play at the plate

I've been putting off writing about the horrific injury to San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey on Wednesday night, listening to various thoughts about what happened and what can be done (if anything) to prevent such awful outcomes in the future. And there have been lots of opinions thrown around.

There is the school of thought that says it's just an unfortunate part of the game, but it's always been a hazard and nothing should or can be done to change it (that is, crashing shoulder first into the catcher while trying to score). That way of thinking swirled in my mind for a little awhile, but then I learned on the radio that such crashes have somehow been regulated at the high school and collegiate levels of baseball, so as to prevent injuries. Just because collisions at the plate have been done since the beginning of major league baseball doesn't mean changes can't be made now.

Others are saying it's only an issue this time around because the injury happened to one of the game's biggest stars. Well, yes, greater publicity is allotted to the biggest celebrities, so there's really no argument there. What if it was a backup catcher that was injured? I would hope that the issue would still be important enough to seriously weigh the different options, because this kind of incident can certainly happen to any baseball player... although I'm sure people would probably think to themselves that it could be put off until later when it happens to 'somebody important.' But if something good can come out of Posey's injury, maybe it will be to prevent it from happening again to another athlete.

What if there is an instance where the catcher dwarfs the runner? The catcher is blocking the plate and the runner decides that the best option is to try to knock the ball loose and go in hard, shoulder first? It's likely the runner would be the one seriously injured and out for part of the season. That's not baseball to me. I don't watch for the specter of such violence. The league changed the rules so big collisions were less likely to occur at the other bases; there must be a way to stop them from happening at home plate.

It's all too easy to vilify the player that crashed into Posey, but it could have been any hard-nosed player that crashed and injured an opponent's catcher. It could have been a Giant that was trying to score. If Posey had simply absorbed the force and been thrown backwards, instead of having his left foot planted and caught in the ground, he wouldn't have been so hurt and probably not broken anything. In any case, in the rules and spirit of the game, the Marlins player was not conducting himself in a 'dirty' manner - from what I've read, he is a real stand-up guy. Moreover, if he didn't crash into Posey, he may have been painted as a wimp and perhaps even put his spot on the roster in jeopardy (he is a backup outfielder).

Buster Posey is one of the absolutely most popular players on the Giants, the reigning National League Rookie of the Year, and one of baseball's brightest young stars. It is bad for the sport to lose someone like him for the better part of the 2011 season, if not all of it, and it's been particularly difficult to hear how young children have reacted to his injury. Many even dressed as him for their Halloween costumes last year. Enjoying the game of baseball doesn't require collisions at the plate - that's not what the game is about. And to reiterate, if such violence has somehow been regulated at other levels of the game, then there must be a way to do the same at the Major League level.

the Logo

Or should I say, Mr. Logo?

The Golden State Warriors held a press conference today to announce the hiring of Jerry West to their organization. Jerry West is an NBA icon as both a player and his work in the front office of two organizations, most notable the Los Angeles Lakers. He has known championships throughout his illustrious career. And now he is a part of the Warriors! And when I say icon, that also includes how his likeness was the inspiration for the current NBA logo - in a way, one could say that it is Jerry West, which is why his nickname is 'The Logo.'

As I watched the press conference, I got increasingly excited. All these years, I've had to wonder what was the secret to the continuous success of the Los Angeles Lakers: was it good karma? positive particles? a deal with a nefarious sort with horns and a pitchfork? What was it? And now, I believe it could be simply solid visionary ownership plus a guy like Jerry West. Well, now the Warriors have what could be just such an ownership group, and they have The Logo. Whatever knowledge he could impart would be invaluable, not only in the present but for the eventuality that he leaves the organization sometime in the distant future; I want the Warriors to be competitive for decades to come.

But for now, it is imperative that the very best decisions are made in the hiring of the new Warriors head coach, his new staff, and of course, the roster including what happens with the upcoming draft. His voice won't be the only one heard, but it should speak volumes. Things are certainly looking up, and I hope someday, the Warriors will be mentioned in the same breath and reverence as the Lakers and the Celtics. A storied franchise... !

my happy place is in... Croatia?

Have you heard of that meditative exercise of going to your 'happy place' whenever you feel stressed or otherwise need to get away from reality? There was a link on Yahoo! recently that pointed readers towards the most beautiful places on Earth and I was swept away by a place called Plitvice Lakes National Park in Croatia.

From the very first photograph, I was reminded of my idea of what paradise must look like, the kind of visuals that I've tried imagining in the past. A place like this actually exists! Of course, in my mind at least, I would add to it: magically natural lighting for the nights; water temperatures to suit whatever mood I'm; and hummingbirds, lots and lots of hummingbirds. Plus I can fly, swim like a dolphin - I could go on, but you should take a look and maybe dream of your own world!

Plitvice Lakes National Park, Croatia

warriors and generals

The Los Angeles Lakers made a fairly early exit in this year's NBA playoffs and thus aren't going to repeat as champions three years running ("Oh no, the sky is falling!"). It reminds me of an ex co-worker of mine that practically lived and died with how the Lakers did. And here I am, a Warriors fan. In my lifetime, there was that one time, back in 1975...

