I’m an American League girl so I wasn’t happy that they lost last night’s MLB All-Star Game. I was happy that, after spending most of the game down by six runs, they managed to tie things up and force the game to go into the “swing off.” It just goes to show you that, until that final out is called, you’re never out of a game.
Today, everyone is talking about the swing off but my favorite part of the night happened earlier in the game, when the lights went down and tribute was paid to Hank Aaron. Here’s that moment:
Last night reminded me of why, even when my team losing, I love baseball!
Well, the Wall Street Journal and The New York Times Carried the story in big headlines How Kansas City George was robbed that day When Tar Baby Billy took his bat away
It was two men out in the top a’ the ninth It was one a’ them classic settin’s The Goose on the mound in that Big Apple town And George is up there battin’
As the crowd chants “Goose!” He turns it loose With fire and smoke and ash George sends it deep In the right field seats Another timely crash
As he rounded third and he headed on home Was a gleam in Billy’s eye Dick wondered “What’s he up to now? “I know this guy’s real sly”
Billy grabbed the bat as both teams sat In awe upon the benches Says, “There ya are! That there’s pine tar! “An’ it’s a whole lot more’n eighteen inches!”
Tar Baby Billy can you hear our song? Did you cry about the game last night? Cry Baby Billy tell us all what’s wrong? All you wanna do is fight You like a child, kickin’ dirt on the umpire’s shoes That’s the way you’ve always been So now we’re gonna take that pine tar rag And rub it in your face again
So Tim thought it through, and he asked the crew Then with bat in hand, he shouted “You’re out! The home run just don’t count! “I’m gonna have ta disallow it!”
Well, the sky was clear and the day was hot But George was even hotter Till Lee got wise, and said “Hey, you guys! “This claim ain’t a-gonna hold water”
Tar Baby Billy can you hear our song? Did you cry about the game last night? Cry Baby Billy tell us all what’s wrong? All you wanna do is fight You like a child, kickin’ dirt on the umpire’s shoes That’s the way you’ve always been So now we’re gonna take that pine tar rag And rub it in your face again
Well, the fans was riled and suits was filed To create a long dee-lay Then Billy’s team, apparently Was just afraid to play
Now the stage was set and Billy bet That he had the upper hand But Billy was fooled when the big court ruled “You gonna play this game, as planned!”
Well, Tar Baby Billy can you hear our song? Did you cry about the game last night? Cry Baby Billy tell us all what’s wrong? All you wanna do is fight You like a child, kickin’ dirt on the umpire’s shoes That’s the way you’ve always been So now we’re gonna take that pine tar rag And rub it in your face again
With affidavits (notarized) That George had touched ’em all The umpire said, “We a step ahead “Gonna put an end to Billy Ball”
“We done heard the call for Billy Ball “We ain’t never gonna hear it again “Just like the cheer for Billy’s Beer “When the Democrats was in”
Now the game they played that summer day Won’t be famous for the scores But the incidents that have happened since Will be remembered as Tar Wars
Tar Baby Billy can you hear our song? Did you cry about the game last night? Cry Baby Billy tell us all what’s wrong? All you wanna do is fight You like a child, kickin’ dirt on the umpire’s shoes That’s the way you’ve always been So now we’re gonna take that pine tar rag And rub it in your face again
Today’s song of the day is based on an actual incident.
In 1983, The Royals and the Yankees were playing in Yankee Stadium. At the top of the Ninth Inning, the score was 4-3, Yankees. With two outs, the Royals’ George Brett hit a two-run home run to give his team the lead. However, Yankees manager Billy Martin protested that Brett had too much pine tar on his bat. When the umpires demanded to see the bat, Royals pitcher Gaylord Perry gave the bat to a batboy and told him to hide it. When they finally did manage to find the bat, the umpires agreed with Martin, nullifying the homerun and calling Brett out. Because Brett was the third out, this gave the Yankees the victory. An understandably angry Brett attempted to confront umpire Tim McClelland about the ruling but was physically restrained by his teammates.
The Royals protested the game and the American League President, Lee MacPhail, upheld their protest, saying that pine tar did not give a batter an unfair advantage. 25 days later, the Yankee and the Royals met and resumed the game in a nearly deserted stadium. The Royals won 5-4. As for the bat itself, it now resides in the Baseball Hall of Fame.
The Pine Tar Incident inspired today’s song of the day, The Pine-Tarred Bat or The Ballad of George Brett, written and performed by “Red River” Dave McEnery.
The Rangers won yesterday and I feel like celebrating with today’s song of the day! Talkin’ Baseball was recorded in 1981 and it’s gone on to become one of the great baseball songs.
The Whiz Kids had won it, Bobby Thomson had done it, And Yogi read the comics all the while. Rock ‘n roll was being born, Marijuana, we would scorn, So down on the corner, The national past-time went on trial.
We’re talkin’ baseball! Kluszewski, Campanella. Talkin’ baseball! The Man and Bobby Feller. The Scooter, the Barber, and the Newc, They knew ’em all from Boston to Dubuque. Especially Willie, Mickey, and the Duke.
Well, Casey was winning, Hank Aaron was beginning, One Robbie going out, one coming in. Kiner and Midget Gaedel, The Thumper and Mel Parnell, And Ike was the only one winning down in Washington.
We’re talkin’ baseball! Kluszewski, Campanella. Talkin’ baseball! The Man and Bobby Feller. The Scooter, the Barber, and the Newc, They knew ’em all from Boston to Dubuque. Especially Willie, Mickey, and the Duke.
