Jackie Robinson Day 4/15/2012 Citizens Bank Park

For the 2nd straight year, we were guests of the Philadelphia Phillies on the occasion of Jackie Robinson Day, April 15, 2012. The statue is a one-of-a-kind, hand-carved, solid-wood statue, depicting Robinson in a 1955 home Dodger uniform. Everything you see on that statue is wood; the shoes, shoelaces, hat, skin, uniform: everything. Fans enjoyed taking photos with it all game long. It was a great experience and I want to thank the Phillies, particularly Kenny Johnson and Deb Rinaldi, for their work in making this come off so easily.

Jackie’s next stop is scheduled to be the Negro League Baseball Museum in Kansas City, MO, in time for this Summer’s All-Star game, which is in KC this year.

The Phillies crew gets some close ups of Jackie right off the bat.

The boys eat lunch behind the sign. It’s a long drive down for them and they need some fuel.

The boys each got a Phillie Phanatic from the guys at the Phillies. It was a very generous gift for them and they loved them! All day, they were our constant companions.

Here’s Gregg Murphy of the Phillies going over our in-game spot in the 5th inning. They could not get a camera to show the statue live, so they used the shots they had gotten earlier and we did the spot from the standing room section behind the left field foul pole. Murphy was very nice and put me at ease and the spot came off nice and relaxed.

The boys were tired but rallied in the suite. We only had an inning or two up there, because we have to be with the statue mostly, but we did get up there. The two gentlemen in the background are the fellows who played for the Phildelphia Stars in the early 1950′s. They signed the ball we got last year and we were glad to see them again. The Tuskegee Airmen were in a different suite and I got over there in time to speak to a few of them and that was a real nice treat. They are great guys and the country should be aware of their sacrifices under trying conditions.

The boys pose with their Phanatics.

The boys loved the doughnut car and even got some freebies.

All in all, it was a wonderful day. Both boys were old enough to go and really enjoyed it. The Phillies’ staff was just great as always and we hit all of our marks during the day. Many, many people said very nice things about the statue and it’s always great to get the statue out in front of baseball fans and hear their comments. It makes all the hours spent covered with sawdust seem worth it. Thanks, everybody. Hope to see you next year.

Unique Curt Schilling life size “bloody sock” sculpture to be auctioned for ALS

Click here to go to the site in a new window

Recently completed: a solid-wood, hand carved, life size statue of Curt Schilling’s leg (yes, leg). The sculpture will be auctioned off to benefit ALS at a future date to be determined.

I had a ball making this item and I really like it although it generates some interesting responses, from bemused to, “who’s Curt Schilling?” from the non-sporting crowd. I have had it in front of people and the responses have been nice.

I got so tired of people not understanding that my art was 100% wood, even, at times, when they were standing in front of it and being told by me that it was wood. You would be surprised. So with this piece, I put it right out there and I plan on doing that with all of my pieces from now on.

* And before anyone asks me, I’ll tell you. ALS is handling the auction. It’s not on any fast track right now. Yes, I have tried to contact Curt Schilling through social media to propose the idea that he sign it to give it legs in the auction. Since I’m not making a dime off of it, I figured that I’d at least be acknowledged and to date I have not been. Am I disappointed in that? Well, to be completely honest, I am a little, I have to admit, but, I know he’s doing this huge launch to a product that his company has sweated blood to produce, so I understand the busyness.

I know he has people coming at him from all angles with his gaming company and on and on, so I do respect the demands placed on him, however, when someone spends the time I did, meticulously creating an art object for a charity auction for a cause that he champions, then I would hope for an acknowledgement at least. Even if the answer is “no”, which it could easily be. He may be uncomfortable getting too close to something that might appear self-serving. I would totally respect that. But I would like to at least hear, “message rcvd. great work. sorry, no can do good luck”. That’s it. Would that be too much? I read 10 tweets a day from him about the video games and sundry so it’s not like he’s not plugged in. Oh well, everything happens for a reason. So don’t ask me this question again! Got it? haha. Thanks.

Addendum: The Jackie Robinson statue looks like it will be appearing at Citizens Bank Park for the Mets-Phils on Sun April 15, 2012, but I do not have confirmation on that as of right now. It’s a strong possibility however. Love to see everyone there. Day game! Very pleased that the schedule makers did that.

