Jaybird's Jottings

Welcome Back Will

In 1998, I was at a Giants game at Candlestick, watching the home team take on the Rangers with a San Francisco friend and his son.   The boy, also named Jay, loved Will Clark.   When Clark was introduced, my friend's son booed him.   I asked him why, and he said, "Because he's with another team."

Well, hopefully all such feelings are gone, because the Thrill is back.

I'm sure Giants fans have been thinking about their favorite Clark moments.   Geez, where do you begin?  His pennant-winning hit in 1989 wrapped us in long-awaited glory, that's for sure, and his torrid bat against the Cubs, including his grand slam in Game One are unforgettable.

Welcome back number 22.  

NatsFest

In the past, Rush has been an easy target for trigger happy critics, looking for something so colossally bad it could absorb a double load of buckshot without flinching.   - John Swenson, Creem Magazine, RUSH, Permanent Waves review.

In the movie Rock Star, there's a scene where the band's chubby, cigarette-puffing manager relates a story to the new lead singer, about how he was unsatisfied with his life before joining the band.  Having lunch with his wife one day, he just walked out and never came back. 

That's kind of the way I feel about the Nats right now.   I'm not going to give up on them, but if anyone did, you couldn't blame them.   While other teams boast quality players for their fanfests, the big name draws for the Nationals' first-ever NatsFest this afternoon were George Will, GM Jim Bowden, skipper Manny Acta, President Stan Kasten and historian and columnist Phil Wood.

Hope springs eternal in baseball so on a sunny but cold day, I put on my Nats gear and headed down to Nationals Park.  I got there at 12:15, and already the line extended from the centerfield gate past the ticket booths.

Waiting in line, I hailed down Steve Walker, a deja vu from yesterday.   We talked some more about his book which will be published by Pocol Press.   Steve said one of the best aspects of his book is what the players are doing now. 

At 1 pm, we filed through the gate.   It looked like two thirds were going upstairs for the player autographs and photos, and a third were walking to the PNC Diamond Club, a large room with tables and chairs and the place for the Question and Answer sessions.

Will, a regular at Nats games and fresh off his This Week appearance, led off with a presentation titled "The Craft of Baseball."   That's the subtitle of his best-seller, Men at Work (1990).   Standing underneath a large framed piece of Walter Johnson memorabilia, and in front of a standing room crowd of about 150, the Pulitzer Prize winning writer preached the gospel of baseball.   A life-long Cubs fan, he's been criticized for a tendency to "re-tell well-known baseball history a little too often."  I would never argue with that, but given that Washington didn't have baseball for all those years, maybe his approach was needed.   Will balanced his worn ways and bits of curmudgeoness by saying, "We're living in a golden age of baseball."

I wanted to stay for Bowden but they cleared the room so the folks waiting outside could get their turn.  So I headed up to the club level, which turned out to be packed in like sardines.   The lines for autographs stretched across the entire room and down the hallway.   An exhibit for the Negro Leagues was fairly popular, something nice to see.  Hubert Simmons of the Baltimore Elite Giants seemed pleased at the attention. 

After milling around a bit, I headed home.  The event was well run and the fans seemed pleased by everything.

After struggling for about 8 years, RUSH finally broke through with Permanent Waves in 1979.   If we give the Nationals the same amount of time to shed the "shoot here" target, they have some time, but need to get going.   For now, the fans will come on a cold winter's day, and be content to see and hear the well-polished speakers, feel the camaraderie, and check out the assemblage of modest talent.   But if the quality of their players doesn't improve, the ballclub could very well see some fans walk out and never come back.

Additional Reading

J.D.'s Photo's

 

 

The Baseball Weekend

The Baseball Weekend."

With a little luck, that might become a January tradition here in the greater Washington area.  

Yesterday our local chapter of SABR put on its 36th annual winter meeting in Columbia, Maryland.   This afternoon the Nationals host their first ever NatsFest at Nationals Park.   Hopefully, it will work out so that double-header can continue.   It seems to be a distinct possibility, taking place on the weekend before the Super Bowl.

SABR's winter meeting is actually an informal get together.  Today about 110 baseball nuts gathered at the Sheraton in Columbia.   Chapter emcee and Nationals official scorer Dave Vincent let us know that with the passing of Bill Werber, 99-years-old Tony Malinosky is now the oldest living former major league player.

