Reckoning Double Number 666 At The Sanctified Temperance & Perpetual Glossolalia Church…
Sometimes to give my mind a rest and diversion from stress, I will take a look at baseball statistics. There’s a soothing appeal in the objectivity of statistics applied to issues that are not a matter of life and death competition, but play. There’s a contiguity and historical contexting about its statistics as they span and compare through generations that can serve that purpose for me.
Finally, I learned to not route for the teams as they are not composed of true identity, but mercenaries, and rather came to route instead for individual players that I can identify with and against players whom I do no identify with and do not like.
Craig Biggio, a second baseman for the Houston Astros, was intriguing to me because he was such an ordinary guy from around my parts in New Jersey; he finished his career in 2007 with some statistics ranking among the all time, absolute legends of Major League Baseball. I noticed how Biggio might finish 5th all time in doubles (at the time) if he could pass George Brett in his final season; and what made that interesting was the four guys in front of him on that list. For anyone who knows baseball: Speaker, Rose, Musial and Cobb – there he is, Biggio in that all time elite company – legends of baseball! – and nobody else. Even the five behind him on the top ten list (when he retired) were legendary (in baseball terms, of course) Baseball Hall of Famers: Brett, Lajoie, Yastrzemski and all-time home run leader, Hank Aaron (until bumped as homerun leader by BarryRoids Bonds)
Craig Biggio, ordinary guy, finished his career with 668 doubles, among the legends of MLB.
All time Doubles Leaders (at the time of his retirement; Albert Pujols has since eaked by him).
1. Tristram Speaker 792
2. Pete Rose 746
Although Rose finished the game with more hits than anyone, he was denied the Hall of Fame because he was caught gambling (The White Black Sox Scandal and Shoeless Joe Jackson was a gambling issue too. I still think steroid use is an even worse transgression).
3. Stan Musial 725
4. Ty Cobb 723
5. Craig Biggio 668
6. Albert Pujols : “Bat Albert” ..or is it Roidal Albert, had just hit number 666, which prompted this post; the enhanced and well paid Albert has since passed Biggio in doubles …
7. George Brett 665
Had hemorrhoids but… “his troubles are all behind him.”
8. Nap Lajoie 657
9. Carl Yastrzemski 646
10. Honus Wagner 640
13. Hank Aaron 624
Now, there was a “horrifying” possibility that even if Biggio managed to squeak past Brett, he might finish his career with 666 doubles, invoking the willies in regard to his final slot.
Of all things, I happened upon a similar baseball Biggio statistic fetishist, but this guy was rooting for Biggio to finish his career the all time number one for having been hit by a pitch – “plunked”, in the vernacular that he uses (a dubious distinction, but not bad, as being hit by a pitch is as good as walk and you reach first base sure as a single). Biggio finished his career second in being hit by pitch – “The Target” who gets “plunked” as this guy called it, naming his blog “Plunk Biggio.”
I promise I’m trying to go somewhere cultural with this.
The guy also noticed the same thing as me that Biggio might get stuck at 666 doubles.
