You gotta gotta gotta read it.
Three little gems... and I swear, there are gems on every page...
3. Arnold Rothstein - the kingpin who fixed the 1919 "Black Sox" World Series - was a great pool player. At one point, planning to take him down, his enemies brought in a pool shark from New Jersey. Their match began on a Thursday night. It lasted into late Saturday, 32 hours. Rothstein - sipping milk all the way - beat the ringer, won $4000 and made his name in the underworld.
2. Casey Stengel quit dentistry school to play baseball. His reasoning: "I was a left-handed dentist who made people cry. I was not very good at pulling teeth, but my mother loved my work."
1. The enigmatic Hal Chase, the best first baseman of his time, squandered his stardom with booze and gambling. At the end, he told the Sporting News: "When I die, movie magnates will make no picture like Pride of the Yankees, which honored that great player Lou Gehrig. I guess that's the answer, isn't it? Gehrig had a good name, one of the best a man could have. I am an outcast and I haven't a good name. I'm the loser just like all gamblers are." Prophetic words. He died a penniless alcoholic.
Buy this book, dammit.
I am savoring every page.
ReplyDeleteOur bullpen made the Dodgers look like the '27 Yankees. Why is Santana still here? Anyone? Anyone? Beuhla Bondi?
ReplyDeleteCan't thank you enough, Peerless Leader! And all of my fellow acolytes!
ReplyDeleteThe Rothstein pool game, I think, was the inspiration for the epic pool match near the start of The Hustler.
The whole thing was a labor of love...
...Unlike the last two Yankees games.
ReplyDeleteStanton, Rizzo, and Gleyber combined are 1-26 against a good pitching staff, with six strikeouts and one walk.
Gleyber has the only hit—a single—but made up for it with that crucial error last night.
This performance alone would convince any general manager of even subnormal intelligence—or any chimp of subnormal intelligence—that your New York Yankees don't possibly have the hitting depth to advance through the playoffs.
Not Brian Cashman, though!
The most annoying thing? Cashie will respond to this skunking by telling us something like, "Well, that wasn't a fair test, with Soto out"...then proceed to not re-sign Soto.
Sigh.
As is often the case, there are ready-to-go, couldn't-do-worse options at AAA. How many more home runs does Ben Rice have to hit before he's allowed a cup of coffee? When is Marinaccio going to stop getting jerked around after--what--three years of being yo-yoed up and down?
ReplyDeleteStay focused and poised today, Luis Ángel Gil.
ReplyDeleteAlthough to many it is just another game, a win today will secure your place inside the hearts of Yankees fans everywhere (without any angina, lightheadedness or shortness of breath).
(Hey Hoss - any idea if Casey preached sound dental hygiene to his players? Too bad he didn't return to dentistry. Imagine the stories he could have shared as he scraped the plaque off your teeth . . . )
It's funny how the circumstances lined up for us to lose the first two games. First and foremost, losing Soto. Then pitching Nestor. Then being "forced" to bring in Santana and Co.
ReplyDeleteAnd forming an umbrella over it all, the Brain and the Boone.
I mean, Poteet was great. No knock on him. But you can't have the bullpen pitch four or five innings every day, especially when half your guys suck. Now they suck AND they're tired and their arms are falling off.
If Soto was playing, we'd beat these guys. I'm sure of that. DJ actually got some hits yesterday, didn't he? That's good. But basically, without Soto our 5 through 9 is pretty bad. And I feel terrible for Rizzo. Such a good ballplayer and seems like a gent, but that shot to the head has killed his career. Which is a tragedy, even if he is 35. Before the concussion, he was doing great. And since...
I wonder how close he is to giving up? He certainly can't be having much fun.
Hey, Hoss, did you happen to read Richard Ben Cramer's bio of DiMag? My sis volunteers in a used book shop and is picking a copy up for me. For $3, I figured how bad could it be?
I'm on vacation in a week. Saving it for vacation.
ReplyDeleteIt all came full circle for Casey. From scraping the plaque off his patient's teeth to having one of him mounted in Monument Park.
ReplyDelete*******************AND CARL WINS!********************************
ReplyDeleteComment of the day! Gets my vote.
Carl W.
ReplyDeleteCONGRATULATIONS !
As winner of comment of the day - what do you have to say to the youth of tomorrow, reading from home?
Hoss: "The most annoying thing? Cashie will respond to this skunking by telling us something like, "Well, that wasn't a fair test, with Soto out"...then proceed to not re-sign Soto."
ReplyDeleteA depressing, but accurate prophesy.
Santana is gone. Ron is back.
ReplyDeleteSantana is gone baby gone.
ReplyDeletePlease, EVERYONE, do me a favor.
Don’t tell JM about this development.
He’s going to be very upset.
It could take weeks of intensive therapy to get over Santana being gone.
Baseball shouldn’t have to be this hard
Have you seen today’s lineup? Grisham is batting FIFTH?
ReplyDeleteWhat kind of fucking 🤡show is this? Are the hermaphrodites in Analytics making out the lineups again?
If Gil wasn’t pitching there’d be no reason to watch.
We’re getting swept / Jesus wept
Santana's got to change his feeble ways!
ReplyDeleteBTR - I really hope that we aren’t swept because I’d like to see Gil dominate tonight.
ReplyDelete5-3 Yankees
Welp if there was any doubt how much money Soto deserves or who the MVP is....doubt no longer...this lineup is COOKED without him
ReplyDeleteAA, I can see him dominate while we still lose
ReplyDeleteThere is a game thread up.
ReplyDelete