Long Time Gone

They don't make 'em like they used to

Much has transpired since the last time I checked in here (despite assurances that I'd be a more regular presence -- what can I say?). I won't rehash; there are a ton of good, regularly updated Jays-related blogs out there that you probably read daily.

But part of my excuse has to do with baseball. I was in New York, at both doomed ballparks, Shea and Yankee Stadium.

The Mets game (v. Braves, with Santana scheduled) was rained out, alas, but I can report that Mets fans are a friendly bunch, that the sausage was good and the beer, well, cold anyway. The seats scored from StubHub were very good (they were behind home in the mezzanine level, not in the right field upper deck as suggested by that photo), and I imagine would've provided excellent views of players actually engaged in playing baseball. Oh well.

As for Yankee Stadium, well, it's the damndest thing. You despise the Yankees and you tell yourself that what's left at 161st and River Ave. is not the original, legendary House that Ruth Built, but a vintage '76 redo, a Steinbrenner bastardization, a hacked up corpse of a legendary ballpark.

But then you go there. And damned if there aren't chills a-multiplyin' up and down your spine. It really is a thing to see, and I'm glad that I got to witness the 10th-last game ever played there. Glad, too, that the Rays won 7-1. Because impressive ballpark or no, to hell with the Yankees.

The view from our seats in the upper deck

[Thanks again to Kingman at Loge 13 for the tips on what to see and do at Shea. Didn't get to do everything, but much appreciated nonetheless.]

All Hail Our New Leader

Maybe Adam Lind just capitalized on woeful pitching last night, but who cares? If that wins 10-8 ballgames, then here's hoping more Jays learn by his example.

And, as a side note, I have made it known that I'd be an inconsistent presence around these parts, a specter, an apparition, and I've been true to that promise. But the end is near! More regular, half-thought-out conjecture and knee-jerk analysis are but weeks away! Watch this space.

Also, I'll be visiting both Yankee Stadium and Shea Stadium before their death knells sound, and I couldn't be more excited. Hat tip to the great Mets/Shea blog Loge 13 for stoking my excitement concerning that doomed ballpark. If you visit the site, be sure to read the About page. It's a nice piece of writing and a ground-level view of how the economics of new ballparks affect the everyday fan (i.e. not corporations, and not millionaires).

Meanwhile, In Seattle

Baseball is Great

God bless the brave sailors aboard the USS Mariner, whose particular brand of woe-is-us boosterism makes the varied and dissenting voices of the Jays blogging community seem like naive schoolchildren incapable of doubting their heroes ("We'll turn this around yet, fellas!").

Allow me to apply some of that Jays fan positivity (which probably has its roots in Canadian politeness; either that or we're still real chuzzed to have our very own baseball team in the frozen, miserable north, and it's a pleasure just to watch them play): Master Ichiro will soon regain his form. Putz is back, and will soon begin a streak of saves that will not abate until the autumn winds return to buffet Puget Sound. And Bedard will be back, tossing nasty lefty curveballs that befuddle and confound the rest of the AL West. And even if none of that happens, Seattlites, isn't is great just to have your very own baseball team? And if any city knows the pain of not having a baseball team, after having a baseball team, briefly, and then going to court because some asshole used car dealer/future league commissioner stole your baseball team, only to have a team awarded to your city a few years later because you raised such a legal stink, surely it's you, Seattle. But more on that in a sec.


Doubting, Thomas

CBS Sportsline is pretty shitty, I know. I probably shouldn't bother reading their baseball stuff, because it's generally more frustrating than informative, but it shows up right there on my iGoogle page, and I don't have to type or do a lot of extra clicking, or anything. Easy!

Suckiness case in point: even in the wake of Hurt's signing with the A's, Sportsline leaves up pieces about the likelihood or advisability of other teams signing him. Stupid, right? But even stupider is this article about Richie Sexson's woes, raking that lanky lad over the coals for his pithy April output, and using Thomas as a weapon to threaten poor Richie with a bludgeoning (or unemployment).

I don't want to steal Fire Joe Morgan's schtick, but look at that title:

Mariners waiting for Sexson's slumbering lumber to wake up

Really, CBS Sportsline? Really? Is "slumbering lumber" the new stand-in euphemism for ED?And that picture? If you're trying to be funny, ouch. If you're not, bravo! Unintentional funny beats hard-fought laughs every time. It's like being cool, or using the Force: there is no try, only do.

