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I thought we'd end our Opening Day celebration with a graphic that might give at least a small sense of why the day was All Baseball / All Day. I subscribe to MLB.TV, which allows members to watch every baseball game live, but also offers archives of the games if you miss them, and "shortened" versions of the games that edit out all the down-time and only show the pitches. It will not shock anyone here to know that I pretty much just watch the Cubs games (on the service, I'll watch other games on TV), though occasionally I'll put on different teams. As it turns out, MLB.TV keeps a record of who watches what and for how long. And a few weeks back, as Spring Training began, I got an email from MLB.TV with information they hadn't ever sent in the past. I have to admit, it surprised even me. A lot.  Wait, seriously? I was in the "Top 1%" of Cubs fans???! And the "Top 9%" of ALL viewers in the United States???! I don't know which of those two is weirder. Still, in semi-defense of myself, I have a theory for this: I work at home, and spend most of my time at my desk in front of my computer, typing away. And while most baseball teams play their games at night, the Cubs play the majority of their games during the day -- when most people (including Cubs fans) are, y'know, at work. Or school. So, they can't put MLB.TV on to watch even an inning of a Cubs game, let alone the full game. But I can. And...well, I do. (Okay, not every game, and not every inning. I do have a life, within speaking. And it's generally on in the background as I work. Generally. And we're talking home games only for day games, because most of the Cubs away games are at night.) And since most baseball games for every other team are at night, most people have a great many choices of things they want or need to do at night when games are on. Watch TV. Stream movies. Study. Read. Have dinner. Get together with friends. Actually deal with your family. And yes, of course, watching a baseball game falls in there, as well, but probably not every night for 162 games. For three hours each game. But for half the season, 81 games, there I am working at my desk at home, and putting the Cubs games on. Not all of them (many are at night), and not the full games, but for at least part of all of them. And even when the Cubs are playing at night, I might put the game on for a while, or check the best innings of an archived game. And the end result of that is --  So be it. What can I say? That's what the statistics show. I can only accept the reality, explain it the best I can, understand that's it's a bit weird even with a reasonable explanation, and have a fine old time watching baseball and following the Cubs. While working!!! (Yes, I'm really, actually working when the games are on. Most of the time.) Play ball!
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Continuing our celebration of Opening Day, this is a fun song from the musical You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, which was adapted into an animated TV special. Continuing to honor Opening Day, here are Peter, Paul and Mary singing Noel Paul Stookey's great tribute to those who couldn't really play the game all that well, "Right Field." I love the song, but I particularly like this version which comes from their 25th Anniversary Reunion Concert on PBS. (Which is just now being released on DVD for the first time.) The reason is not only that the three of them really throw themselves into the song, but two specific moments. One comes when they make the first joke about how such incompetence manifested itself on the schoolyard -- and the camera cuts to two women who have such a lovely reaction that you know they're taking tht moment very personally. And the other comes near the end of the "story" when it hits its resolution and they whole audience reacts -- and you know that they all are taking it personally, since it's such a silly, little fun song. But quite wonderful. And as a baseball bonus, we return you to maestro Riccardo Muti, from 2012 when he threw out the first pitch at a Cubs game. I find it adorable that Muti seems to love the Cubs, particularly since he's from Italy and didn't grow up on baseball or perhaps ever played it at all. But we know now that he's a lefty. Not the same form on the mound (or front thereof) as on the podium, but he did get it to the plate. By the way, listen closely in the background as he walks to the mount. The P.A. is playing Beethoven's 5th Symphony. To help celebrate the day, we'll start the year as is our tradition -- with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Riccardo Muti (in a Cubs jersey) playing “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.” I think it was done in honor of the Cubs 2016 World Series, their first in 108 years, since the video was posted on November 6, 2016. And the musicians are in street clothes, but many are wearing Cubs paraphernalia or blue. It's a wonderful and fun arrangement, too, not trying to overwhelm such a small, charming song with orchestral bombast, but arranged with an almost old-timey feel. And Muti seems to be having a good time with it all. In the news --  So, Trump is now selling the Bible. A practice that doesn’t seem viable. He’s incredibly flawed. Been found guilty of fraud. And for rape he was also found liable. |
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AuthorRobert J. Elisberg is a political commentator, screenwriter, novelist, tech writer and also some other things that I just tend to keep forgetting. 
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