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chrisevansszn · 4 years ago

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THE GAMES WE PLAY‼

This is a story about you and Chris journey after filming your first movie together. Life comes at you fast. 👀

1.2k word count

You and Chris just finishing up shooting a movie together. A little romantic film, and it was time for press tours. The film took six months to film in Atlanta, GA. You flew back home to Texas for a week of rest, and he went back home to Boston. You can Chris developed an amazing friendship during filming. This was your breakout film, and to have the privilege to shoot a movie with Chris Evans! You couldn’t believe it!

*Income Facetime from Chris*

“Hey Chris”, you answered. You were just sitting in your living room watching a football game on tv. You could hear Dodger bark in the background. “Y/N, what are you up to”, Chris asked. “Just sitting watching some football” “I have never met a woman who loves football the way you do, I swear”. He giggled. “Chris, I watched it all NFL and college football”. “That’s crazy. I just absolutely love that”. You laugh. What do you have going on today? “I just took Dodger to the dog park, and now we are back. Football for me too!” You watch Chris walk to his kitchen, he’s chatting away, and grabs a beer. While filming you and Chris constantly went to bars, or played drinking games at each other’s rental homes, and you could hang with him too! “Let’s take a shot”, you say. He stopped and looked at his screen. “That’s my girl” You both grab a shot of liquor and cheer through the phone. “Scott is calling me. Let me get this call. I can wait to see you Friday in NYC.” “Same, talk to you later”, you say and hang up the phone.

The week goes by and you fly out to NYC for interview with Chris. First up, Jimmy Fallon.

“As you both know, I was able to see this with early access, and the film is incredible! Your on screen chemistry has me reeled all the way in”, Jimmy says. “Chris, I really notice how touchy feely you were this entire film”. Chris blushes. “Noooooo, were not going to make me look like a creep”, he laughs. “I was just dedicated to the craft. You smile, a smidge embarrassed. You and Chris rubbed and touched all over each other while filming this. You both were just super comfortable with each other. The audience goes wild. “Y/N, how was it shooting those intimate scenes?”, Jimmy asked you. You smile, “Work was really nice.” Jimmy died laughing. Chris looked over at you and gave you one of those smiles.

There was sexual tension between you and Chris, but it wasn’t obvious. It was little moments when you guys would smile at each other, or just look into each other eyes. Who could resist those beautiful blue eyes?

You guys had interviews a few more late-night shows, and then it was off to Los Angeles for the premiere. You were so nervous, because this was your very first one! Chris offered for you to stay with him at his LA home. You were only going to be in LA for a few days anyway. You accepted. Chris arrived in LA first, because you look at later flight so you could visit your friend Jessica in NYC. You haven’t seen her in years! You landed in LA at about 7PM, Chris had a car to pick you up from the airport. When you arrived at his house you could believe it. It was absolutely stunning, and huge. Way too big for a bachelor and his dog.

The driver opens the door for you, and you see Chris walking outside. “Y/N you made it”, he says. “Hi Chris,”. You run up and give him a hug and a kiss on the cheek. “Thank you so much for letting me stay for a few days”. “Absolutely, anything for my favorite girl. Plus, I didn’t want to get ready alone”. You blushed, he called you his favorite girl! He grabs your luggage from the drive and both walk in the house. Dodger is lounging on the couch until he sees you. He comes running. “Hi Dodger.” You give him rubs, and he gives you kisses in return. “He loves attention,” Chris says. “Like his daddy”, you blurt out giggling. Chris dies laughing. “Are you hungry?” I made dinner if you are. “Um, yes. When am I not hungry?”

Chris made salmon, asparagus, and rice. It looked and smelled amazing. You both sit down to eat and he opens up a bottle of wine.

“I am absolutely terrified about the premiere tomorrow. Having everyone’s eyes on me gives me major anxiety”, you say. “Same, it doesn’t really get easy. I get butterflies every time”. You both finish dinner, and you suggest some drinking games. Beer pong up first! Chris sets up the game. It’s his favorite, but he knows you are a beast as well. Let’s go live in Instagram he says. That’s extremely odd. Chris never goes live on IG. “Sure”, you say. He sets up his phone and starts the live. He’s talking shit per the usual. “Ladies, first” You shoot and miss. “This is going to be cake”, he says. “All you do is talk shit”, you blurt. He shoots and misses. “Chris, what the fuck!”, he hollers. You giggle. You shoot and it goes into a cup. “Ok”, he says and nods his head up and down. You shoot again and make it, and again, and again. He couldn’t believe it. “Y/N, you are kidding me right??”. “Talking all that shit, you knew better. Let end this….KOBE!”, you hollering while shooting into the last cup, and it goes in. Chris made one cup to your ten.

You walk up his phone to talk to his live. “See what happens when you talk shit!” Chris comes behind you and picks you up by the waist and moves you from the phone, and then he goes back. “Noooo IG, were having a rematch right now”. He cannot stop laughing. You guys play another round of beer pong, flip cup, and then tic tac toe. You won every game. By that time, it’s around 11PM, not only were you both drinking beer but having shots of vodka all recorded on live. You both say goodnight to the live audience and clean up the mess.

“I am going to go take a shower and then lay it down”, you say. “Let me take you to your room”, Chris replies. You follow him down the hall to a guest bedroom. It was stunning, walls were painted grey, its own living area, and the view you can’t even describe.

“Here you go, all yours”, Chris says. “Thank you.” “Bathroom is over here, closet if you want to hang your clothes, and a living space.” “I love it.” “If you need anything let me know”. Chris kisses your cheek and walks back down the hall towards his room. “Come on Dodge…bedtime”. You hear him say. You take a shower and get into bed. It has been a long day and you are tired!

It’s the big day! The premiere of your first movie ever. The anxiety you are feeling can’t be described. Think about all of the fans and flashing lights, my goodness. Your team comes over to prepare your hair and make-up. The guest bathroom is so large everyone can fit. Chris’ team is at the other end of the hall getting him together. The premiere starts at 7PM. You are wearing a black fitted long velvet down, with huge emerald earrings. You dress comes with hand gloves that go up to your elbow, and you are wearing open toed Christian Louboutin heels. Chris is wearing an amazing blue suit with a white undershirt, and brown shoes. Chris walks into your room as you are finishing up. “You look beautiful,”, he says and smiles. You blush. “Thank you, sir, you look amazing as well”. You both head out of his home get into the back of the Cadillac Escalade the company sent. You and Chris made jokes the entire 30-minute ride to the theatre. He pulls out his God-awful iPhone 6 and snaps a couple of pictures of you guys. You finally arrive. There are two men awaiting and open each door for you both to get out and Chris comes around to your side. He grabs your hand and you both walk down the red carpet. The flash from all of the cameras is causing you to barely see. Chris still has your hand, and he is leading the way. There are so many other celebrities on the red carpet, fans are waving and calling your and, you have no idea where to look. You and Chris finally arrive at the first area of red-carpet photos. “Y/N, over here, Y/N over here” is all you can hear as you pose.

You look up a Chris, and he looks at you.

“You look so fucking sexy, I could fuck you right here on this red carpet”, Chris whispers in your ear.

WHAT DID HE JUST FUCKING SAY???

I hope you all enjoy this! 💞💞💞💞💞

#chris evans x reader #chris evans fanfiction #chris jamal evans #chris evans #fanfiction #andy barber #captain america #cevans #ari levinson

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jessethorn · 5 years ago

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Some Los Angeles Tips

People are always asking me what they should do when they visit LA. I am by no means the greatest LA expert on earth, but I’ve lived here more than a decade now, and I have some ideas for you. Note that I live in the far Northeast corner of LA, and really rarely travel to the western half of town. So if you are looking for advice on Beverly Hills stuff or Malibu stuff or whatever, I am not that helpful. Also this is very subjective and really non-comprehensive in general. Just some stuff I like!

In General

Rent a car if you drive, but don't be afraid to take the bus or subway. There are some very long distances to traverse, and not everything is convenient to transit, but the transit is reasonably comfortable and efficient for a lot of purposes (going downtown, for example), particularly when combined with some judicious ride-sharing. There's plenty of parking everywhere, despite what Angelenos would have you think. Don't try to do too many things in one day, or cross town on the 10, 101 or 405 at anything even resembling rush hour (ie between like seven and ten thirty or three and seven on weekdays). Stick to one area for the day, maybe two.

The Museum of Jurassic Technology This is the best thing in Los Angeles and one of the best things in the world. It is part museum, part art project. To explain it much further might ruin the experience of visiting it, but please take my word that it is one of the most amazing places in the world.

The Watts Towers As the name suggests, they're in Watts, a bit out of the way for some trips, but absolutely without a doubt worth the travel. They're an incredible artwork/building built in a backyard out of rebar, concrete, glass and tile by an illiterate Italian immigrant in the mid-20th century. Worth signing up for a tour, they are cheap (it's a city park) and not all that long. There's also a little gallery on the site. One of the great works of American outsider art and a deeply beloved city treasure.

Other, More Regular Museums LACMA is a world-class art museum. The collection is a bit scattered (and as of this writing a wing is closed for renovation and replacement), but it's really good. It's in Mid-City on the Miracle Mile, and surrounded by other museums. The Petersen Automotive Museum is pretty cool if you're into cars. La Brea Tar Pits are more park than museum, but the museum is fun in a kitschy way, if you're into prehistoric creatures. It's also a nice place to eat lunch. In Exposition Park are a few major museums - the Natural History Museum is pretty good, though not better than others in other major cities (the Field Museum or whatever). The science museum is OK but significantly outclassed by the competition (it's no Exploratorium), though it does have a real space shuttle, which is pretty sweet. The Annenberg Space for Photography does what it says on the label. A good mid-size museum of photographs, check what show is up. The Broad is a nice contemporary art museum in a beautiful building that's right near Walt Disney Concert Hall, also an incredible building. They have a second campus in Little Tokyo that's very nice but smaller.

Architectural Stuff The LA Conservancy runs affordable walking tours that take you into some of the most fascinating built environments in LA. The subject matter ranges from Art Deco in downtown to the modern skyscrapers of the 50s through 90s. They're mostly Saturdays, but a few also run on weekdays. Can't recommend them enough if you're up for a couple hours of walking. You can go inside the Bradbury Building and up into the upper floors! It's cool. (The Conservancy also runs screenings in the big movie palaces downtown, which are mostly otherwise closed to the public. Definitely recommend those.) A couple of other architectural highlights: the Hollyhock House is in Barnsdall Park in Los Feliz. It's a restored Frank Lloyd Wright estate willed to the city many years ago that as of relatively recently runs regular tours. Also in the park is the city art museum of LA, which sometimes has some cool shows. Cal Poly Pomona students run tours on Saturdays of the Neutra VDL studio and residences in Silver Lake, which can be combined with a nice walk around the lake and some middle-aged-hipster watching. The Gamble House in Pasadena is an absolutely breathtaking craftsman mansion with a lot of

Griffith Park Griffith Park is one of the largest urban parks in the United States. It has all kinds of stuff within it - the LA Zoo, the Griffith Observatory, some great hiking. It's a great place to spend some time. If you have little kids, they will love Travel Town, a train graveyard/museum that's inside the park (and free!). The zoo is good if you like zoos, though not incredibly great or anything. The Autry Museum of the American West is worth a visit if you're into that kind of thing.

The Grove I know that we talk about The Grove a lot on Jordan, Jesse, Go. Please do not waste your vacation time at the Grove. It's a mall. It's fine. This also applies to the Americana at Brand, which we sometimes talk about because we have talked about the Grove too much. Also a mall. A little nicer than some? I went there when I needed a new power cable for my Surface.

Dodger Stadium Look, I am a Giants fan and hate the Dodgers, but if you are a baseball fan, Dodger Stadium is a great place to watch a baseball game. Even I can admit that. Angel Stadium is about as generic as it gets, but if you go on a weekday you can take a train from Union Station in LA.

The Getty Center The Getty Center is a beautiful building on a breathtaking piece of real estate. It's pretty cool to visit, but be aware that most of the art is pretty early, so if you don't like busts or paintings of feasts and stuff from the bible, then it might not be your jam art-wise. And getting up there is a whole thing. That said: it really is a beautiful building and an incredible view, so you probably won't feel like it's a waste. And if you like busts, then get your ass over there.

Downtown Stuff I will again recommend the LA Conservancy's walking tours to get a flavor of downtown LA, which is very walkable and full of incredible stuff. The main library is a beautiful edifice, the history of which is detailed in Susan Orlean's The Library Book. Worth wandering around in. Grand Central Market is a great place to get a bite, though pretty bougie at this point. Right next to Grand Central Market is Angel's Flight, a block-long funicular that is a lot of fun and costs next to nothing. Besides this, there are still functional specialized commercial districts in downtown LA. The flower district is particularly fun - the big flower market opens early for wholesale sales but is open to the public and there are tons of stores selling silk and artificial flowers which are very fun to wander through. There are also areas with stores specializing in selling imported toys, store fixtures (a favorite of mine), jewelry and fabric. Most of the fabric is kinda garbage honestly but there is a good tailor supply store called B. Black and Sons and a great hat making store (worth visiting even if you don't make hats) called California Millinery Supply. FIDM also has a thrift store with cheap fabric leftover from LA-based factories.

Movies The Arclight is a fancy movie chain, and the Hollywood location (near Amoeba Records) is also the home of the Cinerama Dome, which is pretty fun. The Vista is a great single-screen theater on the east side. There are some great rep houses on the west side - check your local listings.

Comedy Stuff The UCB has a few great shows every night at both locations. It's hard to go wrong, though you should be aware you will be seeing things that are a little rougher than whatever makes it to your town as a road show. The signature improv show is Asssscat, which is absolutely as good as it gets. Dynasty Typewriter (right by our office) has a lot of great shows these days. A great standup show is Hot Tub at the Virgil. The big comedy clubs have pretty comedy-club-y comedy in them, not necessarily what I'd recommend, though you will certainly see a lot of relatively big names doing sets. The Improv Lab sometimes has MaxFun-adjacent headliners who've put together their own lineups, as does Flappers in Burbank. Largo has bigger-name shows of this variety as well, and if you go see a show there headlined by a Sarah Silverman or Patton Oswalt, the lineup will likely be packed with their pals, even if they aren't advertised.

