the great hannibal leads the way

Ten days ago, in the first battle of the victorious campaign that was just concluded, the great Hannibal led his troops onto the battlefield, in enemy territory – far, far from home.

In the first day of the battle, Hannibal was able to destroy all his enemies, without suffering any damage. In the second day of the battle, Hannibal’s troops went on the offensive, and crossed into enemy territory, delivering the first blow of the battle – a significant achievement – for it is well known, that in a battle of wills, it is of the utmost urgency to strike first, to deliver the first blow – and Hannibal’s forces had done that.

Meanwhile, the enemy from the west could do no damage to Hannibal and his forces – drawing not a drop of blood in the second day of the battle, nor in the third. Hannibal, the battle-hardened veteran, had the enemy baffled - not with any overwhelming blows, but with cunning and guile - some sideways maneuvering, some bluffs, to keep the enemy off balance – he even used a butterfly (which Hannibal called by its Iberian name, mariposa), to mesmerize the enemy.

Hannibal’s namesake, from years ago, was more hard-hitting than this Hannibal, and more prone to launch lightning strikes (his family name, after all, was Barca (lightning)). A major exception for the ancient southpaw was his long (and very wide) hook, delivered from the top, which featured some of the heaviest artillery ever seen. That long-ago Hannibal deployed some 40 elephants, from which soldiers hurled high, hard stones – but it wasn’t the accuracy or the potency of the projectiles launched from atop the elephants that did damage to the enemy; instead, the elephants were used mainly to strike fear into the hearts of enemy forces - to make ’em sweat. This Hannibal, for his part, employed those delicate mariposas – in about the same number, as the ancient Hannibal had, elephants.

Hannibal’s camp maintained the advantage in the field, and the enemy could still make no headway – not in the fourth day of battle, not in the fifth, nor in the sixth. They could not lay a hand on Hannibal and his troops.

Hannibal had done this before. In his first year as a warrior. thirteen years and one month before, in a battle defending his home turf in the south, a battle that lasted nine days, Hannibal vanquished nearly every one of the enemy forces that challenged him, and they drew no blood from Hannibal’s forces – they did not even land one blow to his camp. Four of the enemy’s soldiers managed to escape - but even from their positions, on Hannibal’s left flank, they were not able to advance much further, as Hannibal kept a close eye on them, to freeze their activities.

Meanwhile, back at home base, Hannibal was reunited with his brother. This time, though, Hasdrubal joined his brother’s camp with his head intact.

In the recent battle, Hannibal, the general from south of the great sea, continued, unharmed, through the seventh day of fighting. Through those first seven days, he had only used 89 arrows and spears, to vanquish his enemy’s forces. He was not only victorious over his foes, he was also being very economical.

In the morning of the eighth day of the battle, the enemy directed a low-flying projectile towards Hannibal’s left flank, hoping to land a blow against his forces, but one of Hannibal’s nearby troops was able to intercept the spear, before it could do any harm.

Then, late in the evening of the eighth day, Hannibal faced a new foe – one that had been kept in reserve by the enemy, and whom Hannibal had not yet seen in this battle. After an arduous struggle between the combatants, all the soldiers and observers on hand beheld, with a collective gasp, a dying quail sailing across the battlefield, and saw it land in the distant fields, between Hannibal’s ranks. Everyone knew the significance of this ominous sign, and Hannibal’s civilian leaders immediately knew what to do – they recalled their general home, and sent in the reserve cavalry.

It is true, that Hannibal might have exhausted his supply of arrows and spears – and butterflies – but it was the dying quail, which all had seen descend in the distant field, more than his material resources, that people feared – and the enemy hoped – would shoot down Hannibal’s morale; for all observers of battle have witnessed such sights, after an unbroken series of conquests – and there was no mistaking its meaning.

For the remainder of the eighth night, and over the course of the ninth day of the battle, a member of the cavalry, who was unaffected by the dying quail, concluded the victorious battle.

In the next battle of the campaign, which began, the next day, Hannibal’s successor general, a man who hailed from Germania, picked up the torch, and for the first six days of the battle, he and his troops went unharmed, vanquishing nearly every one of the enemy forces. This, too, had been done before. Six years earlier, Hannibal and the same Germani general had led consecutive battles, near the northern front, and gone unharmed, for the first five days of each battle.

What remains to be seen is, will this Hannibal and his troops win all the battles, but lose the war.

our infielders

watching saturday's game, from vilnius,...i saw four of our five infielders mess up on defense in the first inning, to put us in a two-run hole, right off the bat -- two guys misplayed the first pitch of the game

as for the other infielder,...i couldn't believe what i saw him do -- in the bottom half of the inning, he actually ran out an infield grounder -- and to the pitcher, at that -- i wondered if something had happened to him -- or maybe it's me, for noticing too much, when he doesn't

the miracle season

okay -- here's what's going to happen

the indians won't lose another game, for the rest of the season

then they're going to get swept in the first round of the playoffs

but then there's a great outcry from all over the world -- because during their three-month winning streak, they'd become the darlings of baseball -- of the whole country,...and beyond -- making cleveland the cinderella city -- it was like in the movie 'a field of dreams' -- people came from all over the world, to witness this...miracle -- so, a great uproar...descended on major league baseball, from sports fans, from all over the world -- this miracle cannot end like this -- it was a tsunami,...beyond the capacity of any force to resist

so baseball decided to let the indians play the loser of the other series -- they did, and they won the rest of the games, and became champions

