Thanks to the magic of facebook, I've recently been back in touch with a friend from elementary school who loves baseball the way I do (hi, Danny!!). He sent me a couple of links to baseball-themed sites last night, and of course I jumped all over them. After a while, I found myself searching for a fun baseball meme... and found the selection I was able to search out on the internet rather disappointing. Never the less, here's the most decent one I found, with my answers. If you can find another, more interesting meme, I'd be psyched.
How did you become a baseball fan?
The simple answer: I was born into my family. The more detailed answer: I was raised by my father.
How long have you been a baseball fan?
Though I haven’t always paid the kind of attention to the day-to-day of the game as I did as a child and do now, there has never been a time in my life when I wasn’t a baseball fan.
What's your favorite team?
The answer to that question should be blazingly obvious: The New York Mets. Never the less, I enjoy rooting for the Cubs, and before they became the kind of team who wins world championships, the Red Sox. Also, though I wasn’t alive while they played there, I am a Brooklyn Dodgers fan by familial inheritance.
Least favorite baseball team?
The answer to this question should also be excessively obvious: The New York Yankees. That said, I have plenty of hatred for the Phillies and Braves, too.
Favorite players?
Hard to say: are we talking favorite players of all time? Living or dead? Current players I like but are clearly not hall-of-fame material?
I’m going with all of the above, and off the top of my head (meaning this is probably an incomplete list):
Jackie Robinson
Hank Greenberg
Pee Wee Reese
Warren Cromarte
Keith Hernandez
Dwight Gooden
Darryl Strawberry
Howard Johnson
Ozzie Smith
Mike Schmidt
David Wright
Jose Reyes
Johan Santana
Oliver Perez
Mike Pelfrey
Joe Smith
Players you respect, but can’t call a favorite:
Big Papi
Jason Varitek
Albert Pujols
Cole Hammels
Scott Kasimir
John Smoltz
Greg Maddux
Derek Jeter
Any baseball players you dislike?
A-Rod.
A-Rod.
A-Rod.
Manny Rivera
Derek Lowe
Barry Bonds
Jose Canceco
Mark McGuire
Roger Clemens
Ever meet a baseball player?
Sure, but mostly while they were minor-leaguers, primarily with the Pittsfield Mets. Though John Maine did look at me, smile, and say thank you when I wished him a good game. That counts, right?!
Favorite Baseball Movies?
Bull Durham. No other baseball movie comes close, imho, though I do also love Field of Dreams. Ever notice how many baseball films Kevin Costner is in?
MLB/minor league/spring training stadiums I've visited:
MLB: Shea Stadium, Yankee Stadium, Dodger Stadium, Wrigley Field, Camden Yards, Jacobs Field, whatever they’re callig the stadium the Giants play in these days, Safeco Park, Petco Park, whatever they're calling the park where the Angels play.
Minor League: Pittsfield Mets (Western Mass), Brooklyn Cyclones, Staten Island Yankees.
Spring Training: Tradition Field (where the Mets play), Ft. Lauderdale stadium (where the Orioles play).
Favorite baseball announcers?
I know I’m in the minority here, but I love Tim McCarver, and I loved him even more as a kid when he broadcast with Ralph Kiner. I like Gary Cohen, but thought he was better on radio than he is on TV. I love the team of Keith Hernandez and Ron Darling, but I’m sure that has more to do with their being the Mets of my childhood than with any actual skill on their part. But hands down, the best baseball announcers ever are Vin Scully and Red Barber.
Least favorite baseball announcers?
Anyone who broadcasts for ESPN or FOX. They pretty much universally suck, with the exception of McCarver. But the tools he has to broadcast with bring him down.
Favorite baseball quote?
Too many to count, but here are a few, in no particular order, and I could go on for days with this one:
Rooting for the Yankees is like rooting for the house in blackjack.
--Adam Morrow, quoted in Bill Simmons, "Letters from the Nation," 20 October 2003
Baseball, it is said, is only a game. True. And the Grand Canyon is only a hole in Arizona.
--George F. Will, Men at Work: The Craft of Baseball, 1990
I see great things in baseball. It's our game - the American game. It will take our people out-of-doors, fill them with oxygen, give them a larger physical stoicism. Tend to relieve us from being a nervous, dyspeptic set. Repair these losses, and be a blessing to us.
--Walt Whitman
Outstanding Clubhouse Presence
5 years ago
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2 comments:
Tim McCarver has always been one of my favorites ... i used to watch him and Kiner all the timer (also a big fan of Kiner's corner).
Don't get me wrong, i like Darling and Hernandez, but there's just no comparison, and the level of analysis just isn't the same. That said, perhaps McCarver seemed that much smarter because i was 9 years old at the time. Go figure.
Kiner's Koner was one of the great shows of our childhood, and I agree... the team of McCarver and Kiner couldn't be beat.
And I fully admit that the Keith and Ron love is much more about nostalgia than it is about their skill. Never the less, Darling is actually a very good pitching analyst, and Keith... well, Keith is awesome when he's interested in the game, but when it's a snoozer, Keith is definitely among those snoozing.
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