Some Places To Eat This is NOT a comprehensive list. First: Jonathan Gold died a few years ago, but he is still the king of LA food. Anything he recommended in the Weekly or Times is still the gold standard (no pun intended). He was also a wonderful writer and a champion of foodways that are unfamiliar to many in LA, much less outside LA. If you are a food nerd, KCRW's Good Food is a superb local food show (and podcast) produced by Nick Liao, who used to work at MaxFun.

Philipe's The French Dip A restaurant that's been around for literally a century, with sawdust on the floor, big jars of pickled eggs, ladies in hairnets and really tasty French Dips. They have competing claims to having invented them but the other competitor turned into one of those goofy sleeve-garter-barman subway tile exposed lightbulb places about ten years ago. Philipe's is totally for real and great.

Pie N Burger This is just a burger place in Pasadena that sells classic SoCal-style burgers and is really great. Cash only, though.

Langer's The only one of the Jewish delis in LA that's really worth a special trip. The #19 (pastrami, cole slaw and swiss on rye) is truly one of the world's greatest foods. Pastrami here is better than anywhere else I've ever eaten, including those famous delis in New York.

Park's BBQ

One of many great Korean BBQ restaurants in LA, but the only one recommended to me personally by Jonathan Gold. (I also like Soot Bull Jeep, which barbeques over charcoal and will leave you smelling like smoke, and Hae Jang Chong for all-you-can-eat.) (There are LOTS of different kinds of Korean food, but I am not an expert on the soups and blood sausages and bibimbaps and etc., but if you're adventurous, you could eat a different Korean food at a different spot every month in LA and make out well.)

Guelagetza Oaxacan food is one of the best kinds of food in the world, and Guelagetza is an LA institution that serves good-quality Oaxacan food. Moles, tlayudas, queso fundido. If you've never eaten any of this stuff, a couple of chicken moles are a great place to start (as is Guelagetza).

Dim Sum You can drive all the way to the San Gabriel Valley and eat at one of the many wonderful dim sum places there. That's where the best stuff is. If it's not worth a special trip to you, I like a place called Lunasia in Pasadena, and they also serve dim sum for dinner. Not a HUGE menu but good food.

Mozza This pizzeria, now a sort of group of restaurants, is an unimpeachably excellent Fancy Meal in LA. So (per my producer Kevin) are the other restaurants run by the same chef, Nancy Silverton.

The Dal Rae This is an old-timey fancy restaurant in Pico Rivera, a semi-industrial part of LA. It's just a great place to wear a suit to and eat Clams Casino. Famous for their table-made Caesar salad (legit great) and pepper steak (too peppery for me). Generally the food is excellent in a 1955 sort of way.

Bludsoe's Best Texas-style barbeque I've had outside of Texas. Used to be a window down by the airport, now a fancier place on La Brea, but I'm told the food is just as good at the fancy place.

Pupusas I love to eat pupusas. Maybe my favorite food. I really like to eat pupusas at Los Molcajetes on Hoover in Westlake (near Koreatown). Note they are weirdly big here (a regional variation of some kind) and they only take cash. (Note also this is one of 10,000 restaurants in LA named Los Molcajetes.) I also sometimes eat at a nice sit-down Salvadoran place called Las Cazuelas on Figueroa in Highland Park.

In N Out In N Out is good! It will not change your life! But it is very tasty, especially for a $4 food! Some people complain about the fries, which are fresh-cut and fried only once and thus are less crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside than some others! I think they are fine! Try In N Out, why not! But maybe don't make a whole special trip to do so!

Tacos and Other SoCal Mexican Food Stuff Everyone has their own favorite taco places, and none of my favorites are so special they should be destinations. They are mostly my favorites because they are close to my home and work. But I can tell you that I like to get sit-down Mexican-American food at La Abeja on Figueroa in LA, where I eat a lot of carne adovada and enchiladas and sometimes albondigas or breakfast. I also really like to eat carne en su jugo at Carnes Asadas Pancho Lopez on Pasadena in Lincoln Heights. I eat tacos from Tacos La Estrella on York in Highland Park or the truck (with no name) across from the Mexican consulate on Park View at sixth in Westlake. At night I sometimes get cheap tacos (I like buche) from the place that opens up on Pasadena at Avenue 37. I like the shrimp and fish tacos at Via-Mar on Figueroa. I like Huaraches from Huaraches Azteca on York. The burritos at Yuca’s in Los Feliz (or Pasadena) are great, though they are totally different from the SF-style burritos that I grew up eating. I sometimes get nachos at Carnitas Michoacan on Broadway in Lincoln Heights, which feature meat and cheese sauce and are gross but also really, really good. I have also eaten at the very fancy Mexican restaurant Border Grill and to be honest it is really good even though the interior feels a little like a cross between a fancy restaurant in 1989 and a Chili's.

El Coyote This is a famous Mexican-American restaurant from the early part of the 20th century, but you shouldn't go there because the food sucks.

Stores I Like This is going to be REAL subjective, but a few stores I like which sell the kinda stuff you'd expect me to want. &etc - A great (small) antique store at 1913 Fremont in Pasadena. The Last Bookstore - A downtown bookstore that is the closest thing to a "destination" book store in LA. Good selection and reasonable prices on used books, and a nice art book room. (Records as well, but they're not very good.) Gimme Gimme Records - I like this record store in Highland Park. You'll pay retail here, but reasonable retail, and the selection (while not immense) is really excellent. Good stuff in all genres.

Secret Headquarters - One time at this small comics store in Silver Lake the lady at the counter asked if I was Jesse from Jordan Jesse Go and they won my business forever in that moment. Don Ville - My friend Raul makes and sells shoes (and repairs them!) in the northern part of Koreatown. If you have the dough, get him to make you some shoes! The Bloke - A really great little menswear store in Pasadena. Sells cool (expensive) trad-ish brands like Drake's and Hilditch & Key and Alden. The Good Liver - A beautiful shop in Little Tokyo specializing in perfect home goods. The perfect scissors, the perfect dish towel and so forth. Some things are expensive, some aren't. H Lorenzo Archive - The "outlet" shop of a designer clothing store on the west side. Discounts aren't huge, but the selection is really interesting, and they have a good collection of one of my favorite brands, Kapital. Sid Mashburn - Excellent classic clothing shop on the west side. Suit Supply & Uniqlo - if you haven't got these where you live, they're the places I usually send people for reasonably-priced tailored clothes (Suit Supply) and cheap basics (Uniqlo). Olvera Street - This is an old-timey tourist attraction, a street of folks selling Mexican handcrafts (and their Chinese-made analogs). Right near Union Station and Philipe's, and a great place to buy factory-made huaraches (the shoes, not the food). They even have sizes big enough for me, which is pretty much impossible to find in Mexico or most Mexican-American shoe stores. Thrift Stores - I go to a lot of thrift stores but if I told you which ones you might buy something I would have bought so I'm not going to tell you which thrift stores.

Flea Markets You may know I am at the flea market every weekend. The good fleas are on Sundays, and there's one every week. First Sunday of the month is Pasadena City College, a big (and free) market with pretty reasonable pricing. PCC has a pretty big record section in addition to the regular flea market stuff. Second weekend is the famous Rose Bowl flea, which is HUGE and has a big new goods section (blech) and vintage clothing area (good!). Third weekend is Long Beach Airport, which is a great overall show. Fourth is Santa Monica airport, which is smaller and a little fancier but very nice. The Valley flea is also fourth Sundays, at Pierce College, and that's not huge but sometimes surprises me. With all of these, the earlier you can arrive, the better you'll do (not least for weather reasons). I usually try to get there around 7:30 or 8:00. The Rose Bowl in particularl is a 4-6 hour operation if you do most of it. There are also a lot of swap meets - I don't know enought to recommend any in particular, but these are much more about tube socks and batteries and bootleg movies than antiques and collectibles. Still can be fun, though, and are certainly a proud SoCal tradition. (The Silverlake Flea and the Melrose Trading Post are garbage, don't go there.)

Going to the Beach I'm not a huge beach goer, but by all means go to the beach if that's your thing. The Annenberg Community Beach House in Santa Monica is a great place to base your operation, though you have to arrive in the morning on busy days to get a parking spot.

Kid Stuff I mentioned Travel Town, that's pretty great. Kidspace in Pasadena is a very good children's museum. The Bob Baker Marionette Theater is a great place to see a marionette show straight out of 1966. There's a good aquarium in Long Beach though it's a bit nutty there on weekends, and the zoo in Griffith Park is a good zoo. I really like Descanso Gardens, a big botanical garden northeast of LA. Huntington Gardens is also very nice, though it's much more expensive and hotter.

Geography Los Angeles is BIG. I'd say try to spend each of your days within about a sixth of it, geographically. It's entirely possible to do west side and east side stuff on the same trip, but don't try to do them on the same day. Look at a map and look at driving times when you're planning. Neighborhoods in LA are BIG, geographically speaking, don't assume two things in the same neighborhood are an easy walk. There aren't a ton of urban neighborhoods suitable for wandering in the way there are in some places. A few manageable general areas for stuff you might like: Silverlake/Los Feliz/Echo Park, Koreatown, Highland Park, downtown, Little Tokyo and the Arts District. (I live in the northeast part of town, and don't spend much time on the west side, which is one reason why this list focuses more on east side stuff. Some folks like West Hollywood and Venice on the west side. Long Beach and Pasadena are both neat towns with their own thing going on that might be worth a visit, too.)

Books & Media The Great Los Angeles Book is probably City of Quartz, a socialist-leaning history of LA. I really loved Susan Orlean's The Library Book, which is about the library as an institution, but also specifically the LA central library and the mysterious fire that nearly destroyed it. And a wild guy named Charles Lummis who was one of the founding fathers of LA culture and was really something else. (You can visit his house - it's right off the 110 near Highland Park.) An LA movie I love is The Long Goodbye, which is sort of a predecessor/inspiration for The Big Lebowski. A shaggy mystery directed by Altman where Elliott Gould just sort of wanders around LA. Another really cool one is Los Angeles Plays Itself, a long (long!) film essay about the ways the real Los Angeles has been used to create fictional worlds in film over the decades.

TV Tapings I'm not an expert in TV tapings. I can say that I've been to a few Conan tapings, and while it takes a LOOOOONG time to get in there, the show is fun to watch live. This is generally true of talk shows and most game shows, which tape more or less as-live. Sitcoms take WAY longer than you were expecting them to. Make sure to try to book tickets early if you have something you want to see. No matter what it's a most-of-the-day thing.

Nightlife Is a word that describes evening activities - especially dance clubs. I am old and don't know about these things.

The Magic Castle I can't get you in, please don't ask me to. I went a couple times. It's fine. If you're not into magic you're not missing too much. If you are, then obviously, it's a priority.

The Walk of Fame and Hollywood Not recommended, not worth it, don't bother.

Disneyland Why would you want my opinion about Disneyland? It's Disneyland. You're in or you're out.

San Diego If you happen to plan a side trip to San Diego, you can take the Amtrak there, and it is a breathtakingly beautiful and exceedingly pleasant trip. I have no San Diego expertise to impart beyond that, however.

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diarrheaofthekeyboard · 4 years ago

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#41

9.4.2020 - 9.8.2020

At age 5, sometime in the summer of 1983, I went to my first Mets game. I know they played the Montreal Expos. I’m pretty sure George Bamburger was still the manager. Tom Seaver was on the team. I do not know if he pitched that game. But I know I saw him pitch on tv as a Met that year.

My early childhood from that point forward was consumed with baseball (and cartoons) until about 1989 when the Mets were bad again. They just got worse until I went to college, but I still watched. I couldn’t watch Mets games in college, so I mostly forgot about baseball. I graduated in 2000 and came home to the Mets and Yankees in the Subway Series. And I was back in it.

The Mets predictably lost, and it was the worst because the Yankees were dynastic, but something else happened. After raising me as a Mets fan, my father outed himself as a Yankee fan.

My dad was born in Brooklyn in 1950 and raised in Sheepshead Bay, which is close to Coney Island. Story goes he asked my grandfather to go see the Dodgers and was told “next year”. That was 1957. He never got to see the Dodgers in Brooklyn. They, and the New York Giants, moved to California before the 1958 season. This is pretty fucked up. And though I never asked him while he was alive, it would make no sense for my grandfather to have claimed he didn’t know the Dodgers were leaving. It was the biggest news in Brooklyn.

For 4 years, there was only one New York team. The Yankees. They won the World Series in 1958 and 1961. They lost the World Series in 1960. The Mets first season was 1962 and promptly set the record for most games lost in a season, in the modern era. The Yankees beat the San Francisco Giants in the World Series that year. In 1963 the Yankees lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers, but who could root for the Dodgers after they left Brooklyn? That was traitorous. In ‘64 the Yankees lost the World Series to the St. Louis Cardinals. They were terrible after that.

In 1967, Tom Seaver debuted for the New York Mets. They were still the worst team in baseball. In 1969, led by Seaver, the Mets were champions. My dad, by this time in college, became a fan.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned in tracing his sports allegiances, it’s that he’s a bandwagoner. We never watched hockey, but for some reason had 4 copies of an Islanders record from the early 80s. We never really watched football, but he did like to watch the Cowboys. Why wasn’t he a Giants fan? Or a Jets fan? It never really made sense.

The entire reason we went to that game in 1983 was my dad got tickets from work. The owner of the company he worked for had box seats about 10 rows behind the third base dugout. We would go once or twice a year and my dad would complain about traffic. We went to Game 1 of the 1986 World Series. I still have my ticket. It was a big moment for me, having just turned all of 9 years old. It’s still a big moment for me. We sat 6 rows from the back of the stadium and couldn’t see anything. But we were there.

I never had reason to believe my dad was anything other than a Mets fan. And then, there I am, freaking out in 2000 as Benny Agbayani hands the ball to a fan in the stands because he thought there were three outs, and my dad is outing himself further as a Yankee fan with every moment.

I don’t remember when this took place, but I know it happened. I was so angry I was raised a Mets fan. But it went something like this:

Why would you do this to your child? You know how bad they are. You read the paper. You never bothered to tell me the Yankees won the World Series in 1978. I could have gone through life as a carefree Yankee fan, not ever having to know the intricacies of the game, and never beating myself up in the years they weren’t competitive because they’re the fucking Yankees! They always come back.

At that point, I couldn’t give up the Mets. For the damage being invested in their losing had done to me, and for what it would continue to do to me. For 20 years until I left New York, I probably watched 150 games a year, whether on tv or at Shea. I didn’t just double down. It became all consuming. And gut wrenching. Hey! You had a shit day at work! Let’s agonize over this garbage team and argue with the tv announcers every day. As I bounced from apartment to apartment, job to job, there would always be the constant, soothing misery of the Mets.