Author and chapter member Paul Dickson announced his new book The Dickson Baseball Dictionary will be published in March.  Humble as ever he thanked all those who helped him.    Paul also gave us a heads up on two events.   April 7 will bring a Baseball Night at the National Press Club and the Smithsonian will host a baseball themed presentation on Wednesday, July 29.    Anyone can go to that (tickets usually $20) but it is being held on the Wednesday to coincide with the convention.

SABR President John Zajc briefed us that 391 have registered so far.   Not that anyone is projecting, but the all- time attendance record was discussed - 726 in the heartland of St Louis.    Planning for the event is going good but one of the difficulties is trying to figure how out how many to plan for.   The downturn in the economy is certainly a factor but I would imagine there are a good number of members like myself who are going, but will wait until the next SABR bulletin comes out and register old-school style that way.  

I always try to meet someone new, which is not easy because our membership trends to folks like myself who wouldn't dare hurl a fastball anymore.  Thirty-some Walt Lindberg stood out this way, and I struck up a conversation with him.  It was indeed his first meeting.  

Walt lives in Orioles territory but is a Cubs fan.  We talked about how watching the Cubs on WGN on afternoons was a staple for some baseball fans.   Walt said Harry Caray was a major factor in him becoming a Cubs fan.

I had to cut out early so I missed the featured speakers.   Several research presentations were given including John D. Capello's look at late-blooming Ryan Howard.  Among the elite jackers, he didn't take off until about age 25 and ½.   Capello also announced a new book titled Stealing Greatness, due out March 2010.

Steve Walker certainly knows his audience, giving a look at batter-pitcher match ups among Senators and Orioles.   His presentation can be found at his website StephenJWalker.  Steve's new book about the '69 Senators, is coming out this spring with the title, A Whole New Ballgame.  I collared him at the lunch line and we talked about Frank Howard, who appears to be on the verge of signing with the Nationals as an Ambassador/Special Assistant.  (Unfortunately, that may prove to be their best off-season signing…).

In a few hours the better half and I head over to Nationals Park for the second part of the doubleheader.  Ernie would love it!

Overlooked 19th Century Legends

A rare 1869 baseball card that sat in storage for years was recently offered on Ebay.   The owner, Bernice Gallego of Fresno, California, not realizing its potential value, tagged it at $10.  Turns out the card could be worth $100,000 or more.  

That story is a good way to introduce something SABR's 19th Century Committee is working on.   In their just-released Winter Newsletter, they announced a "Overlooked 19th Century Legends Project."   Their desire is to tell the "full story of baseball by bringing recognition to these long forgotten standouts of yesteryear."  

In the spring issue of the newsletter, 10 candidates will be listed with bios.  The chosen legend will be announced at the SABR Convention this summer.   The committee is also hoping to influence the National Baseball Hall of Fame, and have them take a look at one or more of these forgotten players for possible enshrinement.

This is a great idea and perhaps in the future, the Hall of Fame will consider honoring early writers such as Sam Crane and Tim Murnane, who also have been overlooked and deserve consideration for the Spink Award.   

Inauguration Recap

The party's are over, The Mall's ready for the next event, the numbers have been counted, POTUS 44 is in the house, and so it's time to look back on the last several days in Washington.      

Metro

At some point, one of two things needs to happen when DC hosts a big event.   The local media needs to either tone down the dire predictions or give Metro credit for handling the enormous crowds.   There were certainly long waits on Tuesday and some problem but Metro deserves credit for handling a record number of trips, an eye-popping 1.1 Million (adding bus trips brings the total to 1.5M) and 866,000 on Monday.    The Washington Post actually did note how things well, although giving Metro praise in a headline seems like anathema to them.    

Washington Post

Their coverage was nothing short of phenomenal.   I did have one nitpick.   On the day before the Welcome Concert, one of the reporters at their Inauguration Blog said there was just one Jumbotron for the concert.    This caused me some anxiety because we were going, and I knew we would not be trying to get close to the stage.   It worked out fine, there were enough Jumbotrons.   

I know we're in the age of micro-reporting but this reporter should have found out more information instead of just reporting what he saw, and making it seem like that was the way it was going to be. 