Also, I am in talks with the Negro League Baseball Museum to have Jackie shipped out to Kansas City and displayed at the museum through the All-Star Game period. I’m very happy about that as well. Jackie belongs there and I hope a lot of folks get to see him.

Artie Shaw, Bobby Thomson and why the Cards have already won it

The Cards just look ready and centered for this. Seeing Ron Washington send up Esteban German, who had not had an at bat since Sep 15, and he strikes out with a man on second…brutal.

Cards in 5 or 6. I have rarely or ever seen a team so poised to play postseason as LaRussa’s group is. They KNOW they will win. They conduct themselves like that. Baseball is mental and the Cards have that conquered.

I loved Joe Buck comparing LaRussa to John J. McGraw. McGraw was hated in his time. Edd Roush didn’t want to go play for him. He lost the 1908 pennant because he was hated. Good analogy for Tony? haha. I can not deny, however, the degree to which I feel the Cards are READY for this. They are out ahead of the game. You want to use the phrase dujour? The game “slows down” for them.

I actually find that “slowing down the game” to be a very apt description of it. Since I have started playing soccer again, for the first time since the mid 80′s, I really feel that is very descriptive.

When you are not confident, you tend to feel that there is LESS TIME to do something, than in actuality. The great clarinetist and bandleader, Artie Shaw, had one of my favorite quotes. I read it 30 years ago and still dredge it up from time to time. Folks gushed about his playing and he downplayed it by saying something along the lines of [I'm paraphrasing] “There is more time than you realize between things that seem to happening very fast”. He was talking about “fast” in a musical setting of course, but his point is that with practice, you can gain familiarity and effectively LENGTHEN the time that you have to make decisions, between closely spaced events.

In soccer recently, I have seen this in spades. Even though I haven’t played in 30 years with people, (except for a handful of pickup games), I have spent hours hitting the ball, two footed, off of walls. It’s a form of cardio exercise that I have always enjoyed. So my footy skills are decent, but my game vision is not!

When I first started back up, I would feel that I had no time to do things, ergo, I rushed them and had really bad results. I resorted to consciously trying to slow myself down–slowing down my decision making; picking up my head and looking around. All of a sudden, I wasn’t forcing passes that weren’t there. The great Jan Molby, of Liverpool, once said to Jamie Rednap, “…you can’t play what you don’t see”. And he’s right. It’s not enough to have a hunch that a blur in your peripheral vision is a runner with the right color shirt on, you have to SEE it and KNOW that they are there.

So it’s counter intuitive, but by slowing down YOUR reactions, you actually have better results, because your brain needs an extra beat to take in information and process it before you act on it. Now in soccer, you might make 30 or 40 key decisions in a game, if not more. But a fielder in a world series baseball game? Maybe he makes 3 or 4 key decisions; maybe even just one per game. You don’t get the chance at redemption in pressure baseball, is my point. You better get that decision right.

One step in on a ball over your head? Throw to the wrong base in a bunt situation? Very little room for error, so the team that can slow it down enough to make the correct decision, is, like Artie Shaw, aware that there is a beat more time to make these decisions than the inexperienced panicking player THINKS there is.

And bear in mind that the ability to calm yourself and remain in this “calm-but-centered” state is difficult to maintain! It’s not as easy as just THINKING it! It’s a well-honed discipline. For me, in soccer, sometimes making an early dopey decision can actually SHARPEN it! And sometimes, it can wreck it. While you can “find” it mid-game, I feel that more often, it’s a product of your mental attitude before the game. How do you feel? Do you feel strong? Are you excited to play? Or did you just look at the forward you will be covering and get that sense of dread, as in, “…I can’t go step-for-step with that guy!”

What I’m saying is that it’s a mental approach that can not be faked or manufactured and yet it is so important to performance, particularly under pressure. The team that can generate this feeling of confidence and maintain it, will prevail–it is often the difference. It can also be said, I believe, of managers and coaches and gaffers. It can also be contagious among team mates and coaxed at times among team mates.

Look for this in the games that are left. Ask yourself which team seems more confident in the moment? And realize that it doesn’t always mean that the player with this feeling will always get a hit–always succeed. It just means what Bobby Thomson told himself on Oct 3, 1951, before he hit “The Shot Heard Around the World”. He went up to hit thinking, “…give yourself a CHANCE to hit”.