The 2000 baseball season had been my introduction to Tom Seaver the announcer. Keith Hernandez too. I actually got to see him play. He was the quintessential first baseman. Now I got to listen to them regularly. Along with Ralph Kiner, Gary Thorne, and Howie Rose, they were fantastic. They talked about the game like a coach should talk about the game. Every game, regardless of how bad the team was, became a clinic in “How to Baseball”. I loved it.

In 2006, the Mets got their own broadcasting network and consolidated the announcing team. Ralph Kiner’s health had declined over the years and he would only return on home Sunday games. Fran Healy and Tim McCarver were finally, mercifully gone. Seaver left too. He had gone into winemaking in ‘05 and wanted to pursue it full time. Taking over play-by-play was radio announcer Gary Cohen. He had been Bob Murphy’s understudy and was a familiar pick. Keith Hernandez stayed and fellow 80s Met Ron Darling was added as well. They’re still in the booth today, and they’re fantastic.

Seaver would show up from time to time. There was never a down, dull moment with him. You’d get an adrenaline rush just listening to him.

I’m going to say something controversial. I hated Shea Stadium. It was a nasty, ugly place. But there’s one thing about it that CitiField just can’t replace. The entire stadium was built from concrete blocks and it was very closed in. Each entrance to the seating area from the concourse was like its own little tunnel into another world. You come out of the darkness and into the light of the greenest field you’ve ever seen. I got goosebumps and would nearly be on the verge of tears, every time I walked through, from that first game in 1983, until they tore the place down at the end of the 2008 season.

I did make sure to be there at the last game. It was terrible. The Mets needed to beat the Marlins to get into the Wild Card and it didn’t happen. Then we waited seemingly forever for the post-game ceremony to begin, absolutely fuming that we had been duped by this shit team again. Finally, things got started. Mets greats were announced. And Tom Seaver and Mike Piazza closed the centerfield gate together, formally closing the book on Shea. It was a good moment even though the season ended terribly.

We moved to California two years ago. This was my opportunity to finally get rid of the Mets. I was determined to do it. I started watching A’s and Giants games. I even started watching Dodger games. At the start of the season, I was set to ride the A’s and Dodgers all the way to a California World Series. Then COVID hit. The season was cancelled. I lost my job. School was cancelled. Bad news increased exponentially. And when the baseball season finally started in July, my wife said she wanted to watch the Mets. She wasn’t going to give me a choice either.

We met in 2006. She had moved to NYC the previous year and kinda bandwagoned her way into Yankee fandom. Because why not. She was really a football fan anyway. One of her previous boyfriends was apparently a huge Cubs fan. She says every time they lost he’d be upset for days. Which, historically, is a tough place to be as a Cubs fan. As we dated and got closer she saw just how many games I would watch on a yearly basis. It’s a lot.

She got used to me pacing around, guitar in hand, yelling at the TV. She studied for the bar exam through this. One time, I forget what was going on, she’s reading flashcards and I had taken issue with something Gary Cohen said. And I hear quietly, “don’t argue with Gary!” I can still hear the inflection in her voice in my head. I turned around and started telling her why I disagreed with him and her only response was “did I say that out loud?” Gary, Keith, and Ron were hugely important to not only her tolerance of my baseball tv domination, but also her appreciation of the game. She only knew Ralph Kiner as this cute old man. And every so often, Seaver would come back and she’d see me well up with visceral feelings.

I cried when Ralph Kiner died. Around 2014/2015 I wrote a blog titled “The Common Sense Mets Fan”. At the time, I was convinced the Sandy Alderson administration would right the team and keep the Wilpons at bay. I was wrong. Anyway, here’s what I wrote:

On the last day of the season, as usual, Gary Cohen said goodbye to Ralph Kiner. But there was something different about it this time. There was fear in Gary’s face, as though he knew this was his last opportunity to sign off with Ralph. I had seen hints of it in years past, but never like this. Sadly, Ralph passed today, I hope peacefully.

As a Mets fan, this is like losing a grandfather or great uncle. Ralph had always been there. From his stories about Elizabeth Taylor to his willingness to argue advanced metrics and hitting style with Keith Hernandez, he was ever present in the Mets broadcast booth. I’ll never be able to hear the game again the same way. Thank you, Ralph.

At the time, I said to my wife, “the next time I cry about the Mets, it’ll be when Tom Seaver dies.” This was before their 2015 run. Before the Wilmer Flores incident. Before I was sitting on my couch with a 1 year old, watching them in a World Series, as I did my best impression of Randy Quaid from Major League. I refused to allow myself to enjoy the success of the team because I knew they would lose. It was just a matter of when. And of course, they did lose to the Kansas City Royals. But they got a lot further than I thought they would.

When MLB decided to move forward with a truncated 2020 season, I was reluctant to watch. It’s not safe for anyone involved and seems to be all about corporate greed. But of course, like moths to a flame, we watched. And as I mentioned, my wife said, “we’re watching the Mets.” I didn’t want to. But she was right. In a year like we’ve never seen before, Gary Cohen, Ron Darling, and Keith Hernandez did something, and are doing something, nobody else is. They gave us levity and calm. Led by Gary, they are unafraid to address the news of the day while knowing the escape they provide. The BLM t-shirt moment was unparalleled. And unfortunately, they’d have another day to provide calm the next week.

As you well know by now, George Thomas Seaver died last week. He had contracted lyme disease years ago, while working in the vineyards. For some people, lyme goes undiagnosed for years while doctors treat the symptoms without putting it all together. This seems to have been what happened to Tom. It progressed with complications and he developed Lewy Body dementia. His family announced his retirement from public life and the Mets announced they would erect a statue to him outside of CitiField. They changed the address of the stadium to 41 Seaver Way. But in true Wilpon Mets fashion, still no statue.

Finally, last week, Tom died due to complications from COVID. I was sitting on the couch, watching some random baseball game and reading Twitter. I saw the Baseball Hall of Fame announcement on Twitter, exclaimed “oh no!”, and went upstairs to be alone for a minute. My wife was on the phone. She ran upstairs to see me sitting with my head in my hands and asked what happened. I told her and then told her how stupid I felt for letting this get to me. And she said, “yeah, but you said after Ralph died this would happen”.

Our son came upstairs to see what he was missing. I told him. He said “who’s that?” And we had a long talk I think bored him. And it’s then it hit me what had happened. As I’ve detailed in the past 4 pages of text, Tom Seaver meant a lot to me, even though in my experience as a Mets fan, he was really just a peripheral character. I saw him on the field a couple of times. He was talked about. He was an announcer for a few years, and he’s mostly been out of the spotlight for the past 15 years. Here I was, having a visceral, uncontrollable reaction to a childhood figure I never met. How the fuck were people who actually knew him going to keep it together?

They couldn’t do it. Gary and Ron did their best. Apparently, Keith’s mom also had dementia, and he lost it. There was a lot of silence during the game. A lot of big sighs from Keith. A lot of on air hurting. It was gut wrenching. I saw an Ed Kranepool quote that said, “this was a terrible ending to a horseshit year.” And it’s only September!

At this point, nearly a week later, it’s difficult to remember where I saw it. But here it is. The reason I’ve spent all this time spilling my guts about a guy I never met. Tom Seaver was a beacon. He wasn’t just someone who had a talent and pursued it. He was constantly trying to reinvent himself and pursue that passion, whether he was good at it or not. But even moreso, he was a positive influence on everyone around him. I’ve never heard a story about Seaver fighting with anyone. He wanted to be Rembrandt with a baseball. And he wanted to lift people up around him.

I feel isolated and alone. There’s not much I feel like I can control. I can get out my thoughts, I can be a good husband and a good father. I can explore my music. And I can use the latter to pull myself out of the former. That’s what Tom would tell me to do.

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theenchantedgalleryofstories · 5 years ago

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Title: Boston Meets Country Pairing: Chris Evan x OFC (Evangeline Blackwood) Summary: Scott is a little shit of a brother. Warning: Fluff Beta: @themusicplayedherlife and @shellbilee Thank you ladies for betaing my stories and making them 10x times better. Notes: So I didnt think I was going to get more than drabbles or mood boards out of this but here we are.

Scott pulls up to Chris’ house and turns off the ignition, glancing out of the window before getting out of the car. He heads up the steps and pulls the key Chris gave him from his pocket, opens the door and lets himself inside. The house is quiet when he enters; Master and pet are nowhere to be found. As if on cue Scott hears the sound of Dodgers nails against the floor. He sees Chris walk around the corner clutching a bowl of cereal, still dressed in his sweats and a t-shirt.

“You’re not dressed yet?” Scott practically yells, startling Chris in the hallway.

“Jesus Christ, Scott!” Chris responds in a fright, clutching his hand to his chest and trying to balance the almost dropped bowl of cereal in his hands. "Where did you come from?"

“Mom,” Scott says sarcastically, raising an eyebrow at his brother. “Why aren’t you dressed yet?”

“Because I am not going,” Chris replies flatly, annoyed at his brother's intrusion. “I thought we already had this discussion.”

Chris shakes his head and turns to make his way into the living room. Scott steps in front of him, blocking Chris' path.

“Actually, you never gave me an official answer. And since you never gave me an official answer, I've decided to answer for you: you're going.” Chris glares at his younger brother, frowning as he watches Scott point to the stairs. "Get your ass upstairs, shower and get dressed, so we can go.”

With a grumble and a few choice words, Chris heads upstairs to get cleaned up. 20 minutes later he is back downstairs and looking better. “How do I look?”

“Much better. Thank you. Can we go now?” Scott asks curtly.

“Yes,” Chris says through a sigh. “Wait! No. Let me take Dodger out first.”

“Already done. Do you have any other excuses or can we leave now?” Scott inquires sarcastically, tilting his head and smiling sweetly at Chris.

Chris looks back at his brother flatly, “I guess not. You took them all. Lead the way, oh annoying one.” Scott rolls his eyes and Chris gives him a brotherly shove towards the door, grabbing his phone, wallet and keys from the side table before shutting the front door behind him.

Chris runs his fingers through his hair and looks over at Scott as they drive towards the arena. “Remind me again why I'm going to a country concert?”

“Because you've been holed up in your house for far too long,” Scott argues, glancing over at his brother in the passenger seat. “It's time to get out. Do something. Meet a hot country singer. Take her on date.”

“I have not been held up in my house!” Chris answers defensively, frowning and crossing his arms. “I've been trying to enjoy time away from the public eye. You brought me out here to set me up on a date.”

“You’ve been hermitting.” Scott retorts quickly, looking over at Chris and then back at the road. “Come on. It’ll be fun. You’ll get to hear some music and drink some beer. And you never know, maybe you won’t hit it off and then you won’t have to take her out.”

“I hope you’re right," Chris replies with a sigh, still unable to believe he'd let Scott talk him into this. "How did you get tickets to the show anyway? I heard it was sold out.”

“I may have bribed someone,” Scott answers nonchalantly. Chris looks at him skeptically. “Ok, I might know the drummer. And I might have mentioned that I have a lonely brother who could use a date with a girl who is semi-normal. And he agreed that his little country singer could use a night out as well.”

Chris rolled his eyes. “And how are country singers semi-normal?”

“How often do you see a country singer in the tabloids? I mean think about it really," Scott explains, gesturing with his hands. "They record. They go on tour and show up at award shows. Then, they go home. They have a knack for staying out of the public eye for the most part. Doesn’t that sound nice for once?”

Chris shrugged his shoulders and turned to look out the window, unable to deny the truth in his brother's words. For once, it would be nice to date someone who isn’t constantly in the public eye as much as he is. But how long would that last?

“Just meet her. If you don’t hit if off, then fine. But at least you tried," Scott reasons, glancing in the rearview mirror before he merged into the next lane. "And maybe you even get a friend out of the deal. What's the worst that could happen, really?"

Eventually Scott and Chris arrive at TD Garden. Chris' eyes widen when he sees the lines of people wrapped around the arena. “Please tell me we don’t have to wait in all of that?” Chris asks nervously, turning in his seat to look at Scott.

“Of course not,” Scott scoffs with a loud laugh. “What do I look like? A crazy person? Do you think I've learned nothing from all these years of having a celebrity brother?” Chris feels himself relax as Scott pulls the car to the back of the complex, rolls his window down to speak to a security guard. They're let through in a matter of seconds..

After pulling into a spot, Scott and Chris head for the VIP door, where a guard gives them passes and lets them know an assistant will be with them shortly to escort them to their seats. They are taken to their seats moments later, the assistant smiling and asking if they'd like any drinks to be brought out to them, adding that they can call at any time should they require anything throughout the show. They order two beers and the assistant says she'll have them brought out in a moment. Chris and Scott lean back in their seats as the stadium begins to fill up.

Chris watches as crowds of fans pour into their seats from all sides, unable to remember a time where he'd seen the TD Garden so packed.

Eventually, the lights come down and the crowd begins to cheer, roaring and clapping as they wait eagerly for the show to begin. A guitar riff plays and the crowd grows even louder. A lone figure steps out onto the empty stage underneath the lights.

“Hello, Boston. How y’all doin’ tonight?” Rebel Queen asks into the microphone, her voice echoing throughout the stadium as the crowd cheers in front of her. Her delighted laugh fills the crowded space. “That’s good to hear! Are you ready to get this party started?” she asks with a mischievous grin, winking at her audience before launching into her first song of the show.

Chris is completely memorized. Rebel Queen is not at all what he pictured for a country singer. Dark hair, tank top, short shorts, tattoos and a voice that would make you sign a deal with the Devil just so you could keep listening to her voice forever. Her energy is incredible, owning the entire stage as she dances and sings her way from one end to the other. She keeps the crowd on their feet with her rowdy country rock hits and stage diving into the audience. The roaring sound of her fans only seem to get louder as her show goes on.

How someone so small could possess so much energy is beyond Chris. His eyes are glued to Rebel Queen as she belts out her lyrics and sings her heart out to the crowd. Even when she slows for her soulful ballads she keeps the audience engaged, pulling fans up onto stage to sing along with her.

As the concert begins to wind down, one of the security guards stops by the VIP box to let Scott know he is ready to escort them backstage. Still completely enthralled by Rebel Queen's performance, Chris jumps when Scott touches his shoulder to let him know it's time to head backstage. Chris stands up from his seat and follows Scott and the guard out of the box, walking behind the stage to find an utter mess of chaos. People are running back and forth in every single direction, shouting and barking orders as Chris and Scott snake their way through the hustle and bustle. When they finally reach the VIP room, the guard tells them that the band and Rebel Queen should be off in about 15 minutes, inviting them to help themselves to refreshments.

