Quick Hits- Stream of Consciousness Edition

It's been a couple of days since my last post, and it's really time for me to say something to my legion(?) of followers....however, I really don't think I want to talk politics (at least not exclusively) or deal with anything of earth shaking substance, unless it concerns the National Football League. So I'll do what I always do in situations like this...I'll revert to QUICK HITS, a "Stream of Consciousness Edition"

(1) As I type this a monument is being unveiled in Monument Park in Yankee Stadium to the late George Steinbrenner. George's family is there, as are many dignitaries, and Joe Torre and Don Mattingly have flown in from Los Angeles. There was only one George...and for every crazy and irrational thing he did there were a dozen wonderful things he did anonymously for others. God bless...and part of him will always live on in Yankee lore.

(2). Lindsay Lohan has a warrant out for her arrest (for drug use while on probation) and Paris Hilton was sentenced today for possession of cocaine. Why am I not shocked by these two events?

(3). Back to the the Yankees and the Steinbrenner Monument....and it is spectacular, a large plaque rather than a free standing monument, a brass bas-relief. with George on the left, and a list of his accomplishments on the right. An awe inspiring ceremony. Kind of adrenaline flowing for the Yankee team, with the Tampa Bay Rays in for possession of first pace in the AL East. The ceremony closes with a recording of Frank Sinatra singing "My Way"....a song that sums up George better than any obituary could.

(4). The recession is OVER...so say the experts. I'll talk more about this in a day or so. You'd think Obama would get more credit for keeping the bus from falling completely off the proverbial cliff....but people want magical solutions to problems large and small. Maybe they should have Criss Angel as president.

(5). Head Coach of Michigan State Mark D'Antonio calls the college football play of the season (so far) with the fake field goal that was a touchdown pass in OT with the Spartans beating Notre Dame 34-31 on Saturday night. On Sunday morning, D'Antonio has a mild heart attack...he was treated, and will be OK. But are you still going to try to tell me that God isn't a Notre Dame fan?

(6). How about those Jets beating the Patriots? What a difference a week makes.

(7). How about those Giants stinking the place up against the Colts? What a difference a week makes.

(8). The one good thing about the Giants being blown out is that I had a chance to watch Boardwalk Empire with a clear conscience to change the channel. I'm sure the folks at HBO were happy for the blowout as well. "BE" was a must see....and watching it you had to ask....what were people in this country thinking by voting in prohibition? All that was accomplished was the setting in motion of the structure of organized crime in America for the next 60 years- Chicago was in the grips of rival gangs in the North and South sides (as was alluded to in the show), and New York had more than a few pockets of government corruption as well. Nucky Thompson was a fictionalized version of Atlantic City boss Nucky Johnson, but Arnold Rothstein, Charlie "Lucky" Luciano, Big Jim Colosimo, Johnny Torrio, and of course, Al Capone were real life gangsters of the era. And Torrio did order the hit on his own boss, Colosimo.....no one was ever prosecuted for Colosimo's murder.

(9).Madmen- Don and Faye are now an item....Joan and Roger had a relapse into a night of full throttle lust....Peggy and super lefty Abe hit it off, but it fizzles out quickly. Joyce seems to be getting close to Peggy. And I'm just wondering if Peggy, who is slowly turning into a Child of The Sixties, will "get adventurous" with gal pal Joyce? Also....poor Miss Blankenship! Roger hit it on the nose- her obituary should read "She Died At Her Post Taking Other People's Phone Calls". Her death on the job gave the episode a dark comic backdrop....with her body being taken out while the clients at the meeting had no idea what was going on.

(10). Is there any truth that Christine O'Donnell's campaign is dropping "Don't Stop Believing" by Journey as a musical theme for Season of the Witch?

Not even for Halloween?

Really?

Seeya later!

George M. Steinbrenner III, 1930-2010; Remembering "The Boss"

A couple of weeks ago I commented on a friend's blog about how often we improperly use the term "icon", sometimes using the word to define a flavor of the month personality or "This Year's Blond". ICONS should personify an era, be larger than life....John Wayne, Elvis Presley, Madonna, Michael Jackson, Marilyn Monroe or the Beatles; or Babe Ruth, Willie Mays, Jim Brown, Michael Jordan, Micky Mantle......or George Michael Steinbrenner III.

