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.
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”.
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
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’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.
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.
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
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.
Here are the MLB team salaries going back to 1993. Figures are from USA Today. Notice where the Yankees are each year and by how much. It’s breathtaking: (more…)
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.
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:
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.
Up early and caught the first pitch of the 2008 MLB season while booting up with the coffee to take the Babe Ruth statue down to DC to the Gaylord Hotels’ newest property: The National. A lot of work has gone into this project and it didn’t end until 2am last night. Babe’s ready. I’m tired but ready and excited to see the hotel and Babe’s new home outside the sportsbar there. I’d like to thank my wife and my boss (Nightrangers) for being understanding at various points (different points) all along the way. We need the money to send little Tommy to college someday so you have to try sometimes and when you try, good things happen. Thanks.
I’ve spoken of him before, and even of this event re him, but I found a written account of the game that 93 year old Max claims to have gone to at the Polo Grounds. Apparently the Yankees were out of town. Max is a big Yankee fan and he lived at 165 and Grand Concourse in the Bronx. Yankee Stadium is at 161st. The Polo Grounds was right across the Harlem River in Manhattan at 155th Street and Max was such a fan that he’d go and see the National League doings there if the Yanks were away. So that way, he didn’t miss Mel Ott, JoJo Moore, Bill Terry, Chick Hafey, The Waner Brothers, Lloyd and Paul and the Gashouse Gang.
This series with the Deans pitching lights out is as the center of the Gashouse Gang legend in 1934, the year they won it all. The Gashouse Gang was the St. Louis Cardinals, for those who don’t know. They got their nickname somehow because of a comment that the American League champs wouldn’t play them “in a gashouse”, whatever that means. “Gashouse” was some sort of Depression-era place or phrase and I have no idea what it means.
The Gashouse Gang had the last 30 game winner in the National League in Dizzy Dean and his brother Paul Dean, who won 19. The manager was Hall of Famer Frankie Frisch, “The Fordham Flash”, who had already played in a ton of World Series with McGraw’s Giants and the 1931 Cards.
The shortstop was Hall of Famer (as manager–he couldn’t hit) Leo Durocher, who up until that time, was known for passing bad checks and stealing money from his drunken roomate, Babe Ruth, on the ’28 Yankees.
Third base was Pepper Martin, “The Wild Horse of the Osage”. Martin, not only played third without a cup, he such a country boy, he played without even any underwear.
Ripper Collins drove in a 100+ at first and Joe “Ducky” Medwick played the outfield and had to be removed from the 7th game of the World Series in Detroit, because his presence was inciting a riot. Yup. The commisshioner yanked him off the field to restore order. The commisshioner was Landis and you should use a lower case “c” for Landis, because he doesn’t deserve a capital “c”. He’s the racist bum who single handedly kept non-whites out of the big leagues for 27 years until Branch Rickey stepped up and signed Robinson. Besides being a low-down nasty thing to do, it deprived us of seeing guys like Josh Gibson play against big league competition. And Satchell Paige and Buck O’Neill and Judy Johnson and Double Duty Radcliff and on and on. Every stadium’s tape measure homer story that didn’t involve Babe Ruth, involved Josh Gibson.
Anyway, Max was at this very historic game, for all of you seamhead geeks who like this stuff. Apparently, it was the attendance record at the Polo Grounds.