“So, what did you think,” Scott asks, looking over at his brother as he flops down onto one of the couches.

“That was country? That's not at all what I thought country would sound like or look like,” Chris replied with a shrug, making himself comfortable on the couch beside Scott. “I couldn’t decide if she was the devil or an angel.”

Scott chuckles and flashes his brother a wicked grin. “Well, there’s a reason why they call her the Rebel Queen of Country. She's a bit more on the edge between rock and country. Says she likes it that way. Keeps everyone on their toes.”

They hear the sounds of the show coming to a close and the band heading backstage to pack up for the night. The door to the VIP room opens and Scott gets up from the couch with a grin.

“Scott!” Rebel Queen squeals, running forward and jumping into his arms with an enormous smile on her face. Scott laughs and spins her around, eyeing his old friend. “I didn’t know you were going to be here. Why didn’t Tommy tell me?”

“We wanted it to be a surprise, country girl,” Scott answers with a cheeky grin, putting her down and beaming at her. “Awesome show tonight too, you were incredible!”

“Thank you! I see you brought a guest with you. Are you going to introduce us?” Rebel Qqueen asks, looking over Scott's shoulder to where Chris is standing up from the couch.

Chris is in a daze, eyes glued to Rebel Queen. She iswas even more beautiful in person, his mind momentarily blanking as he takes in her gorgeous smile and bright violet eyes. Scott clears his throat and Chris shakes himself free from his thoughts, stepping forward to stand next to his brother.

“Chris, I would like for you to meet Evangeline Blackwood, the Rebel Queen of Country. Evie, this is my brother Chris,” Scott introduces them proudly, watching Chris with a smile.

“Hi,” Chris says, his voice squeaking as he offers his hand. He clears his throat and smiles as he takes her hand in his. “Hi, it's nice to meet you Evangeline.”

“My friends call me Evie,” Rebel Queen replies with a soft smile, shaking his hand and looking back at him shyly.

“I think I like Evangeline better,” Chris says, still holding her hand, grinning when she lets out a demure chuckle in response.

Scott watches the two of them together and high fives Tommy in the background, unable to help the grin plastered to his face.

“So, Evie,” Scott interrupts, clapping his hands and causing Chris and Evie to break apart. “How long are you going to be in Boston?”

She turns back to Scott and shrugs. “I'm not sure. Tonight was the last night of the tour. So I’d have to check and make sure nothing is scheduled. Why? Are you up to something?”

“What? No!! Not at all. Why would I be up to something?,” Scott defends quickly. Chris raises his eyebrow at his brother. Scott is up to something, and Chris knows what it is in an instant. “I just thought if there was nothing scheduled you might want to stick around. See the sights from a true Bostonian.”

Evie tilts her head and smiles at Scott. “A true Bostonian, huh? And who might be this true Bostonian be? You?”

“Sadly, no. I have to head back to LA. Chris, on the other hand, is planning to stick around for awhile. I just know he'd love to show you around Boston. Right, Chris?” Scott says looking over at Chris, a Cheshire cat grin on his face.

If looks could kill, Scott would be dead right now. “Um, sure. I mean, if you want to stick around that is. I would love to show you around Boston,” Chris replies rubbing the back of his neck nervously. “Maybe we could start with breakfast tomorrow morning if you aren’t too tired.”

“Mmm, that might be possible but let's make it brunch instead. I tend to sleep like the dead after a tour ends," Evie says with a chuckle. “Can I see your cell phone?” Chris hands Evie his cell so she can put in her number in, sending herself a text and handing the phone back to Chris. “I'll text you in the morning when I wake up.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Chris replies with a grin, trying to ignore the excited feeling in his stomach.

Scott and Tommy are celebrating behind them when Evie turns around, the two quickly freeze and act they hadn't just been jumping around like idiots. Innocent, they are not.

“We should probably start packing up. I'm sure there are others wanting to go home after a long tour and we are keeping them waiting,” Evie says with a small yawn, turning to look at Scott.. “Scott it was so great seeing you again! I wish you were going to be around longer.” She grins and she pulls him in for a hug, the two embracing for a quick moment.

“I wouldn’t worry. I'm sure we will be seeing a lot more of each other,” Scott replies when he unwraps himself from Evie, smiling down at her and turning to face his brother. Chris and Scott give her a kiss on the cheek and congratulate her on her performance once again, bidding her goodnight before heading out the door.

As they head back to the car, Scott jumps up and down excitedly. “Oh, man, you should have seen your face! I’m not sure when the last time you looked at woman like that was.”

“Oh, shut up, Scott," Chris says defensively, shaking his head at his brother. She’s beautiful, talented, and seems really sweet. "Who wouldn’t have been in awe of her?”

“Uh- huh. Sure,” Scott teases, raising an eyebrow and grinning as they both climb into the car.

Chris's phone suddenly buzzes; he reaches into his pocket to retrieve it and his eyes widen when he sees the name of the message sender on the screen. Evangeline.

I can’t wait for brunch tomorrow. See you soon.

Chris' face lights up, his stomach flip flopping at the thought of seeing Evie in the morning. He buckles his seatbelt as Scott switches on the ignition and pulls out of the parking lot, unable to help his smile as he thinks about what tomorrow will bring.

Tags: @tilltheendwilliwrite @theycallmebecca @whiskey-cokenfanfic @thegirlwithpaperheart @mrsgoodnight @givemethatgold @patzammit @ari-levinson @anyoneforteaus @nishanki1 @wordywarriorwrites @thinkxlovexloud @its-forevermore @jewels2876 @nomadicpixel @sian22redux @girl-next-door-writes @captain-rogers-beard @star-spangled-man-with-a-plan @averyrogers83

#Chris Evans #Chris Evan x reader #Chris evans x ofc #Chris evan fanfiction #Rebel Queen #Evangeline Blackwood

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nerdmars · 5 years ago

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In a touching moment as his hour-plus set came to a close at Wednesday’s Blue Diamond Gala at Dodger Stadium, benefiting the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation, singer Bruno Mars shared a story about his early days in Los Angeles when he was an aspiring songwriter dreaming of success. “Over a decade ago, I moved out to L.A. hoping that one day I was going to make it,” said the 11-time Grammy-winning, 27-time Grammy-nominated superstar. “I wrote a bunch of … songs, and then I finally wrote one that I really loved. And I remember driving in L.A. in a 1987 Honda with an AM/FM radio” hearing the song “that changed my life.” Mars then sang the B.o.B track for which he’s featured, “Nothin’ on You,” as well as his early hits, saying, “If you know the words to any songs I’m about to sing, I want to hear you all sing.” Guests on the baseball diamond crowding the stage appeared happy to do so. They also joined in for “It Will Rain” and “When I Was Your Man.”

Honoring tennis legends Billie Jean King and Ilana Kloss, the fifth-anniversary gala, presented by the Dodgers ownership group, raised a record-setting $3 million. Proceeds are earmarked for the Dodgers Foundation’s Dreamfields and RBI (Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities) programs, which promote baseball and softball development among children and teens. Prior to Mars’ set and in a party tent lined with buffet tables, children and adults gathered around the Dodgers players, who cheerfully autographed baseballs for fans before settling into an area designated for the team. Haley Joel Osment of “Future Man,” sister Emily Osment of “Hannah Montana,” Martin Starr of “Silicon Valley” and Katherine McNamara of “Shadowhunters” chatted beneath chandeliers in the space. “I’m a lifelong Dodger fan,” Haley Joel Osment said. “So many players put so much effort into the community, going above and beyond, that I’m proud to be a fan.” Seated beside boyfriend Taylor Beau, Anne Winters of “13 Reasons Why” said, “This is my favorite event. I’ve come here twice. I love the atmosphere. I love being in the stadium, and honestly, the performances are amazing.”

 Wrapping up his show, having sung “Just the Way You Are” with the audience, Mars said, “I hope you guys had just as much fun as we did,” adding, “It would mean the world to me and my band if we got everyone on the field singing this chorus one last time.” He then asked to turn the lights up so he could watch — and the audience sang with enthusiasm. Mars closed the show with his hit with Mark Ronson, “Uptown Funk.”

Tickets for the 2,000-plus guests ranged from $1,250 each to $100,000 for sponsorship packages of 30 tickets. With a focus on sports, recreation, education, literacy, health and wellness, the Dodgers Foundation has contributed more than $25 million to local programs serving the youth of Greater Los Angeles.

#bruno mars #Bruno Mars article #dodgers stadium #2019 #24kmagic

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stephenjaymorrisblog · 2 years ago

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Jeremy Peña Saved Me from Suicide

Stephen Jay Morris

10/16/2022

Scientific Morality©

There are so many ways of escapism from negative current events. What’s your pleasure? Sex? Drugs? Music? Dancing? Booze? Video games? For me, it’s being a front row spectator of competitive sports on TV. In that world, there’s never a mention about the Donald, or of Evangelicals disrupting a school board meeting. No...during game time, I am far, far away from that shit. The only controversy, if any, is over an umpire’s call. It’s a good way to spend time during a hot, summer afternoon.

Autumn is upon us now, which means MLB playoffs! The outcome will result in the two teams that face off over seven games of the ultimate show, the fucking World Series!!!

You see, it’s not toxic masculinity that drives me to watch such contact sports; it’s about team work, and heart and soul. It’s about individual achievements through symbiotic relationships with collectivism. Without each other, there can be no victory. This is applicable to all endeavors in life.

Also, there is the issue of the underdog. I have always been a fan of the underdog. There is a basketball team in Los Angeles, the L.A. Clippers. In the 90’s, they couldn’t get arrested. They were always in last place. But I stuck with them and still do. Over the years, the team improved markedly, to the point where they get into the playoffs, but always fail to make it to the championships. Well, someday.

Now, back to baseball. The Seattle Mariners haven’t won a World Series since 1990. That’s a long time! I was drawn to the team because of that fact. During the first round of the ALCS playoffs, they were playing against the Houston Astros. I usually have no interest in that team. However, their manager, Dusty Baker, is somebody I really care about. I remember him when he played for my home team, the L.A. Dodgers, in the 70’s. Later, he managed the Chicago Cubs and almost took them to the World Series. Then, he managed another underdog team, the Washington D.C. Nationals. He took that team out of last place. But—and it’s a big but—he never won a World Series. A man after my own heart.

On October 15, Game 4 between the Seattle Mariners and the Houston Astros started at 4:00 p.m. It was broadcast over cable TBS. Both teams had great pitchers. After the first inning, there were no hits. At the end of the 7th inning—no score! At this point, I was yelling at my T.V. set, “Can’t anybody hit the God damn ball?!” I even started to use racial epithets and yelled sexist remarks at the players. I stayed with the game up until the 10th inning. Nothing!

Disgusted, I left the game and watched some drive-in, gore movie. After some time, I was curious about who’d won, so I returned to TBS. The stupid game was still on! It was the 14th inning!! After that, I kept going back and forth between the movie and the game.

I think it was 10:15 p.m.--in the 18th inning!!--when a young player named Jeremy Peña stepped up to the plate. He’s a 25 year-old rookie, born in the Dominican Republic. I didn’t expect much from him. At this point, I was thinking about overdosing on sleeping pills. He swung his bat and the ball flew into the backfield seats! It was finally over! The Houston Astros advanced to the second round of the ALCS playoffs, and having done so, they set a six-in-a-row AL record!

I felt sorry for the Mariners’ fans; they’d all stayed to the bitter end. I guess, as they say, there is always next year. But I was happy for 73 year-old, Dusty Baker.

Also, Jeremy Peña saved me from suicide.

#baseball #sports #postseason #stephenjaymorris #poets of tumblr #baby boomers #anarchism #satire #autobiography

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your-dietician · 2 years ago

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Jaime Jarrín, the legendary Latino voice of the Dodgers, retires

New Post has been published on https://medianwire.com/jaime-jarrin-the-legendary-latino-voice-of-the-dodgers-retires/

Jaime Jarrín, the legendary Latino voice of the Dodgers, retires

LOS ANGELES — As the only girl and the youngest among her siblings, Alicia Ayala, 53, grew up in the predominantly Latino neighborhood of Boyle Heights, sharing a special connection with her dad, Raul, a die-hard Los Angeles Dodgers fan.

“We were Dodger blue since forever,” said Ayala, who would ride in the cargo bed of her dad’s white pickup truck to attend Dodgers games.

At the time, she and her family spoke exclusively in Spanish. The only way they could follow along with games was by tuning in to Jaime Jarrín’s play-by-play Spanish-language radio broadcast.

“If we were watching a baseball game, we were listening to Jaime Jarrín. It was just what we did,” Ayala said. “He was always on, always.”

Jarrín, now 86, is set to retire as the Dodgers’ Spanish-language broadcaster this year. His final broadcasts will take place as the Dodgers enter the postseason as one of the Major League Baseball World Series favorites with the league’s best overall record and the franchise’s best-ever season (111 wins and 51 losses).

Jarrín’s contract was the first Spanish-language broadcast contract in the MLB.

It marks the end of a career for Jarrín that spanned 64 seasons and one that saw major demographic and cultural shifts in Los Angeles and within the Dodgers fan base.

For Ayala, the end of his career also symbolizes a heartfelt final goodbye to her father, who died in December 2012. “In a lot of ways, hearing Jaime all this time kept me close to my dad,” she told NBC News in tears.

‘I am like Rocky Marciano’

Jarrín sat down at Dodger Stadium with NBC News correspondent and “Stay Tuned” co-host Gadi Schwartz to discuss his retirement, his impact on the city’s Latino community and his plans for the next phase of his life.

Jarrín was scheduled to retire on Jaime Jarrín Day, on Oct. 1, when the Dodgers played the Colorado Rockies at home. But his retirement was delayed until the end of the postseason, in anticipation of another successful playoff run as the team qualified as the top seed in its division.

“I am like Rocky Marciano; I’m in my corner waiting for the bell to sound for the last round,” Jarrín told Schwartz jokingly.

During the interview and the day of his final regular season broadcast, Jarrín traded his traditional blazer for a Panamanian hat made in Montecristi, Ecuador, and a white track zip-up jacket from the professional Ecuadorian soccer team L.D.U. Quito — a nod to his home country.

He was also wearing a 1988 Dodgers World Series championship ring gifted to him by his good friend Orel Hershiser, the former Dodgers pitcher and World Series winner.

