Two rows below sat a man who once was my boss. Two seats to my right was a sportswriter I didn’t know who was familiar with me. “Excuse me. You’re not Monte Dutton, are you?” “Sadly, yes. Nice to meet you.” Next to me was an old friend, one I’ve known since college. It was …
Tag: baseball
The Way I Do, Part One
When I was young / I went off to college / But I flunked out ‘cause I could not pass no test / My old man barely made it past fifty / And I reckon that I’ll follow his footsteps / But it ain’t gon’ be bad health that’s gonna kill me / It won’t …
Changes Ten by Ten
Fifty years ago, my father voted for and bet on Barry Goldwater, not to win the election but to carry South Carolina. He won. Goldwater lost. The election, not South Carolina. NASCAR’s greatest hero at the time, “Fireball” Roberts, was horribly burned at Charlotte Motor Speedway. He lived for more than two months, and every …
A Friendly Background
No afternoon baseball today. I pay to get all the games on TV, mainly because I love the Boston Red Sox and live in South Carolina, but I often use other teams’ games as a soothing background for writing, reading, playing guitar and sketching. I look up when I hear yelling, and then I watch …
Facebook Friends, Part Four
This one sat off to the side for a while, mainly because I was working against a deadline with “High, Wild and Handsome.” This one also required some reacquaintance. Reorientation. I had to get my head back in it. You can “page down” a while and find the first three parts. Jerry Lennart set …
Those Fracking Cliches
“Let’s see if the Braves can exact some revenge on the Seattle Mariners.” I just heard Chip Caray say this. Seldom is anything “exacted” except revenge. Seldom is anything wreaked except havoc, and if havoc is in town (or, oh, on a page), it is invariably wreaked. Mothers are seldom sick without also being …
Going on a Tour
Oh, what a busy day. I’m leaving on a long trip in the morning. I’ve got lots on the plate. I’ve got to visit some loved ones this afternoon because it got postponed Sunday, which is why I was cutting the grass yesterday. I’ve filed my monthly sales tax, balanced my accounts, paid pills, caught …
Diamond R & R
Baseball is relaxing. It’s not relaxing when the Red Sox are playing the Yankees. It’s not relaxing in extra innings or when there’s a no-hitter in the late ones. Most of the time, watching it is relaxing, though. This cannot be said of football or basketball or hockey. On Monday, the Red Sox were …
Life by the Numbers
I’m 56. What does the number mean to me? It was the number associated with the race-car driver Jim Hurtubise, who, in addition to his occasional brilliance, was the Don Quixote of the Indianapolis 500 because, for a number of years, “Herk” tried to qualify a front-engined roadster after low-slung, rear-engined designs had come to …
No One Learns from the Learned
When did we stop believing people who know a lot? It’s everywhere. People are not dissuaded in the least to learn that 97 percent of scientists believe climate change is a major crisis. Person at the grocery store (or on Facebook): “They don’t know what they’re talking about.” Me: “How much do you know about …
Nightrider's Lament 