And he wrote this, which is to me, a dynamite characterization of Appalachian snake handling hillbilly talk:
Plunk Biggio Blog Spot, 31 Aug 2007:
At 8/31/2007 02:26:00 AM, Anonymous cletus j. “bubba” huckabee jr. said…
Now if you ask me, and plenty folk do now and again, the log jam in the ascending plunk count might could be on account of the pending evil milestone our man “Target” is fixin’ to achieve. Contrary to what folk down at the Sanctified Temperance and Perpetual Glosolalia Church of Greater Chesterfield County believe, I ain’t necessarily a religious man. Now, granted, I show up on a regular basis and sit in the Huckabee family pew. But that is on account of me carrying on a tradition that goes back seven generations. A Huckabee male is always present when them church doors open, and as the head Huckabee of Chesterfield County, I feel a moral duty to keep the tradition going. In all my many hours of being perched on that uncomfortable pew, I learned to use my head to concentrate on more enjoyable topics than brimstone, hellfire, pending doom, and moral judgment. Don’t get me wrong, I ain’t again the church… I just like to allow my mind to drift during sermons. Well, the other day my mind drifted to the fact that Target is fixin’ to achieve his 666th double. At the Sanctified Temperance and Perpetual Glosolalia Church of Greater Chesterfield County the number 666 is seen is incredibly and indelibly evil. In fact the minions of Hades can be conjured up through the utilization of that particular number. At least, that’s what Brother Cyril done said. If’in that happens to be the case, then I am wondering if the unexpected diminution of the plunks might be the work of the evil one himself. Right today Target is sitting on 665 doubles and shares the record with George “hemorrhoids and pine tar” Brett which I find kind of creepy in and of itself. In fact, I reckon Brett might be one of the minions. Anywho, if’in Target can reach and pass 666 doubles, then maybe that will release the minions of Hades to go on back down to the depths of earth (or at least over to the American League) and leave Target alone. I know you might commence to think I’m reaching for straws, but with so few games remaining in his career, and so few plunks required to top that no-count, snivln’ weasel Hughie Jennings (who very well might be in league with the devil too) I’m desperate to figure out what went wrong and what we can do to right it.
George “hemorrhoids and pine tar” Brett, an all time great hitter, third basemen, wasn’t possessed by demons as he approached the ominous mark of the beast, 666 doubles; no, he freaked out when an umpire called him out and took back a game winning home run on a freak technicality – pine tar (for gripping purposes) too high on his bat.
Brett was also known to have suffered from hemorrhoids during World Series play. He quipped, “my troubles are all behind me.” These two incidents are mentioned in the blog post – “George “hemorrhoids and pine tar” Brett – to reckon, Brett’s from Appalachia, West Virginia parts himself.
Legends Among the Statistics
Some people don’t understand the great appeal of sports fanship to males in particular. But in the topsy-turvey of modernity, when tribal affinity is disallowed as a barometer and all else seems to be so unfair, a rigged deck that females don’t tend to care about because it is rigged largely in their favor – in fact, they are generally favored as its objectivist rupture of classificatory accountability increases their position to breed with the winner, no matter what team (or race) – sports provides a relief from the overriding attention and competition to the default classification that perception and biology atavistically defaults to, despite social prohibition of classifications – females, their relative concerns, liberalizing concerns to incite genetic competition as it accrues to their position’s capacity to breed with “the winner”; in modernity, particularly (((weaponized))), where their classification reins supreme, where White boys social classifications and discriminations are otherwise prohibited, at least in the context of sports, discriminatory relief from female classifications, their concerns and relief from competition as they see fit, is provided at least for an episodic diversion, while the historically coherent and statistically objective, verifiable comfort, persists – particularly when your guys, guys that you can identify with as being not very different from you have proven their objective merit despite rigorous competition.
It Ain’t So, Joe, And Sports Statistics Didn’t Stay Objective Despite Your Unjust Banishment.
The issue of gambling in major league baseball and throwing games in order to profit by betting against one’s own team has legendary precedent in the infamous “Black Sox Scandal”, in which team members of The Chicago White Sox sullied the game’s reputation by conspiring to play bad at strategic moments to lose the 1919 World Series and profit by betting against their own team.
Then Baseball Commissioner, Kenesaw Mountain Landis, permanently banned eight Chicago White Sox players from baseball; including one of the all time great hitters (top right) and model of innocent heroism for all country boys, “Shoeless Joe Jackson.”
His banishment and conviction for conspiring to throw the game for gamblers spawned the famous beseech, “Say it Ain’t So, Joe!”
Indeed, Joe Jackson always maintained his innocence and present day investigators have made a good case for his acquittal, citing the fact that he played well in the series among other evidence – so, it seems like it ain’t so Joe after all.
….