And he did.

Jackie Robinson Statue Tour of Philadelphia

After 3 hours of sleep, it was up at 3am and driving down from NY with the Jackie Robinson statue to do the first of many interviews and appearances at Fox. Ably assisted by Kenny Johnson and Deb Rinaldi of the Phillies, we hit our marks out in front of Fox at 7:20am. A few teaser shots and then a short interview with Fox 29′s John Anderson. Click here to see the interview in a new window

Then it was immediately over to CBS3 for another interview with Uke Washington and Kenny and Deb of the Phillies. Click here to see the interview in a new window

Here’s a small clip my brother took from a little way away during the Uke Washington interview:

Then it was on to a community Jackie Robinson Event at the Philadelphia Stars Memorial at Belmont and Parkside Aves, in Philadelphia. That crossroads was the location of the Philadelphia Stars ballpark. The Stars were Philly’s entry in the old Negro League. Later this day, my family would get to meet two of the last surviving members of that franchise.

There were many groups attending and special promotions from the Phillies. The children were having a ball and posed for this photo.

There were several groups and this particular group did a dance number before posing.

There were many nice monuments marking the site and those who were a part of it. I really enjoyed meeting regular folks from this community and just listening to the older fellows tell me how much Jackie Robinson and Monte Irvin and Larry Doby meant to them growing up. You know, when you do an event like this, those dusty pages in a history book become real live anecdotes and recollections and it was amazing to take it all in. It was also very flattering to hear the very sincere compliments for the statue. When you spend that long covered with itchy sawdust, it is very gratifying to hear these things and see the sparkle in their eyes, as opposed to words on a page.

Here we are finally at The Bank. It’s early; well before batting practice and my amazing handlers with the Phillies (Kenny Johnson & Deb Rinaldi) lined up a couple of more interviews. The first was with John Mayberry, the man who’s hit won the exciting Phils opener. I don’t have any photos of that interview but it went very well and it was nice to see and hear John’s reaction to the statue. It was probably the first time I had spoken to someone who was directly in line with Robinson’s courageous work, so it was extra special for me.

After that piece, we did a short interview with Comcast out in dead center field. What a beautiful backdrop! I have been to 40 different major league ballparks in my lifetime and Citizens’ Bank Park is my favorite building. Everything about it just feels right.

All night it was the same thing: folks lined up in a semi circle around it, taking photos and asking questions. It never gets old. I met some really tremendous people and heard just an amazing array of stories and anecdotes about Robinson, Civil Rights, baseball, art and on and on. This part of it is easy and never feels like work.

By this point in the day, I’m feeling my 3 hours of sleep and nonstop itinerary pretty acutely, however, a great subplot was that my 3.5 year old son, Thomas, came to the game and it was his first time in a big league ballpark! What a way to break in! His uncle Bob, shown below, was holding him up to see the Phillies take batting practice and he caught a BP homer left handed while holding Thomas in his right hand! So on his first game day, Thomas gets a ball!

Later on this evening, Thomas got the ball signed by the last two remaining Phildelphia Stars and for that I am very grateful and want to thank both the Stars and again, my Phillies guardian angel, Kenny Johnson. Kenny is just a pro’s pro and he hit his marks (and kept me hitting mine) all day long with aplomb. He put on a clinic. It’s a pleasure to watch someone do something that they are so good at, whether it be art, or sports, or even business.

Below is Thomas showing off his baseball. How great is that?

Here’s the family; my wife Carol and Thomas (Jack Benny is too little and is spending the day with his grandparents). I’m looking a bit tired by this point and perhaps a bit cold as the temp dropped towards gametime, but on April 15th in the East, you are going to have that. I was just thanking God all day that there was no rain as that was the one thing that would have given us a problem.

Since my statues are 100% solid wood, they will not hold up to weather, so it was a concern. All around baseball, there are many life size statues that honor players but they are all bronze. Bronze is great for holding up to weather and can be outdoors permanently. But Bronze is one color. The great thing about the wooden statues is that I can show color and isn’t baseball a colorful thing anyway? Add to that the color component of the Robinson story and it makes a nice fit. There are currently no color statues such as this permanently residing in any major league ballpark. Wouldn’t it be nice (and somehow fitting) for this statue to be the first?

