Late Night Baseball
Posted: Wed Dec 22, 2010 10:15 pm
I'm hopeless.
I've finished two drafts, and am involved in three more. I keep up with a notebook. The computer is the necessary evil that makes fantasy baseball a national event.
My notebook, however, holds all my information.
My wife marvels at how I can keep names straight in so many drafts with just one notebook, yet, forget the name of a neighbor of 10 years.
The hobby is really tough on spouses. They give us looks as if they've seen a leprecahn if in a good mood, and as if looking at OJ Simpson when in a bad mood.
After watching over a sick grandchild, my wife and I decided it would be a good idea to have one of our two grandchildren spend the night.
Our daughter, son-in-law, and other grandchild are all stricken with the walking pneumonia (no, no boogie woogie flu). We thought it good to get him out of a sick environment for a night and spoil him.
We did not foresee that he had never slept in a room without his brother and would wind up in our bed. I couldn't sleep with him between my wife and I. And, I did have that seventh game of the World Series from 1960 recorded. So, I snuck upstairs to watch an inning or two.
It was the eighth inning and Hal Smith had just hit a three run homer to put the Pirates ahead 9-7.
My wife came up the stairs, looked at the tv in stunning black and white and said, "Finally find a game you missed?"
My wife is sharp. Even at 1:30 in the morning. I could only laugh. While she took some pills, I watched the game.
With one out, in the top of the ninth inning, the Pirates were ahead 9-8. Yogi Berra was up with runners on first and third. He hit a sizzling one hop shot to the Pirates first baseman. The runner on third broke for home, the Pirates first baseman, I think it was Rocky Nelson, snagged the ball on the hop, he touched first base and took a step back from the bag in order to throw to second to double off Mickey Mantle, the runner on first.
But, Mantle froze three steps off of first. When Nelson took his step back off first, Mantle took a step back toward first and then dove into the bag, beating Nelson's tag.
Incredible play at an incredible time in the game. I called my wife over to show her.
I said, "Now, they didn't have instant replay or different angles back then, but I can rewind this so you can see this play! It's amazing!"
"It's two o'clock in the morning, Dan, they could show a replay of Mars wiping out China and I wouldn't care!"
After joking that it wouldn't be in black and white, and that America would be at a standstill with nobody to make our everyday products, she shook her head and went to bed.
Bill Mazeroski hit his game winning home run. Anticlimatic for me, I was still incredulous about the play at first base. If Mantle had been tagged out, it could have changed his legacy a bit. He could have been the goat of the series.
After the game, it was revealed that there were no strike outs in that game as well. Another oddity is that the Yankees started that game with two pitchers warming in the bullpen....as their starter threw his first pitch! Nowadays, broadcasters would be going crazy over how little faith the Manager showed in his pitcher, and, they may be right. But, back then, it wasn't about the pitchers feelings, it was about his past results. Feelings be damned!
Speaking of feelings being damned, I'll sleep on the couch, and hope to be like Mickey Mantle later this morning, diving safely under some of my wife's barbs.
I've finished two drafts, and am involved in three more. I keep up with a notebook. The computer is the necessary evil that makes fantasy baseball a national event.
My notebook, however, holds all my information.
My wife marvels at how I can keep names straight in so many drafts with just one notebook, yet, forget the name of a neighbor of 10 years.
The hobby is really tough on spouses. They give us looks as if they've seen a leprecahn if in a good mood, and as if looking at OJ Simpson when in a bad mood.
After watching over a sick grandchild, my wife and I decided it would be a good idea to have one of our two grandchildren spend the night.
Our daughter, son-in-law, and other grandchild are all stricken with the walking pneumonia (no, no boogie woogie flu). We thought it good to get him out of a sick environment for a night and spoil him.
We did not foresee that he had never slept in a room without his brother and would wind up in our bed. I couldn't sleep with him between my wife and I. And, I did have that seventh game of the World Series from 1960 recorded. So, I snuck upstairs to watch an inning or two.
It was the eighth inning and Hal Smith had just hit a three run homer to put the Pirates ahead 9-7.
My wife came up the stairs, looked at the tv in stunning black and white and said, "Finally find a game you missed?"
My wife is sharp. Even at 1:30 in the morning. I could only laugh. While she took some pills, I watched the game.
With one out, in the top of the ninth inning, the Pirates were ahead 9-8. Yogi Berra was up with runners on first and third. He hit a sizzling one hop shot to the Pirates first baseman. The runner on third broke for home, the Pirates first baseman, I think it was Rocky Nelson, snagged the ball on the hop, he touched first base and took a step back from the bag in order to throw to second to double off Mickey Mantle, the runner on first.
But, Mantle froze three steps off of first. When Nelson took his step back off first, Mantle took a step back toward first and then dove into the bag, beating Nelson's tag.
Incredible play at an incredible time in the game. I called my wife over to show her.
I said, "Now, they didn't have instant replay or different angles back then, but I can rewind this so you can see this play! It's amazing!"
"It's two o'clock in the morning, Dan, they could show a replay of Mars wiping out China and I wouldn't care!"
After joking that it wouldn't be in black and white, and that America would be at a standstill with nobody to make our everyday products, she shook her head and went to bed.
Bill Mazeroski hit his game winning home run. Anticlimatic for me, I was still incredulous about the play at first base. If Mantle had been tagged out, it could have changed his legacy a bit. He could have been the goat of the series.
After the game, it was revealed that there were no strike outs in that game as well. Another oddity is that the Yankees started that game with two pitchers warming in the bullpen....as their starter threw his first pitch! Nowadays, broadcasters would be going crazy over how little faith the Manager showed in his pitcher, and, they may be right. But, back then, it wasn't about the pitchers feelings, it was about his past results. Feelings be damned!
Speaking of feelings being damned, I'll sleep on the couch, and hope to be like Mickey Mantle later this morning, diving safely under some of my wife's barbs.