Roiders on the statistical hit parade
Jack Clark had said:
“I know for a fact that Chris Mihlfield told me that,” Clark said and added that Mihlfeld told him he could inject him the same way he did to Pujols, who at the time was not known to Clark.
Clark said Mihlfield told him, “You’re going to see this guy coming up to the Cardinal organization, he’s going to be in the big leagues and he’s unbelievable,” Clark said.
He also said Mihlfield suggested that Clark try steroids and showed him how he injected Pujols.
“He like pulled his shorts, the waistband, down off his hip and (said), ‘I’ll just give you a little injection right there and you’re on your way and I’ll show you how to do it,” Clark said.
But was forced to genuflect in apology at the behest of Roidal Albert.
Although Pujols has been backed by the law in his claim of defamation, the way his suspiciously, phenomenally good statistics dropped off precipitously with the luxuriant security of his 10 year / $240,000,000 contract signing with the Angels indicates a pattern of steroid use suspended by him in lack of motivation for its continued performance enhancement.
I would not argue that players who gamble on games and angle to throw them in a fix, should not be banned from the game and prohibited entry to the Baseball Hall of Fame. However, I would argue that steroid use is even worse, as it puts pressure on other players to use them (and their use is apparently not that hard to masque), while it models their use – their bodily destructive use – for young fans who might seek to emulate their heroes.
Twenty five years after integration of blacks into the league with Saint Jackie Robinson, Babe Ruth’s iconic life-time home run mark was broken by the quite black, blue black as they say of blacks who are quite black, Hank Aaron. Twenty five years after that the steroid era was ushered in as steroid infested Whitey Mark Mcwire smashed the single season record, hitting 70. Incensed with roid rage, and not to be outdone, Barry “tell me to my face I’m using steroids mo fo!” Bonds, juiced up and set the record anew with 73 in a season.
Not so much as an asterisk coming from baseball writers and officials as Bonds (nr. 25) went on to break Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron’s career marks as well, hitting 762 in the end, under the obvious influence of steroid enhancement.
Now let me venture a more radical suggestion yet, that not only should gamblers and attendant game fixers be banned from participation, not only should steroid users be ostracized, but the officials, public and players who did not think that White Major League Baseball should be integrated with non-Whites, not with blacks and part blacks especially, were correct. Awkward as that may sound in the late stages of modernity’s universalism as we are, White should have a league of our own, to evaluate our sports abilities within the parameters of our sublimation level – which maintains an optimality different form other races, for a better overall pattern of societal function that is not measured by the sports moment or episode – sports criteria which is, at the same time, vastly over valued by popular consumption absent the constraints and accountability to our social capital and the value of our cultural patterns which are created by criteria not well measured by sporting excellence.
And while Guessedworker would claim that “Aristotle is simply not relevant nowadays” we may warrantably assert against Guessedworker’s astounding ignorance and the republic’s over-valuation of sports, Aristotle’s question, “What makes a us distinctly human?” And that we use the answer to that question as more our criteria of judgement.
All time statistically greatest first baseman, Lou Gerhig, a man of good character as well, was taken advantage of under the right wing/come liberal auspices of baseball ownership, and was advised to seek the council of a man of good judgment to fight for a fair contract; he succeeded to get a fair contract with the help of the man of good judgement – Ty Cobb, racist. Cobb complained that “nigger lips” (Ruth) “made the home run king of baseball and strategy a deuce.”
We know that the way of life that we produce as White boys is fine enough, better, we can argue with sound evidence in overall pattern; though it is sometimes hard to prove our part in an instant or episode – still, we appreciate the capacity for vicarious identity also because we do not normally have the opportunity for the exhilarating display of taking it to them in instantaneous and episodic action.