After a little breather, I did two more spots thanks to Deb Rinaldi and Kenny Johnson. The first was a spot right behind the statue that went very well. It was what they call a “talkback”, which means, I wore an earpiece and had to listen for a cue from an unseen host. It was hard to hear with the crowds and I was worried that I would miss the cue or not be able to make out what the host was asking me, but it turned out to be the best one all day just about. I think I was too tired to be nervous! I’ll tell you, I have new respect for anyone who makes their living with a mike and a camera. They make it look easy–it isn’t.

Here is a link to that spot: Click here to see the NBC interview in a new window

Here’s what it looked like. I sure look rigid in this shot, but I felt pretty loose, all in all.

After that, I had to run halfway around the stadium and do a pregame radio spot and that was fun and went really well. By then I suppose, it didn’t seem so strange to be doing this stuff.

On the way back to the statue from the plate area, I heard my voice on the PA and quickly ran down the tunnel to the seating area, so that I could see the Phanavision screen. They were showing my 2 minute video which I had narrated. It was the strangest sensation to hear my voice blaring around Citizens Bank Park like that, but there it was. It was a day of things like that and one that I’ll never forget.

Here is a quick video of the end of it:

Click here to see the full 2 minute video in a new window

I mentioned that two of the old Philadelphia Stars had signed Thomas’ ball and here are their names on the statue by their old stomping grounds which we had visited earlier.

The gentlemen who signed were Mahlon Duckett and Harold Gould. I also got a chance to meet some of the Tuskegee Airmen and that was a big thrill. My father and just about all of my uncles were WWII vets. Men of that generation shaped me more than any other and I have read a great deal about that war and so it was just tremendous to shake the hand of men who flew Jugs and P-51′s against the Germans in those dark days.

Guys like that gave us a lot of freedom and I think it gets taken for granted sometimes, unfortunately. The Tuskegee Airmen, not only had to deal with bombs and bullets, but the institutionalized racism of the day: a double whammy. They are great men for having done all of that and children should know their story.

And again and again, all night, folks stopped by to talk, take photos and ask questions. It was great.

April 15th 2011, a day in which the Jackie Robinson statue went many places and met many nice folks, hopefully, making them happy and spreading awareness of what went on, not that long ago. The statue is tentatively slated to visit the Negro League Baseball Museum in Kansas City later this Summer but as of right now, there are no details.

I want to thank the Philadelphia Phillies for all of their support. I have worked with various organizations and baseball clubs through the years, but I have never seen the professionalism and can-do spirit that I did these past few weeks while working with the Phillies. As I have said, much of that was through the hard work of Kenny Johnson and Deb Rinaldi, who made it easy to do all of these things without one single hitch. As I look back at the itinerary and see all the marks we hit from 7am to 10pm, I am amazed that it went so seamlessly and that is a testament to their diligence. I hope to work with them again in the future.

Here’s my takeaway shot for the day: the first time my little buddy is at a big league game. It was filled with memorable things. I have to wonder, however, that at 3 and a half, will he remember it years from now? I hope he does. I know I will.

Thanks for all the kind words and stories! Enjoy the game.

This was the basic scene all night:

Noise at MLB Games

I have railed about it before. Noise at ballgames. Not the natural noise of the game, mind you, but the incessant noise pumped in over the PA’s during every single lull in the game. Walk-up music. Between innings music that makes just conversing with the person in the seat next to you, a challenge. Many is the time I’ve come back from games absolutely horse! And not from yelling at the ballgame–just from trying to discuss things in the seats!

The marketing departments got a hold of our game and ruined it by insisting that every single open moment in the game was filled with [air quotes] entertainment, as if a 35 year old BTO song at ear-bleeding volume is entertaining to ANYone. I don’t know anyone who likes this stuff. Look, we’re baseball fans. We like a leisurely pace. We like to talk strategy and fantasy and what did this guy do last week, last month, last year. We KNOW when the game is coming to a head because we are fans–we don’t need endless sound effects to pump us up. It’s beyond ridiculous.

So as the reader(s) knows, I have gone to most parks in the country (40 and counting) and have this same complaint at every joint I go to. This weekend, I was at the Nationals’ Park in DC. I was on biz, so I was alone, which can be a weird experience at times, but thankfully, I sat next to two decent, knowledgeable and funny guys and we had a good time kibitzing about the game over the noise.

