Sunday, April 4, 2010

Baseball's Opening Day! "Centerfield" by John Fogerty

(left) A baseball magazine cover from the early 1960's, featuring future Hall of Fame Centerfielder Willie Mays (of the New York and later San Francisco Giants) and Mickey Mantle of the New York Yankees.)  This was in the first era that black players were allowed into the major leagues, striking another blow against America's "color bar".

Both Mays and Mantle dominated their respective teams and positions.  Mays (left, b.1931) is generally acknowledged as one of the smartest men to ever play the game, gifted not only with the ability to adjust himself to each pitcher while at -bat,  and every batter when he played the field on defense, but also a "five tool" player who could do anything (run, hit, hit-for-extra-bases-power , steal bases, and field well above average)   in his prime that needed to be done to win games. 

Mantle was also a man of great talent, who had years at the plate with his bat that even exceeded  Mays--and everybody else. Born the same year as Mays, they entered the Majors together in 1951.  While Mays extended his career to 1973, Mantle's playing days were over by 1968, when all the injuries to his knees and his long record of carousing and drinking with team mates finally caught up to him.  

To many baseball fans,  there is a long and not always polite argument over which man was the better player.  But, at their level of hitting and fielding, it hardly matters to me.  I never got to see Mantle play, but I did see Mays when my father and I attended games at San Francisco's Candlestick Park in the late 60' and early 70's. Mays was recognized as a extraordinary athlete.  The sad thing was that he never really felt at home in San Francisco as he did in New York City, where he  broke into the majors at the Giants original home (before they moved West in 1958) and soon became the toast of the city.   

Part of this was that San Francisco fans wanted their own younger heroes to root for (like Hall of Famers Orlando Cepeda and Willie McCovey and the "Dominican Dandy", pitcher Juan Marichal.)  Mays had an ego as big as his talents and really couldn't share the spotlight. In 1972 he asked to be traded back to New York and was sent to the New York Mets.  His last two years in the game were none too successful, but it hardly mattered; he was already a legend and just seeing him on the field in any uniform brought hope to the hearts of fans.   

Centerfield (1985) is a song by John Fogerty, formerly of "Credence Clearwater Revival". It's one of the best songs celebrating the joys of Springtime and the return of baseball to the green fields of American and Canadian ballparks.  It also celebrates the Centerfielder, ofcourse, the man (or now woman in softbnall) who is often the best hitter and the fleetest to chase down a fly ball for an all important out.  Whether you enjoy the greatest sport ever conceived (baseball) or any sport for that matter, this song will hopefully capture the feeling of playing the game or seeing the best in your nation at the pitch or field of your choice.  

This is an exciting time for those who grew up playing the game as I did in pick-up games in the neighborhood and in Little League, Babe Ruth League and high school teams.    

Tomorrow is Opening Day in the Majors.  It's Spring again and hope for glory in the October World Series is possible for every team booster. Gentlemen, select your bats!

34 comments:


  1. Interesting Video Doug. Do you think the training is more intense now, as it is with many sports? It all looks so relaxed an fun in the film.

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  2. It's more intense in the off-season training, that's for certain, Cassandra. At one time, veteran baseball players would show up for Spring Training with extra weight that had to be worked off in the hot Florida or Arizona sunshine. Now, top players are expected to be exercising all-year around.

    Another big change is the rise of "sports medicine". Trainers and doctors are much more prevalent in baseball clubhouses and fields than back when those old newsreels were made. Big money contracts make every starting player too valuable a resource to allow them to play injured or unexamined by a medical specialist at the slightest hint of pain. Ball players in the old days were a tougher breed, but not necessarily a healthier athlete.

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  3. It is difficult for me to have an opinion on baseball Doug, but I liked the song by John Fogerty and the great old video footage. I hope you have a good season, good luck in the World Series!

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  4. I used to love baseball. Every time I could get the money, I was at Memorial Stadium to see the Birds.
    Then, the players went on strike, and I haven't messed with it since.