Still, we can even out-manifest them in an instant and episodically, if not vicariously ..it can be proven ..sometimes…depending on the sport ..and other things.. oops ..its not so reliably objective… while the pseudo objectivity can still have that anesthetizing, intoxicating effect …an effect that leads to sorts fan cuckoldry; participation and integration with people who are good athletes, speaking of blacks and mixed black types, but who are not a conducive to our way of life [ for the greater measure of testosterone, lesser impulse control, hyper-assertiveness and lesser impulse control characteristic of a K-selector people, translating to more sex partners, younger, more offspring, single parent families, poverty, crime and violence], and who do not have co-evolutionary women that we see as a fair exchange for their phenotype and behavioral manifestation. particularly given the vast genetic distance and its destruction to our Ethnic Genetic Interests upon integration.
A-Roid-SteerRod to exit
New York Post, He won the AL MVP in 2005 and 2007, then opted out of his contract during the World Series and signed a new 10-year, $275 million deal to stay with the Yankees.
In 2013, Rodriguez ended up in the middle of the Biogenesis scandal*, and after threatening to sue everyone from the Yankees to MLB and his own union, he eventually was suspended for 162 games.
* Means that he was taking steroids
In fact, he was detected in 2003, prior to his contract with the Yankees that made him the highest paid baseball player.
And White sports cucks pay handsomely to see the ugly A-Roid.
Fortune, “Here’s How Much it Costs to See A-Rod’s Last Game”, 8 August 2016:
Ticket prices skyrocketed immediately after his announcement.
When Alex Rodriguez, one of Major League Baseball’s most divisive figures, announced that he’ll be playing his last game on Friday, ticket prices shot up.
A-Rod made the announcement on Sunday. By that afternoon, the average price of a ticket had gone up by over 600%, from $75.92 to $456.76, CNNMoney reported citing data from TiqIQ. Rodriguez’s team, the fourth-place New York Yankees, will be going up against the fifth-place Tampa Bay Rays at Yankee Stadium, which seats about 54,000.
The most expensive ticket is priced at $17,000 for a seat in the 9th row behind home plate. The least expensive tickets are priced at about $85, which is 431% higher than the cheapest tickets offered prior to his announcement.
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Wiki:
Anne E. Wojcicki (/woʊˈdʒɪtski/ woh-JIT-skee; Polish: [vujˈt͡ʃit͡skʲi]; born July 28, 1973) is an American entrepreneur and the co-founder and chief executive officer of the personal genomics company 23andMe. She was formerly married to Google Co-Founder Sergey Brin.
Early life
Wojcicki, the youngest of three daughters, was born in San Mateo County, California. Her parents are Esther Wojcicki (née Hochman), an educator, and Stanley Wojcicki, a physics professor emeritus at Stanford University. Her mother is Jewish and her father is a Polish American. Her sisters are Susan Wojcicki, CEO of YouTube and a former executive at Google and Janet Wojcicki, anthropologist and epidemiologist at the University of California, San Francisco.
YKW power, influence in Baseball:
This article is a bit dated (from 2011) but it begins to indicate Jewish power and influence in professional baseball.
Of course the higher positions are more significant – starting from team owners, then to executives, general mangers (who determine the players and their salaries) and particularly lawyers and those who act as player representatives -e.g., Marvin Miller, who was the Executive Director of the Major League Player’s union.
Marvin Miller is a particularly important example as he undertook the unionization concept and with it, in fact, succeeded in breaking the owner’s “reserve clause” which prevented players from negotiating with other teams in order to move to them for a higher salary. Miller’s first successful case in breaking the reserve clause on behalf of the player’s union was for the black player, Curt Flood. Meanwhile, Whitey was aloof from concerns of unionization, dreamily bemused in his pure objectivity.
There are probably many significant figures missing from this list: Yankees former General Manager, Brian Cashman may have been Jewish. The Boston Red Sox (last team to integrate) began winning in objective terms with a (definitely) Jewish G.M., Theo Epstein – he’s moved over to the Chicago Cubs.
MLB.com, “Modern Baseball’s Jewish Owners, Executives and Players”, 12 May 2016:
It is a paradox, but it can be explained.
Most Jewish individuals are proud that many baseball owners, executives and players are Jewish, but those same individuals become uncomfortable when that fact is pointed out in the media.