I gave the guy my website and he looked at my lifesize baseball statues and shot a quick email and I shot one back. He mentioned that he is an attorney. I said that he should launch a class action suit and that I would like to be listed as a plaintiff. I said he should sue the Nats for hearing loss for the in-game noise that they subject us to. I said to sue for $1.00 only–just make a point for publicity’s sake.

Today he wrote back: “Fog: True, a great game, but an even better idea! We’ll do it under the DC Consumer Protection Act. We need a DC resident as first named plaintiff, but we’ll fit you in somewhere!”

So I may have struck a blow for the obnoxious in-game experience at major league games! And it’s ironic that it will originate in DC–fitting really. Stay tuned to this one, it could be amusing.
–Fog

Life Size, Solid Wood Statue of Mickey Mantle for sale

Saw some search engine searches coming through that had the text string “Mickey Mantle statue” in them, so I figured I would put this out there.  This photo was taken at Mickey Mantle’s Restaurant on Central Park South in New York City way back in the mid-90′s.

I still have this statue in inventory–inquiries welcome!

He’s life size in all details and depicted in that classic Mantle left-hand hitting power stroke.  The foot print is about 5 feet in length by about 2.5 feet in width.

To see more: www.birrerart.com

How to argue with Yankee fans

[sigh] I have to go over this one more time, because I just heard it again.  I was lamenting the Yankees (and to a MUCH lesser extent the Mets) just spending ridiculous amounts of cash and rendering MLB a joke on a lot of levels.  Anyone who reads The Pinetar Rag is well aware of this, and probably tired of it too.

So a guy I know accuses me of being “Socialist” because I complain about the bigger market teams out spending the small market teams by 10-1 at times.

Here’s the correction:  “Socialism” is the situation when GOVERNMENTS heavily tax their population under the guise of providing goods and services that would otherwise be provided by the private sector.  So instead of choosing the item and paying for it out of your pocket, the government takes the money out of your pocket, in the form of taxes, and provides their government version of the service.  You no longer make the choice–the politician and the voters who stamp it, make that decision for you.  Once it’s made, you have no other options.

Now in baseball, it’s a professional sports league.  The league is holding out to the public, the concept that their contests will be fair contests among the teams.  If the contests were not viewed as “fair”, by the paying public, they would not pay money to see them–would not waste their time.  This is the concept behind the anti-gambling stance of Major League Baseball; to keep the game’s on-the-field-fairness-and-integrity sacrosanct, because everyone’s lively hood rests on that cornerstone.  A guy mixed up in gambling might be willing to “sell” games, as Hal Chase of the Yankees did with abandon in the 19-oughts and teens.

When I advocate that the league do something (salary cap) to prevent the Yankees from just buying up players and spending over 200 million while the lesser clubs have to get by on 30, 40 and 50 million, I advocate it because I don’t think the on-field contests are fair anymore.  How can they be?  I think the integrity of the game is compromised when the Yankees can do what they have been doing with all that money.  The Yankees’ spending is antithetical to fair contests.  It SHOULD be viewed with great alarm, but somehow, it isn’t.

The person who called me “Socialist” for wanting to cap or curb the kind of spending the Yankees do, is mixing up the contexts.  I don’t want the government to steal my freedom (taxes) and force me to take or leave their sub-par “services” whether I like it or not–with no “opt-out”, like with Social Security.  I’m not a Socialist.  That’s governments, got it?

But when I invest my time in a baseball game, I want some assurances that the deck isn’t just RIGGED with CASH, like it is now!  I want the league to address it themselves so I don’t have to think about it; so I can just enjoy the game.

The league is an artificial contrivance; a closed system.  By limiting the Yankees’ cash-sledgehammer, they are not being “Socialist”, they are actually delivering the product that they promised me; a fair product.

Anyone with a modicum of intelligence can look at a demographic map of the USA and see plainly, that all metro areas are not created equal, and thus, teams in those areas are not on equal footing with regard to generating cash!

Kansas City has 1.9 million souls.   Click here to bring up numbers in a new window

NY/NJ/CT metro area has about 19 million.

Only an idiot would set up a system where these two areas are considered “equal” in terms of cash generation.  You’re supposed to have a fair contest on the field but you are going to ignore these numbers?  My goodness.

So don’t advertise a “fair” fight on the field, when anyone who thinks about it knows it isn’t that way.