they made a federal case of it -- all the losers -- protested to major league baseball -- then to the legal courts -- the case went all the way up to the supreme court -- the conservatives on the court decided that the rules could not be changed, in the middle of the game -- the liberals said it isn't fair -- it isn't fair that there's only one champion -- everybody should be a champion -- all should get a trophy

but as the court was divided, 4-4, it was a hung jury -- indians win

look what rajai can do

we know, now, that he can juggle, over his shoulder, running, full blast, in the opposite direction, but look what he did, a couple of years ago -- especially,...what he did from second

lovely article on vinny's legacy

"vin scully has already left a legacy as he begins farewell season with dodgers," by tim brown

first sign of spring: tito, talking baseball

terry francona -- interviewed, today, on cleveland's 92.3 the fan

bartolo baseball

vinnie remembers zim

I'd love to find a picture of vinnie, in the dugout

getting tossed, aussie style

'welcome to parenting in 2015' (and baseball)

hat tip: howard

collect all the phones? -- what will they do -- what will WE do

do the shimmy

fun with 'country joe'

vin scully, on yogi berra

one of my favorite yogi-isms (talking about a restaurant): nobody goes there anymore -- it's too busy

'a tale of two boys,' by vin scully

baseball,...bringing people together

i went to the indians game, yesterday -- my friend jan invited me -- it's her birthday -- we arrive very early -- bob feller jersey day

while jan's waiting in line to buy her sausage sandwich, i see four or five men, wearing identical white t-shirts -- says lehigh valley yankees fan club -- hey, my friend christine schiavo recently told me about going to the lehigh valley ironpigs games -- christine and i met, 30 summers ago, in london -- temple university's british mass media program -- me, christine and another temple student, louisa, went to the isle of wight for a weekend -- great trip -- christine found me, last year, on facebook -- told me that louisa works in the district attorney's office in detroit -- i make contact -- try to get together, while i'm there for an opera -- doesn't happen

i tell the men about christine, who works in the allentown newspaper -- they tell me that a member of their group, keith groller, is the sports editor of the newspaper -- where is he -- they don't know -- their party is sitting in section 140 -- they're a group of 47 -- from bethlehem and the lehigh valley -- six-and-a-half-hour drive -- here, all week

i go to their seats -- i'm told that keith usually arrives at his seat, later -- 6.30, 6.45 -- jan and i make our way to our seats, upstairs -- i remember how strange it was to me, in the seventies or eighties, when i met a group of yankees fans in the parking lot below the west third street bridge, who'd driven four hours from rochester to see their team

i e-mail christine, tell her what happened -- she can't believe it

This is so weird. Are you saying you are with my co-worker Keith Groller? Are you in Pittsburgh? This is crazy.

i'd e-mailed christine from pittsburgh, friday night, when her former phillie jimmie rollins lined one off the fence in dead center, to tie the game in the ninth (if i remember right)

i tell her i'm in cleveland -- yes, her keith groller

That's crazy. Keith, as you probably already know, is a sports writer at The Morning Call. But he's really a legend. He works all day, every day. Writes a column, stories, blog, does a radio show, TV, goes to every sports banquet. But we're talking high school sports and local college sports, the grass roots of sports. I hope you get a chance to talk to him.

great game -- goes into extras -- in the fourteenth or fifteenth inning, jan and i go quickly down the stairs, so i can meet keith, and so we don't miss anything -- he's pointed out to me -- i introduce myself -- he thinks the world of christine -- he's in the middle -- no cap -- eyeglasses, poking out

he, his wife and their daughter leave before the game's over -- we talk a bit

the lehigh valley group have driven to toronto, chicago, st. louis, atlanta, among other cities -- they were going to go to spring training, last year -- fell through -- the club has 300 members -- i say that's more than the indians fan club in cleveland

the yankees' last pitcher in the game is named pinder -- i tell jan about the great sports writer of ancient greece, pindar -- i have to read a book i have, of his odes -- maybe the best sports writer ever

michael brantley lined a shot off of pinder, in the bottom of the sixteenth -- goes off of diving mark texiera's glove -- jose ramirez scores from second -- we win -- players chase brantley into left center -- spray him with water -- corey kluber uses a machine gun -- kids

greatest catches

five years ago, today

i think his name is masato akamatsu

nineteen years ago, yesterday -- kenny lofton

july 1, 2006 -- sarge junior

you gotta love vinnie

vin scully, from yesterday's game, between the dodgers and the angels

in the bottom of the fourth inning:

a hopper to third -- nice stop at third by featherston -- they get an out at second, but that's all -- wuh-ho-ho -- puig crushed the ball, and taylor featherston almost lost a syllable,...but he stayed with it -- wonderful play, at third base

in a later inning (not verbatim):

joe smith is warming up in the angels bullpen -- seems like an undercover agent -- joe smith in the bullpen

samurai-ninja batter

and who says the japanese don't have any individuality

'one of these days,...pow! -- to the moon!'

i'm listening to my favorite broadcast team -- bob brenly and steve berthiaume, of the arizona diamondbacks

brenly does this thing, each game -- 'on this date'

today, he had a little...connect-the-dots

on this day, in 1969, neil armstrong became the first man to set foot on the moon -- 'one small step for man,' chimed in berthiaume

five years before, continued brenly, alvin dark was the manager of the san francisco giants

dark said they'll put a man on the moon before gaylord perry will hit a home run

guess what happened, moments after armstrong stepped on the moon

can't go without noting the cleveland...and...ohio...connection -- the three principals -- and the storyteller

addendums: from marc: the story is called 'dark side of the moon'; from nancy: the mets won the world series in '69

indeed, a year of miracles

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