Baseball is better than football
April 7, 2015Health scare played large role in Carlos Carrasco’s contract
April 8, 2015Happy Wednesday, Blawg Pound.
I hope you enjoyed your holiday, whether you were celebrating Easter, Passover, or something different altogether. Perhaps you spent the weekend counting the moments until Opening Day, subsisting on little more than glove oil and Stadium Mustard. I can only applaud if that was the case.
The Tribe lost the opener Monday, and that’s a bummer. But, to borrow from Major League‘s Jake Taylor: relax kid, we’ve got 161 of these games to go. No dingerz yet, but Corey Kluber looked every bit like the Cy Young winner that he is.
Baseball season at WFNY won’t quite be the same without the inimitable Jon Steiner around, but we have a couple gents ready to carry the torch all summer long in Michael Bode and Andrew Clayman. Both did fine work in our Indians preview, and they’ll be the point men on game recaps throughout the season. Bode1 started it up yesterday, and I look forward to more baseball talk from both.
Speaking of baseball, The Corner at Progressive Field is the bee’s knees. WFNY’s own Scott Sargent took a few snapshots of the place and shared them yesterday. From the benches and tables built from salvaged bridge wood, to the gorgeous sight lines, to the bullpens well within heckling range, to the self-serve beer taps (!!!), it looks to be a great place to take in a ballgame, if only for an inning or two while you tour the ballpark.
I had the pleasure of seeing the new Right Field District myself Monday night, and I can confirm everything Scott reported. The place looks beautiful, and a great many efforts were made to make the place distinctly Cleveland. That starts with “The Corner” name itself, a lovely nod to Tom Hamilton’s trademark first pitch call. Just the thought of Hammy’s voice crackling over the car radio is enough to bring a tear to your eye — or at least mine — and the Tribe was smart to capitalize on the nostalgia that largely defines Indians baseball.
The food and drink look and smell great. Ballpark food gets out of hand sometimes — Twinkie dog or pulled pork parfait, anyone? — but the Progressive Field2 offerings from places like Barrio and Melt are relatively subdued, pierogi-stuffed sandwiches aside. The self-serve beer station boasts a dozen craft brews, including some from smaller local establishments like the Willoughby Brewing Company that would not otherwise get such exposure.
Everything about it is homey, welcoming, and built for taking in a ballgame. I highly recommend it.
Wright Thompson wrote something that went up late last night. I just saw the link, and haven’t even read it yet. I endorse it wholeheartedly regardless. I think Walter Wright Thompson, Jr. is as good as it gets.
He wrote a piece a few years ago that sucked the air out of my gut and spat it out of every pore in my body. It blew me away. It was about the Masters — this year’s tournament starts Thursday — but it was About him and his father.
The story paints Augusta National in warm, peachy tones. You can smell the azaleas, taste the pimento, feel the tension and hear the hush in the air as Arnie lines up a 12-footer. It’s an ode to Augusta, and it’s an ode to the Masters, but more than that, it’s an ode to his father.
Here’s something I wrote about it a while back:
Wright Thompson’s piece on the Masters brings me to tears every time I read it. Every single time. It is as beautiful an expression of a son’s love for his father as there has ever been, and is ever likely to be. I implore you to read it, especially if you are a son, for it is brilliant. Seriously. Read him before you read me. Your time will have been better spent.
CHAPPELLE BACK. Dave Chappelle re-entered the standup world years ago, often dropping into clubs unannounced after a lengthy hiatus from the stage, but the big news is that he will be releasing a new standup special on HBO. It will be his first in a decade; his last was 2005’s For What It’s Worth. I have no idea what he’ll be talking about, and I don’t care. Dave Chappelle is appointment viewing in my book.
If you’re a comedy fan, then you already know the broad strokes. Chappelle started as a standup, and then he starred in some movies, and then he produced some of the finest sketch comedy the world has ever seen on Chappelle’s Show. He touched on race and relationships and culture and politics, offering cutting commentary without being cheap or preachy. A great many of his sketches — Rick James, Prince, the Racial Draft, the Mad Real World — became conversational touchstones for a generation of viewers.