By this time in the fact-pattern, (usually from Yankee fans) I hear the talking points recited from memory, as if the Steinbrenners sent out a memo from their war-room, deep in the bowels (or the vault) of Yankee Stadium.  I’ll address the more common ones:

(1)  Money isn’t everything: look at the [names most recent high spending team that didn't win]

It doesn’t invalidate the Yankees’, cash-sledgehammer model if some other team wastes a lot money.  My goodness; anyone can blow through money!  Just because a fool squanders his money doesn’t decrease the VALUE of money, and the mountains it can move, for everyone else!  All it does is prove that one team and its management, was foolish that particular season, and no more.

The thought process is because the 1997 Orioles blew a ton of money, the Yankees can spend 100% more than the league mean, every year, and no one is supposed to notice?

Guess what?  We noticed.  The Orioles were stupid, but we’re not!

(2) The Yankees pay lots of luxury tax, and the “cheap” owners just pocket it

They do pay this but it is a pittance.  This money can not lift a Pittsburgh, KC or Cincinnati out of where they are: in small cash markets.  What it amounts to, in my opinion, is a line item on the MLB (and Yankees’) Public Relations Income Statement.  It is MLB’s way of fooling it’s customers (remember the fans?) into thinking, “see, we have addressed the spending disparity in our sport).”

No you haven’t!  Not even close! Since this thing went into action in 2003, the Yankees have paid out about 20 million per year.  During that same time, they outspent the league by an average of about 110 million PER YEAR!  So, even if you gave the FULL Yankee luxury tax to ONE average team spending 90 million dollars, the Yankees would STILL have outspent them by a whopping 90 million dollars, or, about DOUBLE.

Does that sound like they addressed it to you?  Me neither.  I’m not buying this.  But be fair, it’s wonderful PR, because many, many fans buy in 100% to this nonsense that the system is somehow fair.  And the media aids and abets the deceit, as they usually do in cases such as this.

(3) Owners like Pollad of Minnesota are billionaires who could easily write some checks and keep up with the Yankees.

This is my favorite because of it is the most “Candyland” of them all.  The premise is, “…the guy’s rich, so what if his team is in a small market, if he wants to compete with the Yankees, he can write checks out of his personal bank account!”

Listen closely to what’s being said. The owner, because others feel he “has the money”, should just DONATE his own PERSONAL money to his business, to keep up with the Yankees, otherwise, he is, somehow, not a “sport”.   This concept could be the height of Yankee-fans’-arrogance and stupidity.  For the honor of spending like a lunatic Steinbrenner, owner-X should PAY.  Pay for it himself.  Even if his business LOSES money in the process.

They want to tell another man how to run his business, and, basically, that he should run his business AT A LOSS, so that the Yankees and their fans don’t have to feel self-conscious about out spending the league by over a 100 million dollars every year!  I guess the Kool-Aid is: It’s ok that we spend like pigs because Pollad has untouched money in the bank.  [shaking my head] My goodness…

(4) The Yankees won with home grown guys like Bernie and Jeter and Posada.  It wasn’t money!

Because George Steinbrenner was banned from baseball and couldn’t trade them all away (he tried very hard to dump Bernie–read “The Last Night of the Yankee Dynasty” by Buster Olney), they DID have a home-grown nucleus, I’ll grant you.

But why did they win 4 titles in 5 years?  MONEY.  They payroll was the highest in baseball EVERY ONE of those championship years.  And the nucleus was young and not making the obscene money yet, so SOMEONE must have been paid to come in and help, and they were.  Mostly the big ticket pitchers.  The Key’s and Cone’s and Clemen’s and so forth.  So while yes, there were home-grown guys on the roster, don’t be fooled: the dynasty was resting on cash; lots of it.  Cash that towns like KC and Pittsburgh and Cincinnati don’t have access to.  Make no mistake.

(5) See?  Small market teams CAN win. [referring to 2003 Marlins]

Yes, it’s true, in 2003 the 150 million dollar Yankees lost to the 49 million dollar Marlins.  It can happen.  That’s because home field in baseball is only a 4% edge and the biggest edge you’re ever likely to see in the post-season is only about 65%, which means that 35 times out of 100, the lousy team will beat the juggernaut in a series.

