Sports: Football, Baseball, Bball, Hockey, Etc. Vol. II

[fritzkep]

We'll do our best!

And geaux Caps tonight!

[Lyle (Mooska)]

When Ken Burns' BASEBALL documentary mini-series premiered in 1994 I watched it
all and really loved it.  Then, he updated it with the 10th Inning in covering the years
from where the original left off up through 2009. It premiered in 2010. In 2015 when
Burns was then being interviewed for a current PBS offering he was asked if he would
be updating the Baseball documentary again at the end of the next decade and he said,
"Well, something major would have to happen to anchor it, like the Cubs winning the
World Series or something. The next year they did. So, along with that, there's the
story of the Giants, 50 years after moving to San Francisco, finally winning not one,
but three World Series in the decade, 2010, 1012 & 2014.

And 2017 had a slew of stories...the Cubs trying to repeat. Several teams trying to make
history and/or overcome droughts: The Indians; not winning a World Series in nearly 60 years.
The Dodgers; not having been to a World Series in 30 years, despite winning the division the
previous 6 years in a row. Astros trying to win a WS for the first time while playing in a city
ravaged by a hurricane and destructive flooding. The Nationals trying to get past the play-offs
to a WS for the first time ever.

And in the summer, two incredible streaks. The Cleveland Indians went on a 21 (was it) game
winning streak and ended their season with 33-4 record.  At the same time the Dodgers went
through the summer with a 32-4 record, right before they went on an unexplainable streak
losing 11 in a row, and a stretch of 5 wins and 20 losses.

The Sports Illustrated curse was highlighted. People say if the magazine highlights your team
or a person in any way, bad things come your way, or their predictions fall flat.  In 2014 the
magazine predicted the Astros would win the WS in 2017 and the day before the Dodgers
losing streak they asked if they were the "Best Team Ever?"



Of course, the WS had run records, the second longest game ever with 26 runs scored, the hottest game ever played, etc.
And we have two more years to provide some more stories and history.

So I hope Burns will do this because I enjoyed watching the whole series again.
All 1363 minutes of it, or nearly 23 hours.  Plus 2 hrs. 35 minutes of bonus features!

[fritzkep]

That would be fantastic, to bring it to the present!

[Lyle (Mooska)]

Jonn, you like?

[fritzkep]

It was such a nice touch, in his previous documentary "Empire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio", when it closed at the end of the credits with the words "BASEBALL NEXT" in Morse Code.

I love stuff like that.

[fritzkep]

At the beginning of the season the Washington Post included in its special Nationals section a large (half-broadsheet) photograph of Bryce Harper in all his bearded glory catching a low ball. Really nice.

[Lyle (Mooska)]

It was such a nice touch, in his previous documentary "Empire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio", when it closed at the end of the credits with the words "BASEBALL NEXT" in Morse Code.

I love stuff like that.

I never got the hang of Morse Code.

Do you know that the owners of the Boston Red Sox (the Yawkeys) have their initials in Morse Code,
painted onto the dividers on the green monster. This was on one of the special features on the Baseball series.

(The red light on top of the Capitol Records building in Hollywood, spells out "Hollywood" in Morse Code.)

[Lyle (Mooska)]

At the beginning of the season the Washington Post included in its special Nationals section a large (half-broadsheet) photograph of Bryce Harper in all his bearded glory catching a low ball. Really nice.

Have you seen Bryce Harper interviewed or talking to anyone on camera? I haven't and I ask
because when you see photographs of him he looks mean or something (bothered/intense?)
and other times not so much. I wondered what kind of personality he has.

[Lyle (Mooska)]

This one?





(Someone's selling it on eBay.)

________

What's going on here?

[fritzkep]

This one?





(Someone's selling it on eBay.)

That's the one. I've got it. It was included in the subscription price of the newspaper.

And yes, Morse is used in a lot of hidden places!

I never got the hang of it either. Earl knows it a little bit, he's been a licensed amateur radio operator since high school, though he's never had any transmitting equipment.

mod: just talked with Earl, he has a commercial radio broadcasting license, but didn't get the amateur till they eliminated the code requirement.

[fritzkep]

This one?





(Someone's selling it on eBay.)

________

What's going on here?

He's quite a looker!

[Flyboy]

Jonn, you like?

LOL!! Whit! He's such a young stud, strutting all around out on the field! I saw him LIVE at the KC stadium in his
debut there......I think he's a little excitable at times! 

[Flyboy]

This one?





(Someone's selling it on eBay.)

________

It's an odd pic, looks like a TSA agent is patting him down!! LOL....

What's going on here?

[Lyle (Mooska)]

Jonn, that KC photo is their uniform for the TURN AHEAD THE CLOCK night with the Mariners coming up.
The Uniform is supposed to be a design of what they might wear in the future, with the crown logo and such.

20 years ago they played the Mariners and the Mariners came up with the TURN AHEAD THE CLOCK night
as a promotion.  MLB liked it so much they had a TATC night for most all the teams the following year. They
haven't done it since, but I loved it. The Mariners thought they'd do it again 20 years later when they play
KC again next month!

[Lyle (Mooska)]

Well, Fritz, the Dodgers helped you into 2nd place tonight by beating the Phillies!
You're welcome!    Atlanta lost, too, so you are 1/2 game out of first place!

It was the Dodgers biggest come back game of the year. It was 4-0 into the 6th and we
scored 2 runs. In the 8th inning we scored 3 runs and won 5-4! We also moved up into
3rd place because the Giants lost! Arizona and Colorado both won, so we didn't gain any
on them and are still 3 1/2 out.