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Monthly Archives: April 2000

April 27 2000: Book Review – Slouching Towards Fargo

So, the other night, while sitting in the stands in the freezing cold wind of Yankee Stadium’s upper deck, my brother gave me my birthday present, lovingly wrapped in a page of the sports section of the local paper with Ken Griffey, Jr. photo large on it. (I couldn’t help but say, as I ripped […]

April 26 2000: Book Review – Ball Four

What do you mean you haven’t read Ball Four, the original baseball “tell-all” book by Jim Bouton? Okay, okay, I hadn’t read it either, until recently. I was a kid when it came out, young enough that I still had to be held by the hand by my Dad as we walked through Yankee Stadium. […]

April 23 2000: Balancing Act

I close my eyes, listening to the game on the radio. I’m imagining I’m there at the ballpark. Let’s see. My butt is firmly planted in a molded, hard-plastic seat. On my right thigh rests my scorecard, on the left my gloved-up left hand. But, wait, where will I balance my hot dog? Where can […]

April 16 2000: Roar of the Crowd

Friday night I was sitting in the upper deck of Yankee Stadium with my friends and family, having an absolutely great time, despite the freezing cold wind that had us bundled in winter coats, gloves and earmuffs. It was not a large crowd for Yankee Stadium–the outfield decks blue and empty, the box seats checkered […]

April 15 2000: Pre-Game Show – Arriving Early at Yankee Stadium

April 14th finally arrived, the day of my first pilgrimage this year to the national temple of baseball, Yankee Stadium. (I was tickled to hear Michael Kay call it “baseball’s cathedral” on the radio the other day–seems I’m not the only one who holds the House That Ruth Built in such regard.) Originally I had […]

April 11: Old Timers – Baseball, Nostalgia & Respect

So, Charles Krauthammer recently opined in a column for TIME Magazine that baseball is dying, at least partly because of its love for nostalgia, and how we fans, supposedly, look back on the past as brighter and better than the present or future. Of course, the real point of the essay seemed to be that […]

April 4 2000: A Battle of Heroes, Old Versus New

So, last night the Yanks opened their season with a night game against the Anaheim Angels. The national anthem featured a giant American flag that covered the outfield, red rockets shot their glare out of center, and a bald eagle flew down into the stadium to a trainer on the pitchers mound. A friend (whose […]

April 3 2000: Opening Day Thoughts

Here it is, my first Opening Day in years and years. Maybe it’s that baseball itself is so much more popular this year than it was during some of the doldrum years (the strike, etc…) or maybe it’s that I’m just so much more aware of it… or maybe it is both… but Baseball Is […]