But let’s examine what’s really behind this talking point.  Yankee fans throw this one out there as if to say, “sure we spend a lot, but you don’t have to spend to win…”  This is supposed to deflect attention from their massive cash outlays each year.

But there are 30 teams in MLB.  And the mean payroll in 2007 was 80 million. [click to see numbers] So let’s call 10 of them, the bottom third, truly “small market”.

Here are the last 10 world series winners:

2008 Phillies, 2007 Red Sox, 2006 Cardinals, 2005 White Sox, 2004 Red Sox, 2003 Marlins, 2002 Angles, 2001 DBacks, 2000 Yankees, 1999 Yankees

I can really only call the Marlins truly, “small market”.  So let’s double it and say that twice every 10 years, a small market team scales the heights.  So you might be tempted to think that, “…sure, about every 5 years, we have a puncher’s chance to run-out in the postseason”.

But not so fast!  There are 10 small market “trials” EVERY season!  That’s 10, different small market teams placing their small bets and spinning the wheel every year!  And out of all 10, only ONE of THEM scales the heights every 5 years or so.  But if you are one particular small market team, then you might have to wait longer.  You might have to wait 10 times 5 years = 50 years for your number to come up.  That’s the difference between referring to the population, and a given team IN the population.  Neat trick there, Yankee fans, but we ain’t buying it.  Being a fan in a small market stinks.  We watch our good players hit arbitration and then end up on the Yankees and coming back into town to kick the snot out of us.

Sure PNC park is the nicest place on Earth to watch a ballgame, but don’t blow the Yankee smoke up our bippies.  Please. –Fog

Jack-in-the-Hood

Babe Ruth In The Papers

Click here to open the story in the Washington Post in a new window. You may have to register a username and password but it is not a big deal.

This is the photo that is currently on the front page of the Washington Post’s Sunday Metro section:

Before I go any further, let me make sure that I take time to thank the staff at the Gaylord National Hotel inWashington, DC for their tremendous professionalism and attention to every detail. These people are the standard for their industry. I have, in all honesty, never seen such elan in my life. It was a real treat. With the hotel slated to open in a few days, you could ride on the energy of these folks as they readied their jewel of a hotel.

I would also like to thank Michael Hudson of Gaylord Hotels. He is a throwback to a more civil time in America and in business. He is a true gentleman and a visionary in his field. You don’t run into too many people like him and it was my good fortune to have done so. Thanks Michael, for everything.

This is a shot someone took for me with my camera during the installation.

The Babe Ruth statue is now permanently on display at the Gaylord National Hotel & Resort in Washington, DC at the new National Harbor area.

I went down there on Tuesday and stayed until Thursday and The Babe was installed and well received. The Washington Post came by and did a story on the hotel opening and included a fair amount of interest on the statue. I was not sure how much would run on the statue but I was pleased to have folks in Washington DC call and tell me the good news.

The full story of the statue and everything surrounding it is on the Birrerart.com website:

Click here to open the Birrerart.com website up in a new window

Other things that were noteworthy while I was down there was the fact that the Nationals has declared the sportsbar in the Gaylord as the official sportsbar of the team. Because of this, they had sent over the last home plate used at RFK stadium so it could be permanently installed at the entrance to the sportsbar. Here are a few shots of that and the Washington Post getting their story at the time:

That’s Michael Hudson, Director of Brands at Gaylord Hotels, with homeplate from RFK Stadium.

And here is the laying ceremony while the PR folks take photos.

***
The Gaylord National Hotel is so immense that it is difficult to photograph it all in one frame. The atrium that overlooks the Potomac River and Old Alexandria, Virginia, on the opposite bank, is 18 stories high. There is a village of little shops and fountains and trees and restaurants all inside the enclosure. It is so big that you mostly aren’t aware that you are inside.

Here is a view of the upper part of the atrium. These gaslights are 20 feet high. The scale is just hard to fathom.

On the 24th floor, there is a state of the art nightclub and one of the unique features is, believe it or not, the men’s room. Here are the fixtures and the view is outrageous. The Washington Monument can be seen while you are, well…ahem, you know. It’s just one of a myriad of details that make this hotel one of the most amazing in the world.

The Greatest Single Inning of Baseball

Just finished The Glory Of Their Times by Lawrence Ritter. Probably my 3rd reading in 20 years or so. I’m glad I hung on to it.