I didn't plan to post anything else about the Cubs today. I almost didn't even read this article -- I've read plenty enough about last night's game, so did I need one more? But my recently-mentioned friend Eric Boardman sent me the link to a piece in the Washington Post, and I'm glad I clicked. That's because I immediately saw it was by Thomas Boswell, who's my favorite baseball writer. (As I told Eric, I almost added, "probably my favorite," but then realized that's wrong.)
Boswell (and what an appropriate name is that for a writer) has written numerous books (that are collections of his Washington Post columns) on a variety of sports, but he shines with baseball. Two of his books leap out -- How Life Imitates the World Series and Why Time Begins on Opening Day. If you do love baseball, I can't recommend these enough. (And since they're both a few decades old, the available price for each can be found for as low as a penny -- plus shipping -- depending on the quality of the copy.)
He's a gem of a writer. Conversant, matter-off-fact, full of stories, and eloquent. One of my favorite of his columns is the masterful, "99 Reasons Why Baseball is Better Than Football." One reason is -- "The poet Marianne Moore loved pitcher Christy Mathewson. No woman of quality has ever preferred football to baseball." Another reason is -- "Listening to a car radio on a summer night."
One of my favorite of his lines in another article is when he writes that people always wonder what a manager says to a pitcher when going out to the mound when the player has gotten into a jam, and figure it has to be something like, "Babe Ruth is dead. Throw strikes."
This article about yesterday's game is pure Boswell. Conversant, matter-of-fact, full of stories and eloquent. I even suspect people who don't follow baseball might like it, because it's about more than the game, but about the perspective of things.
You can read it here.
And as long as I'm posting at the moment, I figure I might as well add a couple of photos which I just came across today.
This first was sent to me by my cousin Peter Leviton (who I believe was instrumental in the Cubs success as he was on the field during the team's recent reconstruction of Wrigley, as the Cubs' fortunes began to turn, of which I posted a photo here). His son Eric -- also my cousin, of course... -- went down to Wrigley Field last night and took some photos of the festivities after the game. Somehow, he's a White Sox fan, but he at least had the good sense to be part of history and appreciate it. (By the way, I'm really impressed that there was no car-turning or rampaging after the pennant-clinching win last night, just pure joy throughout the city.)
Boswell (and what an appropriate name is that for a writer) has written numerous books (that are collections of his Washington Post columns) on a variety of sports, but he shines with baseball. Two of his books leap out -- How Life Imitates the World Series and Why Time Begins on Opening Day. If you do love baseball, I can't recommend these enough. (And since they're both a few decades old, the available price for each can be found for as low as a penny -- plus shipping -- depending on the quality of the copy.)
He's a gem of a writer. Conversant, matter-off-fact, full of stories, and eloquent. One of my favorite of his columns is the masterful, "99 Reasons Why Baseball is Better Than Football." One reason is -- "The poet Marianne Moore loved pitcher Christy Mathewson. No woman of quality has ever preferred football to baseball." Another reason is -- "Listening to a car radio on a summer night."
One of my favorite of his lines in another article is when he writes that people always wonder what a manager says to a pitcher when going out to the mound when the player has gotten into a jam, and figure it has to be something like, "Babe Ruth is dead. Throw strikes."
This article about yesterday's game is pure Boswell. Conversant, matter-of-fact, full of stories and eloquent. I even suspect people who don't follow baseball might like it, because it's about more than the game, but about the perspective of things.
You can read it here.
And as long as I'm posting at the moment, I figure I might as well add a couple of photos which I just came across today.
This first was sent to me by my cousin Peter Leviton (who I believe was instrumental in the Cubs success as he was on the field during the team's recent reconstruction of Wrigley, as the Cubs' fortunes began to turn, of which I posted a photo here). His son Eric -- also my cousin, of course... -- went down to Wrigley Field last night and took some photos of the festivities after the game. Somehow, he's a White Sox fan, but he at least had the good sense to be part of history and appreciate it. (By the way, I'm really impressed that there was no car-turning or rampaging after the pennant-clinching win last night, just pure joy throughout the city.)
And also, here's evidence that one change which won't be a carryover from the Obama Administration if Hillary Clinton wins. He's a White Sox fan - she however is a lifelong Cubs fan! (And even threw out first pitch at Wrigley Field when she was First Lady.)
Here she is last night when one of her Cubs-fan aides, Connolly Keigher, was live-streaming the game, and gave Clinton an instant replay of final out.
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