Wednesday, July 06, 2011
Tale of Two Owners
The two highlights for the L.A. Dodgers from their home game with The Mets tonight: Gene Simmons of Kiss throwing the ceremonial first pitch, accompanied by Shannon Tweed; & All-Star slugger Matt Kemp breaking his bat over his knee after striking out to end the game. In-between they left 13 guys on base & lost 6-0 to the Little Team That Could, The Mets playing without Jose Reyes (& David Wright, Ike Davis & Johan Santana).
Both teams have financially-troubled ownership. Difference is that Wilpons love owning their team, hired a new front office, & latched on to an unlikely manager who has a bunch of - mostly bench warmers & minor leaguers playing over-their-heads, with energy & heart. They bounce back from defeat. The Dodgers don't put a much better group of players on the field, & their new manager is a good guy if inexperienced, but it has to affect them that their owner has demonstrated a willingness to screw them out of their paychecks if that's what it takes for him to hold on to his fabled ball club & keep his wife's hands off it in a divorce settlement. A series between The Mets & Dodgers ought to be a marqee cross-continental rivalry. I'm not a Dodgers fan. I enjoy rooting against all L.A. teams. But the fun in it is that most L.A. teams, pro & college, are pretty good, & it's supposed to mean something to beat them.
***
One of the worst versions of the National Anthem ever at the Yankees game in Cleveland tonight. Between the beginning & end of the song the singer dropped about 4 keys. So bad that Yankees radio announcer Susan Waldman, a very good singer who has sung the anthem at public events, was silent then muttered a little "whew" before she gave the lineup.
"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be." Thomas Jefferson
Both teams have financially-troubled ownership. Difference is that Wilpons love owning their team, hired a new front office, & latched on to an unlikely manager who has a bunch of - mostly bench warmers & minor leaguers playing over-their-heads, with energy & heart. They bounce back from defeat. The Dodgers don't put a much better group of players on the field, & their new manager is a good guy if inexperienced, but it has to affect them that their owner has demonstrated a willingness to screw them out of their paychecks if that's what it takes for him to hold on to his fabled ball club & keep his wife's hands off it in a divorce settlement. A series between The Mets & Dodgers ought to be a marqee cross-continental rivalry. I'm not a Dodgers fan. I enjoy rooting against all L.A. teams. But the fun in it is that most L.A. teams, pro & college, are pretty good, & it's supposed to mean something to beat them.
***
One of the worst versions of the National Anthem ever at the Yankees game in Cleveland tonight. Between the beginning & end of the song the singer dropped about 4 keys. So bad that Yankees radio announcer Susan Waldman, a very good singer who has sung the anthem at public events, was silent then muttered a little "whew" before she gave the lineup.
