Sometimes I wish I were a cat.
Where to start. The Iranian Uprising continues, Trump is trying to strong-arm the Supreme Court to do what he wants (because he put them there, he assumes loyalty, his modus operandi), hurricane Ian did horrible damage, hundreds of Indonesians were killed in a stampede at a soccer match, OPEC and Russia cut oil production, the Ukraine/Russia war continues, Putin seems to be mad enough to start a nuclear war, Elon Musk will probably buy Twitter, Maga followers are talking civil war, Brad Pitt has been acused of abuse by Angelina Jolie…
BUT Aaron Judge hit his 62nd home run of the season and broke Roger Maris’ record. That was nice. I’m happy for him, to have that pressure off his back.
Here then, completely avoiding the news, is the only cartoon of mine about baseball that The New Yorker published, in 1998.
At the time, the idea that one could buy a cell phone at a ball game seemed funny. Not any more, they probably have vendors selling them like hot dogs.
Baseball is a good thing to watch when you want to forget about the world for a few hours. I haven’t watched it enough this season, in fact hardly any at all. Maybe I’ll watch the playoffs to calm myself down. The pace of the game can be lulling and yet it has such human interest and psychological intrigue. Like waiting for Judge to break the record. I grew up on baseball, my father would take me to Senators games in Washington, DC, so I fell in love with the game and all its detail and nuance early.
In 2018, I had the joy of going to Yankee stadium for CBS News. I was given the opportunity to go to the dugout and draw the players warming up before a game. I even got to meet one of the team, Didi Gregorius! Anyway, here are some of the live, on site drawings of that wonderful day.
Didi asked to draw on my iPad, and of course I obliged. He’s an artist as well as a great baseball player. It was a thrill to meet him and be in the Yankee dugout.
As I said, baseball is a great diversion.
You going to give us a peek at Didi's drawing? Or is it just between you two? This is like a lost Michelangelo....
This was so awesome!!!
I posted this last night on my fb page regarding the retirement of Red Sox announcer (and bb hof'er) Dennis Eckersley ....
Apple cider, foliage, crisp air, more foliage, playoff baseball - I love autumn
Speaking of baseball, the Red Sox season ended today. 1 year to the day I sat front row at Fenway Park with my friend Alex at the Sox / Yankees playoff game. It was an amazing evening, no such luck this year.
This season has been painful, but no matter how bad the team does (and for as many World Series wins, there has been an equal amount of last place finishes) there has been one thing that has had me tuning in …......... Dennis Eckersley.
Eck retired today and I am truly going to miss him. In the old days of baseball there was real comfort in listening to the great broadcasters spin a game on the radio. I found that same comfort listening to Dennis Eckersley.
Smart, funny, kind, honest, warm and highly informative, Eck made each game a joy. For close to 20 years I have loved listening to him as I would wind down the night. I am amazed how sad I am to see him go. I sure do wish him well. I am so grateful for all those nights together.