Who's the Pilot?

Have I discussed my fascination with the Seattle Pilots here yet? No? Well...

I think it started when I was 13 and my parents took me to the Hall of Fame. No, hear me out - I'll be quick. I got a bunch of swag from the Cooperstown gift shop, including a book of baseball trivia. Near the back of that book there was a picture of a skeleton wearing a Pilots cap and the caption read: Seattle Pilots, 1969-1969. It blew me away, because I'd never heard of the Pilots, and I was a kid who read anything having to do with baseball.

Years later, I read Bouton's book, and that stoked my interest more. What a sad story, I thought. Sad and beautiful. And it's the reason I own a Pilots jersey (well, okay, technically a Mariners throwback jersey, from a night a few seasons ago when they paid tribute to the Pilots, because, after all, a real Mitchell & Ness throwback would set me back like $400, right?), and why my (mysteriously underachieving) fantasy team is Dooley Womack's Seattle Pilots.

That's why it was great to come across this post and this post on a great blog called The Fleer Sticker Project (via Uniwatch). A great capsule explanation of the Pilots' rise and demise (damn you, Selig!) as well as some great imagery.

Interesting side note: While the Pilots' home, Sicks Stadium, is now an Ace Hardware parking lot, some of the seats from that yard apparently ended up in Vancouver's Nat Bailey Stadium.

A Random Thought

Watching the Astros-Padres now, and thinking: PETCO Park is less a ballpark and more an elaborate gimmick, no?

Does anybody really believe that the "Western Metal Supply Co." is still in business, and operates out of a quaint brick building conveniently located in left field?

And how long before they sell that ad space to a real company?

That's all.

God Bless the People of Pittsburgh

Fire Joe Morgan hits one into the Allegheny with this post in response to a truly bizarre piece comparing Pirates fans to... well, just read it. Go ahead. I'll sit pretty right here until you're done...

Right, so, the point of the original piece by one Mike Seate is that baseball fans compare unfavourably to those of, ahem, superbike racing. I won't deconstruct the argument, because FJM has already done so, and done so better than I could (I can manage concise, and I can sometimes manage funny, and on rare occasions I even nail intelligent, but all three is asking too much of me).

But my point is that, okay, I've been to Pittsburgh and gone to a Pirates game at beautiful PNC Park, and found Bucco fans to be... subdued. I live in Ottawa, and I went to Lynx games for 15 years, so I know subdued. And Pirates fans fit that bill. I found them subdued and, well, sparse.

But think about it: it was September, and the Pirates had been out of contention since (roughly) late April. Again. And as a fanbase they have been, frankly, shit upon by ownership and management for a decade and a half now.

On that afternoon in Pittsburgh, I saw the Pirates lose to the Chicago Cubs. The park was half full, but half of those in attendance were decked out in full Cubbies regalia, a traveling roadshow of folks bleeding Cubbie blue. Cubs fans, who are entering their one hundredth year without a championship, are often cited as the mose diehard, fervent, and knowledgeable baseball fans around.

But. There's an argument to be made, I think, that instead of being the best baseball fans in the world, Cubs fans are Earth's biggest schmucks, shelling out year after year to see a team that never wins when it counts, a team run by a succession of organizations that have little motivation to win because, hell, the fans keep pouring into Wrigley anyway. The flipside of that argument would be that Montreal Expos fans were among the smartest and savviest lovers of baseball anywhere, because they knew when they were being treated poorly, and they rebelled with their wallets and asses (which no longer occupied the Big O's yellow plastic seats, see?).

Viewed in that light, maybe Pirates fans are pretty smart, too. Maybe they're simply fed up; maybe they're saying, "Thanks for the ballpark, but call us when you're actually trying to field a winning team."

I liked Pittsburgh, truly. It seemed to me an interesting city emerging from its industrial past, shaking the coke dust off and stepping smartly into the twenty-first century. I liked its neighbourhoods and its architecture, and its people seemed like good people. I loved imagining Forbes Field filled to the brim, of the mighty Clemente patrolling right field. And PNC is gorgeous - if you like ballparks, you must see it - but too full of ballpark tourists like me, and not enough local, hometown crazies. What I longed to see was a park jammed with rabid fans, with shirtless idiots screaming their faces off, with families and old guys with transistor radios, all cheering on a team with a real chance of winning. Imagine that: NL CENTRAL CHAMPS. That'd make for a different kind of fan, I dare say.