The reason might be related to the bias faced by Jews throughout history, which has resulted in the almost reflexive action that, while one’s Jewishness should not be hidden, it should not be overemphasized.
Baseball’s commissioner, Al “Bud” Selig, the former owner of the Milwaukee Brewers, is Jewish.
Owners Paul Godfrey (Toronto Blue Jays), the Lerner family (Washington Nationals), Jamie McCourt (former owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers), Jerry Reinsdorf (Chicago White Sox), Stuart Sternberg (Tampa Bay Rays), Fred Wilpon (New York Mets) and Lewis Wolff (Oakland A’s) are Jewish.
Seven of the 30 major league teams have Jewish owners.
Some of the most highly respected general managers are Jewish.
Jon Daniels’ Texas Rangers are becoming an American League powerhouse. Theo Epstein will probably have the chance to do for the Chicago Cubs what he accomplished for the Boston Red Sox when he helped put together two World Champion Boston Red Sox teams.
Reuben Amaro Jr. has made the Philadelphia Phillies the team that is expected to win the World Series every season but has done so but once, while Tampa’s general manager Andrew Friedman is Jewish.
Since New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner passed away, team president Randy Levine has taken up the spear with respect to what constitutes a successful Yankees’ season. According to Levine, success is equated to being the World Champion.
The Yankees and the Mets each have fine pitching coaches. The Yankees Larry Rothschild and the Mets Dan Warthen are both Jewish.
A pretty good team could be made of Jewish players.
Ike Davis at first base, Ian Kinsler at second base, Kevin Youkilis is the third baseman and we can move Danny Valencia to play shortstop.
The outfield consists of Ryan Braun and Sam Fuld, although Braun’s mother is not Jewish. Another Jewish outfielder is needed.
The pitchers are led by Jason Marquis, Scott Feldman and John Grabow.
The only Jewish Hall of Famers are Hank Greenberg and Sandy Koufax. In a few years, they may be joined by Braun, Kinsler and Youkilis.
By the way, Jeff Idelson – Head Of Baseball’s Hall of Fame, is Jewish.
Pittsburgh Pirates of the Caribbean
The eccentric Doc Ellis of the Pittburgh Pirates, wore curlers to prepare his Afro and said that “he said that he never pitched a game in which he was not under the influence of some kind of drug.”
In fact, he infamously pitched a no-hitter under the influence of L.S.D. against The San Diego Padres on On 12 June 1970.
..talk about making it difficult and dubious for White boys to try to identify with baseball players:
1 Sept. 1971, Pittsburgh Pirates fielded the first all-black and Latino lineup.
There were only 11,278 fans at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh on Sept. 1, 1971, but history was made anyway. The date marked 24 years after Jackie Robinson officially broke baseball’s color barrier and the Pirates became the first Major League franchise to field an all-black and Latino starting nine.
Although the normal Pittsburgh Pirates starting lineup that year was usually filled with players of color, it had never been entirely made up of men of color until Sept. 1. Normal starters Richie Hebner (third base) and Gene Alley (shortstop) were both nursing injuries, which allowed Dave Cash and Jackie Hernandez to fill in.
“The Pirates were known for their black and Latin players, and of course on that particular team, we were loaded,” former Pirate Al Oliver told MLB.com. “I don’t know how many we had on the 1971 team, but if I had to guess, maybe 11 or 12 black and Latin players. As a rule, we would start five – if Dock pitched, then it would be six.”
Here’s a look at the rest of that fateful Pirates lineup:
- Rennie Stennett (second base)
- Gene Clines (center field)
- Roberto Clemente (right field)
- Willie Stargell (left field)
- Manny Sanguillen (catcher)
- Dave Cash (third base)
- Al Oliver (first base)
- Jackie Hernandez (shortstop)
- Dock Ellis (pitcher)
“It really wasn’t a major thing, until around the third or fourth inning, and Dave Cash was sitting next to me, and one of us said: ‘You know, we got all brothers out there, man,’ and we kind of chuckled because it was no big deal to us,” Oliver continued. “We really had no idea that history was being made.”