Though the Dodgers don’t have any Ecuadorian players, Ecuadorian flags could be spotted across the stadium on Oct. 1. Fans brought them in honor of Jarrín. They know his voice and his famous phrase as he chronicled the games: “La pelota se va, se va, se va y despídala con un beso!” In English, it’s “The ball is going, going, going and say goodbye to it with a kiss!”

Building community

Jarrín is an institution and in many ways a pioneer. He’s known as the Spanish voice of the Dodgers, the Latino community’s Vin Scully.

Scully, the “voice of the Dodgers” who died in August, was the bridge for Jarrín inside the broadcast booth, as Jarrín became Scully’s bridge to reach a growing Latino fan base.

“He was a titan in my profession, but he was my close friend,” Jarrín said of Scully. “I was so blessed to be probably the person that spent more time with him, because every day here at the ballpark we used to have dinner together and on the road we were always together.”

Jarrín’s kinship extended beyond Scully to fellow broadcasters who joined him in the Spanish broadcast booth through the years.

“I’ve spent nearly 30 years with him, ‘about half my career,’ Jaime likes to say to me,” said Pepe Yñiguez, a Spanish-language baseball broadcaster for the Dodgers who teamed up with Jarrín starting in 1999.

“We’ve shared many adventures,” Yñiguez said. “We’ve traveled on many long trips talking about how we got to this country and how we’ve navigated the experience.”

Reaching multigenerational and immigrant families

Jarrín was born in Cayambe, Ecuador, and worked as a reporter in Quito before moving to California in 1955 at age 20. He worked as a cafeteria busboy and studied English for a year before joining KWKW-AM (1330) — then the only full-time Spanish-language radio station in Los Angeles.

Within two years, he became director of the station’s news and sports department. When it was announced that the Dodgers would be moving west for the 1958 season, KWKW quickly cut a deal with the team to broadcast its games locally in Spanish, something no major league franchise had ever tried before.

Jarrín was given the role in the booth and had a short amount of time to familiarize himself with America’s pastime. He initially rebroadcast games in Spanish from Scully’s calls before the station sent him on the road.

“Many thousands of Latinos coming in from Mexico, from Central America, the Caribbean area, from South America, they didn’t care much about baseball,” Jarrín said. “Fernando Valenzuela and myself, I think we did our part to not only help the Dodgers in that regard but baseball in general.”

Jarrín estimated that Latinos now account for between 42% and 46% of all Dodgers fans. When he first started and the team occupied the L.A. Coliseum, that number was between 8% and 10%. Through the decades, the city’s population grew, and so did its Latinos, who now account for almost half of the city’s population, according to the latest census data.

One of the factors that brought Latinos to Dodger Stadium was the arrival of pitcher Fernando Valenzuela, a former Mexican professional baseball pitcher most remembered for his stint with the Dodgers, helping them win a World Series championship in 1981.

Jarrín stepped up to the plate and helped bridge the language barrier between Valenzuela and mainstream news media outlets. Jarrín served as Valenzuela’s interpreter, and “Fernandomania” encapsulated the city of L.A. and the country.

At his core, a traditional newsman

Even before he achieved fame as a baseball radio announcer, Jarrín’s work as a Spanish-language radio reporter earned him a place in informing his community of crucial local and national events.

“Radio was the only medium for the community to be in touch with the rest of the country. So I took advantage of that,” Jarrín said.

Jarrín recalled arriving in Washington, D.C., to cover the assassination and funeral of President John F. Kennedy. “I was 20 feet away from where the body was laying there, when Mrs. Kennedy came in with her son,” Jarrín said.

It was his first visit to the nation’s capital. He recalled arriving at a rainy and cold Washington, filled with military guards, after receiving support to access press credentials and a radio signal from California’s first Mexican American member of Congress, Rep. Edward R. Roybal.

“I went to the cathedral where the procession was coming in, described everything that was going on, and then Arlington cemetery, so I was there when the procession came in. It was a very tough assignment, but I think it is the best I have had,” Jarrín said.

In addition to calling an estimated 10,000 to 12,000 Dodgers games, there are dozens of moments in Los Angeles history that Jarrín witnessed and reported on, including the Chicano Moratorium and the killing of journalist Ruben Salazar, presidential visits from Latin America, World Series games, and the 1984 Olympic Games.

This trust translated into some fascinating moments in his life, like being flown in a helicopter by the FBI from the KWKW parking lot to Los Angeles’ airport in 1972 after Ricardo Chavez Ortiz, a hijacker on a Frontier Airlines flight, demanded to speak with Jarrín from a place of trust and admiration.

His hard news coverage and his voice in the sports broadcast booth during some of the biggest moments in sports history — such as the final boxing match between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier III, billed as the “Thrilla in Manila” — cemented Jarrín’s place in many Latino homes.

Life post-broadcast

While Jarrín feels physically and mentally well enough to continue broadcasting for two to four more years, he said “it’s the right time for me to hang the gloves.”

After retirement, he will remain with the Dodgers as an ambassador supporting the team’s ties to the city’s Latino community. Jarrín will also help manage the Jaime & Blanca Jarrín Foundation, in hopes to allocate at least 30 to 50 scholarships worth $10,000 each every year to students.

When it comes to honors, Jarrín’s trophy cabinet contains plenty. They include a 1988 induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame, the receipt of Ecuador’s highest nonmilitary honor, the first Latino to win California broadcasters’ Golden Mike Award, and others.

“I hope they remember me as a person who came from South America, who came from Ecuador at 19 years old without knowing much of the language, but who tried to prove himself and tried to do something for the community,” he said.

“Jaime Jarrín has been the first voice that I can remember as a kid,” said Jose Benito Garcia, 35, of Inglewood. He’s the “perfect person to personify what the immigrants and Latinos can bring to this country.”

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thesportssoundoff · 6 years ago

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Manny Machado To The Yankees Maybe? Well...

Joey

July 12th

There's been a lot of scuttlebutt around Yankeeland about the reported increased interest into All Star SS/3B Manny Machado. This has been met with either tremendous applause from fans or angry derision from fans. The weird thing is that it's a 50/50 split between the Yankee fanbase itself, not even from a "throughout the major leagues" standpoint. Yankees fans either LOVE the idea of adding Machado or HATE the concept which is really strange given the way this fanbase almost always comes to a consensus pretty quickly. To lay out the opening a bit, I'll do my best to present what both camps seem to be saying:

For Machado:

-It's the chance to add yet another all star player at a position where the Yankees don't necessarily have a "need" for an additional player but would probably benefit greatly for improved play.

-It's the chance to further fortify a strength and dare teams to get through this lineup four times in October with a juiced ball (let's be real here) without suffering significant damage.

-It opens the door to moving Andujar or even Didi to potentially improve your squad down the road.

Against Machado:

-This team needs pitching!

-We love Andujar and Machado is just a minor upgrade over him!

-Machado wants to play SS and this team has a collection of players who can play shortshop.

-Why trade for even MORE offense?! Did we mention this team needs pitching?!

In the interest of giving myself a break from solely taking MMA and boxing, I've decided to go ass first into this whole Machado to the Yankees rumor and conjecture to give my own thoughts and opinions on the matter. Am I for it? Against It? Well....

1- Even if you don't get him, getting involved is a damn good thing.

Let's start there. The mere presence of the Yankees and their top 3-5 farm system forces teams to be honest in bidding for Manny Machado. If the Red Sox, Dodgers, Brewers, Phillies and the such want to make a move for him, having the Yankees involved helps make them pay for it. Giving those teams competition reminds me of when the Yankees sat down with Carl Crawford for the sole focus of getting the Red Sox to up their bid on the player. Sometimes if you're going to be painted as the asshole of the MLB, it's okay to actually BE the assholes of the MLB. Teams aren't going to be sympathetic to your cause so might as well give them a reason to hate.

2- It's not JUST that he makes the line up better.

The upgrade over Andujar with Manny Machado on offense is not as large as you'd think. Even if Andujar is very much a Starlin Castro 2.0 (a guy who isn't going to walk much, K's a bit more than you'd like probably and will live on those hot streaks where he goes XBH crazy), that's a very valuable type of player and he's putting up damn good numbers. Adujar's .279/.313/.495 115+ OPS is not that big of a steep endless decline from Machado's .314/.383/.573 163+OPS. Manny's better offensively by a large margin but he's having an outlier-y season. It's defensively where this team would gain a serious step up. Machado has historically been a very, very good defensive third basemen while Andujar's defense was what prevented him from playing much last year. This year he hasn't been the world's biggest butcher but his lack of range and slow feet have been well discussed. In an argument suggesting Andujar be shopped at the deadline, RiverAveBlues painted a pretty stark picture:

"That’s a long way of saying if you hit the ball at Andujar, he’s going to make the play. Hit the ball anything more than a step or two away from him in either direction, and he’s probably not going to make the play. Does that mean he won’t make those plays forever and ever? No, of course not. Andujar could improve his reads and first step and range. Young players are known to get better, after all. That said, Andujar is something of a defensive liability. His value is tied up heavily in his bat, specifically his power and ability to make contact since he never walks."

http://riveraveblues.com/2018/07/three-reasons-yankees-make-miguel-andujar-available-trade-deadline-174411/

The Yankees are already carrying one so-so defensive infielder with Gleyber Torres (who to me is fine defensively despite what feels like the usual lapses from a dude who has been a SS/3B his whole life) and a catcher who is having a really poor year defensively. Throw in so-so work from Greg Bird and Neil Walker and this infield could use somebody who could shore up some of the holes it has. That's why it's not just Machado batting 3rd/4th that makes this a smart move.

3- You can't trade for what doesn't exist.

Fun with numbers! Here's five pitchers, names removed:

A- 4-4 78.2 IP 4.00 ERA 2.96 SO/BB ratio 6.05 IP per start 1.206 WHIP B- 10-5 105.1 IP 4.44 ERA 3.38 SO/BB ratio 5.85 IP per start 1.177 WHIP C- 5-7 102 IP 4.11 ERA 2.32 SO/BB 5.67 IP per start 1.294 WHIP D- 4-5 86.1 IP 4.80 ERA 2.91 SO/BB 5.86 IP per start 1.286 WHIP E- 4-8 103 IP 4.28 ERA 2.72 SO/BB ratio 5.72 IP per start 1.359 WHIP

A is Sonny Gray at this time last year B is JA Happ C is Tyson Ross D is Matt Harvey E is Cole Hamels

Those are the four most realistic trade options since the Mets probably aren't moving their big 3, The Angels aren't going to move Garrett Richards now with his injury and MadBum is destined to be stuck in San Francisco. The top four options on the market are all pretty much a step below what Sonny Gray was and the key here is that outside of Harvey, the likes of Happ, Ross and Hamels have all been trending down recently. With Gray, he was streaking going into the trade deadline (his final ERA pre-trade would be in the 3.43 range). They THOUGHT they were getting what they need now; a guy who could start in the playoffs and slide behind developing ace Luis Severino. They thought Gray would be at worst a solid #3 and unfortunately it just hasn't panned out that way. Chances are there's no real upgrade available above what they believed they were getting last year. Their investment in Sonny Gray WAS the chance to get the lock down long term rotation help---and it went bust. It happens sometimes. Any pitcher they're getting is probably worse than Sonny Gray, a perceived ace in his mid 20s who was believed to have the stuff to win in New York. It just didn't work out.

The Yankees need a guy who could be a solid #2/3----but that guy doesn't really exist in this market. There's no help to be had in this barren wasteland of faded aces and reclamation projects. JA Happ is the top pitcher available and would you feel comfortable with him starting game 3 of the ALDS vs the Indians or the Astros? I'm not quite sure. Happ would absolutely help you in terms of having a proven established guy in the rotation instead of Domingo German or Jonathan Loaisiga. The reality is the Yankees need what doesn't exist which means they can either create a starter (with Justus Sheffield from the minors) or hope that they can find a way to manufacture offense to outscore teams early and ride the bullpen late. Or hope that Masahiro Tanaka and Sonny Gray suddenly get back to being good.

4- I'm not up for a rental

If you're giving up pieces for Manny Machado, it can't be for a rental. Obviously for tax purposes, the Yankees want to be able to stay under that 189 million dollar number so they can't agree to a deal this year. That said if you're giving up pieces for the best 3B in the game then you better have a clue as to where he fits in going forward. If that's as your 3B or SS of the future matters of course but you better ensure you leave a long term idea as to whether you'll have the player long term.

5- Whatever they do, it can't be out of panic.

Seriously. The Yankees are 3 1/2 of Boston with plenty of games to go, they have the best record in the league against good teams. They've beaten Houston and Boston and Cleveland with an as is squad. They'll get back Gary Sanchez and Gleyber Torres soon with the hopes that Torres can continue his All Star play with better health while Gary Sanchez can try to regain some of the form that made him a feared bat in 2016 and 2017. They JUST got back Masahiro Tanaka who probably will help solidify the rotation some. They own a tremendous bullpen and there's help in the farm system. I want them to try and grab one more impact bat; either at 1st, 3rd or even out at LF. I'd like for them to grab the best lefty arm they can to solidify this bullpen finally. I'd even be really happy if they could get an upgrade over Domingo German. The reality though is that any move they make has to be done for something resembling a long term vision. A Jaime Garcia type doesn't do much of anything for this team, a rental who isn't a difference maker just adds another body to the squad. I understand a 40 man roster crunch is coming shortly but I'm not concerned about that because you can ALWAYS find ways to get that cleaned up (Bryan Mitchell, Callum Smith, Garrett Cooper and Ronald Herrera all dealt). Make the moves that fit the long term vision this team has had over the last three years. There's no need for filler deals.

In the end? I mean how could you NOT want to be in Manny Machado? You're trading for a peak prime all star who can play 3rd or short. You're improving your line up AND helping yourself into October. He's a monster with RISP, he's coming into his own as a power hitter and he wants to be here. He's not THE difference between going to the WS and not but I feel a hell of a lot better about Judge-Machado-Stanton with Sanchez, Bird, Didi and Gleyber sprinkled in than I do otherwise. I also feel as though he, all things being equal, is clearly better than just grabbing a mediocre starter. If the market doesn't have arms? Make teams score 8 to beat you.

#Yankees #NYY #Machado #Trades #MLB

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junker-town · 4 years ago

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Predicting the MLB season with 7 big questions

Our writers give their predictions for the 2021 MLB season.

