Spring training will begin soon now that the avaricious owners and materialistic players have reached an agreement to continue ruining baseball. Continue reading
Here’s a two minute clip from a 1966 British newsreel entitled, A Little Of What You Fancy.
The bikinis of 1966 look discreet compared to the dental floss beachwear some women display themselves in today.
The mini-skirt presented a real danger Continue reading
When you need to go to the restroom in Central Park there are few choices. Last year when a friend needed to use the bathroom we headed towards the closest one.
The tennis courts were empty as it was getting near dusk. But the bathrooms near the tennis courts were open, about 100 feet from the northern part of the Central Park reservoir.
I was waiting outside the building containing the women’s bathrooms looking down at the ground.
Ralph Barton & his 4th wife Germaine Talleferre photo: Daily News
“New York has ceased to be a city in which people live. It is necessary if one has to have quiet and peace to work to live in the suburbs. Steamships have made Europe a suburb of New York. I like to eat well, drink well and read grown up books, and these are not to be had in America.”
“New York is a crazy city and America is a madhouse. That is why I came back. I feel I belong here. Americans are crazy and I find I am crazy too. Americans are too rich. We have too much money. I have too much money. That is why I’m crazy. An artist ought to be prohibited from earning as much money as I do. Yet if someone suggested cutting my earnings, I’d scream so that you could hear me for three blocks.” – Ralph Barton upon returning to New York in 1929 after being in Paris for two years.
Barton committed suicide, Continue reading
When you capture lightning in a bottle you know it.
The iconic song Ballroom Blitz was recorded in a single day after just two to three takes.
Phil Wainman the producer of Sweet in the early 1970s when the band was turning out hit after hit, describes how the song Ballroom Blitz came to be, in this excerpt below in an interview with Iain McNay.
After the recording session was complete Wainman simply said to the band, “Do you think that’s a number one in America?”
In November 1972 Mott The Hoople embarked on a whirlwind tour of America, sometimes headlining, playing in large theaters and clubs. If you’re wondering, the English band’s name comes from a 1966 book. And after three years together they were developing a loyal following.
Mott’s current big hit, All The Young Dudes, written by their producer David Bowie was climbing up the charts. Continue reading
I love when you can focus on the musicianship of a song you know very well by hearing it in a completely new way.
The following audio isolates The Doors keyboardist Ray Manzarek’s playing on Love Her Madly from the 1971 album L.A. Woman.
Hidden by the final mix are Manzarek’s deft touches which can be fully appreciated when heard like this.
One surprise that I had never previously picked up was discovered at the 2:03 mark. Continue reading
Boys Club of PS 62 Hester and Norfolk St with policeman c 1907
Originally this piece was going to be about how dysfunctional the New York City school system is.
Then I realized that a critique of all the political correctness and hypocrisy that dominates decision making at the Department of Education and what kids are actually learning would require a book rather than an article.
Instead it would be better to examine what children used to learn in grammar school. The main focus was of course on reading, writing and arithmetic. A primary education as it should be.
The established standards applied to all children, regardless of religion, ethnicity, race or income level. But something else was taught that has been lost today: how to become useful and good citizens.
Simply put, Civics.
To understand this better let’s turn to a book that was in use in New York City schools during the early part of the twentieth century.
The book is called Good Citizenship by Julia Richman, Continue reading
Sherman Kelly 1970 photo: Sherman Kelly
Sleeping peacefully on the beach at St. Croix in 1969, musician Sherman Kelly awoke to five men beating him with baseball bats.
After he blacked out, one of the men attacking Kelly raped his girlfriend Adrienne. The other four were preparing to take their turn at rape. Continue reading
MLB has been tinkering with the rules for the last few years, trying to improve the game. Seven inning double headers; ghost runners; pitching mound visit limits; and the relief pitcher, minimum three batter requirement are just a few of the gimmicks that have been implemented with many more changes under consideration such as; designated hitters in the National League; pitch clocks and moving the pitching rubber back twelve inches.
Thankfully the 2021 World Series does not have any ghost runners. That is the MLB rule enacted during the last two seasons in which a runner was placed on second base to begin extra innings in the hopes of shortening the length of extra inning games. Most fans hope the ghost runner will be abolished permanently in 2022.
In the 19th century baseball was constantly evolving and changing rules. While baseball’s basic rules have remained the same for the last 120 years, modern fans would be perplexed at many of the old rules. Before 1884 all pitchers had to throw underhand. The batter could request to the pitcher where he wanted the baseball thrown. Very few players wore baseball gloves – they were considered unmanly.
In the 1880s and 1890s the rule changes came fast and furious.
The following examples are from Jerry Lansche’s entertaining book Glory Fades Away The Nineteenth -Century World Series Rediscovered (Taylor Publishing Group) 1991.
1884- Pitchers were now allowed to throw overhand.
1884- An error was charged to the pitcher for a walk, balk, wild pitch or hit batsman and by the same logic an error in the catcher’s column for a passed ball.
1884- A foul ball caught on one hop was no longer an out. Continue reading