Now my old friend, The Bachelor, Well, he swore he was the Oklahoma Kid. And Cookie played hooky, To go and see the Duke. And me, I always loved Willie Mays, Those were the days!
Well, now it’s the 80s, And Brett is the greatest, And Bobby Bonds can play for everyone. Rose is at the Vet, And Rusty again is a Met, And the great Alexander is pitchin’ again in Washington.
I’m talkin’ baseball! Like Reggie, Quisenberry. Talkin’ baseball! Carew and Gaylord Perry, Seaver, Garvey, Schmidt and Vida Blue, If Cooperstown is calling, it’s no fluke. They’ll be with Willie, Mickey, and the Duke.
Willie, Mickey, and the Duke. (Say hey, say hey, say hey) It was Willie, Mickey and the Duke (Say hey, say hey, say hey) I’m talkin’ Willie, Mickey and the Duke (Say hey, say hey, say hey) Willie, Mickey, and the Duke. (Say hey, say hey, say hey) Say Willie, Mickey, and the Duke. (Say hey, say hey, say hey)
The Rangers are losing again so I’m going to treat my sorrows with a scene that I love from a baseball movie. In this scene from 61*, Roger Maris gets his sixty-first homerun of the season and he breaks Babe Ruth’s record.
I love this scene because it’s what baseball is all about.
I was searching for something on YouTube when I came across this song. From 1975 to 1980, this song was played before every Rangers home game and also after every Rangers victory! I listened to it and I loved it. I wish they still played it.
As for my Rangers this season, they’ve currently got a 36-36 record and they’re in third place in the AL West. Luckily, there’s still a lot of baseball to be played and the Astros are only leading by five games. That’s one thing I love about baseball. You’re never really out of contention, unless you’re the White Sox.
I’m not even a Red Sox fan but, if I’m ever in Boston, I’m going to visit Fenway Park just so I can see the Red Seat.
Photograph by David
This red seat, in the right field bleachers, is where the longest home run in Fenway Park’s history landed. It was hit by Ted Williams on June 9th, 1946. That’s 79 years ago today. The seat was painted red in 1981 to honor Williams’s achievement and to make sure that no one forgot a piece of baseball history.
Photograph by Ewen Roberts
I’ve searcedh for any available film of Ted Williams hitting that record-setting homerun but I haven’t been able to find it. I’ve found a lot of other Ted Williams’s home runs. He was an amazing hitter and I wish I could go back and actually watch him play. The next best thing, though, is this red seat, reminding everyone of his accomplishment.
This red seat epitomizes why I will always love baseball. I don’t know how many times Ted Williams swung his bat over his career or how many total hits he got. According to Wikipedia, he hit 521 career home runs. But I will always know just how far he hit that ball 79 years ago in Fenway Park.
61* is about two baseball player and two friends who couldn’t seem to be more different.
Roger Maris (Barry Pepper) is an introverted family man who doesn’t like it when reporters show up at his house in search of a story or a quote. He’s a good ball player, one of the best, but he doesn’t want to be a celebrity. Mickey Mantle (Thomas Jane) is a larger-than-life personality, a beloved figure on the field and in the dugout. Mickey loves being famous and the fans love him. Both Maris and Mantle are members of the New York Yankees. Because Mantle is struggling with his drinking, he becomes Maris’s roommate when they’re on the road. In 1961, the two friends both go after Babe Ruth’s record of 60 home runs in a season. The press presents their season as a battle, a race to see who will be the first to hit the sixty-first home run of the season. Mantle and Maris, though, are just swinging the bat and making plays.
I really enjoyed 61*, which is a baseball film made by and for people who love baseball. I liked the contrast between the quiet Maris and the charismatic Mantle. Even though Maris is a hard worker and a good ballplayer, Mantle is the fan favorite and the one that people actually want to break the record. I appreciated that Maris and Mantle remained friends even when the press tried to turn them into rivals. That’s what teamwork is all about. Barry Pepper and Thomas Jane were great as Maris and Mantle and the movie showed how each man dealt with the stress of possibly breaking Babe Ruth’s record.
(Why is there an asterisk in the title? Babe Ruth set his record in a season that only had 154 games. The 1961 baseball season was 8 games longer. The asterisk was added as a reminder that Maris and Mantle had 8 more games than Ruth did to try to break the record. Baseball fans understand how important accurate statistics are to a player’s career and a team’s season.)
61* celebrates the way baseball used to be, a game played by athletes who had to depend on skill and teamwork instead of performance enhancing drugs. The movie opens with Maris’s family watching as Mark McGuire closes in on breaking the record. McGuire would only briefly hold the record. He would lose it, for 48 minutes, to Sammy Sosa and then, three years after winning it back, he would lose it a second time to Barry Bonds. Of course, Roger Maris won the record without using steroids so, as far as I’m concerned, it still belongs to him.
If you’re a baseball fan, 61* is a film that you have to see.
I don’t want to jinx anything and the season is not even a month old but right now, my rangers are 7-2 and I’m feeling pretty good. Yesterday, they beat the Rays 5-2 and today, they beat them 6-4. I just hope the Rangers can keep winning like this for the entire season because there is a long way to go!
Here are the highlights of yesterday’s game against the Rays!
The Rangers finally got a day off from playing today. Personally, I think they more than earned it. Yesterday, they won their second series of the regular season, defeating the Reds with a score of 1-0. Two weeks into the regular season and my team is 5-2 and at the top of AL West. That’s what I love to see!
Tomorrow, they play the Rays. For now, here’s the highlights of yesterday’s game!
Through the Shattered Lens 