Baseball

Willie Mays is 91 Today

May 6, 2022

Willie Mays, the greatest baseball player ever, is 91 today… Happy Birthday to the Say Hey kid… News Story GTC Stories from the 80th and 90th Birthdays of Willie Mays

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Willie Mays is 90

May 7, 2021

Willie Mays, the greatest baseball player who has yet lived, turns 90 today. That not only means the Say Hey Kid is getting up there but so are guys I grew up with who idolized Mays and still remember his scintillating presence. He hit home runs, he stretched singles into doubles, he stole bases, he…

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Little League Blast

October 29, 2018

Watching the muscular Red Sox crush four homers and the Dodgers in game five to win the World Series, I’m reminded that at age ten I was the youngest and skinniest boy on our Triple A baseball team and didn’t play much and when I did I always struck out. Late in the season I…

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Ruth and Gehrig

March 21, 2018

I like Lou Gehrig. He’s strong as hell and hits hard from the left side of the plate and soon becomes the second most feared hitter in baseball and forces pitchers to either give me good pitches to hit or walk me. What a future we have on the Yankees. “I feel as though I…

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Babe and Billy

March 8, 2018

“Hey, Kid, get out here,” Babe says, inhaling cold air and exhaling hard. “This place is our Yankee Stadium.” A wiry man of medium height appears and says, “How about you quit calling me Kid.” “I’ll be happy to, soon as I learn your name.” “How long you need? I’ve been here thirty years.” “I’ve…

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Candlestick by the Bay

May 5, 2017

On a wet gray day late in December 2015 I was driving north on 101, telling my wife about great childhood adventures in the sixties when our family journeyed to Candlestick Park to watch the San Francisco Giants. We would come in the other way, from Sacramento through the city by the bay, and I…

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Yogi Meets Winston

September 24, 2015

Right, I’m the gatekeeper now. Of course, in my case, that’s with a lower case g. The Big Guy says with the world’s population increasing so fast he’s got to turn the job over to someone else and tend to running this place. My instructions are pretty clear: don’t let in any bad guys, you…

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Tiger’s Many Aches

September 23, 2015

About fifty years ago a wisecracking Brooklyn-born barber clipping in Sacramento took a yellow newspaper article off his wall, handed it to me, and said, “This is for you. And don’t forget, despite all these injuries he’s got more World Series home runs than anyone. How many does your guy Willie Mays have?” Uncharacteristically, I…

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Maris Prime Rib

May 7, 2012

In mid-sixties Sacramento a restaurateur, exhibiting either grand generosity or manifest ignorance of human hunger, offered eat all you want prime rib lunch on Sundays. Two fast-growing adolescents and I, salivating after a hot afternoon of schoolyard baseball, scurried into an establishment that, a few years earlier, had presented Roger Maris the baseball he hit…

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Little League Blast

December 19, 2011

Joe was the youngest and skinniest boy on the team and didn’t play much and when he did he always struck out. Late in the season he got to bat against a pitcher he’d wanted who threw lots of changeups, the only pitch slow enough for Joe. Still he swung late but hit a line…

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Grave of Great Yankees

December 17, 2011

Who the hell ordered opening this quite deep grave we didn’t know existed in a cemetery near New York City? Turn off that caterpillar and crane and quit pulling out caskets stacked on each other. Why’re you changing the order? Just put ‘em back the right way: Lou Gehrig first, followed by Babe Ruth then…

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Willie Mays is Eighty

May 16, 2011

I can recall no adolescent experiences nearly as vivid and pleasurable as going to Candlestick Park, that cold and blustery point on San Francisco Bay, and watching Willie Mays play baseball. I first saw him live the last game of the 1962 season. With but three games to play, the San Francisco Giants had come…

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Jackie Robinson is Alive in Pasadena

July 12, 2005

Be careful.  Don’t get online and type in words that could summon photos of a gray and disintegrating Jackie Robinson days before his death at age fifty-three in 1972.  Even if you’ve just seen “National Pastime,” the acclaimed play about his life, resist the urge to research.  Instead, buy a large, home-baked cookie as you…

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Jose Canseco Shall Revolutionize Life

February 11, 2005

“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to my coronation,” said Jose Canseco. “I thought this was a press conference,” said a reporter. “It is rather more than that, you insufferable simpleton.  How much do you make a year?” “About fifty grand.” “I made that every three days.” “Not anymore.  That’s why you’re doing this.” “Money will henceforth…

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Babe Ruth on Steroids

February 11, 2005

“Boys, it’s great to be back.  Too bad it’s off season.  I haven’t been anywhere since 1948, and I’m ready to play.” “Babe, have you had time to read Jose Canseco’s book ‘Juiced’ that says eighty percent of major league baseball players used steroids?” a reporter asked. “Just finished it.” “Do you consider the new…

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A Rose in the Hall of Fame

January 13, 2004

Quit posturing. Quit pontificating. Quit fornicating around, you self-righteous dunderheads. Put Pete Rose in the Hall of Fame as soon as possible. Put Pete Rose in the Hall of Fame today. Put Pete Rose in the Hall of Fame retroactively and claim you had him there all along. Where else are you turkeys who run…

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