ftr I wasn't trying to put words into your mouth. I was sincerely trying to understand where you were headed because your line seemed (to *me*) to be moving w every heated reply.
Which again ftr wasn't an attempt to gotcha u for an inconsistency! I figured you were thinking in real time and I was trying to follow
didn't help either of us that the thread got broken into many pieces and I assumed you had read things u maybe hadn't and so took an apparently mum response as a partial concession
Love you and your dad together. Learned a little, laughed a few times, and even got a little wistful at the end. Hope you both went for a game of catch in the drizzle.
You probably weren't expecting a comment over five months later, but someone linked this over at our baseball (Dodgers) blog and so I read it and was absolutely delighted that he found it and shared it with us. I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of reading this.
One of best-read commenters in our community gave this brief review,
"Rarely have I been so charmed. Love this." and another termed it "an absolute delight."
As a dad to 2 girls (20 and 18), I'm very impressed with your dad's patience and good humor in the face of your off-topic provocations. 😆 Looking forward to reading your future sports posts!
I love this exchange and truly appreciated Alice's open-mindedness on baseball, which is not an easy sport to love in these turbo-charged social media times where everybody has an attention span of 30 seconds. Not a sport built for the 21st century.
Alice's father sounds wonderful. An exceptionally erudite and loving man. You can see why his daughter turned out to be equally special (even if she does hate sports, LOL). I'm curious about the timing of his evolution from Mets fan to BoSox fan. Did it happen before 1986 (because that would have killed him, but made Alice's uncle cackle with joy).
This is priceless. Every word had my full attention. I’m reminded of Shana Alexander’s depictions of conversations with her father, Milton Ager, in her book Happy Days. It’s out of print but I saw one on Amazon just now.
I didn't know there was a Jane Austen reference to "baseball", trust you to get that in! :D I did use to play "rounders" in junior school which is similar to baseball (in so far as it involves a bat, ball and four bases to run around), no catcher person with a big glove involved though - you either hit the ball on the first attempt or you don't but regardless of that you've still gotta run! Anyway good to see you back in the substack game. :)
this is interesting (especially Bradford and the Mets sponsorship trivia) but quite intensely American. your father's straightforward, patriotic spirit is admirable and reading his words made me feel my own deficiencies in that area. for my part, grateful for the Henry James pic
I played a ton of baseball as a kid (from age 4 to age 15) because my dad loved baseball. He'd played as a kid. Back when, as he would describe it, "there was nothing else to do". He also had his favorite team (White Socks), and would tell me stories about players long since dead or retired. I still follow my local teams (Nats and Orioles), but I lack his passion for the game. I think the excitement of waking up on a warm summer day in Illinois and going out to play baseball with all of your friends from school. Back when there really was nothing else to do, and the warm months beckoned for you to be outside. I missed a lot of that. For me, there was so much to do, and so little time I could devote to each individual thing. It's interesting. I appreciate baseball. I'll go to games a few times a year, try to watch most of the games my teams play, and religiously watch the world series. But the love for it isn't there like it was for my dad.
Also, this interview is real or you're a very good writer. Virgil Texas and Matt Yglesias do not write this well, nor can I imagine their fathers being into baseball... maybe Yglesias. You are not them.
Most people who believe I'm someone else have no eye for prose style or any idea what good writing looks like. (Not that Matt's a bad writer! We're just very different. He's much more straightforward and nonliterary.)
Jeez, this was great, both of you. A great oitcher catcher team.
--Ron Rosenbaum
Thanks! Are you the same Ron Rosenbaum who blocked me on Twitter lol?
yes
lol wtf
ftr I wasn't trying to put words into your mouth. I was sincerely trying to understand where you were headed because your line seemed (to *me*) to be moving w every heated reply.
Which again ftr wasn't an attempt to gotcha u for an inconsistency! I figured you were thinking in real time and I was trying to follow
didn't help either of us that the thread got broken into many pieces and I assumed you had read things u maybe hadn't and so took an apparently mum response as a partial concession
anyway it's fine not to follow me just felt confused
this was very lovely
So glad you enjoyed it!