So as I laid in bed the other morning, it occurred to me how the Lakers are like the Harlem Globetrotters and consequently the Warriors are like their perpetual patsies, the Washington Generals.

I've got a very handsome looking Warriors T-shirt that I recently received from a cousin. I love wearing it around, and yet I'm beginning to wonder how it's almost like proudly walking around wearing a Washington Generals t-shirt. "Yeah, Go Generals!" I might as well be shouting as I shake my fist high up in the air.

"Go Warriors!"

$4.19

The price sticker adhered to the plastic case is more red than orange. The case is comprised of a black base to which the car is securely attached and a clear plastic top which showcases the beauty of this object of my affection; at my age then, nothing captured my imagination more.

I’m not certain how old I was at the time I was scoping out this car. Let’s see what I can remember: it was before Magna-traction, a new chassis design that utilized the already existing magnets in the rotor by exposing them through cutouts so the cars would ‘cling’ to the tracks better (when Magna-traction came along, the cars jumped in price to $4.55 - a virtual king’s ransom!); it must have been after my best friend Stephen clued me into the King - that is, Richard Petty; and I had been into AFX slot cars for a little while already. It was the early ‘70s.

The little beauty caught my attention at a store called the Palace of Sporting Goods, which was located on Chestnut Avenue, within walking distance from my house. There was one summer when I would walk daily with my cousin Darryl to our favorite stores along an old section of Clayton Road: first to Top Notch Variety; then sometimes to Iron Horse Hobbies, whose owner wasn’t too fond of us kids walking into his store until we were a bit older; and finally across Chestnut to the Palace of Sporting Goods. I never did know why a sporting goods store would sell slot cars, but there they were inside the glass case that was set in the middle of the floor.

The one I was eyeing was perfect: it was the Plymouth Road Runner model, with the number 43 on it... naturally, it was Richard Petty’s car! The colors were blue and red, and although a race car fan would assume it had to be those two colors (or all blue), I’d seen photos in my prized AFX catalog that showed the same #43 Road Runner model in the colors yellow and orange... yellow and orange? Gross!

So I remember looking and admiring this car day after day until I summoned the courage to buy it - courage probably being measured in dollars and cents. I was thrilled with what turned out to be one of my lifelong prized possessions. And to better mimic Richard Petty’s race car, I applied two small ‘STP’ decals from a stash of decals I’d collected from old plastic modeling kits that fit perfectly on the rear fenders of each side.

I wonder now what would have been the effect had somebody else bought this slot car while I was hesitating for so long to buy it myself? Maybe I simply wasn’t thinking of that as a possibility. Or the $4.19 was a lot of money and I was looking for an excuse not to spend it. In the end though, when I was ready to buy it, there it was sitting in the case waiting for me.

Sure, there were the Sizzlers (other cool electric toy cars) that I loved playing with; there were the SSPs that were fun - the fastest car in the neighborhood was the purple Laker Special I had bought for my brother one year as a gift; and the usual Hot Wheels; but my favorites were my AFX slot cars. I can still picture the celebrity race drivers that endorsed Aurora AFX slot car racing: A.J. Foyt, Richard Petty, and Jackie Stewart. I spent hours sketching how I would put together my pieces of track when I tired of my current layout, always trying to make it evenly divided for each of the two lanes or ‘slots.’ Being on the outside lane was actually faster because you could hug the rail and not wipeout as was so easy to do on the inside lane.

I have my cars still, all kept in the blue colored plastic tackle box I bought so many years ago. I don’t remember where I first read it, but it was recommended that the best way to store and carry slot cars was in a tackle box, the kind used for fishing. Shopping around for one took some time too - it had to be just right. The metal ones were sturdier, but clanky and heavy, so I knew that plastic would be better. Some boxes were naturally too expensive, besides being too garish and fancy anyway. I wanted a simple, clean design, and I found it. It’s medium blue, with a white handle on top, and two white trays inside. And they were right, the trays are divided at the perfect width to hold AFX cars.

There was also the plastic white latch in the front - what to do with that? Oh yeah, it needed a sticker! Which sticker? Do I put on an A’s sticker or a Giants sticker? In the end, I went with the Giants.

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I wrote the above for a writing class I am taking. I got some very nice comments and suggestions for edits, many of which I made. Thanks to my instructor and classmates! I took photographs so readers can see my prized #43 Plymouth Road Runner, as well as my other AFX cars and the case I keep them in. Regular readers might remember that I wrote a musing about this subject awhile ago.

Sharp-eyed observers will see that I have a G-Plus car in my collection. And yes, I used to switch out chassis and shells all the time, so I don't know anymore just which chassis originally came with my Richard Petty car. As one might have noticed, the chassis I have with my Road Runner right now has a couple of extra welds which came with a special model that originally sported 'headlights.'

lovely lyrics

I've written before in this blog about lyrics that I really liked. In today's entry, I'm including lyrics from the song 'Pretty Ballerina' by the Left Banke, one of two songs that I pointed out in my previous entry:

I called her yesterday,
It should have been tomorrow

I could not keep
The joy that was inside

I begged for her to tell me
If she really loved me

Somewhere a mountain is moving
Afraid its moving without me

by Michael Brown


How gorgeous is that?

