Babe Ruth In The Papers

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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.

Detail Oriented Stadium Meister

Click here to open the site in a new window

http://www.majorleaguemodels.com/about.asp

This is something interesting I found while looking for the little plaster model of Yankee Stadium for 93-year-old-Max’s grandson. This man builds huge, tabletop scale models of old ballparks from scratch. You know, the exacto knife and the balsa wood and a thousand other things. I can relate to this man because of what I do with the wood products and all and will even admit to having built a cardboard model Shea Stadium in 1976 that was pretty darned good.

I love this kind of wacky, I’m-going-to-build-this-thing-in-my-cellar-and-sell-it-for-150k attitude. Take 5 minutes and visit the guy’s site. Look at the original wooden 1888 Polo Grounds model and see how baseball was just after the Civil War. It’s amazing work.

It also points out that I need to do better on my website. But now, we’re 7 minutes from the kickoff of Liverpool-Chelsea. The first league encounter of the year was way back in August, on the day we had our boy christened. I left for the church at half up 1-0 only to come home and find out that the ref called a silly PK and GIFTED the point to Chelsea. So strange was the call, that the next day, the ref PUBLICLY stated that he was wrong to point at the spot! I’ve never heard of such a thing but when taking points from the Reds, the refs have done some funny things. I think it’s because they all grew up in the 1970’s and 1980’s when Liverpool won every darned thing and I think there is some lingering resentment. Kind of like if I worked the plate at a Yankee game.

To give you an idea of how big these things get (he does different scales), take a look at the Old Comiskey Park. Old Comiskey is my favorite of the 38 ballparks I’ve been to. It was a real timewarp to go there and the place just felt right. They say that Jimmy Foxx hit two homers completely over the roof in left between the two light towers. Double-X was the best hitter no one’s ever heard of.

If the first 10 minutes of Liverpool Chelsea are any indicator, then Chelsea will get the points. They seem a whole gear faster than Liverpool and more confident and more creative. Liverpool look slow and I think it’s only a matter of time. Chelsea’s defense is so fast and shuts everything down so tightly, that I don’t see Kuyt and Crouchy cracking it. What we need is the pace of Fernando Torres.

Well, at least ManU lost their derby to City today. No points for Alex. That’s what you get for ripping your boss, Sir. With United coming away with none…if Chelsea could be beaten…oh stop dreaming. Wake up!  And I have to say: After watching only 25 minutes: Dirk Kuyt shouldn’t be in the first team.  Really.  He looks slow and lost.  Zero confidence.  And his play on the right is atrocious.  He can’t beat his man deep and he can’t do anything on the cut inside–every posession that reaches him, goes awry.  Perhaps he can be productive in the middle, but Crouchy is there now.  Play another midfielder and let them go forward.  Kuyt should come off.  Caragher has more mojo going up the right wing than this guy.  Oy.  Rafa.  Help. (Of course Kuyt till make an a** of me and score the winner but I’ll take it and eat my words if that is so).

Joe DiMaggio’s Eyes

Life Size Babe Ruth Statue Solid Wood

Just the facts.  He’s almost ready for delivery.  It’s down to touching up and a few hard-to-reach stripes and then deck work really.  Not much.  Maybe 20 hours.  Maybe only 10.  I have to call up some people now and get them to see it before he goes permanently to the Gaylord Hotel in Washington DC.  I understand that the Washington Nationals will be having a shindig there and Babe is sure to cause a stir.  I think the new park down in DC needs a life sized Walter Johnson, of Washington Senators fame.  Or Joel Hanrahan even?  Go Nats! 

Lifesize Babe Ruth (and Mickey)

There were some discussions at Floyd’s last night on the photos found here and one point (a good one) was that you really can’t see the scale too easily from the photos.  I agree.  Photos are my bane. These great looking statues just get crushed by photography.  I have had pros (and paid plenty) shoot them and the results aren’t a whole lot better.  There is NOTHING like standing next to one.  Photos don’t tell the whole story.  But here is a scale shot.  I have to use the timer and as you can see, it isn’t great.  But now you know.

In the other big development at Floyd’s, I learned that Murray’s Cheese Shop is not really on Bleeker Street, but faces another street.  But it looks like it could be on Bleeker to anyone but a postman, who get very precise about these sort of things.

