes.
As for the Braves, there are many good people in that organization I deeply respect. They should sit back and re-think this decision to play a split doubleheader on Sept. 11. Find another day for those games.
This is a day when we should remember the dead. We should light a candle, we should light 3,014 candles that day, not play a baseball game in the Bronx and a split doubleheader in Atlanta with the Mets.
Yes, we have to go on with our lives, but we also must pause and reflect back to 9-11, 2001, the day when so many lives were lost and so many children were left without fathers and mothers.
Sept. 11 should be a day set aside for going to church or temple or to a memorial to honor those who died on the first anniversary of that day. It should be a day where we help each other get by, where we shed tears and remember what America really stands for and how there is a price to be paid for freedom.
On the first anniversary of Pearl Harbor, America paused with simple ceremonies like Boy Scouts raising flags in parks and the selling of war bonds. As Mrs. Roosevelt said back then, "This is a day of great sadness."
One day of remembrance will not hurt baseball. It would show that baseball has a heart on a day when so many hearts are broken.
Yes. It doesn't mean Americans are not respectful of the dead and injured of 9-11. It means Americans are resilient. Cancelling baseball on 9-11 is just a sign the terrorists are winning. I say yelling "Play Ball!" is one of the most patriotic things we can do that day.
This country has had so many tragedies on so many days, that if we stopped getting on with our lives, stopped doing the things we enjoyed, just holding rememberance ceremonies, we wouldnt get to do anything at all.
I'm sure there will be ceremonies. And we can go to work, play ball, whatever too.
I'm sure it would be very satisfying for our enemies to see us cry and light candles all day long. I won't do it.
"Ooooh those poor people... I think I will send some flowers to, um..., someone over there..."
Play f***ing ball.
I wonder if he thinks being on strike on 9-11 is appropriate. We'll probably find out. Any one want to place a bet? Either way, Piazza's calendar should be wide open in October. He can spend the whole month remembering.
Let the bad guys watch us enjoying life in spite of their best efforts, and let their heads explode from apoplectic rage that we're ignoring them.
Please define. How does "f***ing ball" differ from baseball?
Cindye
Actually, I think Sept. 11 would be a lovely time to invade Iraq.
Having spent Sunday at a Brooklyn Cyclones game, I got my "Brooklyn" back.
There will be more than enough time to observe the first anniversary, but why single out one activity?
I'll have to remember that explanation. :-)
Now, another question [just sit back and call me "stupid"]:
What does I got my Brooklyn back mean?
I was a Brooklyn Dodgers fan way back before they moved out to the west coast [when I was a little kid]- and I haven't had anything to do with Brooklyn based sports ever since. That move left a real bad taste and I haven't got my Brooklyn back.
Cindye
Ok, stoopid. :)
My definition: Brassiness with a heart of gold.
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