Prior to typing today's entry, I did a little looking around the Internet for these lyrics and I guess I missed some of the meaning behind those last couple of lines - they can be interpreted as being akin to 'feeling the Earth move.' Wow! And I just knew that I liked them.

the left banke

I was listening to Music Choice the other day and heard a song that seemed instantly familiar yet I don't think I'd heard it all that much growing up. It is by the '60s group, the Left Banke, and the song is called 'Pretty Ballerina.' The melody is so incredibly gorgeous and the performance perfect.

I was so intrigued by this wondrous bit of music that I spent some time online looking for information about the band. I suppose they could be called a 'Two-Hit Wonder,' their other more famous song being 'Walk Away Renee.' The Left Banke's career trajectory should have gone on much longer, but they were very young and their management wasn't a good match for them.

From the bit I've read, the song 'Walk Away Renee' was inspired by a real woman named Renee ('Pretty Ballerina' was also inspired by this same woman, as well as at least one other song by the same songwriter). The songwriter was but a teenager at the time he was smitten by her when she first showed up with the bass player.

Here are a couple of YouTube clips:

Pretty Ballerina

Walk Away Renee

There's a Left Banke website with lots of information about them... if you find yourself as curious as I am! There's even mention of a singer named Steven Tallarico in one of the articles, better known today as Steven Tyler of Aerosmith. And the Wikipedia article mentions both he and actor Michael McKean from Spinal Tap.

Washington's baseball team

Yesterday morning, the guys on the radio called the Washington Nationals baseball team 'the Nats' - abbreviating their name as people so often like to do with words. Okay, I knew the context of their conversation, so I knew which team they were referring to. But as I laid in bed, I started picturing not 'the Nats' but... 'the Gnats' instead. And considering that later that day, the Nationals ended up taking three out of four games against my Giants, calling them the Gnats seems all the more appropriate.

So with them being the Gnats in my mind starting yesterday morning, I pictured what a good logo would look like... unfortunately, I can't draw but it's along the lines of what the New Orleans Hornets logo looks like:

And then given that Washington baseball teams in the past were known as the Senators, I then pictured these gnats dressed up formally as one might imagine a Senator would dress, in a suit and tie, as a member of our Legislature. Then give it a prop like a baseball glove or a bat, and there you go!

Who knows, maybe Washington Nationals fans already have their choice of t-shirts that playfully show their Gnats in such a get-up. It's fun to imagine, don't you think?

naming rights

From what I've heard, the stadium where the Oakland Raiders play their home games has sold the naming rights to Overstock.com, so ostensibly the venue will be called 'Overstock.com Coliseum' or some such name next year. I miss when it was simply called the 'Oakland Coliseum' (or 'Oakland-Alameda Coliseum' I suppose).

For awhile now, my idea has been: why doesn't a company, oh, say, Apple (a favorite of mine, by the way!) buy the rights to the stadium at Candlestick Point where the 49ers play their home games, and call it 'Candlestick Park' like in the good old days? Sure, the name 'Apple' won't be splashed all over the place and won't get mentioned all the time, but as a measure of good will or gift to the fans... Plus, I'm sure people will be well aware that it is Apple Computer that is doing such a thing.

So going forward, perhaps when/if the new 49ers stadium is built in the South Bay some years from now, the same idea can apply. Maybe Apple can pay for the rights to the name and have it called '49ers Stadium.' We'd all still know it's Apple (or whichever company goes for this idea), but it will be officially named '49ers Stadium' or 'Niners Stadium' for short.

Brilliant, huh? :-)

after the third and final day of the draft...

Seven picks made by the 49ers yesterday! It's nice to have had the luxury of so many picks, even in the late rounds. Now I didn't know any of the names and from what I've read, many of the choices are going to be looked at at different positions than what they played in college; what was emphasized in the post-draft news conference was that the Niners were looking for great athletes with exceptional character first and foremost. They are anticipated to be very 'coachable.'

This is a different approach than what I am used to, but with a new coaching staff I am going into the new season with an open mind. We'll see how this first draft in the Harbaugh era goes; we won't know for a few years how well they drafted!

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In addition to the draft, there is also the speculation that Alex Smith is virtually assured of signing up with the 49ers for at least one more season. If that is what Jim Harbaugh desires, then I am all aboard with it as well. Coach Harbaugh has been stressing that he wants Smith back as quarterback for awhile now. Who knows, looking back, maybe Harbaugh would have drafted Smith with the #1 overall pick back in the 2005 NFL draft too. I am willing to believe that Smith can excel once he works in just the right system, and I hope that Harbaugh and his staff can offer that system.

Coach Harbaugh is the first head coach to come from the offensive side of the ball, and I am looking forward to a more multi-faceted and flexible approach to their plan of attack. If only the same system will stay in place for many seasons in a row too (as long as it is effective!).

Now we just need for the lock-out to end. Let's get this show on the road!