A New Hope

One of the few positives this year has been the new MLB (Major League Baseball) Network available on cable tv. The opportunity to view old games and see great historical players has been a real treat for Nazz junior and I.

Virtually every day we are able to share time together watching events that I had originally seen with his 10 year old eyes.

And last night, as we were watching Ken Burns History of Baseball (the 70's and 80's), the crawl at the bottom of the screen referenced today's opening spring training games.

Renewal.

Because, Baseball is a gift. The passing of memories from one generation to another. My father, years ago, telling me about the greats that he saw play and rooted for and me telling my son about my favorites and one day he'll tell his kids about the players he remembers (and the players that his dad and grand-dad saw).

It's nice to have some hope.

Toonage:

Ozzy Osborne - Take Me Out To The Ballgame (live Wrigley Field)

Ramones - Beat On The Brat (Live 1977 CBGB)

NOFX - Juicehead (Live Brixton, UK)

Jimmy Page w/ Mickey Finn and The Blue Men - Pills



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Now playing: Guitar Wolf - Refrigerator Zero
via FoxyTunes

Ba$eball

The Polo Grounds

1883-1963

Another baseball season is upon us and once again we have high hopes for the Mets and the Yankees to pull their heads out of their respective areses and bring the World Series trophy back to New York.

Aw, who am I kidding? As a Noo Yawker, I just don't a crap anymore. Both teams have ass raped New York City and are about to receive gift wrapped new stadiums. What a joke. Hundreds of millions of dollars worth of corporate playgrounds when the money should be used for, oh I don't know; how about:

Public Schools
New York's crumbling infrastructure
Public Transportaion
Housing
Food for the poor

and just about anything else you can think of.

Both teams have perfectly usable venues currently. And both teams will erect new facilities with LESS SEATING (the better to milk more money per seat and generate new luxury box revenue).

Plus, they've both jacked up their prices this year as well (for the privilege of attending a game at the "old" Yankee and Shea stadiums.

And while the teams have spent the last decade denigrating their stadiums, neither team is above cashing in on crass fake nostalgia.

On the field, it can't get any more pathetic then last year's showings, can it? Between the Mets' historic choke and the Yankees getting biblical wrath poured on them; 2007 was truly bizarre.

Ah screw it;
here's some music from some people who couldn't give a damn about baseball.

Toonage:
From the Norwegian production of The Rocky Horror Show:
Ta Meg, Ta Meg (Touch Me, Touch Me)
En Hip Tranvestitt (Sweet Transvestite)
Tiden Blir Skrudd (The Time Warp)

and here's a Thai version of a Ray Charles Classic
Payom Moogda - Tamai Dern Sae (What I Say)

here's a Baseball one...
Earl Weaver going bat shit on a radio show in the 70's

Baseball Altamont

I could care less if every Baseball player was taking steroids and HGH. If their heads exploded one day after they retired it would make no difference to me. As long as my team was successful (and The Yankees sure were), what do I care?
Athletes have been cheating forever… whether it was corked bats, stolen signs, amphetamines or anything else they could do to get an edge.
If someone gave me the opportunity to make millions of dollars playing baseball by shooting a needle into my arse, I’d do it in a heartbeat.
And of course they were going to lie and plead innocence… wouldn’t you?

In tribute to these brave warriors… I humbly offer the Bleedin’ Out Baseball mix.

Download the whole kit and caboodle by clicking here!

Toonage:
Yo La Tengo – Baseball Altamont
Weezer – We Are All On Drugs
The Vipers – Cheated And Lied
The Muffs – You Lied
The Clash – Cheat
Swingin’ Medallions – Double Shot Of My Baby’s Love
Stevie Ray Vaughn – Cold Shot
Sex Pistols – Liar (Live Atlanta – 1978)
Rolling Stones – Don’t Lie To Me
Ramones – Needles And Pins (demo)
Queen – Liar
Painted Ship – Little White Lies
Irma Thomas – Cheater Man
Husker Du – The Biggest Lie
Hank Williams – Your Cheatin’ Heart
Grateful Dead – Silver Threads And Golden Needles (live Chicago 1969)
Funkadelic – Hit It And Quit It
Face To Face – You Lied
Dexy’s Midnight Runners – Liars A To E

A Baseball Odyssey

The last couple of weeks have taken me on a journey of several Baseball stadiums. I offer these quick impressions of the parks...

NY Mets (Shea Stadium) - Aaah, my home stadium. Parking now officially sucks, as they are building the new stadium in the Centerfield parking lots. Shea is a not the most modern of stadiums (in fact at this point, at 44 years old, I think it's the third oldest in the Ntl League. However, the site lines are pretty good, the atmosphere is fun (Mr. Met shoots t-shirts into the stands, lots of music between batters and innings), there's a great food court and security is lax. No hassles bringing in food or drinks. My daughter and I were easily able to move from the upper deck into the lower mezzanine box seats with no trouble at all.

NY Yankees (Yankee Stadium) - Yeah, tradition is wonderful, The monuments are swell. It's living breathing history. The view from most seats is great (although the bleachers suck... and ya can't get booze out there anymore). However, the entire vibe of Yankee Stadium is awful. It's in a crappy neighborhood; it's a bitch to get there (the subways are packed and take forever); and the ushers are complete assholes. They practically give you a freakin cavity search to enter the stadium and check under your baseball cap and even check your cell phone. Forget about ordering food or beer there... it's hideously overpriced and you'd better count your change...many of the vendors will cheat you.
Plus A-Rod plays for the Yankees and he's a giant Pussy. Which matches perfectly with the "YMCA" sing-along that the Ground crew performs.
Yeccch.

Philadelphia Phillies (Citizen Bank Park) - Beautiful new stadium. Plenty of parking all around. Great sightlines, although many seats are in the outfield.
However, no tail-gating. They have big fat pseudo redneck cops roaming the parking lots all too willing to slap you with a $300 ticket. The Phillie Phanatic does a fun between inning's show. Lots of diversions for kids. Tasty food. Former Phillie Greg Luzinski has a bar-b-cue pit in right field (excellent BBQ Turkey sandwiches). Micro-Brew beer only $6 for a big cup. Phillie fans did not appreciate my rendition of New York New York during the 7th inning stretch however.

Chicago Cubs (Wrigley Field) - Baseball Nirvana. It's Woodstock and Octoberfest all rolled into one. The area around Wrigley is loaded with bars. Everyone is drunk. The almost 100 year old Wrigley Field has been called the world's largest beer garden. It's just one giant party for nine innings, even if the Cubs lose. And then the party continues afterwards. I was there for a Cubs/Cardinals game and even though they are big rivals, all taunting was done with extreme good nature. Extra points for serving shitty Old Style beer right out of the can. Speaking of cans, the bathrooms feature huge piss troughs and you can wave across to the guy pissing opposite you. The Ivy lining the brick outfield walls is beautiful. Plus, we had a bonus. There was an air show in Chicago the day I was there and Bombers and Thunderbirds were flying overhead. Cool stuff.
Wrigley is my favorite stadium in Baseball. In fact, the Cubs have become one of my favorite teams largely because I always have such a good time at Wrigley.

Toonage:
Beatles - Ticket To Ride (live Shea Stadium)
Sex Pistols - New York (demo)
Shadows Of Knight - New York Bullseye
Butterfield Blues Band - Born In Chicago
Replacements - Can't Hardly Wait (last show ever- Chicago)
William Penn V - Swami