* Hats off to Tampa or “You wascally wabbit”

I know it was really cold and nasty weather in Philly during the World Series. I can accept the storm coats and balaclavas the players have taken to wearing on the frigid east coast fall nights. I could put up with the “pajama pants” and baggy jerseys that seem to be the rage these days

But you have to draw the line someplace and this is it: caps with flaps.

This is baseball for Pete’s sake. Have you no sense of tradition, man? There are some things you just don’t mess with, and the baseball cap is one of them

The very astute blog Uniwatch offered some commentary on this fashion faux pas (questionable language alert). Although it disagrees with my opinion, at least someone else has taken notice.

But the best comment of the situation comes from The New York Times‘ Bats.blog:

In a moment of remarkable foresight some nine months ago, the Rays’ clubhouse manager, Chris Westmoreland, had seen this coming. Around spring training, the cap manufacturer New Era offered him a hat with a two-inch strip of fleece sewn around the back, designed to cover the ears. So Westmoreland ordered them for the team. The Rays have since dubbed them, the “Elmer Fudds.”

(Kids, ask your parents about Mr. Fudd.)

Let us hope this is the last we’ll see of this shanda.

* I was thinking, three-inning games; but this is good, too

(…Because you can keep those little pocket schedules on your bookshelf.)

I am still waiting for some sports pundit to start off about the possibility of having three inning baseball games. It worked out pretty well for the Phillies and the fans. Started at 8:30, over before 10:30. Might even bring the young fans back because the strategy has to be spot on.

But this column by Rick Morrissey of the Chicago Tribune has some merit as well. In essence: shorten that damn season! Start later, end earlier, and finish the post-season before X-mas! On a recent edition of Pardon the Interruption, Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon suggested going back to doubleheaders. What the heck, don’t even worry about making them day/night affairs at this point.

As for the havoc this would create in the record books, what’s the big deal? MLB went from various “standard” schedules. They’ve only been playing 162 games a year since 1961.

Beside, as Morrissey notes:

Records we hold dear would likely never be broken again because of the shortened schedule. But let’s keep in mind that the steroids era has taken a sledgehammer to the record books anyway. The home run records, in particular, are silly.

Remember all the hoo-ha when Roger Maris was about to break Babe Ruth’s record? “Oh, no” said the powers that be. “We’ll have to have some kind of mark, unless he does it in 154 games,” which was what they played before expansion that year.

It all boils down to money. The longer the games take, the more commercials, the more advertising revenue. Even in these troubled times.

* Congratulations to the Phillies

Your new baseball world champs.

Look for a new title (at least) will be added to the existing Phillies’ bibliography in the months to come.

Will there be a revised edition?

* The All-Author Team

Several years ago I created this list for Fastball.com, which, if the URL still exists, is not the same today as it was then (if that makes sense). I’ve updated it just a bit to reflect contemporary players.

• Pitchers: Josh “Samuel” Beckett; Craig “Larry” McMurtry; Jerry “St.” Augustine; Roger “Samuel” Clemens; Sheriff “William” Blake (“William Blake?” “William Blake!!”)
• Catcher: Mike “F. Scott” Fitzgerald
• First Base: Bud “Tom” Clancy
• Second Base: Ed “Ernest” Hemingway
• Shortstop: Bill “Bertrand” Russell
• Third Base: Bill “James” Joyce
• Left Field: Buster “Henry” Adams”
• Center Field: Dion “Henry” James
• Right Field: Chick “Stephen” King
• Manager: Charlie “Brothers” Grimm

* And now MY tops list

Humbly submitted via the pages of ForeWord Magazine, this non-fiction list of RK’s “essential” baseball reading.

I’ll be working on a fiction version soon.

* Another “top” list

From the Suite101.com folks. Includes non-fiction, fiction, and “bullpen” (whatever that means) choices.

* Time to sell the cards?

With these tough economic times, I wonder if there’s been a run of card collectors trying to unload their little pieces of cardboard. For those of you interested, here’s a piece describing the appraisal process
and another on the determination of “book value.”

* Review: Baseball Field Guide

From the Joy of Sox blog.

* The National Anthem: A World Series appraisal

I’m not pretending to be the most patriotic guy in the country, but there are some things that bug me: American flags that are displayed in states of disrepair, not taking your hat off for the National Anthem, and performers who use it as a personal platform for their ego. To me, it’s like a cantor on the High Holy Days going into Pavaratti mode. You know, singing in such an operatic way that the congregation can’t possibly join in and, oh I don’t know, PRAY?

Jose Feliciano set the bar for performers when he sang prior to the fifth game at the 1968 World Series in Detroit. He was lambasted by the media for such a disrespectful rendering. But it pales in comparison to what it has become. Only a Game presented the following story on Feliciano’s performance, how it rejuvenated a Tigers club (which was down three games to one), and what it meant to a troubled nation in that watershed year. (The story kicks in at about the 6:30 mark, if you can’t wait.)

Here’s the video (Don’tcha just love Youtube?)

The New York Times ran an Associated Press story (“Fans Protest Soul Singer’s Anthem Version”) the next day stating, among other things, that ” Feliciano’s offering “differed greatly from its usual formal strains [and] was booed by many in the crowd of 53,634.” NBC, the network that carried the Series that year, said it had received 400 calls in protest. The article quoted the brother of Tigers’ infielder Ray Olyer who said “I’m young enough to understand [the unorthodox version], but I think it stunk. It was nonpatriotic.” I also find it interesting that the writer found it necessary to mention that Feliciano was a “blind Puerto Rican singer.” Can you imagine such a description today?

You can read the AP story here.

Compare Feliciano’s relatively mellowness to Patti LaBelle’s rendition in this year’s Fall Classic on Oct. 26:

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And not a word of protest in the press about it.

Sorry, but I can’t listen to Labelle and not think of this:

Not even the name was really changed to protect the innocent.

* Did ya miss me?

Back from jury duty. Don’t get me started on all the problems with the judicial system (at least in Essex County, NJ). Suffice it to say I fulfilled my civic duty.