American Author
Continue reading “Jeremy’s Journal: Magical Art Class Assignment”
Whether it was kickball, tetherball, hopscotch, or even four square, Fred Lynn, also known on the playground as “Skinny Lynny,” had a knack for dominating any and all athletic ventures that he opted to put energy toward. By the age of 10, his exceptional ability granted him the opportunity to ferociously compete against seasoned 12-year-olds on the baseball diamond. After winning batting titles in both Little League and Pony League, the adults in the area started to take notice of Fred’s aptitude. During his middle school ball games, the local high school baseball coach often observed Fred from the stands, admiring the talent of the young prospect and ultimately envisioning the pivotal role the youngster would play on his team in the coming years.
Continue reading “Athlete Interview: Fred Lynn (Boston Red Sox Legend)”
While the numbers on the business side were somber, Major League Baseball was still able to skate by in 1995 due to a few lucky breaks. The first person that baseball needed to give thanks to was Cal Ripken Jr., who, because of his consecutive-game streak, practically kept the game alive on his own. As mentioned at an earlier point in the story, it was in September of ’95 when Ripken broke Lou Gehrig’s 2,130-consecutive-games record. This pursuit alone, having begun back in 1982, was of national interest at the time and was, by year’s end, arguably the biggest story in all of sports. Sure, Michael Jordan returning to the NBA in March after his brief time in baseball was special, but he and the Bulls came up short in the playoffs in a series loss to Penny Hardaway and Shaquille O’Neal’s Orlando Magic team, so that occurrence, while a fascinating one, didn’t come with the storybook ending like Cal’s did. In addition, Mike Tyson’s return to the ring in late ’95 following a three-year prison stint captivated sports enthusiasts, especially with how ‘Iron Mike’ eviscerated both Peter McNeeley and Buster Mathis Jr., but even his comeback didn’t compare to what Ripken had done. The whole situation was almost too good to be true. The type of script that even the most renowned screenwriters would have a hard time coming up with. Let’s start with whose mark it was that Ripken was breaking. Had it been Joe Schmoe’s record from back in the day, it’s quite possible that the amount of attention and praise that Ripken received as he inched closer and closer to eclipsing it would have been a fraction of the size that he ended up welcoming. Thanks to the baseball gods, it was Laruppin’ Lou who played in 2,130 straight ballgames. An unbroken chain of events that started on June 2, 1925, when Gehrig pinch-hit for Paul Wanninger in the 8th inning of a contest with the great Walter Johnson of the Washington Senators on the mound. During the illustrious run, thanks in large part to Gehrig’s sweet play, the Yankees had an overall winning percentage of .625. From an individual standpoint, after finishing the 1925 season with a batting average of .295, Gehrig would go on to hit .300 or better for 12 straight seasons. He collected at least 200 hits, 40 home runs, and 150 RBI in five of those years. No other player in the history of the sport has done that for more than two seasons. Immortals of the game like Babe Ruth, Rogers Hornsby, and Joe DiMaggio all did it once during their distinguished careers. Again, Gehrig did it 5 times.
After the 232-day strike bled into the Spring, the parties involved needed to come together and discuss another pressing matter, which was the schedule for the impending 1995 season. Thanks to the baseball gods, this conversation didn’t take too long, as the players and owners came to an agreement on a syncopated 144-game schedule. While it would allow the real players time to practice with their clubs, which, on paper, would enhance the quality of the regular season contests, it was another move that irked baseball fans, particularly those who obsess over the record books and consume the product each year in a perpetual state of anticipation, hoping that one of the game’s stars would shatter a historic single-season mark. A truncated set of games meant the chances to witness history over the course of the next six months went right down the drain.
Continue reading “Major League Baseball History: Angry Fans of ’95”
Continue reading “Major League Baseball History: The Strike Bleeds Into Spring Training”
On September 14th, 1994, with no progress being made between the owners and players during the first month of the strike, the anticipated bomb detonated over the sport. The kind of explosion that, due to its puissance, would leave a lasting impact on the game for years to come. Bud Selig, who, at this time, was now serving as acting commissioner of MLB, held a news conference at Milwaukee County Stadium to broadcast the sour 411 that everyone knew was coming. For the first time since 1904, there would be no World Series. Carrying out The Fall Classic while countries were clashing? Not an issue. The show went on each year during World War I, even in 1918, when the influenza pandemic stung the nation at a more-than alarming rate. Hosting the sacred event amid The Great Depression? No problem. Though, according to the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library & Museum, Hoover, the President of the United States at the time of the calamity, was warbled with a string of boos from the fans after throwing out the first pitch prior to Game 3 of the 1931 World Series. Years later, when World War II was at its height in terms of mania, the league, despite losing some of its stars to combat, persevered and carried on with the 1943 World Series with a slight scheduling modification due to wartime traveling restrictions.
Continue reading “Major League Baseball History: The Season is Over (September 1994)”
Continue reading “Major League Baseball History: Florida Marlins and Colorado Rockies”
Before the world turned digital, physical collectibles were king. As mentioned in a prior post, during childhood, to embody my baseball monomania to perfection, I gathered as much MLB-related possessions as possible. From team hats, trading cards, books, magazines, to posters, action figures, and bobbleheads, if the entity represented baseball in any fashion, you bet I had it.
Circa 2002. Though I was just 6 years old at the time, my obsession with Major League Baseball was already in full-swing. As my level of consciousness evolved at a high rate with each ensuing sleep, so too did my desire to latch onto anything baseball-related. Along with watching the local Red Sox games every night, and scanning the baseball section in the Boston Globe to keep up with the League Leaders every morning, I would beg my mother to gift me all types of physical objects affiliated with MLB. Trading cards, magazines, books, even the McFarlane brand MLB player action figures. If it had any correlation with my prized sport, I wanted it, and by good fortune, I would receive it. Soon enough, I had binders that were chockfull of cards, a mini library of Matt Christopher’s MLB-player focused biographies, an art-show’s worth of player toys, and a stack of magazines that I could scan through to read about my favorite players.