Baseball Toaster was unplugged on February 4, 2009.
Labor Day weekend in New York City is undoubtedly my favorite holiday of the year. The town is dead, which means plenty of room to move around for the natives. You can get a parking space without a problem, stroll around without having to deal with crowds. There is a sleeping feeling about the place that is almost magic. What makes it even more enjoyable is the knowledge that it will all soon change, in a matter of hours. Tuesday will roll around, everyone will return from vacation, kids will be on the train on their way to school, the buzz will return. It makes the last moments of summer feel even more precious.
We were blessed with gorgeous weather this year. Saturday and Sunday were bright, sunny days, still very warm--ideal for taking longs walks followed by an afternoon nap (I ate corn and tomatoes from a local farmer's market and made the first, and probably last, fresh pesto of the season). Yesterday was sunny as well but there was a crispness in the air, a chilly breeze that felt like the start of autumn. I visited a friend in New Jersey in the morning and spent the early afternoon listening to old records. By the time I returned to my neighborhood around 3:00 the place was still deserted. Space, silence. Talk about two things that a New Yorker relishes.
The Yanks return home along with everyone else tonight, kicking off a week-long homestand with three against the Devil Rays. With six games remaining against Tampa Bay, the Bombers can still salvage the season-series (10-9) if they sweep 'em. I think they need to take 5-6 to feel good about themselves. I know if they drop more than one game to them, I will be leading the moans and groans. We Yankee fans are known to be a tad dramatic, but from here on out, all bets are off: bring on the sturm and drang. Randy Johnson, who has not pitched well against Lou's Crew this year, goes tonight. It'll be nice to see him settle the score with one E. Perez, no?
There is a lot to be keyed-up about as the season comes into the home stretch. Although he claims that winning is the only thing that interests him, Alex Rodriguez has to be the favorite to win the AL MVP (only a horrible couple of weeks, combined with the Yanks falling out of it should prevent him from earning his second trophy). Tyler Kepner has a nice profile on Rodriguez today in the Times, and Steven Goldman recently opined:
This season, A-Rod is having a season that is so far ahead of all other AL claimants that it's hard to see how the voters will take it away from him. Other players are having good seasons for contenders. David Ortiz with the Red Sox is a good example. He's a DH having a very good season for a contender. A-Rod is a third baseman, and a good one, having a great season for a contender. The BBWAA should honor that difference.
Ortiz is a great hitter but he's a DH and no DH has ever won an MVP (Don Baylor comes the closest in 1979, but he played more games in the outfield than he did at DH that year). Ramirez is having a good year but not a great one. Miguel Tejada and Michael Young are having fine seasons but they aren't having career years. Vlad Guerrero is the best player on his team and having another fine year too. I suppose he and Ortiz are Rodriguez's closest competitors. But again, unless Rodriguez tanks, and either one of them simply go knuts over the last few weeks--which is entirely plausible--I think Rodriguez wins the award going away.
It is getting cooler here in northern Japan as well. We are bracing for a typhoon over the next several days, but otherwise Autumn is settling in and the hot humid Summer is passing before our eyes.
I explained my affinity for Autumn to my students today....something with which they couldn't possibly relate. While Japanese culture is especially tuned in to the 4 seasons, my Autumn is very different from the Autumn that these young men and women know.
My Autumn not only sees the leaves change color, but also carries with it the nostalgia of the start of a new school year, backyard football, the World Series, and Halloween. I miss the cultural signs of Autumn that paint the background for life in the United States.
Most of all, the buzz of late season baseball and the dreams of the Fall Classic that begin to sprout wings. Remembering the '77 Series and Reggie's 3 homers and the '79 We are Family Pirates sends me instantly back in time to my earliest memories of the game.
A win this season would be especially satisfying given the hardships and the inexplicable power outages that our Yankees have experienced. One way or the other, in victory or failure, the remaining schedule will be a daily affair. Glad to be sharing it with all of you here.
Keep up the beautiful prose Alex. Carpe diem....seize the day.....
Yeah, you know the funny thing is as much as I love the fall, it's alway tinged with some sadness for me because I'm not a huge fan of winter. Unlike my girlfriend, I much prefer the summer. Anyway, it's like you say, seize the day, the moment, that's what I like so much about Labor Day weekend here. It puts me in touch with that sentiment in an almost visceral way. Love it.
Already it's over. A frail old woman got on the bus this morning and handed the bus driver a transfer that expired three months ago. As they haggled, a large, touched-in-the-head guy sitting in the front of the bus started mumbling that we should send this old lady to "Iraq...or New Orleans." Then, when I got to the 231rst street station, I was bombarded with flyers and handshakes for some guy named Clifford Miller who is running for office. A smattering of kids, decked out in the fresh-dipped gear, were on the trains, and by the time I arrived in midtown, the crowds were back, walking briskly and with purpose.
Long time reader, first-time poster. Alex, I agree that you're writing is top-notch. Even my wife, a born and bred Mass Red Sox fan enjoys the site.
On another note, I've noticed a couple people say they were from up in enemy territory. I was just wondering how you put up with WEEI? I was up there over Labor Day weekend, contributing to the emptiness of NYC, and all I heard was that the Yankees only shot is the Wild Card. Now, after the All-Star Break, you could say the the Yankees had the tougher schedule, but from here on out, the Red Sox have to play the Angels, A's and O's. Anybody else here think the Yankees have more than a legitimate shot at the division?
I didn't know that about the Red Sox scheduly. I guess that means it's gain a game on the Sox, hold pat with the wild card, or lose ground to the Sox and gain ground in the wild card. Weird.
I have a love/hate relationship with this time of year. I love the weather and the early morning/late evening colors of the sky. (was on Rte 3 east this morning at about 6:30, and the skyline was in this pink haze with pink clouds overhead. It was unreal.)
I hate that the season is nearing its end. And that, in about month it will yet again be my birthday. But with any luck I'll be sitting in the bleachers at that time watching game 2 (knock on wood.)
I too have mixed feelings on this season. Some great Yankee memories, beautiful crisp nights here in Boston (North Andover), time to get my Yankee flag back out after the summer and hang it on my garage.... and good memories of heading back to college (long ago unfortunately). The real tough part here is that winter is long and snowy....uggh.
JDB, I agree - WEEI is really hard to listen to at times. Man, they have that New England bias ramped up ... I was the lucky winner of their daily contest 2 weeks ago....and I won "dinner for 4 at Wendy's!!!" I thought I was going to get Monster seats or something good....
As for AROD, how about both MVP and Triple Crown ??!!
The Yanks certainly have a good chance of winning the division. But a lot of things have to go right for it to happen, starting with winning tonight.
Those days are gone, but Jeter remains. And overrated or not, I consider it a treat to watch him play baseball in October...I really hope I get that chance this year.
While I never miss winter, walking around New York on a crisp, cool day and then dropping into a bar for a Brooklyn Lager and a game can't be beaten.
I always wanted to stay longer and enjoy the city, especially on such a glorious weekend weather-wise as this last one. Thanks, Alex, for describing so poetically life in the city at such a special time.
Curious: when you say "old records", are you talking about vintage hip hop, or something really old, like pre-WWII jazz or something like that?
Your reply actually reminded me that I have a number of CDs/LPs damaged by basement flooding in the past that I've been gradually replacing...and one of them is a compilation of the Golden Gate Quartet stuff called Swing Down Chariot. Just found a place on the net that sells out of print religious music (though GG's stuff is much more dynamic than that label would imply) and picked it up for real cheap. Nice.
Grind it.
Comment status: comments have been closed. Baseball Toaster is now out of business.