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

it won't be long

the tito special

the corey kluber show

proud mamma's tweet

other fun reactions

the corey kluber show -- his biggest hits of the year

thanks to my play-by-play partner, howard, i found out that sports time ohio is broadcasting several of cy kluber's games, starting saturday, at noon (when he beat tampa, 1-0, in his last game of the year) -- sunday night, at nine, they're showing the pre-match...of the top two cy-young contenders, when our cy...outpitched seattle's cy, 2-0 (july 30) -- early this morning, they showed one of corey's 14-strikeout performances -- that one in houston, september 16

baseball pranks: frenchie & swish

gotta love these guys -- gotta love frenchie

then there's swish -- swish-a-licious

fun bunch

nice article, about the continuing...positive 'vibe'...in the wigwam

baseball debutants and their families

at the ballgame, yesterday -- actually, it was two ballgames -- a double-header,...the old-fashioned kind -- i sat next to the families...of two players, just called up by the yankees, for their major-league debuts

corban joseph's mother, father, grandmother, wife and mother-in-law...drove up from franklin, tennessee (a suburb of nashville) -- and the 24-year-old 'showed 'em something,' in the second game -- he started the six-run rally in the seventh, with a booming double -- his first major-league hit -- then ended the inning, by sending a ball...to the warning track in center

when we arrived at the seats, i thought the mother might be indians manager terry francona's wife, and that the young woman next to her, the wife or girlfriend of one of the players -- that made me think, the manager's wife (and those of the coaches) serve as...mother hens...to the players' wives and girlfriends -- guiding them, advising them, looking out for them -- then i thought, the younger woman...looked too young...to be a player's wife, and that she might be...francona's daughter

well, when joseph came to bat (the second time), mom took a picture of him -- then, of the giant scoreboard, with the large picture of joseph -- bob's your uncle -- my friend rodger said he'd noticed they were with the yankees

rodger also recalled the battle of franklin, in which the confederate forces were decimated -- actually, much more than decimated -- part of the mopping-up operation -- and the subsequent battle of nashville

in looking for a picture of joseph, i found out he was sent back to the minors -- the article also says, he was called up (for the first time, i presume), two weeks ago, spent two days with the yankees, but didn't play

he played first-base in the first game -- a position he'd only played, in three games (according to dad) -- and he made a nice pick-up, of a throw to first -- in the second game, he was at second, his regular position

[january 25, 2014: watching a replay of the game, announcer matt underwood said that joseph's brother...was drafted, the same year -- by the orioles]

for the second game, the family of brett marshall arrived -- the 23-year-old right-handed pitcher was a starter in the minors, but was in the bullpen, for the day's games -- well, at least, for the second game -- his mother, her two sisters and his girlfriend...went to the bullpen, before the game -- mom came back, and said...she recognized him -- somebody had apparently told her...he wasn't there, or that...whoever she spotted...wasn't him -- she said, i know my son, i gave birth to the boy -- she went around, showing the picture she'd taken of him, in the bullpen

according to that same article, marshall was called up, after the first game of the doubleheader

most of his family (mother, aunt, little cousins, and...father...or aunt's husband) flew up from houston -- another aunt, and her husband, drove from scranton, where they'd driven (from suburban new york), to see him play, the day before -- he didn't play, but...was told he'd been called up -- so they drove him to the airport (at two, i think it was), then, when they realized...it was six hours to cleveland, they kept driving -- they got to cleveland, before he did -- he had to fly to charlotte, first -- i asked if they'd offered him a ride to cleveland, and if the team refused -- they said he wanted to experience...the whole...call-up experience, including the first-class flights -- of course

i thought it was neat...that the little boys...had been pulled from school, for this special occasion

joseph and marshall were playing for the scranton/wilkes-barre railriders, the yankees' triple-a affiliate

marshall's girlfriend was there, during the first game of the double-header, sitting by herself  -- i thought she looked arab -- palestinian or jordanian -- i finally got to ask her, during the second game, and she said that her father was lebanese

at one point, during the second game, she discovered that marshall's name had been added to the yankees' roster, and she waved the phone...to the others -- he's still there

all, a big thrill for the families -- and...for me -- i don't think i've ever talked with, been with,...the family of a ballplayer -- let alone one...making his major-league debut -- i would have loved talking with them, more -- joseph's family...moved into the lower section, under the sun (it was very cold, throughout) -- rodger said that they wanted to get away from...this intrusive...stranger -- i found them all, very friendly -- i did go down, towards the end of the second game, and congratulated them