These two shots are of Mickey Mantle, also life size.  This statue was completed in 1996 and needs a sprucing up.  I plan to do some work on the face as well.   Mickey’s face was the hardest one I’ve done and the reason is that he was so good looking, that he didn’t have any stand-out feature.  Ruth and DiMaggio have cartoonish faces that are easy to nail, comparitively.  Mickey spent a few months in Mickey Mantle’s restaurant in the 1990’s as the feature thing that you saw when you walked in the door.  That’s why he needs a refit mostly, because there was no room to create a buffer and the patrons could touch him, and, of course they did.

Last point.  Yesterday, I heard that the Mets will be charging $29 to park at Citi Field?  Are they for real?  That does it.  I hereby formally renounce my Mets fandom.  They can have it back, those plumbers.  I will not go to Citi Field and I will not pay $29 dollars to park my car for 3.5 hours by the airport and the stink of the chop shops on Roosevelt Ave.  I am hereby a fan of the Washington Nationals.  Go Nats.  **** the Mets. **** Fred Wilpon.   And Omar.  And Willy.  And the black uniforms that cater to gang inspired fashions.  And the drunken violence that makes my nephew say to me, “Uncle Fog, I’m scared” while watching a game against Philly in the upper deck last year.  And the ridiculously high percentage of Spanish players and promotions that make me feel like I might be in a foriegn country when I’m at the game.  And the EAR DAMAGING music that they blare out of the speakers all game long so that you go horse trying to converse with the person next to you.  And because Steve Phillips actually worked there.  Bu-bye.

Babe Ruth In Satin

Since you liked that one, here’s another. The pile of stuff between his feet is masking tape. Every single pinstripe is the result of two pieces of masking tape. You take 1″ tape and razor blade it down the middle. Then you use the good straight edge to define the outside of one stripe. Repeat for the other. Then you paint the stripe by hand, between the tape, with the Yankee blue acrylic paint. You peel the tape off, and there’s your stripe. I’ve experimented with many other methods: stamping, freehand, rolling. All of them are N/G. This is the best way. As you figured, it is slllloooooowwwww.

Also remember that any sheen on the figure will be removed by overspraying with the top secret window froster. Cloth, and skin for the most part, are flat. Not glossy. Not semi. Not satin.

The edges of the base will be hemmed in 6″ oak planks, which I have just purchased.

 

[There's the Oak on top of the pine and basswood.  You can see the airbrush compressor as well.  In the background is the life size Mickey Mantle statue, awaiting his sprucing up.  Those headphones are fantastic.  They are totally soundproof and also a great am/fm radio.] 

The deck will be coated with a thing called “Turface”. Turface is the stuff that sometimes is referred to as “diamond dry”. It is kiln fired clay that is ground up. It is very light and granular (think unground pepper kernel size) and apparently absorbs water like a son-of-a-gun, however, I don’t care about it’s water properties; only that it is the cleanest “dirt” that I can find that also looks realistic.

Babe Ruth in Prison Stripes?

Story at eleven… 

Is it THAT bad?

Mrs. Pinetar hates the 1903 Gunner’s Coat.  Just hates it.  And I have found that it elicits strong comments both good and bad.  Not only that, but men seem to like it and women seem to mock it.  Just the other day, one of the nurse managers asked me, “…what’s up with the ZZ Top coat?”  The photo doesn’t render the color properly; it runs a lot more yellow than it looks.  But it’s a nice old-timey canvas that already looks a bit seasoned.  What’s not to like?  Help me out here.

***

McBean; I may not be going to LA and now it looks dead.  I would have needed to rope someone into going and that isn’t looking likely.  Now I find that it is more and more likely that I would go to Orlando myself in July with a kids baseball team in a tournament.  It’s not a done deal but likely.  So now, as anti-Disney as I am, I am facing up to the fact that I might be there nevertheless.

***

One last item on the steroids thing.  No one is talking of the corollary to the story and that is the owners complicity in this.  They knew and LOVED the homers flying out at softball rates.  They didn’t care if a guy’s liver exploded.  Oh, they care now, but only because they are worried about Congress and that anti-trust exemption that makes it all go.

During the roid era, they livened the ball several times.  I do not, for the life of me, understand why that is so hard to prove.  You drop the balls from a known height, say 30 feet.  And you record how high up they bounce.  This was done in 1942 by baseball to determine that the new synthetic rubber (the Japanese stopped the rubber trade to USA for war) was not as resilient as real rubber.  In 1942, the offense was down 25% and it hurt them at the gate.