CNN

I'm not a big Ted Turner fan but the man can be proud of his creation.  Nobody covers big events like CNN and they delivered time after time with wall to wall coverage.

Doris Kearns Goodwin

More good stuff from one of our preeminent historians.  Nobody connects humanity and history better than her.

The Unfortunate Fiasco

Murphy's Law says what can go wrong, will go wrong.  Unfortunately, it happened to a large group of people.  4,000 or so ticket holders, some of whom had worked hard as campaigners, thought they would be standing close to the Capitol when the big moment came.   But as the Post noted,

"miscalculations by planners and poor communication among law enforcement agencies contributed to a chaotic situation outside checkpoints to the Capitol's west front, where thousands of ticket holders wound up stranded and unable to attend the inauguration."

The Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies apologized, but for those folks it isn't enough.   Their memories will probably always be bitter ones. 

Poor Reporting

Around 1100 am on Tuesday, the local media reported that a metro train struck a lady.   In fact, she fell off the platform and was rescued by Houston Transit Officer Eliot Swainson.


Reverend Warren's Invocation 

excessive , immoderate , inordinate , extravagant , exorbitant , extreme mean going beyond a normal limit. excessive implies an amount or degree too great to be reasonable or acceptable <excessive punishment>. immoderate implies lack of desirable or necessary restraint <immoderate spending>. inordinate implies an exceeding of the limits dictated by reason or good judgment <inordinate pride>. extravagant implies an indifference to restraints imposed by truth, prudence, or good taste <extravagant claims for the product>. exorbitant implies a departure from accepted standards regarding amount or degree <exorbitant prices>. extreme may imply an approach to the farthest limit possible or conceivable but commonly means only to a notably high degree <extreme shyness>.


Wrapping Up

When weighing the past and the present, we tend to give too much weight to what we just saw.  But this historic inauguration was amazing, and deserves to be in a class by itself.  

Ok, everybody get some sleep, thank you for making this so special, and Washington, take a bow.

A Dream Concert

Roberta and I will watch the Inauguration chez nous tomorrow, but we collected some first-hand memories yesterday at the Welcome Concert in front of the Lincoln Memorial.   With our friends from Oakland in tow, we metroed down to The Mall.   No snafus except when the mass departed afterwards and got bottlenecked at the security points.   Memo to lessons learned planners.   If you take away just two of the portable metal fences, you might save a trampling nightmare situation.

But otherwise, it was all good.  Cold for sure but everybody bundled up.   I was hoping for some snow and its magical effect, but none came.  What did happen that was just a coincidence but nevertheless remarkable occurred when Samuel L. Jackson was talking about Martin Luther King Jr.  As he spoke, the pale sun came through the clouds.  Shortly after he finished, it faded away.  

Doctor King was remembered in ways large and small.  U2 sang Pride - In the Name of Love, and it had a particular resonance.  It was just amazing to look around the crowd and see the diversity and the looks of -- this is really happening.  

After the concert, our part of the crowd headed up Virginia Avenue and past the State Department to Foggy Bottom metro.   With the streets closed to traffic, the phalanx looked like extras in a Spielberg movie.   The metro was packed to the gills but everything seemed to go ok overall in terms of logistics.  

The honeymoon will soon be over for the Obamas and those who voted for him, but for these glorious days, even the media on The Mall is smiling.   Yesterday, at the place where he once proudly stood, Doctor King must have been pleased too. 

Appropriate Options for Monday

Ok, the out-of-town guests arrive tomorrow.   The planning pressure's on.   You know what you're doing on Sunday and Tuesday, but not sure about Monday.   It's a special day made even more special, and you want to do something appropriate.  

The National Museum of African American History and Culture is hosting "Renewing America's Promise: First Inaugural College Debates."

The National Museum of American History will offer activities such as roving actors portraying American Presidents, and speeches from the Civil Rights Movement to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day.   Deborah Willis will sign copies of her book Obama: The Historic Campaign in Photographs. 

The Smithsonian has an exhibit titled "Road to Freedom: Photographs of the Civil Rights Movement, 1956-1968.   It's at the Ripley Center, an underground location on the west side of the Castle Building (Outside entrance at the portico).   This may be the one inside spot on The Mall that isn't crowded, although all bets are off this weekend.  