Steinbrenner, who died this morning of a massive heart attack, was the personification of an icon. The longtime 80 year old principal owner of the New York Yankees, who bought the team in 1973 for $8.8 million and turned the Yankees into an empire worth an estimated $3 billion.....and has been said to have laid out $200,000 of his own cash to complete the purchase from CBS.

It's hard to believe when looking at the Yankees now to think of where the team was in 1973. They were the #2 team in New York to the exciting young upstart Mets- New York, despite all of the Yankee championships was a National League town at heart, first with the Giants and Dodgers, and from 1962 the Mets. Attendancewise the Yankees peaked in 1948 with almost 2.8 million fans flocking to old Yankee Stadium. But attendance began a a slow decline, down 1.3 million in 1964, the year the Yankees lost to St Louis Cardinals in seven games in the World Series. The Yankees would not return to the Series until 1976....the Dynasty crumbled, and within two years the Yankees were a last place team. It was an era defined by the unfortunate ownership of CBS (who purchased the team from Dan Topping and Del Webb in 1964), sometimes called "The Horace Clarke Era", named after the mediocre second basemen during those years.

In 1973, the year Steinbrenner bought the Yankees, attendance was about 1.3 million after failing to top one million in 1972; their average of 15, 552 was fifth out of a twelve team American League. Steinbrenner, who once claimed he would be a "hands off" owner, soon started to turn things upside down. No facial beards and haircuts were mandatory; manager Ralph Houk left, soon followed by Bill Virdon and by 1976 it was time for Billy Martin (Act One). Billy would serve five terms as Yankees manager altogether.

But the thing that turned the Yankees around relatively quickly was free agency, recently won by Major League baseball's players....Catfish Hunter came over from the Athletics, and soon "The Straw That Stirs The Drink", Reggie Jackson, took the money and came to the Bronx. Through trades and the farm system the Yankees had Graig Nettles, Chris Chambliss, Thurman Munson, and Sparky Lyle, among others, and the nucleus for what became known as "The Bronx Zoo". There were for World Series appearances and two World Championships from 1976-81, and clubhouse drama, and Billy Martin being fired, Bob Lemon hired, Billy returning and being fired a second time.

The 1980's was the Era of Mattingly and Winfield on the Yankees.....and it was also the era defined by the impetuous nature of Steinbrenner. As WFAN radio personality Mike FRancesa has said, George changed managers in the decade the way most people change shirts. Eight different men managed the team in the 1980's; Billy Martin three more times, Gene Michael and Lou Pinella has two separate terms, Bob Lemon, Dick Howser, Clyde King, Dallas Green, and Yogi Berra all had time at the helm. Yogi was fired 16 games into the 1985 season- he didn't speak to Steinbrenner for more than a decade.

And in 1982 I returned home from a Yankee-Tigers Sunday afternoon game in April, a tough loss for the Yanks, to find out that Bob Lemon had been fired AGAIN as Yankee manager;it was 14 games into the season. He was replaced by Gene Michael, and "Stick" was bounced for Clyde king before season's end....three managers, a fifth place finish, and a 79-83 record.

Yes it was crazy...and it was Steinbrenner at his worst. He reacted like a fan and bounced leadership at every turn. it was a circus, and an embarrassment as a fan to watch. And of course, there was the case of Steinbrenner hiring gambler Howie Spira to dig up dirt on outfielder Dave Winfield, an action that got Steinbrenner a suspension from Baseball Commissioner Fay Vincent in 1990. It was the second suspension for Steinbrenner, who got two yaers in the early 1970's for illegal campaign contributions to the Nixon campaign....but there was alot of that going on.

