Who'da ever thunk it? After 12 games, the Pirates have the same record as the Yankees!

I went to see the O's tonight. Few beers and a win!

But Arlo's still comin' to Harrisburg! Got my tickets! Louise are ya comin' honey? Joe? Terrie? I'll be the one up in the Balcony, Stage left on the end!! Terrie, i know you got s@#t happenin' but let me know if you'll make it< A beverage of your choice on me and will meet face to face and do the Hokey Pokey!!!!and let the world know for sure it don't mean shit to a tree!!! (whatever that means, he's just a bit looney and had a best bitter or two)

Sorry, I won't be coming to Harrisburg. For me, the planning never got beyond thinking, "Gee, that'd be cool." I spend just about every evening from May-July at the little league or pony league fields where my boys play. I also gotta use my entertainment budget to send my daughter on a coupla road trips with her dance class. So my entertainment this summer will consist of seeing a few Pirate games & maybe in concerts in local clubs, but that'll be the extent of it. If this guy's gonna see Arlo any time soon, he's gonna hafta come here.

I had a late Aunt who was from Harrisburg. I've been their yrs ago maybe 60's or 70's. Have fun at the shows to whose going. & To those not going have fun doing whatever you do...

Oh Joe, I always figured Terrie to be the best bet for Harrisburg but I am sure there is much to deal with there. Anyways, how about that Derby! $2 bet payed $2 million. I wish I had some magic to predict that one!

<center><FONT COLOR="#000080">--- Edited 1 times, lastly by PSBeaty on May 08, 2005 ---</FONT></center>

I'd be there if I had a coupla thousand spare P.S.!!!

So I guess, along with Joe, I'll just have to think about you all havin' a good time
(as is usual for me!)

It's very tempting but I think you should get to say it this time Joe........after all it's your team and your thread.

5 more months to go!!!

And happy 80th birthday to Yogi Berra (one day late)!

"You're never out of it till you're out of it."

It was sad to learn today that Saul F., the inventor of the annual Oct. 13 celebration, passed away last Dec. at the age of 56. He started coming to the wall with his tape player in the mid-'80's. At first he was doing it alone, but gradually others joined him & the event grew & grew.

I remember the 2000 celebration, the 40th anniversary. That was the year that Maz himself showed up. We had been pushing for Maz's induction into the HOF in 2000 (he made it a year later). After the replay of his homer, Maz stood & raised his arms & I got a hi-5 from him. Fans began to chant "Hall of Fame! Hall of Fame!" over & over.

When the chant died down, somebody introduced him to Saul & pointed out that Saul had started this whole thing. I began to chant, "Saul of Fame! Saul of Fame!" OK, maybe it wasn't my brightest comedic moment, but soon everybody else joined in. "Only in Pittsburgh," said Nellie King.

RIP, Saul.

Sorry that I won't get to meet Saul when I get to experience Oct 13tn one day. <img src="http://www.arlo.net/ubb/smilies/frown.gif" width=15 height=15>

Funny (not as in ha-ha funny) thing is that at last year's event, I mentioned to somebody that I was hoping that the event wouldn't start losing people to attrition---death, infirmity, or simply not feeling like making the trip any more. After all, the game was 45 years ago, & people who remember it are getting older. I didn't think one of the younger guys would be the first to go.

BTW, when the Yanks took a 7-4 lead in game 7 back on 10/13/60, Saul went outside to bury his cat who had died the day before. When he came back in, the Bucs started to rally. Saul always gave his cat credit for the 1960 championship. Hey, whatever works.

Father's Day Gift Suggestions for the Baseball Fan

As a public service, a list of the best baseball books you can still find at the book stores at present. Often the best baseball books aren't even baseball books at all. Print this post & take it with you to the book store. Or if you're a dad, leave it on your screen & walk away while "forgetting" to exit out.

Roger Kahn, The Boys of Summer. This spawned an entire genre of books relating baseball to life. Baseball, the Brooklyn Dodgers, & Ebbets Field are a backdrop for a book about life & its hard adjustments & how time changes people. It makes more sense the older you get. IMHO, the best book ever written about anything.

Ring Lardner, You Know Me, Al. Written in 1914, it's the story of fictional White Sox pitcher Jack Keefe, told in Jack's letters back home to his pal, Al Blanchard. Jack is difficult, vain, cheap, stubborn, & not nearly as good or as smart as he thinks he is, & blames others for his failures. Yet he's likeable, such as when he becomes a father & struggles with the mysteries of caring for a baby. Cleverly written in that things that are obvious to the reader aren't obvious to Jack. If you can read this book without laughing out loud at a rate of once every 2 pages, you better check your pulse.

Peter Golenbock, Bums. A meticulous, thorough oral history of the Brooklyn Dodgers, baseball's most successful/tragic team, told thru the words of the players & fans.

Jim Bouton, Ball Four. Knuckleballer Bouton's controversial & hilarious diary of the 1969 season, when he was a member of the Seattle Pilots & then the Houston Astros, also gave birth to a new genre, this one being the tell-all sports book.

Pat Jordan, A False Spring. Jordan's brutally honest account of his minor league pitching career & how he squandered his talent thru stubborness & immaturity.

Lawrence Ritter, The Glory of Their Times. An oral history of Major League Baseball in the early 20th century from the mouths of the men who played it.

Eliot Asinof, Man On Spikes. Asinof is best known for Eight Men Out, but I prefer this 50-year-old fictional tale of Mike Kutner, a career minor leaguer screwed by the system & left to wonder what mighta been.

David Halberstam, The Teammates. The story of the unique friendship between Red Sox Ted Williams, Dom DiMaggio, Johnny Pesky, & Bobby Doerr, centered around a final visit to Williams before his death.

Paul O'Neill (with Burton Rocks), Me and My Dad. This is Paul O'Neill the former Yankee, not the former Bush Treasury Secretary. O'Neill tells of his close relationship with his father, a unique man whose main priority was spending time with his kids, & how he applied his dad's teachings in his baseball career.

Nicholas Dawidoff, The Catcher Was a Spy. The biography of Moe Berg, the only Major League Baseball player who was also a spy for the CIA (then known as the OSS). Was he instrumental in defeating Japan in WWII, or was he a fraud?

Jim Bouton, Foul Ball. Bouton's diary about his efforts to save one of the oldest ball parks in the US (Wacoma Field in Pittsfield, MA) & the political corruption he encountered. Bouton names names, & the book is so red-hot that it had to be self-published to see the light of day.

I think my favorite baseball book is "The Iowa Baseball Confederacy" by WP Kinsella (who wrote "Shoeless Joe") ... Gideon Clarke is out to prove to the world that the world-champion Chicago Cubs traveled to Onamata, Iowa, in the summer of 1908 for an exhibition game against all-stars from the Iowa Baseball Confederacy, an amateur league. There is no record of the monumental game, or of the Baseball Confederacy... but Gideon KNOWS it happened.

Ok Joe, your Pirates beat the O's two out of three. No excuses (we have some injuries and American League pitchers at the plate and all). you guys won and thats the way it is. Now you got a series against the Yankees. i assume you are going to stand strong against the Bronx Bozo's! Don't let me down, our pitching can only last so long so we need to see the Yankees (Red Sox and Blue Jays) lose as often as possible!

PSB, the good news is that the Pirates have a 2-game winning streak in Yankee Stadium. The bad news is that those 2 games were in 1960, of course, & the Bucs haven't been back since.

Oh, yeah....4 more months to go!!