Being born & actually living on Broadway & 191st. Street in Washington Heights I lived about 8 miles from Yankee Stadium although my Father never took me there I was 7 when we left for Bergen Cty., NJ I do remember watching them on WPIX channel 11 watching Mickey & listening to the Scooter - Phil Rizzuto.
And yes, I remember those monuments in center field watching guys chasing balls behind them. Never made sense to me but I did question to myself why all parks weren’t in fact the same. After all records were kept on all kinds of statistics; how fair was that when everyone’s parks were different?
Such is the mind of a child!
I guess the only constant in life is change. Now bases are larger, catchers are framing the ball (cheating), pitchers hands are in their mouths, sliding gloves are used & we have ghost runners to end the game sooner. Didn’t we pay to watch a game, so now we’re there we need to leave sooner? Do you hear my Andy Rooney impersonation?
And yes, I grew up ‘hating’ Red Sox fans although I’ve spoken to many at the Stadium. Someone ask them why their song Sweet Caroline was written by a Brooklyn guy. Maybe they don’t know Brooklyn is in NY?? Now where did I pahk my cah?
I think the questions of a child are some of the most telling, as they haven't absorbed all the "givens" that we have internalized as we grow up. So, young Jeff asking himself: "Why the heck are there giant rocks in this outfield?" is a really good question the adults probably didn't have a good answer for.
Early 70’s were “an awkward phase in baseball’s long history,” I think the early 70’s were an awkward phase in general. All the things you mentioned pretty well sum it up. I never knew there was such a thing in baseball as a ‘Chaos Game.’ Paul, I have a question: what makes the ‘Green Monster’ so insurmountable? Is there any other ballpark that has as challenging a wall in the outfield? Also, I enjoyed listening to your friend, Josh, call his first MLB game.
"Chaos Game" is something I just made up, but it's the kind of thing I love to cover here, so it's part of the Project 3.18 vocabulary now.
The Green Monster has its origins in a wall designed to keep fans in some preexisting taller buildings from getting a free view of the action in the Red Sox' new park. It's always about money, even in 1910.
Here's a link to an article on this topic I enjoyed:
I am new to Mr. Johnson and he's an interesting character. Good at baseball despite being someone who so evidently did not like being a major league baseball player. A latter-day Anthony Rendon in an era before long-term contracts, perhaps.
Being born & actually living on Broadway & 191st. Street in Washington Heights I lived about 8 miles from Yankee Stadium although my Father never took me there I was 7 when we left for Bergen Cty., NJ I do remember watching them on WPIX channel 11 watching Mickey & listening to the Scooter - Phil Rizzuto.
And yes, I remember those monuments in center field watching guys chasing balls behind them. Never made sense to me but I did question to myself why all parks weren’t in fact the same. After all records were kept on all kinds of statistics; how fair was that when everyone’s parks were different?
Such is the mind of a child!
I guess the only constant in life is change. Now bases are larger, catchers are framing the ball (cheating), pitchers hands are in their mouths, sliding gloves are used & we have ghost runners to end the game sooner. Didn’t we pay to watch a game, so now we’re there we need to leave sooner? Do you hear my Andy Rooney impersonation?
And yes, I grew up ‘hating’ Red Sox fans although I’ve spoken to many at the Stadium. Someone ask them why their song Sweet Caroline was written by a Brooklyn guy. Maybe they don’t know Brooklyn is in NY?? Now where did I pahk my cah?
I think the questions of a child are some of the most telling, as they haven't absorbed all the "givens" that we have internalized as we grow up. So, young Jeff asking himself: "Why the heck are there giant rocks in this outfield?" is a really good question the adults probably didn't have a good answer for.
Yankees probably would've said: "Tradition"
Little did they know golf courses would also be burial sites... REAL one(s).
Early 70’s were “an awkward phase in baseball’s long history,” I think the early 70’s were an awkward phase in general. All the things you mentioned pretty well sum it up. I never knew there was such a thing in baseball as a ‘Chaos Game.’ Paul, I have a question: what makes the ‘Green Monster’ so insurmountable? Is there any other ballpark that has as challenging a wall in the outfield? Also, I enjoyed listening to your friend, Josh, call his first MLB game.
"Chaos Game" is something I just made up, but it's the kind of thing I love to cover here, so it's part of the Project 3.18 vocabulary now.
The Green Monster has its origins in a wall designed to keep fans in some preexisting taller buildings from getting a free view of the action in the Red Sox' new park. It's always about money, even in 1910.
Here's a link to an article on this topic I enjoyed:
https://www.mlb.com/cut4/why-was-fenway-park-s-green-monster-built-c283927500
Paul, that’s hysterical! Sometimes I can be so literal. Hahaha. I actually thought it was a thing; well now it is!
That's right--this is independent publishing. We make our own things.
Looking forward to Part 2 - I always liked the well-traveled Alex Johnson - he was a dangerous out for the other team.
I am new to Mr. Johnson and he's an interesting character. Good at baseball despite being someone who so evidently did not like being a major league baseball player. A latter-day Anthony Rendon in an era before long-term contracts, perhaps.
Happy to have led you down this rabbit hole. :)
And I'll do the same thing anyone else finds an error!
You know what--scratch that, let's call this a fun one-off.