That day’s lineup included three future Hall of Famers – Stargell, Clemente and Bill Mazeroski – including All-Stars in catcher Sanguillen and pitcher Ellis. Combined, the roster was composed of 14 whites, six African-Americans and seven Latinos.
“When it comes to making out the lineup,” then-Pirates manager Danny Murtaugh said. “I’m colorblind and my athletes know it.”
“I wish that it would be brought up more, and it should be,” Oliver told Fox Sports. “It wasn’t maybe as big as Jackie Robinson breaking into the major leagues [in 1947], but it should be up there as far as baseball history is concerned. I think it’s a day that really should be celebrated.”
Vigilant Yankees fan though I was, two incidents around 1989 caused me to stop my fanship and turn me leisure time to better use.
In August of 1989, Luis Polonia was convicted of statutory rape of a 15 year old blond girl in Milwaukee where the Yankees were playing a series against the Brewers. He spent 60 days in jail.
He nevertheless played another ten years in the Major Leagues despite also being sub-par player.
Yankees (White) manager Dallas Green had only this tepid remark: “It’s a shame to see that happen. It’s a personal thing. All you can do is warn people. You can’t live their lives.”
Around the same time, his teammate Mel Hall decided that he wanted to date a White highschool girl from Connecticut. And when the Milwaukee Brewers decided to send a message of disapproval do Luis Polonia by giving him some “chin music” (pitcher throws at hitter in order to hit him with the baseball), Mel Hall came charging out of the dugout to fight with the pitcher on behalf of his and Polonia’s “prerogative.”
I believe that my far stronger position is justified by episode and by pattern, illustrated thus:
THE MANY CRIMES OF MEL HALL
HE WAS A FLAMBOYANT PLAYER, A CHARISMATIC COACH, AND A SEXUAL PREDATOR
Mel Hall was convicted on three counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child and two counts of indecency with a child in June 2009 and received a 45-year sentence. Mel Hall is eligible for parole in November 2031 when he will be 71
Some White owners resisted
Minnesota Twins remove statue of former owner Calvin Griffith from outside Target Field
June 19, 2020, Minnesota Star Tribune:
The Minnesota Twins announced Friday morning they have removed the statue of former team owner Calvin Griffith from outside of Target Field.“While we acknowledge the prominent role Calvin Griffith played in our history, we cannot remain silent and continue ignoring the racist comments he made in Waseca in 1978,” the team said in a statement.
“His disparaging words displayed a blatant intolerance and disregard for the Black community that are the antithesis of what the Minnesota Twins stand for and value.”
Never Forget Twins Owner Made Racist Statements in 1978 About Moving Team to Minnesota
Griffith claimed in 1978 that he moved the Senators to Minnesota and not New Orleans because Minneapolis doesn’t have as many black people. Point blank.
Griffith, after checking to make sure he was in the room with a black person, also expressed his preference for “good, hardworking white people” over minorities, whom Griffith accused of making a “rassling ring” and “putting up such a chant it’ll scare you to death” instead of attending baseball games.
Remembering the team owner who moved his team to get away from black people
Cal Griffith moved his team to the Minnesota “Twin Cities” area, Mineapolis/Saint Paul, in order to get away from the black pattern (never mind that he gave many a decent contract to black players: e.g., Kirby Puckett, Rod Carew, Tony Oliva, Mudcat Grant, Earl Battey, John Roseboro, Zoilo Versalles, Cesar Tovar, Leo Cardenas, Luis Tiant, Larry Hisle, Dan Ford)… now look at Minneapolis Saint Paul. Note: I made that remark months BEFORE the the Saint George riots were to occur.
James Bowery tells us that a great number of Castro’s Mariel boatlift (emptying Cuban prisons and hospitals of AIDS patients into The U.S.) ended up in the twin cities area….