The 2020 MLB season was unlike any other with the coronavirus pandemic delaying the start of the season until late July. Everything is on track for a more normal season with a chance to even get fans into the stadium at limited capacity for the first time in more than a year.

The rich got richer this offseason with a loaded Dodgers team loading up even more for what could very well be another run at defending their World Series victory. Can the new-look New York Mets or Fernando Tatis Jr.-led Padres throw those plans off track? Will the Yankees finally make it back to the World Series, or will their own health (and lack thereof) prove to be their downfall?

Before the 2021 MLB regular season gets underway, we asked our staff to predict how this year will go. Picks are being made by Andrew Mearns of Pinstripe Alley, Brady Klopfer of McCovey Chronicles, Sara Sanchez of Bleed Cubbie Blue, Kris Willis of Talking Chop, and Ashley MacLennan of Bless You Boys and DRaysBay.

1. Give us one bold prediction for the season

Andrew: The Phillies & Angels both end their playoff droughts with Wild Card runs. The Padres quickly dispatch the Phils from the postseason in the Wild Card Game, but behind big homers from Anthony Rendon & Shohei Ohtani, the Angels upset the Rays before falling to the Yankees in a tight ALDS. But hey, at least Mike Trout finally has a postseason win?

Brady: Someone will hit the 60 home run barrier, and at least two other players will cross 50 homers. A home run race will develop in the final months of the season, and that will become the biggest storyline of the season.

Sara: Kyle Hendricks will win the NL Cy Young award. Projection systems really don’t appreciate the way he gets guys out with 88 mph pitches while masterfully working the corners and playing with speed. In a year where very few pitchers will top 170 innings, Hendricks’ efficiency means he may have more innings, and more complete games than any pitcher in baseball. He’s not going to turn any heads with his K/9, but if he quietly puts up a sub 3.00 ERA while leading the NL in innings in 2021 voters will have a difficult decision to make in the fall.

Kris: Between Fernando Tatis Jr and Juan Soto, it feels like everyone is forgetting about Ronald Acuña Jr. He will give the Braves their second straight MVP Award winner in 2021 and put up a 40-40 season in the process while reentering the conversation of who is the best young player in MLB.

Ashley: Home runs are going to drop considerably with the slightly deadened ball, and the new laces may see us get a pitcher reach 22 wins (yeah, I said it). There will be exceptions but I’m thinking 2021 will be the year of the pitcher.

2. NL Champions: Dodgers or the field?

Andrew: Dodgers. If they didn’t exist, we could debate Padres vs. Braves all season long, but the Dodgers are just too absurdly good. I’m not convinced that they ever actually lose. The league’s just throwing us off the scent when they print those faulty box scores.

Brady: The field. The Dodgers are deserving favorites, but the field is always the safe pick in baseball, especially when there are still a decent number of elite teams to challenge the defending champions.

Sara: The field. The Dodgers are going to get some stiff competition from the Padres and the Braves at bare minimum. I think one of those teams will knock the Dodgers out of the playoffs.

Kris: Dodgers. The rich just get richer with the addition of Trevor Bauer. There are teams in the National League that could beat the Dodgers but given their resources, it is hard to pick against them.

Ashley: Dodgers. I’d much rather say the Padres will win the NL this year because they’re a much easier team to root for, but the Dodgers have absolutely done everything right this offseason to stay competitive and I don’t see them slowing down. That said, I’m hoping to see the Padres in the WS.

3. Who will win the MVP from each league?

Andrew: AL: Mike Trout; NL: Juan Soto.

The combination of an improbable Angels playoff run and Trout being, well, Trout, gives him his fourth MVP. As for Soto, the Nationals don’t even necessarily have to do much around him. His time is just now to be the modern-day Ted Williams.

Brady: AL: Mike Trout; NL: Juan Soto

Are these the obvious picks? Yes. But baseball is straightforward enough that I can’t break out of the box here. Mike Trout is the best player alive, has been the best player alive for a very long time, and no longer is battling Mookie Betts for this award. Soto is coming off a 201 wRC+ season, and is at an age where you expect him to not only get better, but significantly so. These are the heavy favorites in my eyes.

Sara: AL: Mike Trout, NL: Juan Soto

I thought about being contrarian here, but I just can’t. Soto is poised to put up a season for the record books and Mike Trout is Mike Trout. Depending on the prediction system both should put up OPS over 1.000. It is possible someone else gets hot in either league and runs them down, because baseball will always baseball, but I can’t bring myself to put anyone else’s name down here.

Kris: AL: Mike Trout; NL: Ronald Acuña Jr.

It seems like this is the same answer every year, but if he stays healthy, Mike Trout has to be the favorite for MVP in the American League. Especially if the Angels are an improved team and in the running for a playoff spot. Ronald Acuña Jr goes 40-40 and leads the Braves back to the NLCS and captures his first career MVP award.

Ashley: AL: Mike Trout; NL: Fernando Tatis Jr.

Trout has openly spoken this offseason about moves he has made to “improve” the things that have been slowing him down, and I for one am eager to see what those moves will change in terms of his performance. Is it possible to get better? We’ll see! I could have gone for any of the big three youth-movement guys in terms of the NL because Soto and Acuña Jr are incredible and I wouldn’t be surprised to see either of them take it, but my gut says Tatis Jr is just going to keep building off last year’s success and be an absolutely monster in the NL in 2021.

4. Which team will be the biggest surprise?

Andrew: Angels. For all the reasons above because I am a gigantic sucker and this time, Lucy absolutely won’t pull that football away.

Brady: Angels. This is the year it finally happens, and Mike Trout wins a playoff game. Trout, Anthony Rendon, and a healthy Shohei Ohtani is just too much talent, and I think the Astros are primed for regression. I say the Angels win the AL West and, at a very minimum, at least win a playoff game.

Sara: Blue Jays. They may not have a home park to play in but they made a lot of interesting moves in the offseason. Losing Yates for a while doesn’t hurt them as much as one might think and they have some really interesting bats. I think they are trying to chase down the Yankees in the East all year, and if the Yankees can’t stay healthy the Blue Jays may just win the division.

Kris: Rays. It is always the Rays is not in? No matter how unimpressive they look on paper, they find a way to win, and I do not think this season will be any different despite the departure of Blake Snell.

Ashley: White Sox. It’s hard to say they’ll be a surprise only because most predictions suggest they’ll be among the best in the very bad AL Central, but all the same I’m really interested to see what they pull off. Tony La Russa is going to be something the team has to overcome, rather than something that will help them win, I think, but they have such a strong core of talented players, I really want to see what they can pull off.

5. Which team will be the biggest disappointment?

Andrew: Blue Jays. The Mets would also be a decent choice since I have them missing the playoffs, but not by much. The Jays, however, could really crash and burn with that pitching staff (no matter how much that young offense terrifies me).

Brady: Astros. A run to the ALCS hid what was a pretty bad season for Houston last year. Not only did they finish the truncated season with a losing record, but their win differential suggested they were a highly mediocre team. I think we see that in full this year.

Sara: Yankees. For the past three years I feel like all I’ve heard is how great the Yankees will be, but it hasn’t gotten them another ring. Unfortunately for New York anything less than another ring is a disappointment for that fanbase. I know the projections love the pitching staff, but ace Gerrit Cole is one of the pitchers most likely to be impacted by MLB’s stated intention to crack down on substances because of spin rate discrepancies, Corey Kluber is a huge injury risk, Jameson Taillon is a good addition - who has thrown 37.1 innings in the last two seasons. Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton are both injury prone, and Gary Sánchez has shown no sign of turning it around at the plate. This is the same team that hasn’t delivered in the last 4 years, they are just a year older.

Kris: Blue Jays. Toronto looks like a fun team on paper, but I am worried about their starting pitching and whether they have enough depth to hold up over a full 162 games. They should score plenty of runs but in the end, I am afraid their rotation will cost them.

Ashley: Blue Jays. They made all the right moves in the offseason to push themselves as a competitive team, but a bunch of spring training injuries and some pickups that are as likely to implode as they are to succeed (Robbie Ray?) means the Jays could be a team that spent to lose instead of spending to compete. A lot of focus is going to be on the young talent like Guerrero and Bichette to see if they can shine as future superstars.

6. Which player will lead the majors in home runs?

Andrew: Pete Alonso. The dude knows how to go deep, and even in an “off year” when no one talked about him, he was still within shouting distance of the home run crown. Give him a real season again and he’ll go bananas.

Brady: Aaron Judge. Sure, it’s been four years since he hit the 52 homer mark, but he’s still got that power in him, and he can’t be pitched around on this Yankees team. If he stays healthy, I think it all clicks.

Sara: Mike Trout. I thought about getting cute about this and saying Eugenio Suárez because I love that bat and he plays in a bandbox, but I think it’s Trout. And even though you didn’t ask this, I think that number is less than 45...at least it is if MLB is actually deadening the ball like they claim.

Kris: Ronald Acuña Jr. I already picked Acuña to win MVP and the home run crown will be a big part of that. He makes a run at a 50 homer season and leads the majors in 2021.

Ashley: Mike Trout. I really, really want to see him kill it this year. In think home runs overall will be down, but I genuinely believe Trout will hit about a tenth of them.

7. What is your World Series matchup prediction?

Andrew: Dodgers/Yankees. The chalk pick, but the correct pick. The door is wide open in the AL for the Yankees to return to the World Series, and if not now, then when? But also, no one’s beating the Dodgers unless something goes seriously wrong.

Brady: Padres/Yankees. I have the Pads finally eclipsing their big brother Dodgers in a stacked NL, while the Yankees run circles around the competition in the AL. And it all makes for a star-studded World Series, that San Diego wins in seven.

Sara: Padres/White Sox. I refuse to pick the Yankees/Dodgers matchup that math, the universe and logic so desperately want us all to pick. Don’t get me wrong, I’d watch that World Series, but I wouldn’t get excited about it. Let’s watch the kids thrive and play. The Padres are a brilliantly constructed team and they are built to beat the Dodgers. They came close in the shortened season - then they went out and added Blake Snell and Yu Darvish to the Dodgers’ Trevor Bauer and David Price. The Yankees should be a juggernaut, but they are fragile. Someone in the AL will step in and beat them, it might as well be the team that employs Luis Robert and Lucas Giolito.

Kris: Dodgers/Yankees. I think the Dodgers are the clear favorites in the National League given roster depth and they will be looking to prove that last season’s championship was not a fluke. It seems like there are a lot of things that could go wrong with the Yankees’ pitching staff, but I do not see anyone else in the American League that can match their fire power.

Ashley: Padres/Rays. I cannot imagine a more fun final showdown than this, especially with former Rays Tommy Pham and Blake Snell in the mix for the Padres. These two teams have taken very different approaches to spending and signings this offseason and I think it would be an electric matchup (for everything except maybe TV ratings).

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jjaywmac · 5 years ago

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Sound familiar. August 2016. “Over the age of 60. Underlying health condition (heart problems. Pneumonia in the lungs. ICU. Insulator. Unexpectedly.” That is exactly what happened to Steve 4 years ago. Was it a virus before its time? I will never know. The doctors cured the pneumonia. He died of heart failure. It was fast. Like today. That should want you to stay home! And keep your loved ones at home! It does me. I remember only too well.

SO, how do I start with a clean slate of this? By introducing you to some books I think you may enjoy reading during this down time.

SO, I am spending today, a (férié) in France (the day after Easter is always celebrated as a holiday) by staying inside and writing a lot. Sorry. But, I cannot stop thinking about what happened to him as I read the news and all of the descriptions of what to expect. Plus, in my head, I am processing a Lot of new ideas that have come to me over the weekend. My “clean slate”/ “eternal NOW” frame of mind is running wild with new ideas of how to spend this unusual time in Paris. I have ideas for new books that excite me. I have projects that need to be completed. I have courses I want to take, places I want to walk, pictures I want to take, sites I want to develop. There is never a dull moment around here. My mind keeps me busy.

I want to spend time with my “new present”. So here is a fresh look at something that means a lot to me. What?? I have in my safe keeping, several books that I want to bring to your attention in this new day!!! OK. So a tad of past. Don’t worry. I will try to make it interesting and worth your time.

It all started on September 20, 2011. I was (for 20 years) an Entertainment Attorney (and an Employment Law Litigator) in Los Angeles, California USA. In early September 2011, I was invited by the Writers Guild of America (WGA) to be the legal representative by on a panel for the members – an E-publishing Panel. The Panel sought to empower writers to create new opportunities for work in film, television, new media, and transmedia. Since WGA did not cover book publication regardless of format, it was thought that e-publishing could be a stepping stone towards potential work on Guild-covered adaptations. So, on September 20, I joined other Panel members Lee Goldberg (The Glades), Derek Haas (Wanted), and Alexandra Sokoloff (author, Book of Shadows, and Mark Coker (Smashwords) on a panel. Our task was to discuss the latest ebook/self and indie-publishing developments. WOW, what a lineup! I got very excited. Needless to say, it was a power-packed evening with the Writer Members and members doing most of the talking. The evening flew by with everyone sharing information, questions, and answers.

The next day I said to my husband Steve Orlandella, “You need to write a book”. He said, “What? A book? I have nothing to say.” I laughed. Steve ALWAYS had something to say. So did I. I needed to write a book. And, we did.

Steve wrote eight books before he died in 2016. I have written seven (7) and am still writing every day. But, this post is about Steve and his books.

He had specific things he liked – history, cheesecake, sex, trivia, condiments (of every kind), Castle (TV show), the Titanic, and baseball. Not necessarily in that order. So, he wrote about things he liked. Now, to be honest, he was not a great American writer. He just wrote about topics he enjoyed. I was glad to see him happy. He loved working. Retirement was not his cup of tea. And, he loved writing. He created two characters he liked. And, he would spend all day creating their “banter”. I would often hear his chuckling to himself. That would be when he would come up with something he thought was particularly clever. He started out with a collection of his writings on Facebook. All of that was new at that time, and his posts were funny and interesting. When it was published, he was thrilled. He would read it over and over. Amazed and proud of himself for actually publishing a book!

Next, he tackled baseball. He was an Emmy-winning Live Sports producer for Hockey and Baseball. 9 seasons for the Dodgers. Personal friend of Vin Scully. He KNEW his baseball. Then, he wrote “his masterpiece”, a wonderful book about the Titanic. He poured his soul into this book. His love, his heart, his skill, his all. He could not believe it when he held that book in his hands. He read and reread and reread it.

