I hope some of you checked in, but even if you didn’t — early Friday I did a little live blogging of the Novak Djokovic-Carlos Alcaraz French Open semifinal match.
I am a lifelong Mets fan and a hard core baseball geek...and I have ZERO recollection of Steve Bieser. I mean, not one synapse fired. Props to Matt and Doug for keeping their favorite guy alive.
Hey Joe, do you know if it's possible to make a preorder from Rainy Day Books and have it shipped to the opposite side of the earth? From a big fan of your writing here living in Asia.
Joe, you don’t have to praise Billy Joel, de gustibilus non disputandem and all that… but not many artists have rolled off six years of albums like the stretch he had from The Stranger to An Innocent Man.
Just pre-ordered! And I *never* pre-order! (OK, there WAS that one time with The Outer Space Men, but then and now and never else in the history of everything).
But the lure of Joe's Top 5 Astros moments was much too hard for weak ol' me to resist.
Thanks, Joe. Great promotion for what I'm sure will be a great book.
And if you can take down Michael Schur with my help all the better :-)
It is unfortunate for fans that the match ended that way. But Tennis is also about conditioning. I can't tell you how many times I played in hot weather as a younger man, against an opponent who was probably better than me, and was just better in the later sets to win because I was not as affected by the heat and exertion. (Now, pushing 60, overweight with some foot issues, I sometimes feel like it is harder for me to walk fast uphill for a quarter mile than it was to play 5 sets in 90+ degrees 25 years ago. It is pretty sad.)
They will play again. Novak will be a little older, Carlos will be more hydrated or better conditioned, and we might get the match we were hoping for today. For now, we should celebrate seeing Novak still playing great tennis at 36. Enjoy it while you still can.
Hey, Steve Bieser! The one, count 'em, one alumnus of my high school to make the majors. I was in the seventh grade at the time and it was a pretty darn big deal, even if his MLB career wound up being fairly unremarkable.
I was a kid when Katz got taken over by Skaggs (who were later taken over by Osco, and then CVS, who seemingly took over all the drugstores in the area, including Revco, where I worked as a young college student) My Mom and Grandmother still used to say they were "going to Katz" even though it was Skaggs.
The hat is a Ban Johnson league hat. The league still exists in KC, a competitive wood bat summer league. Players must be amateur, enrolled at a Kansas or Missouri school, and under the age of 23. I played there in the early 1980s, as my high school did not have team. (Former MLB player David Cone was also in the league one of those years), though many players are college age.
In this era of truly expensive baseball, including competitive leagues with way too much travel, it is probably the least expensive place in the area to play in a very competitive league, if you are good enough to make it. It is also great baseball to watch.
I *love* Ebbets. Someday, if I happen to come into a large sum of money, after I pay off my student loans I’m definitely treating myself to several of the pricier items from Ebbets.
I am a lifelong Mets fan and a hard core baseball geek...and I have ZERO recollection of Steve Bieser. I mean, not one synapse fired. Props to Matt and Doug for keeping their favorite guy alive.
I don't know about the other teams but the Guardians will not finish under .500. Book it.
BTW, it looks like they don't have an all time worst lineup. Not great by any means but not terrible either.
It's a long season.
The A's (14) and the Royals (18) haven't won as many games as the Rays have lost (19). Ugh.
i would rather praise the Dodgers than Derek Jeter, and i wouldn't ask ANYbody to praise him either (and me praising the Dodgers? NEVER gonna happen!)
5-11. Not very good. But we're not the worst team in the league, so that's one positive way of looking at it.
Hey Joe, do you know if it's possible to make a preorder from Rainy Day Books and have it shipped to the opposite side of the earth? From a big fan of your writing here living in Asia.
Joe, you don’t have to praise Billy Joel, de gustibilus non disputandem and all that… but not many artists have rolled off six years of albums like the stretch he had from The Stranger to An Innocent Man.
Just pre-ordered! And I *never* pre-order! (OK, there WAS that one time with The Outer Space Men, but then and now and never else in the history of everything).
But the lure of Joe's Top 5 Astros moments was much too hard for weak ol' me to resist.
Thanks, Joe. Great promotion for what I'm sure will be a great book.
And if you can take down Michael Schur with my help all the better :-)
It is unfortunate for fans that the match ended that way. But Tennis is also about conditioning. I can't tell you how many times I played in hot weather as a younger man, against an opponent who was probably better than me, and was just better in the later sets to win because I was not as affected by the heat and exertion. (Now, pushing 60, overweight with some foot issues, I sometimes feel like it is harder for me to walk fast uphill for a quarter mile than it was to play 5 sets in 90+ degrees 25 years ago. It is pretty sad.)
They will play again. Novak will be a little older, Carlos will be more hydrated or better conditioned, and we might get the match we were hoping for today. For now, we should celebrate seeing Novak still playing great tennis at 36. Enjoy it while you still can.
I signed up for the Goodreads prerelease contest.
FWIW, this is the beginning of the bio at the bottom of the page:
"Joe grew up in Cleveland, spent much of his life in Kansas Crty"
Didn't know if you care enough to correct a typo, but if you do, I thought I'd let you know!
Hey, Steve Bieser! The one, count 'em, one alumnus of my high school to make the majors. I was in the seventh grade at the time and it was a pretty darn big deal, even if his MLB career wound up being fairly unremarkable.
Elly De La Cruz looks so damn good it made me buy his rookie card on eBay!
The "cat hat," which I happen to own one of (bought from ebbets.com), is for the Kansas City Katz, which were owned and operated by a KC drugstore run by...the Katz family. Hence the name. See https://www.nathanholthus.com/work/katz-baseball-club. Great story here about founders Ike and Mike Katz, born in W. Ukraine: https://kchistory.org/week-kansas-city-history/katz-cradle.
I was a kid when Katz got taken over by Skaggs (who were later taken over by Osco, and then CVS, who seemingly took over all the drugstores in the area, including Revco, where I worked as a young college student) My Mom and Grandmother still used to say they were "going to Katz" even though it was Skaggs.
The hat is a Ban Johnson league hat. The league still exists in KC, a competitive wood bat summer league. Players must be amateur, enrolled at a Kansas or Missouri school, and under the age of 23. I played there in the early 1980s, as my high school did not have team. (Former MLB player David Cone was also in the league one of those years), though many players are college age.
In this era of truly expensive baseball, including competitive leagues with way too much travel, it is probably the least expensive place in the area to play in a very competitive league, if you are good enough to make it. It is also great baseball to watch.
Thanks for that info! My fiancée wants that hat!
Ebbets Field Flannels (an incredible company making replica versions of historic sports fashion) has a couple of them available! https://www.ebbets.com/collections/kansas-city-katz
That site looks really cool!
I *love* Ebbets. Someday, if I happen to come into a large sum of money, after I pay off my student loans I’m definitely treating myself to several of the pricier items from Ebbets.
I hear you about student loans!! Yes looking on that site I already see so much stuff I want!
The hats are also available on Sandlot Sporting Goods, where the one that is a prize came from.
Thanks for the tip about Sandlot, Khazad!
Ok cool!