Howdy folks. Well, what can even be said? I'm talking about Pete Rose, who was not only my favorite baseball player (and favorite athlete, period), and not only one of my earliest heroes (along with The Beatles), he was integral to my life. Pete was one of those guys you expected to live forever, but he didn't and his death this week came suddenly and without warning to those of us who didn't know he wasn't well. I think it's beyond cool and such a blessing that, the day before he died, he was at a memorabilia show with fans and his teammates from the Reds: Tony Perez, George Foster, Davey Concepcion and Ken Griffey. Johnny Bench appeared the next day and just missed them.
The Cincinnati Reds from 1970 to 1976 were known as The Big Red Machine, and the 1975-76 teams, which also featured the late, great Joe Morgan (and others), and which won back-to-back World Series, are considered by many fans and baseball writers to be one of the top three teams in baseball history, right up there with the 1927 Yankees.
On Monday, when the news came in, a guy on Facebook referred to Pete as "The Beatles of Baseball", and I thought "That's perfect!" because that sums up not only his impact, but the energy with which he played and loved the game, and the adulation he received from the fans. Pete Rose and Sandy Koufax were my first two sports heroes. I got into baseball before any other sport, and when I was about five, my Dad took me to Dodger Stadium to see Koufax pitch. He was from the University of Cincinnati (Dad's alma mater), so Dad (who was not a sports guy) liked him and Dad also liked the Reds. When they came to town, he took me to see them play the Dodgers, and he told me to pay attention to Pete Rose, which I did and became a lifelong fan. But it was more than just baseball with Pete, who felt like family in the the way EVH or David Lynch do. I met Pete at a car dealership in the Summer of 1984, where he was signing autographs (in the days when he did it for free). I brought my first-edition Baseball Encyclopedia that Dad gave me for Christmas 1969. Now it's signed by Pete and Tommy Lasorda.
Pete Rose loomed large in my life, even when he was banned from baseball. If you've followed this blog, you know about what happened to me in 1989 and the infamous Giamatti-Sea of Love Timeline. The "Giamatti" part refers to former Baseball Commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti, who banned Pete from the game on August 24 1989, then dropped dead from a heart attack one week later on September 1. My Dad called me that afternoon and said "That's what he gets for f-king with Pete Rose!" That's how revered Pete was in our family, and in Cincinnati, and among hundreds of thousands of fans around the baseball world. It's so great he was with his teammates on the last day of his life. Oh, and one more thing: I know you should never say never, but nobody's ever gonna break his record of 4256 hits.
In political news, how do you guys like Doug Emhoff, the "embodiment of the new masculinity"? If you couldn't tell he was a phony from his everpresent, pasted-on grin, and if the pregnant nanny didn't do it for you, maybe the revelation that he allegedly smacked his girlfriend (hard enough to "spin her around") will convince you that he's a seriously bad guy. This could be the October Surprise, and if you read the Daily Mail's highly detailed account, it apears to be true. Though the sources remain unnamed, if any of them come forward it will finish Kamala's campaign. Her husband, "the Wife Guy", turns out to be a hard core a-hole. Thank God both of them will be gone in five weeks, her political career will be over and we'll never have to hear from her again. I've been telling you that we are in a battle between Good and Evil, and in my own life that could not be more true. The 2009 revelations are turning out to be as bad as 1989, if on a much smaller scale, but they are of the same occult nature. The people involved are sick in the head, sick in spirit, sick in soul, and worse, they are evil.
On the large scale and rippling outward, the media is evil. Hollywood is evil. Everyone knows it. I know it first hand. P. Diddy, as evil as he is, is just a fall guy for thoroughgoing corruption and obscenity. The Left doesn't care, which is why I jumped ship. JD Vance showed them all up, and Walz - even though he was goofy and as nervous as could be - seemed like a decent guy (though he's got a problem with fibbing). I wish the ticket was Vance/Walz. And JD will be president some day. But we need Donald Trump now, in order to win, because if we don't end Queen Kamala's career, she will end this country with her woke movement pushing behind her. That is their goal, to end this country. Imagine what George Washington thinks of what America has become.
I am trying my best, but I feel like a voice in the wilderness, because I've been writing and talking and spiritually shouting to the Lord and the Universe, and to anyone in the world who will listen. I've been doing this for 35 years but have never recieved a single response concerning The Truth, and we all know what that is.
(deep breath...)
Well, anyhow, in case you didn't see my recent Facebook post, "Pearl the Wonder Girl" is now available on Amazon (in paperback with a beautiful blue cover).
I don't have a Montgomery Clift movie for you, but I did order "Freud" on dvd and we'll watch it as soon as it arrives in the mail. Instead, to kick off Halloween Season, I watched two old classics this week, "The Man Who Changed His Mind" starring Boris Karloff, and "Invisible Ghost" with Bela Lugosi. Both have been reviewed before, here at the blog, and I'm sure you can find them by checking the Blogger search engine.
In music, I've been listening to "Degradation Trip" by Jerry Cantrell. Jerry, of course, is the founder of Alice in Chains and also a musical mastermind and self-described "curator of riffs" with a distinct guitar sound, and even though he had one of the great lead singers in the late Layne Staley, Jerry is a fine singer himself whose recognizable voice was half of the tight AIC harmonies. The band was known for many qualities, and among them I think the vocal harmonies should be emphasized. One of my favorite things about Jerry Cantrell that casual fans may not know, is that he was a choir singer throughout high school, and not only that, but he became the choir president and his choir won many Washington state competitions. When AIC achieved their first gold record, Jerry sent a copy to his choir director. Readers of this blog will know why that endears him to me, besides his great music with Alice in Chains: I was a pretty good choir singer myself and absolutely revere my five years as a tenor at the Reseda Methodist Church. Choir singing rules and I hope to do it again one day.
Well, that's about all for the moment. Back to the battle of Good and Evil. It's either me or them. Stay tuned.
No comments:
Post a Comment