Wednesday, April 29, 2015

the game that nobody saw

they played a baseball game, today, and nobody came -- really,...nobody -- they weren't allowed in

that, of course, begs the question -- if they play a game, and nobody sees it, did it really happen

well, mlb.com...had it as their freebie of the day -- i watched almost all of it -- from library to library, and in between (on my phone)

there were a couple of scouts behind the plate, the announcers said, and that's it

ubaldo pitching for the birds
balls going into the stands -- nobody chasing after them -- a lot of souvenirs to be had, when the orioles play there again, in 10 days

the birdies scored in the first -- nobody cares -- except the dozen or so fans they showed, pressing up against one of the gates

then chris davis hit a three-run shot -- nobody on the receiving end, and just the claps of the players

then a double -- and another double -- guy rounds third,...to a background of green seats -- nobody.... -- so strange
every time they showed a player,...with the seats in the background,...it just looked...odd -- empty -- nobody

well, ubaldo pitched very well -- i think he gave up just three singles -- made it through seven -- one run, i think -- could've gone on (that's amazing, in itself), but they wanted to get their relievers some work -- they haven't pitched, since sunday -- they wrapped up the game, in barely two hours

during the game, they showed a clip from before the game -- the orioles' caleb joseph, whom i saw in his first game, as a yankee, two years ago, was standing by the seats beyond third base, signing some fake autographs, then he did his cal-ripken impersonation, jogging around, near the stands, giving hi-fives to...fake fans [the link, above, turns out, is from corban joseph's first game, so it might not be the same guy]

throughout the game, they showed a group of fans standing outside a main gate -- one woman, wrapped up in a light-colored blanket -- looked like a dozen or so people (they didn't widen the shot, to show everybody that was there) -- every now and then, they chanted, 'let's go, o's' -- couldn't really hear 'em -- the announcers...relayed their chant

at one point, jim palmer, the orioles' color analyst, remembered when he was playing in aberdeen, south dakota, and their manager, cal ripken, sr., told them the reason they play -- what it's all about -- is the fans who come to the game

ripken jr., they reported, was in the stadium

last night, on espn's 'baseball tonight,' alex cora and mark mulder were talking about how strange...and difficult it was gonna be, for the players -- cora said that the players were really gonna have to focus,...on every pitch -- that they'd have to create their own energy -- he and mulder said that they weren't gonna get the energy from the fans -- no buzz -- cora compared it to playing an arizona fall-league game -- mulder said you're out there, but you think you're still warming up, coz there's nobody there

palmer compared it to the b-squad games in spring training, where there's nobody there -- then he related how at one b-squad game, which started at eleven, joan jett was in the stands -- he asked another player who that was, wearing all the black leather, and the guy said it was joan jett -- palmer asked him where the blackhearts were -- she grew up in silver spring, i think he said, and he approached her, or vice versa -- she said she was a big fan -- she asked him what he was doing, that evening -- he said, nothing, that he was with his kids -- she was in town -- i think this was hollywood, florida -- she was playing, before...or with...some big rock band -- i forget who it was -- she invited him and his daughters to the concert, and backstage -- he said they traded posters -- him, in his underwear -- her, on a motorcycle

after the last out of the third or fourth inning (a ground ball to the shorstop, i think it was), first baseman chris davis, jogging to the dugout tossed the ball, underhanded, into the stands

gary thorne, the orioles tv play-by-play announcer, said the producer texted him, this morning, asked him if he was going to use his master's-tournament voice or his 'everybody-gets-to-see-baseball-for-free' voice -- so he did little bit of golf announcing -- whispering,...'adam jones, up -- he takes a whack at it -- it's way back -- it's off the base of the fence -- he's into second'

the orioles scored six in the first inning -- thorne said, considering how superstitious buck showalter is, he might not let any fans into the stadium again -- but they had two six-run innings on sunday, palmer countered

i was thinking, now we can't say, 'nobody's at the game,' when we see a thin crowd -- which reminded me of a time, some ten years ago, when i took a cousin's two kids to the playground (in cambridge, mass) -- we'd gone there before -- this time, it was drizzling, and the playground was empty -- and little danya said, 'everybody's not here' -- well, everybody was not there, today

Sunday, April 19, 2015

perfectly reasonable...apocalyptic thinking

i just read, in the book the devil within: possession and exorcism in the christian west, that 'jewish apocalyptic thought [influenced by zoroastrianism, during the babylonian exile] flourished in the two centuries before christ'

well, of course it would -- they were approaching the year zero -- they must've been thinking -- yelling and screaming -- 'oh, my god -- what happens next -- we're gonna fall off the end of the calendar'

Thursday, April 16, 2015

old blue eyes singing mozart, w/grayson -- domingo, freni & graham

i just learned, in opera news magazine's new backgrounder feature (operapedia -- this month, on 'don giovanni'), that frank sinatra sang that lovely love duet (?) -- seduction scene -- that the don sings with zerlina (right after she got married) -- old blue eyes sang it with kathryn grayson, in the 1947 movie 'it happened in brooklyn' -- i had to see it

i wonder who that masetto is -- i just looked on imdb, to find out -- what a cast -- durante, gloria grahame, peter lawford -- maybe it's bobby long

i then went on, as one is wont to do on youtube -- a couple of charming ones -- magnificent -- placido with mirella freni, then with susan graham -- look at her -- she's barely out of her teens