Steinbrenner returned from his 1990 suspension in 1993, a changed and more mellow man. Much of the bombast of his early years was gone. In 1995 he let manager Buck Showalter go after the Yankees first postseason appearance since 1981, and replaced him with veteran manager Joe Torre. What followed was an era that came to define the later Steinbrenner years, and the rebirth of a dynasty. There was The Core Four- Andy Petitte, Mariano Rivaera, Jorge Posada, and Derek Jeter, Bernie Williams, Paul O'Neil, Tino Martinez....and ex Mets David Cone, Daryl Strawberry and Doc Gooden. There were World Championships in 1996, 1998, 1999, and 2000, as well as American League pennants in 2001 and 2003. Torre led the Yankees to the post season in every one of his 12 seasons as manager. And the Yankees became the hottest ticket in town, topping 3 million in attendance from each yearfrom 1999 on, and 4 million from 2005-08, last four years of old Yankee Stadium.

George Steinbrenner was responsible for the jewel that is the new Yankee Stadium; it was built with Steinbrenner's own money. And it was Steinbrenner who saw the changing economics of the game and became the first baseball owner to start a cable TV network for his team; today the YES network is the most successful regional network in the United States.

Just about every former player says the same thing about George Steinbrenner....he was a tough and demanding boss, but when he became a Yankee you were a Yankee for life. Many times former players down on their luck, or players needing a second or third chance, had George Steinbrenner in their corner. His charitable donations sometimes flew below the radar, because he wanted it that way. And he became a pop culture figure, with commercials for VISA and MILLER LITE, an appearance on SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE, and his " non-appearance appearance" on Seinfeld as himself (as portrayed by Larry David) was done because his grandchildren loved the show. Steinbrenner had script approval of any episode he "appeared".

You can say many things about George Steinbrenner, and the chances are you were right....he could be loud, a bully, impetuous, bombastic. Or charitable, kind, loyal, and sentimental. Or an amazing business man, an visionary, and a man who helped to revive baseball not only in New York, but nationally. He changed sports and our culture, and became the dominant sports figure in the media capital of the world.

Before Bruce and Tony Soprano, there was already one Boss in these parts.

And today he left us.

Thanks, George.

Bob Sheppard, "The Voice of Yankee Stadium"; 1910-2010

I was saddened to hear the news earlier today of the passing of Yankee Stadium public address announcer Bob Sheppard, age 99, who for nearly 60 years graced The Stadium with his velvet tones and precise, concise pronunciation and articulation. There was no shouting, no grandstanding, no lunacy....just a distinguished voice that seemed to come from another realm.

He began his career in 1951, when a young rookie named Mantle joined the Yankees; also on the roster were Rizzuto, Berra, and DiMaggio. When he called his final Yankee Stadium game on September 5, 2007 names like Joba Chamberlain and Robinson Cano, as well as "The Core Four"- Jorge Posada, Andy Petitte, Mariano Rivera, and Derek Jeter- were in pinstripes.

I saw many games at Yankee Stadium over the years, and heard Bob Sheppard's voice announce each at bat and pitching change. But there was one very out of the ordinary game Sheppard worked that only about 6,000 people ever saw; there was no TV, and only a small radio audience.

About six years ago on a Saturday night at Waterfront Park in Trenton, I was in the stands watching the Thunder play an Eastern League opponent (I don't remember who), when over the PA system came the familiar Voice of Yankee Stadium...or was it?

"Nice Bob Sheppard impression", I thought. After all he had been at Yankee Stadium calling the day game that ended after 4 PM. He's over 90 years old, he would have to literally fly from the Bronx to Trenton in less than three hours. And besides, why would he be here, doing the public address of a Trenton Thunder game?

The regular announcer did the breaks between innings, with the contests and dizzy bat races, and Chase the Golden Retriever acting as "bat dog", and "Boomer" the mascot leading the cheering kids.....but player intros were done by "The Guy Who Sounded Like Bob Sheppard".

However.... in the eighth inning an announcement was made by the regular announcer regarding that night's "special guest announcer".

The Voice was indeed the real Bob Sheppard, bringing just a little bit of Yankee Stadium's magic and ambiance to Trenton and the Double A Eastern League. Who woulda thunk it?

Mr. Sheppard also worked New York Giants home games for many years, from Yankee Stadium to the Yale Bowl to old Giants Stadium. He gave that job up in 2005.

Below, a video tribute from a fan, featuring the words of Joe Torre, Whitey Ford, Tino Martinez, Derek Jeter, Bernie Williams, Graig Nettles, Willie Randolph, and Reggie Jackson.