It was then that he thought that he had no more to write. I did not want to see him depressed because he was happy when he had a book in progress. So, I suggested he create a detective and do mysteries – novels. After thinking about it a LONNNNNGGGGGG time, he came up with an idea. He really loved the television show “Castle”. He loved their “banter”. He would create a sexy couple – an ex-baseball player (a private investigator – Vic Landell) and hot babe attorney/news anchor (The Redhead). They would solve crimes in Sarasota, Florida (his favorite location in the world). That was how it started. It evolved from there.

So, I am going to introduce you to his books. I am not presenting them in the order they were written. I am doing this my way. Novels, first. I am suggesting you try them. they are light reading and enjoyable. And, I think the reader can experience the fun Steve was having with the dialogue and spending time with his characters. He loved Tina Louis and Dusty Springfield. Plus, he had some favorite News Anchors. So, bear with him as he enjoys his “babes” with their high heels. Short skirts and all. Red hair, long legs. A fun guy. We laughed a lot. And, I miss him. This post is dedicated to Steve Orlandella. This one’s for him. Now, the books – during this pandemic!

The first Vic Landell mystery was BURDEN OF PROOF.

1) BURDEN OF PROOF is set in and around Sarasota Florida. It is dedicated my sister, Patricia Jewell Prince, “My Sister-in-Law Patricia, Lover of Mysteries.”

Steve begins each mystery: What’s in a Name? “My father was born Vito Anthony Orlandella, and he didn’t much care for his name. “Vito” was all right, and in fact, he named his principal business The Vito Fruit Company – although throughout Boston he was often referred to as “Vic.” No real problem with the benign Anthony, it was the last name he saw as problematic. His one foray into show business as a record producer was done under the name “Tony Vito.” I’m not certain, but I believe he thought that Orlandella was too long and clumsy for a billboard. He had another name ready but never got the chance to use it. A clever anagram made by dropping the first two and the last letters of his name. Add to that, the remnants of his first name. Thus, was born “Vic Landell.” When it came time to name my pitcher-turned-detective, the choice was an easy one. Call it homage to my father.”

Next, CAPITOL MURDER.

2) CAPITOL MURDER is dedicated to “Her Royal Blondness [HRB], Long may she Reign”. It is set in and around Washington, D.C.

“What’s in a Name? The heroine of this series is Marcia Glenn. The name is borrowed from my first childhood crush – a sixth-grade, blonde goddess. For two years I pined for her from, to paraphrase Hammerstein, ‘across a crowded schoolroom.’ My passion held in check only by the fact that she didn’t know I was alive. Her sights were set on another classmate, a surfer boy wannabe with flaxen air. Sure, just plunge a knife in my heart. The irony of all this is rooted in the fact that he seemed to have absolutely no interest in her. Funny the things you remember. How this preteen vixen has now morphed into a six-foot, Titian-tressed femme fatale is a story for another time.”

3) MARATHON MURDERS.

MARATHON MURDERS is dedicated to “Dash, Winner & Still Champion”, and located in Boston.

“What’s in a Name? He was born on a farm in Maryland. He served his country in the First World War and became ill with the Spanish flu and later contracted Tuberculosis – spending most of his time in the Army as a patient in a Washington Hospital. As a result of his illness he could not live full-time with his wife and two daughters and the marriage fell apart. He was a firm believer in the notion that you write about what you know. And since he was an alcoholic, his two most famous characters were as well. He devoted much of the rest of his life to unpopular causes. He wore his country’s uniform again in the Second World War. His reward? After the war he was investigated by Congress and testified before the House Un-American Activities Committee about his own life but refused to cooperate with the committee. As a result – he was blacklisted. He was sixty-six when lung cancer took his life. In his obituary, The New York Times said of him, ‘the dean of the hard-boiled school of detective fiction.’ For any fan of mysteries his name is said with a smile. For someone like me, who would love to be just a poor copy of the original, it is said with reverence.”

4) DANCE WITH DEATH. (Steve’s Favorite – he wanted me to read him passages from this one when he was in the hospital)

DANCE WITH DEATH is dedicated “To my Second Parents Rose & Gerry”. It is set in Los Angeles, California.

“What’s in a Name? She was born Marcia Colleen Glenn – her first name from the Latin, meaning ‘dedicated to Mars.’ Mars is the red planet – there is your first clue. It also means proud or warlike – that’s your second clue. Her middle name was chosen by her father to emphasize the family’s Gaelic heritage. By the age of five, her sister Katelyn was calling her ‘The Marce.’ To this day, if she likes you, call her Marce. If she doesn’t much care for you, it’s Marcia. If she flat hates your guts – it’s Ms. Glenn. Fair warning, if you call her Marsha, brother, you are just asking for trouble. When she was seventeen and turned from an ugly duckling into a beautiful swan, the boys in her high school started referring to her as ‘the looker.’ The lawyers at the firm where she did her internship called her ‘the stunner.’ That’s also what the crew at WWSB calls her – along with ‘the goddess.’ To the boys in Idaho Falls, she was ‘the long drink of water.’ When she knocked out a would-be assailant with one right hand, the name ‘slugger’ entered the lexicon. There are others, like ‘supermodel’ and ‘deadeye.’ But if you’ve killed someone, she’s the ‘red menace.’ And finally, to her smitten boyfriend, she is occasionally ‘Titian’ -the shade of her glorious red hair. She will also answer to ‘Irish,’ and for him only, ‘Honey,’ along with his favorite, ‘Baby.’ But, first and foremost she is always and forever – ‘the redhead.'”

5) MIDTOWN MAYHEM, dedicated “For the amazing Kris Jones”, and set in NYC. (He did not know this would be his last one.)

“What’s in a Name? It was my high-school baseball coach who first hung the nickname on me. Of the nine pitchers on his staff, eight were right-handed. When asked who the starting pitcher against Syracuse would be, he replied, “Let’s send out the lefty.” The name stuck throughout college, the minors, and my first six years in the majors. It became problematic for me when I was traded to Philadelphia – for you see, they already had a “Lefty.” He was born Steven Norman Carlton. He made his debut with the Cardinals in 1965. He was a tall, imposing man blessed with a hard fastball and nasty slider. He was soon known as an intimidating and dominating pitcher. Following a protracted salary dispute, St. Louis Cardinals owner Gussie Busch ordered Carlton traded. Eventually, he was dealt to the Philadelphia Phillies before the ‘72 season for a pitcher named Rick Wise. In time, it would be recognized as one of the most lopsided deals in baseball history. Carlton hit his stride with the Phillies. How good was he? In 1972, the down-trodden Phils won a total of 59 games – 27 of them by Carlton. That won him his first of four Cy Young Awards. He finished with 322 wins and was a consensus first ballot Hall of Famer. The day before a start, the scoreboard in Veterans Stadium would list tomorrow’s starting pitcher – Lefty. Need more? There’s a statue of him in front of Citizens Bank Park. How was I supposed to compete with all that? I could not. Since Carlton is six-foot four and your humble servant is a paltry six-foot one the players started to refer to me as Little Lefty. The day my career ended, I went back to being plain old Lefty.”

6) CASINO KILLER (Steve was writing this one when he died.)

Forty-six pages are in the can. It was to be dedicated to “John & Gloria Cataldo, Once and Forever”. It was to be set in and around Nice, France.

“What’s in a Name? It is the coastline of the Mediterranean Sea in the southeast corner of France, beneath of the base of the French Alps. There is no official boundary, but it is usually considered to extend from the Italian border in the east to Saint-Tropez, Hyères, Toulon, or Cassis in the west. The area is a Department of the French Government – Alpes-Maritimes. There is nothing quite like it anywhere else in the world. As the French might refer to it – beau ravage – beautiful shoreline. It began as a winter health resort for the British upper class at the end of the 18th century. With the arrival of the railway in the mid-19th century, it became the playground and vacation spot of British, Russian, and other aristocrats, including Queen Victoria. It was the English who coined the phrase, the French Riviera. After World War II, the south of France became a popular tourist destination and convention site. The area went off the charts in the 1950s when a beautiful girl from Philadelphia moved into the Royal palace of the one and only principality. Millionaires and celebrities built homes there and routinely spent their summers. The region has one more name. In 1887, a French author named Stéphen Liégeard published a book about the coastline. So taken was he by the color of the Mediterranean, he used the words Azure Coast in the title – in French that translates as Côte d’Azur.”

Steves first book is delightful – STEVESPEAK – 3 YEARS ON FACEBOOK.

STEVESPEAK is one of my favorites for spending time with him and getting to know him better. Plus, it is dedicated to me: “To Janet, The wind beneath my wings, And the power behind my throne.”

In his Prologue, he writes: “I’m not sure how I got on Facebook. Most likely it was word of mouth. Like many of you I started small, but as my list of friends grew, so did my activity. A funny thing happened along the way, I found my voice. Along with connecting with friends, I had the chance to be critical, historical, passionate, and I hope, funny. This book traces almost 3 years on Facebook, and is designed to give my fellow “Facebookers,” An idea of what other people are saying. For what it’s worth, you will learn some things about me. My love for baseball, my interest in “The Titanic,” my passion for my hometown, Boston.

“Stevespeak” was coined by my wife, who insists I have my own language. Well that’s probably not true, but there are some words that are uniquely mine. For instance, only in my world is there a planet “Smecktar.” Those pimples on your shoulder blades are “bacne,” and “Xerocracy” is government by photocopy. If something is dead, it’s “kersfuncken.” “Inuendo” is Italian for colonoscopy.

That said, there are some things you need to know in order to navigate your way through this book. There are many references to something called “HRB.” “HRB” is “Her Royal Blondness.” That would be my wife. She is an attorney and is sometimes referred to as the “blonde barrister.” Her maiden name is Janet Jewell. Christine became Kris and is my sister. “Tori” and “Icto” are other names for our friend Victoria Lucas. Tori’s sister is Lil, and sometimes, Liz. The “Knife” is Joe Klinger. “Fabulous 52” was the old Saturday night movie series on CBS in Los Angeles. I stole it, (I mean, researched it) and it became the “Fabulous 42.” Most of the rest is self-explanatory.”

Steve’s Masterpiece – TITANIC.

TITANIC was his lifetime achievement, the one he held close to his heart. He dedicated it to his mother. He wrote, “To my Mother Therese, The Real Historian in The Family.”

“In the fall of 1960, I was a ten-year-old, growing up in Los Angeles’ San Fernando Valley. Even then I was sarcastic, opinionated, and well on my way to becoming obnoxious. The phrase most often used was, ‘A little too smart for his own good.’ Perhaps. Duplicit in all this were my parents who spoiled me rotten. One of my numerous privileges was permission to stay up late on Saturday night…very late.

Toward the end of the 1950s, television in Los Angeles was in a state of flux. The Country’s number three [now number two] market had seven stations, a wealth of airtime, and a dearth of programming. The three network affiliates and the four independents turned to motion pictures to fill the void so much so that one station, Channel 9, ran the same movie every night for a week. Hey, I love Jimmy Cagney, but how many times can you watch ‘Yankee Doodle Dandy’? The stations also had the nasty habit of cutting the films to pieces, the classic case being Channel 7, the ABC affiliate who filled their 3:30-5pm slots by slicing and dicing 2-hour movies down to 67 minutes. They came close to cutting Ingrid Bergman out of ‘Casablanca.’ Channel 2, the CBS Affiliate, had no such problem. [They had ‘Lucy’; they had ‘Jackie Gleason’.] ‘The Fabulous 52’ was reserved for Saturday night at 11:30pm, and, since the only things that followed the movie were the National Anthem and a test pattern, they ran uncut. The station held the rights to a package of relatively recent films from 20th Century Fox.

One Saturday afternoon, my dad announced, ‘Titanic is on tonight.’ I had no idea who or what was ‘Titanic’, but we gathered in the family room at 11:30. For the next two hours, I sat transfixed, mesmerized by what we were seeing. If you are scoring at home, it was the 1953 version with Barbara Stanwyck, Clifton Webb and a young Robert Wagner. They had me.

In 1964, I came across a copy of A Night to Remember, Walter Lord’s seminal work on the events of April 14-15, 1912, and the following year, I saw the movie made [in England, 1958] from Lord’s book. It was a film made by people who wanted to get it right. This film was the game changer.

The Fox movie opens with a page of text proclaiming that all the facts in the film were taken right from the United States Senate and British Board of Trade Inquiries. Really? Even then, Fox knew how to ‘play fast and loose with the truth.’ As good as their movie was – and it was good, it paled before the Brit’s film. Fifteen hundred people did not all stand together, sing ‘Nearer My God To Thee’, and meekly sink into the North Atlantic. They fought and struggled until their last breath, trying not to freeze or drown in the unforgiving sea. Madeleine Astor wasn’t an elegant matron. She was in fact a pregnant teenager. That was it. ‘Game On!’

I absorbed every book I could find, any TV program I could watch, and every newspaper on microfilm, along with help from the Titanic Historical Society. Add that to my natural affinity for ships, and an ‘obsession’ was born. For some, it’s The Civil War; for others, it’s the Kennedy Assassination; for me, it is The Royal Mail Steamship Titanic.

Part of the obsession stems from the fact that no event in history is so loaded with conjecture, myths, and downright lies, some of which are ‘beauties.’ One example: A young David Sarnoff [co-founder of RCA] became famous telling the world how he was the first to pick-up the Titanic’s distress call in the station on the roof of Wanamaker’s Department Store and how he remained at the key all Sunday night and well into the next day. Great story? Absolutely. Truthful story? Absolutely not. Wanamaker’s was closed on Sunday, and even when the store was open, Sarnoff was the office manager. Three other employees of The Marconi Company stood the watch.

Fox reloaded and fired again in 1997. This time, they tried it with a seemingly unlimited budget and an amateur historian calling the shots. Movie making? Unmatched. Story telling? Not so much. History? Nonexistent. There is a word for what you wind up with when you invent the leading characters. Fiction. Now, nobody loves Kate Winslet ‘in flagrante delicto’ more than I do, but the truth is better. Thus, ”Jack Dawson’ and ‘Rose DeWitt’ join ‘Julia Sturges’ and ‘Lady Marjory Bellamy’ as mythical creatures on a real ship.

And, since you’re making stuff up, how about a little character assassination? The 1997 film depicted First Officer William Murdoch taking but ultimately rejecting a bribe from make-believe villain ‘Caledon Hockley.’ Murdoch was also shown shooting two passengers dead after he presumed, they intended to storm one of the remaining lifeboats. He then saluted Chief Officer Henry Wilde and committed suicide with a revolver. None of this ever happened. After the picture’s director [name withheld] refused to take out the bogus scenes, studio executives flew to Murdoch’s hometown to issue his relatives an apology. As for the movie, if you are looking for an accurate depiction of events – keep looking. Put another way, there was a ship called Titanic, and it sank. After that, you’re on your own.

