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The Daily Dose/June 3, 2011
By Gaylon Kent
The Writer's Shack
Notes from around The Human Experience...
THE GRAND OLD GAME: Some thoughts on the current baseball season, as the big leaguers hit the one-third mark:
Interleague Play: We're starting to hear some serious grumbling about interleague play, about how the novelty has worn off and whatnot. The novelty actually wore off years ago, if you ask us, and was there any reason to make Kansas City go to Pittsburgh? No, not really.
The big problem is the fact teams in the same division to not play the same teams the same number of times, meaning teams battling for the same division championship do not play identical schedules, which we've always had a problem with, but, as usual, baseball doesn't consult us on things like this and why this is now such big concern after 14 years is not immediately clear.
Take Me Out To The Ballgame…Or Not: Attendance is down a bit, with major league teams averaging about 250 fewer fans per game through Memorial Day weekend.
Drain Game: Most of that though, can be attributed to the Los Angeles Dodgers, whose fans are staying away in droves. Dodger attendance is down over 200,000 fans from last year, accounting for almost 90 percent of baseball's decline.
Pennant Race: After a pretty good start our Royals are sinking like a stone in the tough American League Central and appear to be safely out of it and are well within striking distance of the evil Twins in the race for last. Also, the Chicago Cubs are already eight-and-a-half games out and appear to be in no danger of breaking their streak of 103 years without winning the World Series.
Duly Noted: The goddamned Yankees are in first place in the American League East.
Standard Internet Disclaimer: Gaylon is about to wax nostalgic about how in 2008 this column chronicled the 1908 Chicago Cubs season, a feature Gaylon greatly enjoyed.
If you are not desirous of reading this blather - and who is, really? - then by all means scroll down to the italics section that marks the end of this segment and the resumption of the non-blather part of today's column.
A Warm, Personal Remembrance: Speaking of the Cubs, regular readers of this crap will recall that in 2008 we took a look back at the 1908 Chicago Cubs season. It was fun noting famous names of the past and how different the game was then, and being former reporters here at the Writer's Shack, it was really fun researching newspapers of the era and seeing how that American institution has changed over the years, too.
Onward! Christian Soldiers: But you can't rest on your laurels, and are eagerly looking forward to 2048 when we can celebrate the 100th anniversary of the last Cleveland Indians World Series title, and 2108, when we all celebrate the bicentennial of the last Cubs World Series win.
Carry On, Wayward Son: This ends the blather. You may resume your regularly scheduled column.
Dry, Technical Matter: Some of you may have noted the season began earlier than usual, on Thursday March 31, instead of the following Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. It will also end on a Wednesday, meaning the playoffs can start on a weekend,
Baseball, of course, will muck it up. If baseball were smart they'd schedule the first round so it ended, at the latest, on Thursday, October 6, with the League Championship Series' starting on Saturday the 8th. No, we're not betting the rent money on this happening, either. They will probably make the opening round last two weekends, through Sunday, October 8.
Please Stand By: We'll whine about this more as the playoffs approach.
LOVE MALTA STYLE: This may seem funny to a society where most marriages end in divorce, but voters in Malta approved a referendum to legalize divorce in that nation. Currently, couples could legally separate, which allowed them to divide their stuff, but they could not remarry.
Voters Where? Malta is an island nation in the Mediterranean Sea, due south of the southernmost point of Italy.
FunFact: Malta is one of three countries on the planet where divorce is not allowed. The others are the Philippines and the Vatican.
Dry, Technical Matter: Voter approval means the matter can now be taken up by the legislature, which consists of a 69 member House of Representatives, where it is expected to be approved.
MORE TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALLGAME: Two feats that are each occurring for only the third time in major league history happen in the same game on this date in 1932.
First, in the seventh inning of the New York Yankees 20-13 victory over the Athletics in Philadelphia, Lou Gehrig becomes the first person in American League history to hit four home runs in one game. He had previously hit home runs in the first, fourth and fifth innings.
FunFact: Gehrig is the third major leaguer, and the first in the 20th century, to accomplish this feat, joining Bobby Lowe (1894) and Ed Delahanty (1896).
Hey, What About Me? In the ninth inning, Tony Lazzeri hits a grand slam home run, becoming the third major leaguer to hit what is called a natural cycle - a single, double, triple and home run in that order in one game.
The Postgame Show Is Brought To You By General Lafayette Beer: The linescore read like a Keno board. The Yankees had 25 runs on 23 hits and chipped in five errors to the Athletics cause, hit seven home runs and left six runner on base.
For their part, the A's had 13 runs on 13 hits, three triples, two home runs and left eleven runners on base.
Higher, Stronger, Well, Higher, At Least: Mankind climbs to the top of a mountain of at least 8,000 meters for the first time on this date in 1950 as two Frenchmen reach the summit of Annapurna I in Nepal.
Really Dry, Technical Matter: 8,091 meters, equals to 26,545 feet.
3…2…1…Blastoff: An American walks in space for the first time on this date in 1965, as astronaut Ed White spends 20 minutes putzing around outside the Gemini 4 spacecraft commanded by James McDivitt.
Fly In The Ointment: The spacewalk almost didn't happen. After depressurizing the capsule, the latches that secured the hatch wouldn't work properly and hatch would not open. Fortunately, McDivitt had experienced, and solved, this problem in training simulations on Earth and was able to open the hatch.
Fly In The Ointment II: The decision to fix the latches wasn't as automatic as it might seem because just because McDivitt was able to get them to work to open the hatch didn't guarantee he would be able to get them to work so he could close the hatch. This would give the crew the choice between dying a fiery death upon reentering Earth's atmosphere, or wandering around outer space until they died.
What The Hell: Showing the great courage that has attended explorers since time immemorial, the type of courage that leads both to great achievement and, sometimes, great tragedy, McDivitt felt reasonably certain he could get the hatch to close again and the spacewalk continued, marred only by some communication difficulties and the fact they were running out off daylight and White didn't want to come in from his outer space playtime.
Oh Yeah: Gemini 4 would make 66 orbits and return to Earth on June 7.
Thought For The Day: It's the saddest moment of my life. - Astronaut Edward White, upon concluding his 20 minute spacewalk, the first by an American.
Answer To The Last Trivia Question: Leo Durocher was the baseball Hall of Fame member who made his major league debut with the 1925 Yankees, playing in two games at the end of the season.
Today's Stumper: Who holds the National League record for most career home runs by a designated hitter? - Answer next time!
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