Love you and your dad together. Learned a little, laughed a few times, and even got a little wistful at the end. Hope you both went for a game of catch in the drizzle.
Thanks,
Ray.
so glad you liked it!
Sure, be my guest! Please attribute to @DavidYoungTBLA. And thanks again!
You probably weren't expecting a comment over five months later, but someone linked this over at our baseball (Dodgers) blog and so I read it and was absolutely delighted that he found it and shared it with us. I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of reading this.
One of best-read commenters in our community gave this brief review,
"Rarely have I been so charmed. Love this." and another termed it "an absolute delight."
Thank you for writing it and bringing it to us.
This is so delightful to hear I can't tell you. Would you mind if I shared it on Twitter?
As a dad to 2 girls (20 and 18), I'm very impressed with your dad's patience and good humor in the face of your off-topic provocations. 😆 Looking forward to reading your future sports posts!
Thanks for the like. Hope you're doing well
This was delightful, but I have a simpler explanation for why baseball was the pastime for a hundred years:
1. It was played at a MUCH FASTER pace than it is today
2. Because there are a small number of discrete, easily visualizable events, and has a daily rhythm, it is the best sport to follow in the newspaper.
3. For similar reasons, it is arguably the best sport on the radio.
Put simply, television wounded baseball and the modern style of play is going to kill it.
I love this exchange and truly appreciated Alice's open-mindedness on baseball, which is not an easy sport to love in these turbo-charged social media times where everybody has an attention span of 30 seconds. Not a sport built for the 21st century.
Alice's father sounds wonderful. An exceptionally erudite and loving man. You can see why his daughter turned out to be equally special (even if she does hate sports, LOL). I'm curious about the timing of his evolution from Mets fan to BoSox fan. Did it happen before 1986 (because that would have killed him, but made Alice's uncle cackle with joy).
I actually watched enough baseball this year such that I could predict most balls in play by the end. This is as bizarre as it sounds.
Touching and moving baseball explainer!
This is priceless. Every word had my full attention. I’m reminded of Shana Alexander’s depictions of conversations with her father, Milton Ager, in her book Happy Days. It’s out of print but I saw one on Amazon just now.
I'm not crying, but I loved reading this. I miss talking baseball with my brother, who died last year.
I didn't know there was a Jane Austen reference to "baseball", trust you to get that in! :D I did use to play "rounders" in junior school which is similar to baseball (in so far as it involves a bat, ball and four bases to run around), no catcher person with a big glove involved though - you either hit the ball on the first attempt or you don't but regardless of that you've still gotta run! Anyway good to see you back in the substack game. :)
As someone who grew up on basketball and only got into baseball very recently, I really enjoyed this. Felt like I learned stuff
this is interesting (especially Bradford and the Mets sponsorship trivia) but quite intensely American. your father's straightforward, patriotic spirit is admirable and reading his words made me feel my own deficiencies in that area. for my part, grateful for the Henry James pic
I played a ton of baseball as a kid (from age 4 to age 15) because my dad loved baseball. He'd played as a kid. Back when, as he would describe it, "there was nothing else to do". He also had his favorite team (White Socks), and would tell me stories about players long since dead or retired. I still follow my local teams (Nats and Orioles), but I lack his passion for the game. I think the excitement of waking up on a warm summer day in Illinois and going out to play baseball with all of your friends from school. Back when there really was nothing else to do, and the warm months beckoned for you to be outside. I missed a lot of that. For me, there was so much to do, and so little time I could devote to each individual thing. It's interesting. I appreciate baseball. I'll go to games a few times a year, try to watch most of the games my teams play, and religiously watch the world series. But the love for it isn't there like it was for my dad.
Also, this interview is real or you're a very good writer. Virgil Texas and Matt Yglesias do not write this well, nor can I imagine their fathers being into baseball... maybe Yglesias. You are not them.
Most people who believe I'm someone else have no eye for prose style or any idea what good writing looks like. (Not that Matt's a bad writer! We're just very different. He's much more straightforward and nonliterary.)