They used the simple drop test on a batch of 1941 balls and the new ones and made a quick determination that led to the official livening of the ball back up to pre-war standards.  If they could do this simple thing 70 years ago, why aren’t they doing it every year?

If they did, I think they’d have “caught” MLB livening up the ball in 1987 for sure and a few times in the 1990’s to fuel the McGuire/Sosa/Bonds ridiculous homer tears.

My point is (1) The owners knew and contributed to it to enhance it and (2) we’re dopes because we could have easily busted them on the ball end of it.

–ofg 

Washington: First In War, First In Peace…ahead of the Wilpons

Since we were looking at the new parks that will be built in the next 5 years: Mets, Yanks, Twins, Oakland A’s, Tampa Bay Rays, Washington. In Washington’s case, they are open in April and here it is. It has the split upper deck that works so well in the newest yards like Philly and St. Louis but something about the joint leaves me thinking, “this is it?”

I mean, it’s nice, don’t get me wrong, but it lacks some character or defining attribute. My first reaction was, “why don’t they point it at the Potomac?”, but I know the answer to that. Major League diamonds are designed to be oriented so that the sun sets over the 3rd base stands. That’s because way, way back when, it was thought that there were fewer lefties and thus there’d be fewer fly balls to RF than LF. (Lefties are 10% of the population). The “Sun Field” is Right Field just about everywhere (except in domes). Even Babe Ruth was moved out of the sun field to protect his hung over assets.

Click here to open a graph of ballpark orientations in a new window

So if you have this plot of land on the banks of the Potomac, and you want to point the park AT the Potomac, you’d have to pretty much face it away from the setting sun, and they can’t do that. This is the same deal in Cincinnati, where they aim the park at the Ohio River and not the downtown skyline. ***

When you talk about orientation, you have to look at Shea. The wind at Shea is cold and blows very hard. If you go to a night game at Shea, even in the Summer, bring a jacket or a couple of sweatshirts because Shea is on a bay and it gets windy and cold. The wind blows from top to bottom in this diagram. I sat in the top row of the upper deck for the Beltran-homer-off-the-scoreboard game against Weaver in the 2006 playoffs (It was Game 2 on the ticket, but since Game 1 was a rainout, it was Game 1). The top row of Shea in late October, on the windy 3rd base side is un-f****n-believably cold and windy. I was sick for weeks after that game. With the little roof over our head and the grate behind us in that top row there, it was like we were in a big, giant harmonica.

So the new Mets yard is pointed more or less AT the wind. And the left field stands jut out and probably block some of it down the left field line but the center and right center areas are, I predict, NOT going to be kind to power hitters on these nights. Day game (there are a few) and you’re fine. Night game early, and you’re fine. 6th inning on 10pm+ and balls will not carry to Right and Right Center. And unless you put this thing in a wind tunnel like Mythbusters, I wouldn’t want to bet that it is good for right handers, either.

This stuff doesn’t stop the Mets brass (Wilpons and marketing people) from getting all lathered up that, [drumroll] “…It looks like Ebbet’s Field from the front”. Everyone: “ooh, ahh”. That’s it. The rest of it isn’t very noteworthy. But it looks like Ebbet’s Field from one angle and that’s why we’re all supposed to praise it. The Wilpons grew up in Brooklyn and Fred played ball with a young Koufax (really, not the made up Larry King story where Koufax claims he never met Larry King), so naturally, the Ebbet’s Field look is the big deal.

It’s a nice, new modern (expensive) ballpark that looks perhaps a bit like Coors in mirror image but it’s IN A PARKING LOT IN QUEENS OUT BY THE AIRPORT people! It’s a dump out there. Willet’s Point is a dump. That part of Queens is a dump. The planes are booming over head and it will never be ANYwhere you want to spend time after a game, ah-la the shangri-la of Baltimore’s Inner Harbor. SUCKERS~! Now all bow to the Wilpons; Fred knew Koufax.

***

The last three shots are the New Yankee Stadium or Death Star, home of Hankenstein. Like all the others, it will be new and have all the bells, but it is a newer version of a stadium which is, itself, a newer version of a stadium in which guys like Ruth and Muesel abused lesser teams. The Yankees problem here is that they have to stay true to the old design, more or less, and so, they aren’t really free to do anything else. The park is oriented the same way and is just a block north. Pretty ho hum and as a building full of Yankee fans, isn’t a place I’d like to spend a lot of time anyhow. Yankee fans: The Haarlem Globetrotter fans of baseball.”…you better plug him again, Doc, just to make sure…”