That untimely defensive futility by a team clad in red yesterday seemed familiar...
Lots of misery tied to April 15---it is the day Lincoln died in 1865, the day the Titanic sunk in 1912 (one of my ancestors was a survivor), it is traditionally the day taxes are due in this country (when weekends and holidays don't extend the deadline), and of course, there was that horrible day ten years ago...
For those not part of this place at the time, the value of it was never more evident than on that day---it was an incredible source of information, connection, support, and solace throughout that tragedy and its aftermath.
The other thing that will be commemorated today is the arrival into the major leagues in 1947 of the man chosen to purge baseball of its original sin. Jackie Robinson was all baseball could have hoped for in someone tapped for that role--excelling in all phases of the game on the field while exhibiting extraordinary patience in enduring the prejudice of the fans, opponents, and even teammates, and dealing with all the difficulties of being a person of color traveling across a country largely segregated by law or custom. His final gift to his country and his sport was to publicly call out the lack of opportunities for blacks in managerial roles in baseball when they honored the twenty-fifth anniversary of his integrating the sport by having him throw out the first pitch before Game 2 of the 1972 World Series. He died nine days later. It would take another two years before that last challenge would be fulfilled by the Indians hiring Frank Robinson as their manager.
Today every player will wear number 42 in Jackie's honor. Before it was retired by the league, the last player to wear number 42 for the Red Sox is the same player who was the last to wear it for the Angels: Mo Vaughn. Mo was a great player for the Red Sox but a disappointing one for the Angels. Let's hope that proves to be some kind of omen.
Lots of misery tied to April 15---it is the day Lincoln died in 1865, the day the Titanic sunk in 1912 (one of my ancestors was a survivor), it is traditionally the day taxes are due in this country (when weekends and holidays don't extend the deadline), and of course, there was that horrible day ten years ago...
For those not part of this place at the time, the value of it was never more evident than on that day---it was an incredible source of information, connection, support, and solace throughout that tragedy and its aftermath.
The other thing that will be commemorated today is the arrival into the major leagues in 1947 of the man chosen to purge baseball of its original sin. Jackie Robinson was all baseball could have hoped for in someone tapped for that role--excelling in all phases of the game on the field while exhibiting extraordinary patience in enduring the prejudice of the fans, opponents, and even teammates, and dealing with all the difficulties of being a person of color traveling across a country largely segregated by law or custom. His final gift to his country and his sport was to publicly call out the lack of opportunities for blacks in managerial roles in baseball when they honored the twenty-fifth anniversary of his integrating the sport by having him throw out the first pitch before Game 2 of the 1972 World Series. He died nine days later. It would take another two years before that last challenge would be fulfilled by the Indians hiring Frank Robinson as their manager.
Today every player will wear number 42 in Jackie's honor. Before it was retired by the league, the last player to wear number 42 for the Red Sox is the same player who was the last to wear it for the Angels: Mo Vaughn. Mo was a great player for the Red Sox but a disappointing one for the Angels. Let's hope that proves to be some kind of omen.
