Update 10-3-2024
Reflections! - In Case you missed Pea Ridge and Baldy
Did I just wake up in 1960? This looks a lot like my game.
I must have missed the announcements. I was surprised when the playoffs seemed very much like the first major league postseason games I saw on a black and white TV on West View Mountain.
Are clutch singles back in style? Is it okay again to hit a line drive to the opposite field instead of trying to pull a slider just off the plate? I thought I actually heard an announcer lauding the value of a runner going first to third on a single.
The only people who seemed to be miked were in the broadcast booth, and no players had to answer questions about Taylor Swift, their favorite food, or pet monkeys. I know I must really be getting old. I loved it.
And…how about four great games beginning in the early afternoon?
Pete
We lost Pete Rose this week. I honestly do not know how I felt about him. Three friends encouraged me to express my thoughts about Rose, but I have to give that some time. My immediate reaction is disappointment that baseball never had the chance to properly acknowledge another of its significant record holders. In a game that loves its numbers our career home run leader, and our hit king both live in the shadows of baseball history. That makes me sad.
So, given his accomplishments and his shortcomings, who among the imperfect heroes of our game does Pete Rose most resemble? That would be a gambler, ruthless baserunner, and sometimes ill-tempered base-hit specialist, named Ty Cobb. Cobb received the most votes in the first group selected for the Baseball Hall of Fame. Of course, he missed the group photo.
I am sure of one thing. If Pete Rose was among those to be chosen for the pickup games of my youth, he would be the first guy selected. No one would want to play against Pete.
In case you missed this week’s Backroads and Ballplayers Weekly, there are lost stories about Pea Ridge Day and Baldy Karr. Link