Then, at the apparent peak of his powers, he bailed on the show and vanished from the public spotlight. He took a trip to South Africa, and a bunch of erroneous rumors explaining his departure — drug problems and a mental breakdown among them — inspired him to stay there until his name fell out of the tabloids.
Here’s a taste to remind you of how funny this man is. This sketch below depicts a prominent, reclusive, white supremacist. That white supremacist is black, though he doesn’t know it; he was born blind, you see. A Frontline crew visits said white supremacist at his rural home to learn more about him.
It was featured in the pilot episode. The pilot! On basic cable! That’s like showing up to meet the parents brandishing a Molotov cocktail.
(The video is broken into two parts. It is also uncensored and features lots of explicit language)
I leave you with a song. My listening habits are decidedly uneven. Some days I’ll have tunes going at all times, and others I’ll go hours at a time with nary a note hitting my eardrums. Sometimes I enjoy letting the iTunes shuffle gods decide my fate, and sometimes I wear out a (virtual) album until the (virtual) grooves wear out.
An album I’ve been enjoying recently is one I’ve enjoyed many times before, Strung Out in Heaven by the Brian Jonestown Massacre. I know; catchy names, eh? They dabble in all sorts of genres — frontman Anton Newcombe has claimed to be able to play 80 instruments — but they could perhaps be most accurately considered a neo-psychedelic outfit drawing from the likes of the Rolling Stones (from whom the band draws the non-massacre portion of its name) and David Bowie.
I digress. Give it a spin. Enjoy your day. Thanks for reading.
- Not to be confused with Point Break’s Bodhi. [↩]
- I will forever think of it as the Jake, but I don’t want to be like those reporters who kept saying “Cassius Clay.” [↩]
13 Comments
Glove oil? No sir, saddle soap is the method of choice to make the glove soft and supple.
here you go: http://www.onbaseball.com/equipment/what-to-use-to-re-condition-and-preserve-your-baseball-or-softball-glove/
/pushes nerd glasses up
Actually, it was Jake Taylor who told Rick Vaughn to relax because they had 162 games to go.
Oh dear god shame on me. This will be amended ASAP. Thank you.
thank you for reminding me of so many nights with a bottle of Neatsfoot oil, a rag and a sock to tie the glove around a ball after I was done. Been a while since I thought about Neatsfoot oil
I smile anytime I think of asking either of my sons “what’s wrong” and pointing to their glove. It could be dirty, no ball in the web, or other minor intricacies of taking care of their glove, but, while they don’t always remember what to do, they are quick to point out what they forgot and correct it.
Want us to drag him out back and kick the snot out of him?
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No?
hi Will … nice touch with the Wright Thompson Master’s piece … good stuff.
I didn’t know who she was. I swear!
Went to the Masters practice round on Monday with my wife her parents. If you have not been fortunate enough to do this once in your life, put it on your list of things to do. The course is immaculate. It is a celebration of Spring in a perfect botanical garden.
If you like The Brian Jonestown Massacre, you might enjoy the movie DIG! It follows them and their friends/enemies in The Dandy Warhols. Long story short – it is probably not a good idea to emulate a role model like Brian Jones or Syd Barrett.
Thanks for the good read.
I feel like a banker in this thing.
http://i.ytimg.com/vi/3hmpvQ-NrbY/maxresdefault.jpg
Co-sign that movie. BJM (and Newcombe especially) seems like a tough group to hang around for very long
I’ve since read the new Wright Thompson article. As good as one would expect.
Took several hours of enduring crashing websites and sitting on hold, but I managed to get tickets to Chappelle down here in Clearwater next week. Cannot wait. As far as living comedians go, it’s him and Louis C.K. at the top of my list, and everyone else is a long ways away. Haven’t been this excited to see something live since game 2 of Cavs-Magic back in ’09.