Minneapolis has had some interesting Mayoral leadership in recent times, helping to change it from the White flight haven that Cal Griffin had in mind.
“Will you commit to defunding the police? – No? Then get the fuck out of here!” Minneapolis Mayor (((Jacob Frey))) is doing all he can to acquiesce to black demands.
But we digress…
NYT,
“Yawkey Way, Red Sox Game Day Hub, Will Be Renamed Over Racism Concerns”, 26 April 2018:
Yawkey Way, adjacent to Fenway Park, will revert to being called Jersey Street.
BOSTON — Officials in Boston voted Thursday to rename Yawkey Way, a road adjacent to Fenway Park that was named for a former Red Sox team owner who resisted efforts to integrate baseball in the 50s.
The street will revert to being called Jersey Street, its original name before it was changed in 1977 to honor the owner, Tom Yawkey, who had died the year before.
The Red Sox, under Yawkey, were the last team in baseball to sign a black player, finally calling him up in 1959, 12 years after Jackie Robinson first played for the Brooklyn Dodgers.
The street name came under renewed scrutiny in August, as dozens of Confederate monuments were being removed across the United States. The current team owner, John Henry, led the push to rename the street, telling The Boston Herald he was “haunted” by the team’s racist history.
The Red Sox formally asked the city to rename the street in February, saying that “restoring the Jersey Street name is intended to reinforce that Fenway Park is inclusive and welcoming to all.”
Red Sox Renew Push to Rename Yawkey Way Amid Monument Debate AUG. 18, 2017
‘Racism Is as American as Baseball’ Banner Unfurled at Fenway Park SEPT. 14, 2017
Red Sox Bar Fan From Fenway Park for Using Racial Slur MAY 4, 2017
The narrow, two-block street lined with gift shops and eateries pulsates on game days, and is the meeting point for ballpark tours on days off.
Many pedestrians walking by Fenway Park on Thursday said they were pleased with the decision by the Public Improvement Commission to change the street’s name.
“It’s difficult because he did a lot for the city,” Joshua Baca, 23, said of Yawkey. “But we just shouldn’t have tolerance for racism.”
Tisha Johnson, 41, agreed. “I’m happy they’re switching it because he represents racism,” she said.
One of her friends, Carol Holley, 32, said she was glad too, but that it probably would do little to diminish what she said were racist attitudes in the city today.
“People will still have the same thoughts,” Ms. Holley said.
Others were not happy about the change. “It’s part of the heritage of Fenway Park, and it’s been here forever,” said Mark Ware, 54. “I don’t really know how racist he was, but the club has improved, the racism is gone now and they have players who are minorities,” he said.
The decision promises to inflame debates about the legacy of Yawkey, who is a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Yawkey Foundations, a major charity in Boston, said Thursday that the campaign to remove the name “has been based on a false narrative about his life and his historic 43-year ownership of the Red Sox.”
Renaming the street, the charity said, “will unfortunately give lasting credence to that narrative and unfairly tarnish his name, despite his unparalleled record of transforming the Red Sox and Fenway Park and supporting the city he loved through his philanthropy.”
In a statement, the Red Sox said the vote was “an important step in our ongoing effort to make Fenway Park a place where everyone feels welcome.”
“We recognize we have a long way to go, but remain committed to building a spirit of diversity, inclusivity, and openness within our front office and our ballpark,” the team said.
No matter what people thought about the name change, virtually no one on Yawkey Way on Thursday seemed to like the name “Jersey Street” or understand what it represented.
At the official Red Sox team store on the street, several people were buying up “Yawkey Way” bumper stickers. Tim Pettit, one of the managers of the store, said the signs “were never a huge seller,” though interest had picked up since talk of the name change began last year.
He said he did not know whether the signs would be discontinued when the current stock runs out. But, he said, “I’m guessing this will be the last run.”
Four of the great baseball players from the great teams of the late 1920s and early 1930s.