The weekend section of the Washington Post has info on the film King: A Filmed Record, Montgomery to Memphis playing at AFI in Silver Theater in Spring Spring.  Two showings with free tickets.

Aretha will sing at the Kennedy Center on Monday.  Free tickets at 10 am.  That's the same day as Oprah's show so they have info on how to navigate the overlap.

All these events are going to be very popular so I would come up with a back up plan.   If you're staying at home or listening to the radio or will be on-line,  NPR always broadcasts King speeches and related items.  NPR here is WAMU 88.5.  Kojo Nnamdi hosts his great show that comes on M-F from 12 to 2 pm.  

Sorry about the lack of links but we got company coming too!

 

 

 

Welcome Concert Starts at 2:30 p.m.

The starting time for the Welcome Concert on Sunday in front of the Lincoln Memorial was originally announced as 2 pm.    It starts at 2:30 pm.

The Post has the details.   I'm not happy about the bridges not being open but I can see the need in terms of safety and security.   This concert will also be a dress rehearsal in some ways for folks getting used to using Metro.

The bitter cold that will plunge temps to the teens tomorrow will start to move off by late Saturday.  It will be still be cold Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday.  Each day will start in the 20s and reach the 30s by the afternoon.   20-30% of flurries or the stray snow shower each day.   One thing is for certain.  It won't rain!

Anyway, forget fashion and bundle up.   Don't get caught up in having to have a particular spot and thus wait for hours.  Visit the museums, move around.  There will 22 or so Jumbotrons so you can see it that way.

The Afternoon Paper

Attention shoppers, we’re announcing our Nostalgic Special Offer of the Year. 

 

Remember coming home and reading the latest news in the afternoon paper?   Remember the hawkers crying – "Paper Mister?" and "Extra, extra, read all about it?"  Remember getting home from school and delivering the afternoon paper?

 

Well on Tuesday January 20, and again on Wednesday, January 21, The Washington Post and other city newspapers will bring those memories back with the printing of special afternoon editions for the Inauguration.  

 

Poynter Online has all the details.   

SABR39: Helpful Links and Info: Old Ebbitt Grill

I am starting a series of reviews for restaurants near the Convention Hotel.   I gave a brief look at Teaism the other day, a popular spot with healthy eats.   Let's now take a look at Old Ebbitt Grill, a D.C. classic where the calorie counts provide job security for the Surgeon General and fitness centers.

SABRites will appreciate not only the location of Old Ebbitt Grill, a couple of Josh Hamilton moon shots from the hotel, but also its history.   Washington's oldest saloon, OEG first opened its doors in 1856 as a boarding house near what is now the area around the Verizon Center and Chinatown.   The current spot at 15th Street between F and G, has been open since 1983 and is cozy to the White House.

When dealing with an established restaurant, one always has concerns if they can keep up their reputation year after year.   This was our first trip and we had a very good experience.  Our two thumbs up agrees with this Urban Spoon poll that says 91% of the patrons liked it.  

Old Ebbitt offers American and Seafood.   I had tasty fish and chips with hot, crispy French fries and cole slaw.  The better half, ever on the hunt for the World's Best Crab Cake, and usually heard to say - "They're ok," gave hers a thumbs up.  (Shangri-la is non-descript Jerry's Seafood in Prince George's County -- get there early).   Our server was friendly although so busy that we waited a bit longer than what our tummies wanted.

If you're like me, you appreciate restaurant reviews that let you know about the din and noise level.   The main serving area was not the place to whisper sweet nothings, but we were seated in the back room where it was quieter. 

Now if you're hoping to spot a politico or Beltway Insider, you may want the front sitting area.   If you need a sports fix, several HD TVs provide the ticker.   There's no dress code, although the shorts and ball cap crowd (gosh, who might that be??) might feel a tad underdressed during the week.

Old Ebbitt Grill thins out wallets a bit more than places like Teaism, but overall it has good value.   We'll compare it to that veteran player - a step or two slower, but still exceeding the league average.

Old Ebbitt Grill
Zagat Ratings:

Food: 21
Décor:23
Service: 21

20 to 25 (Very good to excellent)

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