It’s still the best game I ever went to. And for the reason why it’s the best game I ever went to, I hope I never see a better one.
Thanks to Amazin Avenue for posting this video.
All posts by Matthew Callan
Tonight, the Iron Horse May Finally Be Slain
NEW YORK–Derek Jeter knows what’s at stake. If he can get just one more hit in tonight’s game versus the Orioles, he will not only take sole possession of first place in the all-time Yankees hit list. He may also finally erase all memory of the tyrannical Lou Gehrig, history’s greatest monster.
The fearsome first baseman, who played for the Bronx Bombers from 1923 to 1939, amassed 2,721 hits during a major league career that nearly brought a nation to its knees. Jeter’s next hit could very well remove the stain of his name from the Yankee record books for evermore.
Gehrig bullied his way into the starting lineup for the first time in 1925, pushing aside beloved first baseman Wally Pipp and selfishly refusing to share the position. At the time, a shaken Yankee manager Miller Huggins told The New York Times, “He simply overpowered me. It’s out of my hands now.” Huggins was later found brutally murdered in a ritualistic manner that haunted the nightmares of all the policemen called to the scene.
Gehrig also formed the infamous Murderer’s Row that menaced American League pitching and slashed throats on its way from one major league park to another in the 1920s and 30s. He was nicknamed The Iron Horse for his cold, steely, inhuman gaze, and is rumored to have inspired many of H.P. Lovecraft’s Cthulu tales.
The first baseman might have remained unstoppable, were it not for an experimental government bio-terror project that sapped him of his strength. While weakened, Gehrig was tricked into entering a parallel dimension, the gate to which is in an undisclosed location, kept under constant guard by armed servicemen.
Before game time, Jeter was as humble as ever. “I’m just grateful to have had such a great career and to have this opportunity,” the shortstop said. “My only professional regret is that I was born too late to drive a stake through Gehrig’s monstrous heart.”
The Deal with Jose Reyes Part 2: Electric Boogaloo
Apparently my Jose Reyes piece has gotten a bite or two (which is great, so if you Tweeted about it or emailed a link or sent it to your friends via passenger pigeon, many thanks). Of course, not everyone agrees with my take, which is fine and to be expected.
I did see a tweet that gave me pause, however. Dave Lennon, Mets beat writer for Newsday, had this to say:
I don’t buy the “Media vs. Reyes” premise. No one who actually knows Reyes calls him a slacker. Just fans or radio hosts.
And a short while later:
I could be wrong, but I don’t remember reading in any of the newspapers (or their web sites) about Reyes being a slacker.
And you know what? That’s probably true. Newspapers usually confine their coverage to the games themselves, and even their opinion pieces tend to not be reckless.
Unfortunately, the sports media is no longer confined to newspapers. There is an enormous Sports Media Landscape, and the percentage of it that actually reports sports news gets smaller every year. The rest of it is composed of the “fans and radio hosts” Lennon mentioned, whether they call into WFAN or write their own blogs or comment on newspaper web sites.
I understand why a beat writer would feel it’s unfair to think The Media is ‘out to get’ Jose Reyes. Because when a beat writer thinks of The Media, he thinks of guys like himself, who travel with a team 162 games a year (plus spring training) and do actual work. He doesn’t feel like he’s on the same level as the Mike Francesa’s of the world (nor should he), who make sweeping pronouncements from their thrones in Astoria.
But Average Joe Sports Fan doesn’t just read beat stories anymore. He listens to Francesa and reads blogs and comments on stories and watches guys yell at each other on ESPN. To him, all of these things are SPORTS now. Lennon’s a reporter, Francesa an entertainer–yet they’re put on equal footing in the eyes of most fans.
So when I talked about a media narrative, I meant the entire amorphous modern sports media, of which reporters are a disturbingly small part. I don’t think there’s a Vast Anti-Reyes Conspiracy. The Trade Reyes Groundswell is just one those Big Dumb Ideas that a large group of angry people can latch onto and get swept up in.
Mets fans are certainly angry these days. I suggest they channel that frustration in healthy ways. For instance: buy a punching bag and put Shane Victorino’s face on it. Just don’t let this anger make you hate one of the best players the Mets have ever produced.