The Forecast Calls for Frustration

Our Florida road-trip was generally a success and a pleasure. The prominent exception was Wednesday, when thunderstorms soaked most of Southern Florida. A USGS rain gauge in Manatee County, south of Tampa-St. Pete, measured 7.52 inches of rain over a six-hour period. Wind gusts reached 45 mph.

Screen capture courtesy of the Palm Beach Post.

Unsurprisingly, both our 10:30 am and 6:35 pm games were rained out. Equally unsurprising was how the teams showed a lack of consideration for their fans—or indulged in absurd optimism, if you prefer—by waiting until the last possible moment to call the games. This is not the first time this has happened to Melvin or me but we still fell for the trick.

The Modern World

In the modern world, All-Star Game balloting begins 18 games into the season and lasts for 68 days. Fans (or whomever) can vote up to five times in a 24-hour period, so a particularly obsessive and well-organized voter can cast 340 ballots. As if the whole production wasn't absurd enough already.

Editorial Statement

NEW YORK — Baseball Byways responded to an article that appeared today on the front page of the Business section of the New York Times. Reacting to "Media Websites Battle Faltering Ad Revenue and Traffic," Melvin admitted, "Baseball Byways has no revenue."

"No traffic either," added Rob, who noted a September post that made reference to Suicide Girls—"a website that features pin-up photography and profiles of alternative female models," according to Wikipedia—is averaging 100 page views per month. "We should include some soft porn in every post," he observed wryly.

Image, "Fisher Face Snow," by ForestWander used through Creative Commons license.

Melvin agreed. "The Suicide Girls are even more popular than fisher cats," he said, recalling an earlier generator of misdirected search engine traffic. "We just want to be loved for ourselves," Rob concluded wistfully.

Million Dollar Questions

Today is Jackie Robinson Day, held annually on the anniversary of opening day of the 1947 baseball season, when Jack Roosevelt Robinson made his major league debut and became the first African American to play in Major League Baseball (MLB) since the 1880s. On this day, all players, coaches, managers and umpires wore or are wearing #42 on their jerseys, Robinson's otherwise universally retired uniform number.

Image by Keith Allison, of Orioles players observing Jackie Robinson Day
at home in 2015, used through Creative Commons licence.

This morning, I (and many other people) received an email from MLB Commissioner Robert D. Manfred Jr., "Honoring Jackie Robinson, 'a true hero'." Manfred notes that he and his wife watched Ken Burns' new documentary on the ball player, which premiered on PBS on Monday and Tuesday.

Image courtesy Google Street View.

The commissioner's email reminded me of a blog post I started a couple years ago about a planned Jackie Robinson Museum, on Canal Street in Manhattan. I never finished the post for all the usual reasons plus one: a reporter I know, Kate Briquelet, had already written the story. It seems little has changed.

Vigil of Easter

vig-il, noun. /'vij-əl/

1. a period of keeping awake during the time usually spent asleep, especially to keep watch or pray.

2. (in the Christian Church) the eve of a festival or holy day as an occasion of religious observance.

Graphic by EugeneZ used through CC-BY-SA-3.0 license.

Easter is the holiest day of the Christian calendar, the day when Jesus Christ, the son of God according to that faith, was resurrected from the dead. The holiday is observed by Christians on the first Sunday after the full moon that occurs between March 22 and April 25, inclusive.

Blasphemously, Melvin and I profess to having seen him on the vigil of Easter—two years ago today—at a Daytona Cubs game.

Law & Order: PED

Update, July 6, 2018:

MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred reinstated Jenrry Meija, making the pitcher's permanent ban from baseball somewhat less than permanent. Prior to his reinstatement, Meija retracted his assertion that Major League Baseball had conspired against him, calling his earlier statements "false accusations."

via twitter

According to the New York Times, "If he meets conditions set by M.L.B., including strict testing, Mejia will be eligible to resume all baseball activities when spring training starts in February, at the Mets’ discretion." That last bit translates as, the Mets can also choose to release him.


'I wuz framed,' says Jenrry Meija.

audio

As a Mets fan, I should take little pleasure in Jenrry Mejia's permanent ban from baseball for failing a third test for performance-enhancing drugs (PED). He is the first player to earn the distinction since Major League Baseball (MLB) started getting serious about doping. In 2010, he was ranked the 56th highest prospect by Baseball America. The Mets and their fans had high hopes.

In an interview Thursday, Mejia said, “I felt there was a conspiracy against me. I feel that [MLB was] trying to find something to bring me down in my career.”

Where Did You Come from, Where Did You Go?

Here we go, are you ready for another?

Yes, that's right, it's 1991 2016, and after a winter of overplanning and jumping the gun, Byways is locking down this year's itineraries. We'll see America's least-wanted geographical appendage! Make an unholy number of visits to George Bush Intercontinental! And explore the seams between Pennsyltucky and the Southern Tier. What could be better? And while I'm asking unanswerable questions, how did this anthem of the toothless become a regular baseball-stadium feature?

I'm not making you click on this. And if you want to see it rendered in Czechlish, I can't help you.

Next Generation

Does this mean that the most memorable part of the place was the bathrooms?

As I've mentioned, I have nephews, and said nephews are crazy for baseball. And now they're both at (or, indeed, well past) the age where I can take them on baseball trips. So last year, they each got a mini-Byways for their respective birthdays. We all live in the Midwest, so the younger one and I headed to Cleveland and Akron in May, while his older brother and I hit up Detroit and Fort Wayne on Labor Day weekend. Here's how they went.

The Zen of the Non-Destination

Melvin's recent recaps of our travel though Colorado, Montana and Washington (part one and part two) mentioned that I proceeded on to visit family in Oregon. Looking through my photographs, it seems like my folks and I didn't do much of note, at least in comparison with the itineraries Melvin and I map out.

More pushpins than, say, Helena but I am making a point.

There were some feature destinations but upon reflection, I realized that the non-destinations were more satisfying personally.

Mermaid Strike

Of all sad words heard from some bum, the saddest are these, "What might have swum." Photo by Rob

After a day in Hanford and Spokane that was both eventful and fraught, Rob, Watson, and I followed up with what I think was a classic Byways day. First things first, off to Frank's Diner for ice grapefruit juice, then scrambled eggs and link sausage! Actually, I think there was more corned beef hash and pie than was good for any of us, but heavens it was all tasty. Frank's is an top-notch exemplar of the train-car-diner genre—right up there with the Silver Palm and quite possibly better than Mickey's. Yeah, I said it.