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  5. Yes, I remember the '94 Season Jacquie. Most disheartening.

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  6. You need a new hat. I will send you a blue one with a big red letter B on it

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  7. Doug found memories of Cooperstown, NY here. I have never really took to the game but while as a kid I enjoyed summer evenings watching the Syracuse Chiefs play. And then later on watching a game Toronto. Mind you I was in the "nose bleed" section. I found that the smaller stadiums were truly more than just the game. It was the entire atmosphere...Baseball something that is much better viewed in person than on television but that is just me. And the first sign of spring is really when you see these games being played as you know it's spring.

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  8. Nope, before that! lol
    I was a kid when the first strike happened.

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  9. I actually like the Red Sox. They are to the Yankees what the Giants are to the Dodgers I think Fred. I'd be happy to wear the BoSox cap anytime, but I'm a lifelong Giants fan.

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  10. I think smaller stadiums are one of the best recent developments Jack--no more of those giant caverns that some cities use for football games and all. The Giants play now in an intimate park and its made a lot of difference in athmosphere. Pittsburgh and Baltimore have also adopted mmore old -style fields like Wrigley and Fenway Park.

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  11. Baltimore Orioles here. Well, if I still liked baseball!

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  12. I don`t understand baseball but thanks for the blog anyway.

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  13. It's like cricket Jeff. Only played by nutters.

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  14. Yup. I thought there was one a bit earlier, in the mid 60's, but I don't remember for sure. I just remember I just angry and threw out all my baseball cards!

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  15. My mom threw out me baseball cards when our family moved cross-country in '74...little do I know that some of them would have been worth a few hundred bucks each in twenty years or less.

    Live and learn I guess.

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  16. Yeah, when my son found out that I tossed all those cards, boy did I catch it! lol I just didn't care though, I was soo upset!

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  17. Reggie Cleveland I met Reg over the winter and his recollections of baseball were something that was fascinating...

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  18. I remember him pitching with the Cards...didn't know he was Canadian. Yes, that must have been fascinating indeed. Quite a good hitter for a pitcher I notice.

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  19. It was kind of a rite of passage for boys ;-)

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  20. Nor did I Doug, he left pennyless and with many great stories and his only wish was that he would have obtained an agent. But he went on to teach till he reached his pension..

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  21. I'm glad he at least got a pension. Such a shame the owners took advantage of him---he's not the first case of that in baseball I'm afraid.

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  22. I appreciate that about you. You are not a fair weather fan. I wish your team well.

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  23. btw the a great song!! It has been a favorite of mine since I first heard it.

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  24. Thanks Fred. As a Red Sox fan, I'm you know hanging with your favorite will pay off eventually--twice in the World Series, as a matter of fact!

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  25. Me too. There have been other songs about baseball, but this one might be the best IMHO.

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  26. two World Series wins in 46 years is a tough run

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  27. Yes it is. The Giants last won a series in 1954---while still in New York six years before I was born,. At least they went seven games against the Angels in 2002. That was a tough loss at the end. I would have loved to have seen my dad's face if they had won it all that year, and it was a very good team. But as I said in the blog---its a new season. Maybe it will be a Sox -Giants World Series who knows?

    At least we're not Cub fans Fred. Talk about a tough run.

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  28. That's what happens when you bring goats to the ball park

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  29. Hahhaha! Yes, the 1945 Series Goat Curse. You had to know that would come back and bite 'em!

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  30. Much the same with British sport, Doug, injuries cost money and unless the blood from an injury is stemmed off the field they must go. I was watching the Cheltenham horse racing event the other day and noticed three ambulances on the outer track following the riders along. The horses weren't so lucky, I think three had to be put down!

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  31. Yes, there's always the nagging question: when to bring back a star player who's been injured when a physical relapse could cost the team the key player when and if the playoffs roll around. And the owners are on the hook for millions so they are naturally skittish.

    Three horses down! That sounds like a heavy toll, Cassandra. Was it a race that involved jumping over hedges?

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