The Civil War is far and away the all-time champion of most books. [One of Titanic’s passengers wrote ‘The Truth about Chickamauga.’] Second? The runner-up is World War II. Third? The correct guess is the Titanic. So, what is my mission statement? What else? Write yet another book. Tell her story, once again. This time come armed with all I know and have learned in the wake of Doctor Robert Ballard’s stunning discovery of the wreck in 1985. I will attempt to detail what is correct and dispel, whenever possible, what is not.

I spent my career working in television, the first seven years producing TV News. What did I learn? I learned skepticism tinged with a bit of cynicism, and it has served me well. So, I will do your bidding. On your behalf, I will be skeptical, factual, analytical, and when required, cynical. There is one thing I cannot be, dispassionate. I will stipulate to a love of all ships – but Her most of all. By now, you may be asking yourself, ‘Why so many pictures?’ I confess that, too, is the TV producer in me. You always try to put a face with a story. Plus, there is always the possibility that you can’t recognize Turbinia.

If I am standing at all, it is on the shoulders of some truly great authors. I have read, re-read, and re-re-read their work over the years and have researched – borrowed – from them all. To the best of my ability, everything in this book is true. I believe in the concept that, if the Lord wanted us to remain silent, he wouldn’t have given us [brackets]. So, on occasion, you’ll see a comment from yours truly. [I’ll be that most irritating of shipmates – the loud, opinionated one.]

The longest section of the book concerns the area around the Boat Deck between midnight and 2:20am. If it seems long [it’s real time] and overly detailed, I apologize, but to me, this is the heart of the narrative. Hundreds of little dramas played out on a sloping deck in the middle of a freezing ocean. Loved ones were torn apart, and families were destroyed. And with it came the sub-plots. Some got in lifeboats, and some did not. Some were allowed in the boats, and some were not. All of this begs the question, why? Regardless, these are their stories, and on their behalf, I make no apologies. I have tried to keep the technological parts under control and not drown my readers in facts and figures. But the brains and skill that created the Olympic-class liners are very much a part of this story.

Allow me just a couple of more thoughts before we proceed. There is one sentence that is common to virtually every book written about the RMS Titanic. ‘It had been a mild winter in the Arctic.’ It had, indeed. Ice that had been forming since well before the dawn of man was now at last free. Unfettered, it could leave Greenland and move into the Labrador Current and begin its journey south toward the shipping lanes. The ice was no different than previous years, only this year, there would be more than usual, much more. There were small pieces of ice, what sailors called ‘growlers.’ There were large sections known as ‘sheet ice,’ and larger still, ‘pack ice.’ In between were hundreds of what every seaman feared most, what the Norsemen referred to as ‘mountains of ice.’ Icebergs.

If you’re familiar with the advertising business, you probably know about the concepts of ‘marketing research’ and ‘brand recognition.’ Countless studies have been commissioned to find out what people can identify and what they like. The results are often quite surprising. For example, inquiries have determined that far more people [around the world] can recognize the ‘Cavallino Rampante’ [in English, ‘The Prancing Horse’ aka the ‘Ferrari’ logo] than can recognize ‘Shell’ or ‘Coca-Cola.’ Then there is my favorite. For decades, focus groups, when asked to identify the most famous ship in the world, gave the traditional answer, ‘Noah’s Ark’. No more. The runaway number one is now ‘Titanic’. That’s ‘brand recognition.’

There is no way to tell the whole story in this little book, yet I will do my best. Call me crazy [you wouldn’t be the first] and maybe a little arrogant [see previous], but I feel it’s my duty to help set the record straight for fifteen hundred souls who went to a cold, watery grave that night. Time to depart. ‘All ashore that’s goin’ ashore!'”

THE GAME

THE GAME is dedicated, “To My Father, for that rainy day at Fenway and A thousand games of ‘catch’”. Steve was passionate about baseball. He knew baseball in-and-out. He was the expert’s expert. He would say, “I know what I like.” Well, I’m here to tell you that he “liked”, [see also, “was passionate about”] the Red Sox, Boston, the Patriots, the Celtics, Lotus cars, Ferraris, meatballs, pasta of any kind, pundits, condiments, the Titanic, HRB, his family, and Vin Scully – not necessarily in that order.

He writes in THE GAME Foreword: “The History books tell us that the first professional baseball game was held on May 4, 1869, as the Cincinnati Red Stockings ‘eked’ out a 45-9 win. No doubt, the first baseball story was told on May 5, 1969. No sport – not basketball, not football, not hockey – has the oral tradition of the national pastime. And, like any good oral tradition, it has been passed from generation to generation. Baseball stories in one form or another are as much a part of our game as the infield fly and the rosin bag. In this book, they come in all sizes and shapes – short stories, essays, expressions, rules, jokes, and slang, to name just a few.

The first ‘Baseball Balladeer’ in my life was one Vincent Edward Scully, known to three generations of fans as ‘Vin.’ For baseball-ignorant Southern Californians, he was a Godsend. Far more than their voice, he was their teacher. At that point, the game that had been thousands of miles away was as close as your transistor radio or the ‘am’ in your car. He gave Los Angeles the who, what, when, where, and most importantly, the why. He studied at the foot of the master Red Barber and is acknowledged as the best in the business. I know this how? He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame 43 years ago! For nine years, I was lucky enough to be his producer. I called him ‘The Doctor’ for his PhD in baseball. Try explaining the balk rule to the man who taught you half of what you know about the game.

When I began covering the Angels, I got to know Emil Joseph ‘Buzzie’ Bavasi. If you looked up ‘character’ in the dictionary, it would say, ‘see Buzzie.’ In the ‘40s, he was Branch Rickey’s top lieutenant and had a hand in breaking Baseball’s color line as well as dealing with Vero Beach in the acquisition of Dodgertown. He became General Manager and earned a reputation as a shrewd and tough negotiator. Buzzie loved to tell the story about contract haggling with a certain player [still alive, so no names]. He had a fake contract with a very low salary created for the team’s best player. He left it on his desk and excused himself for a moment, convinced that the player would take a peak. Needless to say, that when he returned, the negotiations ended quickly and in Buzzie’s favor. He had been schooled in [and ultimately taught] the Branch Rickey way of playing the game [stressing fundamentals, nurturing talent, and the importance of a strong farm system]. In the years we worked together, I never once overheard a conversation when he wasn’t at the beginning, in the middle, or at the end of a story or anecdote. He lived for baseball and lived to talk about it.

In 1985, I began working with Bob Starr. Bob, or as we called him, ‘Bobo’, was the broadcaster’s broadcaster. He could do play-by-play for anything – baseball, football, your kid’s hopscotch game, anything. Bobo was a graduate of the KMOX School of Broadcasting. The famed St. Louis radio station produced Harry Caray, Jack and Joe Buck, Buddy Blattner, Joe Garagiola, and Bob Costas, among others. He had that smooth, Midwestern style, and on the air, you’d swear he was talking just to you. I once shared a golf cart with him for a round – four hours well-spent looking for my ball [as usual] and listening. He loved to tell stories, some on himself. While playing 18 holes on an off day, Bob had a heart attack. Upon arrival at the hospital, the doctors asked if he were in pain. ‘Yes,’ he replied, ‘in my backside.’ Mystified, the doctors went over the test results. A physical examination revealed that the patient still had his pants on. The source of the pain was two Titleists in his back pocket. How we miss Bobo.

The average baseball fan may not recognize the name Jack Lang, but every player knew him and loved it when he called. Jack was for twenty years the executive secretary of The Baseball Writers of America, and if he telephoned you, it meant that you just won the Cy Young Award, the Most Valuable Player Award, the Rookie-of-the-Year, or had hit the ‘Baseball Lottery,’ induction into the Hall of Fame. His vocation was sportswriter [a New York beat writer], and for forty years, he was one of the best. I met Jack in 1987. We had been hired by Victor Temkin to do sports licensing for MCA/Universal. It was there I discovered his sense of humor, his humanity, and his encyclopedic knowledge of the game. We would speak on the phone almost every day for an hour. Five minutes would be devoted to business, the remaining fifty-five given over to ‘talkin’ baseball.’ I firmly believe that I could have put the phone on speaker, turned on a tape recorder, left the room, and returned thirty minutes later to find another chapter for this book. In 1997, we took a production crew to his home for an interview. It was the 50th anniversary of Jackie Robinson’s entry into the major leagues, and who better to discuss it than the man who covered it. Jack lived in the little village of Ft. Salonga on the North Coast of Long Island, [Vin used to refer to him as ‘the Squire of Ft. Salonga’] in a modest house with an office on the side. The office contained a desk, two chairs, and enough baseball memorabilia to open a museum. [The whole place could have been shipped, as is, to Cooperstown.]

Buzzie, Bobo, and the Squire are gone, and, believe me, this book would have been easier to write if they were still here. We still have Vinnie [long may he reign]. If there is such a thing as a sub-dedication, this is for them. They and countless others had a hand in writing this book. I have tried to fashion a work with something for everyone, from the hard-core fan to the young people just learning about the game. In so doing, I’ve run the gamut all the way from baseball history to baseball jokes. I hope you enjoy it and hope it adds to your love for ‘the game’.”

On amazon.com and smashwords.

Best, Jay

A CLEAN SLATE – BEGINNINGS AND ENDINGS Sound familiar. August 2016. "Over the age of 60. Underlying health condition (heart problems. Pneumonia in the lungs.

#life #observations

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floatingpetals · 7 years ago

Text

Slipped Through the Crack Pt. 2

Pairings: Chris Evans x OFC (Hannah Abbott)

Warnings: nothing major, maybe a few curse words

Word Count: 852

Summary: Hannah just wanted a normal day at the beach with her dog. Of course, fate had another idea for her. What happens when she nearly hits a dog with her car, a dog who has a very famous owner?

A/N: Hey ya’ll! Happy Fourth of July! I’ve been pretty busy with summer school this past week, I’ve got two big exams and a presentation coming up so I’ve been trying to get ready for those. But since it’s a holiday I decided to post part 2. Sidenote: I have no idea what a twitter feed looks like, I don’t use. Hopefully, it makes sense. Oh, and the gif isn’t mine, credit to the owner. Thank ya’ll for reading! Please let me know what you think, like and re-blog! Enjoy! ❤

Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four | Part Five

Hannah didn’t even look at her phone as she had parked, collected her bag the had the dog toys and towels, and leashes for both dogs. It wasn’t until she was halfway to her usual spot that she glanced at her phone. And boy, did she wish she turned off her notifications besides DMs. All were from fans or friends of his, but none were from Chris himself.

@harleyQuuin75: “@ChrisEvans Please tell me you’ve seen this! RT: “@GriffHuVexes : Hey @ChrisEvans I think I found someone of yours.”

@marvelluver23: “Uh, @ChrisEvans, isn’t that your dog?”

@tigerloaf34: “@GriffHuVexes WHERE DID YOU FIND HIM? PRECIOUS BABY ANGEL!”

@loLAlanD: “@GiffHuVexes This would be adorable if you hadn’t clearly stolen him.”

That wasn’t the only tweet she got accusing her of stealing Chris Evan’s dog. She frowned at the number of tweets. Why didn’t she just call the number on his tag? Why didn’t she go drop him off at the shelters? How did she manage to steal him? Was this blackmail? Hannah rolled her eyes at the ridiculous accusations and decided to address them. While it might only stir the pot more, she wasn’t going to sit around have people pointing fingers at her. Turning her front camera on, she started to record.

“Hello, lovelies! I didn’t think I’d have to make something like this, but I’ve noticed a few accusations that I need to go ahead and nip in the ass before things get out of control. First, I didn’t steal Dodger, as a matter of fact, I found him after he darted across the street narrowly avoiding the front end of my car.” She paused and glanced down at the two dogs, who were now walking side by side, Damion seemingly has forgotten his dislike of the other dog. "That was about an hour ago and he was in pretty rough shape. It was clear he had been out for a while. He uh- He was panting hard and when I finally got him to come up to me, his fur was so warm it was almost too hot to touch.

“So, I moved him into my car where he sat in front of the air vent and downed, not one but two water bottles in five minutes. Once he settled and started to cool off, I did try to find Chris. I circled the neighborhood, but I don’t even think Chris lives in that area so I found nothing. I would call him, but Dodger doesn’t have any tags on his collar. And when I went to look for a vet clinic or a shelter online, for some stupid reason, they all are closed on Sunday.

“In other words, I can’t even take him in to check if his chipped. I did the only thing that I could think of to get his Dad’s attention, which is taken to Twitter.” Dodger stopped mid-stride pulling her towards a bush to sniff, Damion following close behind. Hannah laughed and switched the camera to the back lens.

“Right now, he’s doing great, I wasn’t sure if he had eaten so I gave him a little of my dog’s turkey treats, and that seemed enough for him. We’re walking around until we hear back from Chris.”

She resituated the bag on her shoulder and turned the camera back to the front. “I also want to bring up one other thing. I saw a lot of people saying I was using this as an excuse to go to Chris’ home.” Hannah made a face and scoffed at that. “Look I’m a fan, but I also know Chris is a human who is allowed his privacy. I’m not even expecting to get a phone call from him, let alone him giving me his address. I’m sure he’s not comfortable with that, and quite frankly neither am I.

“All I ask is you guys please re-tweet and tag him as much as possible so he can see my post, so we can get Dodger back to his dad. That’s all I want. I know if my Damion went missing I would be going insane trying to find him. And Chris if you see this video, please DM me. I’m not going to say where I am right now, so I’ll tell you over private message. If I don’t hear back from him, I will take Dodger home with me for the night and I’m one hundred percent going to take care of him until Chris gets back to me. I have no intentions of keeping him, because as sweet and wonderful as he is, Dodger is someone else’s child.”

Stopping on the sidewalk, she tried to keep the camera as close to her face as possible so that her location wasn’t disclosed by any crazy fans. “Umm, yeah I think that’s it. I’ll let everyone know when Dodger is claimed, but until then the three of us are going to sit around and wait. Bye!”

Submitting the video, she moved on to the beach and decided just to do what she said, sit until she heard something.

#chris evans imagine #chris evans fanfic #chris evans #chris evans fic #marvel imagine #fluff #slipped through the crack

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