Far less known than Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig of The New York Yankees, Jimmie Foxx and Al Simmons (Syzmanski) were baseball greats, part of a Philadelphia Athletics team so great, in fact, that they took over American League representation in the World Series for three straight years, 1929, 1930 and 1931, taking it away from Ruth and Gehrig‘s great Yankee teams of the late 1920s. Foxx, Simmons and The Philadelphia Athletics are not only lesser known, but their market provided insufficient financial support, and their owner/manager Connie Mack, was forced to start selling off some of their best players, such as Simmons , ace pitcher Lefty Grove and star catcher Mickey Cochrane ..and the Philadelphia Athletics stopped winning.
Ty Cobb retired just before the Philadelphia Athletics took off and supplanted the Great New York Yankee teams of the late 1920s, but not before he lent his relentless disposition and gathered his 4,000th hit (19th double of his 1927 season and 684th of his career), in the second to last season of his career, which was with the “A’s”.
For all his razzing of Babe Ruth, calling him the “n” word (for his negroid nose) and “n’ lips”, Ty Cobb maintained that Babe Ruth had the biggest heart he’d known.
While the liberal media would play-up Ty Cobb’s racialism, the eminently obnoxious Ken Burns having gone so far as to call him “the black mark” (on baseball) in his schlock documentary, “Baseball”, much less heralded was Cobb’s humanitarian side – which was not a contradiction, but a facet of his relative perspective.
Earlier in his career, famous good guy – baseball great and tragic hero for being stricken young by the disease which was to be named after him – Lou Gehrig was being underpaid by New York Yankees brass. Cobb, a successful businessman outside of his baseball prowess, was called in to help Gerhig negotiate a fair deal. But that wasn’t the half of Cobb’s humanitarian good deeds. He would give money, sometimes anonymously, to fellow ball players who’d fallen on hard times….there were numerous examples of Cobb’s good will and charity in his life that itself got off to a very difficult start. …Tris Speaker also finished his career with the 1928 Philadelphia Athletics, hitting all time high double number 792 that year – lol.
Comments on “The KMG Show EP 273 So. Farewell Then, MLB”
Comment on KMG show discussing MLB move of the Allstar game from Atlanta
Daniel Sienkiewicz
2 weeks ago
Used to be a Yankees fan. I stopped watching completely after the Luis Polonia and Mel Hall incidents of the late 80s. The teams are mercenary anyway. What do the New York players have to do with New York? Years later, I started following individual players who I can identify with if they play clean and against others, especially if they’re on steroids.
2 Daniel Sienkiewicz
Highlighted reply
2 weeks ago
Thank you for the like, but given the money that they make and their typical liberal politics, the way that even this furtive attention contributes to the league, I probably shouldn’t even follow individual players.
I’m afraid Ty Cobb the legendary racist who would maintain racial segregation – including of baseball (and villain, as such, of Ken Burns ‘documentary’ “Baseball”) – is betrayed by Ty Cobb the reality:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjbPzoboilM (20:55)
“Ty Cobb descended from a long line of of abolitionists. His great grandfather was a minister who preached against slavery and was run out of town for his troubles. His grandfather was a conscientious objector who refused to fight in the Confederate Army because of the slavery issue. And his father was an educator and state Senator who spoke out on behalf of his blacks constituents; and had a very short political career as as result; and once broke up a lynch mob in town.
Cobb himself was never asked about racism and segregation until 1952 when the Texas League was finally integrating and The Sporting News asked him what he though.
“The Negro should be accepted wholeheartedly and not grudgingly”, he said. “The Negro has the right to play professional baseball and whose to say he had not.”
…other ball players or ex ball players were keeping mum on the topic or saying that they didn’t think mixed race baseball was a good idea.
Oh, well, while we can agree with Cobb and his family’s stance against, slavery, The legendary racist Cobb who would oppose integration is certainly superior to the reality of yet another fool carried away in the spiral of objectivism.