'To hit the ball and touch 'em all, a moment in the sun..'

Sorry to hear today of the death of Bobby Thomson, the Scot who hit what might be the most famous - or at least the most romanticized - home run in baseball history.



I've been a baseball fan since I first came to the US in 1982 and I love the game's history; the sense that every season and every player is connected to those who went before, and that history is especially rich here in New York.

The fact that Thomson and Ralph Branca subsequently made a career of telling their respective stories - together - on the after-dinner circuit shows the power of that moment, and its place in the collective national psyche, as something much bigger, even, than them as individuals.

(I also have a ball autographed by former Dodger and Cub Andy Pafko, over whose head Thomson's drive soared that day before leaving the field; as well as an autographed photo of the player waiting on deck to bat behind Thomson, a young man by the name of Willie Mays)

The event was so dramatic and resonant and so perfectly of its time - after all it is the call on radio, not TV, that is remembered - as to define these two mens' lives for the rest of their days. It was clearly the stuff of epic tales, and it deserved a master storyteller to truly bring a version of it to life for those of us who obviously weren't there.

Nearly a half-century later, Don DeLillo's expansive and brilliant "Underworld" perfectly captured a fictional, but very real, drama of that day in its jaw-dropping introduction.

It might be as close to the "great American novel" as it's possible to get, and it's still, by some measure, the best book I've ever read.


************************************

And talking of slowing things down, here's a very cool way to make Justin Bieber just a little more palatable...

When I first listened to this, I have to admit I was completely spellbound. It reminded me immediately of Sigur Ros, or Terry Riley, or Hans Zimmer's remarkable score for 'Inception' or of something Rhys Chatham might do. But, whale sounds or not, I couldn't turn it off.

Hopening Day

I've been a Cubs fan since 1982. I've been out to spring training in Arizona and even when I was living in London I'd make one trip to Chicago every year for a home stand.

Their first game of the season has always been a complete emotional stew of optimism and realism; but always seasoned with the joy that baseball itself gives me and the reassurance that, win or lose - and yes, insert 'it's usually lose' joke here - I'd never feel quite myself rooting for another team the way I do for the Cubbies.



My wife's family are Red Sox nation through and through, and up until 2004 we had something in common.

Living in New York, I go see the Mets - and their single A Brooklyn Cyclones - a lot and want them to do well - except in the obvious games - because there seems to be a sort of self-deprecating, fatalist connection between Mets and Cubs fans the way there just isn't with Yankee fans.

Here's an example: I was at Shea for a July 4th doubleheader about ten years ago, and in between innings Mr Met and his cohorts were going round with the microphone asking little kids questions about American history, and showing their answers up on the big screen.

They asked one little kid "why are there 50 stars on the stars and stripes?" and before he could answer, the drunk guy behind him leans in and says "It's the number of games the Mets are gonna win this year.."

During the seventh-inning stretch at Cub games, I'm afraid I've never gotten out of the habit - much to my son's annoyance - of singing "..If they don't win it's the same."

Anyway, whoever you cheer for, happy opening day. As the late great Jeff MacNelly put it, it's the one day when everyone's in first place.

Shoe (wearing Cubs cap): A good Cubs fan accepts defeat and disappointment in the belief that tomorrow will be a better day. Do you know what that’s called, Skyler?

Skyler: Self-delusion?

Shoe: Optimism is the word I was looking for.

Jeff and I, and millions of other diehards everywhere, would love a good season this year, please.

Let's Go Cubs!




*Update... So...that went well, didn't it?

The most opening day runs given up since 1900? Wha..?

Yes, the blown call on McLouth's "catch" was a joke. But even so, we played so poorly all round it probably wouldn't have made much difference to the outcome - although the players were clearly deflated by it immediately afterwards.

Bright spot? James Russell's pitching debut in relief, handing Jason Heyward his first big league strikeout. And the fact that, opening day or not, it's only one game. Only 1/162nd of the season. And I guess you can't have a Tuffy Rhodes moment every year.

(And incidentally, despite Tuffy's three HRs off Doc Gooden on opening day, 1994 - I remember I was watching on TV in a bar at Dulles Airport - the Cubs went on to lose the game.)